A Baby On His Doorstep

A CHANCE TO PROVE HIMSELF

When Rio McNabb’s bronc-riding career is sidelined by an injury, the only upside is his gorgeous live-in nurse, Binney Taylor. Just one hitch—Binney used to have a crush on his identical twin brother. Rio’s sure that he can earn her affection, but his confidence is rocked when a stranger shows up with an infant boy claiming that Rio is the father.

As a foster kid, Binney’s always longed for a real family. Now, with Rio and the surprise baby, Lonesome Road Ranch feels like the home she never had. But she’s trying to keep things professional, because when Rio heals, everything could change. Rio has competed with his twin his entire life. For Binney and the baby, he’ll finally have to prove he’s the better man.

“I’m worn out,” Rio grumbled. “Can we just get the rest of my clothes on so I can go to sleep?”

Binney tucked the single crutch under his bare arm and slipped her arm around his damp waist. “I’ll be quick.”

It took them a while to make it across to the bed, where Rio sank back with a groan.

Binney was totally unprepared to experience a punch in her gut from merely looking at him sprawled on his bed in nothing but briefs. Averting her eyes, she started at his feet and worked up his legs, and felt his suspicious gaze track her every move.

Privately she chanted, You’re a nurse. He’s a patient. You’re a nurse. He’s a patient.

One fine-looking patient who showed by his grin that he’d begun to enjoy the whole process way too much as she smoothed lotion over his chest and the nicely rippled muscles along his lower abs.

A Baby On His Doorstep

Roz Denny Fox

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ROZ DENNY FOX’s first book was published by Harlequin in 1990. She writes for several Harlequin lines and her books are published worldwide in a number of languages. Roz’s warm home-and-family-focused love stories have been nominated for various industry awards, including the Romance Writers of America’s RITA® Award, the Holt Medallion, the Golden Quill and others. Roz has been a member of the Romance Writers of America since 1987 and is currently a member of Tucson’s Saguaro Romance Writers, where she has received the Barbara Award for outstanding chapter service. In 2013 Roz received her fifty-book pin from Harlequin. Readers can email her through Facebook or at [e-mail], or visit her website at korynna.com/rozfox.

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I’d like to dedicate this story to my daughters

and their families. You make me so proud,

and you complete my life.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Rio McNabb vaguely registered the sights, sounds and blended odors of hay, animals and concession stands at the regional rodeo in Abilene, Texas. Really he’d honed in more on the bronc rider who preceded him who’d failed to make the required time to be in money contention.

Striding toward his chute, he smiled at the handlers preparing the mount that would be his last ride with the PRCA. He’d earned enough over his years on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit to buy the Lonesome Road Ranch from his folks. Like most ranchers they’d been land rich and cash-strapped. But after today he could cut back rodeos and concentrate on building his horse-breeding business. The ranch, situated well off any beaten path, was a secluded spot where he and his twin brother were third-generation McNabbs born and raised there. Not that Ryder cared, although maybe someday he’d change his mind. Championships meant far more to him than they ever had to Rio.

Having traveled across the States since junior rodeos, he’d be glad to get off the road. Several years ago his parents had sold all of their cattle to happily retire at a senior living complex in San Antonio. At the moment they were on their dream vacation in Australia.

Bronc riding had been good to him, though. A win today would be a fine way to go out, plus give him more than enough funds to buy a palomino mare he’d had his eye on for a while.

All at once he heard a commotion in the chute. The bronc he’d drawn to ride today, Diablo Colorado, Spanish for Red Devil, was new to the circuit. Rio had given him a cursory inspection earlier and noted the horse was a big, powerful sorrel gelding. Rio guessed the animal was living up to his name based on the difficulty handlers were having getting him into the chute.

“Don’t envy you this one,” Colton Brooks called down to Rio.

He smiled and acknowledged the warning, although feisty horses weren’t anything new to him. Over the years he’d suffered his share of hard knocks, bruises and even a few broken bones. Probably another reason at thirty-two to hang up his spurs and leave serious competition to the young dudes. Unlike his brother, a hypercompetitive bull rider who reveled in piling up points in his sport to be acclaimed in the professional standings, Rio had been content to seek out smaller venues with fair winnings. Rather than sticking with the PRCA, he figured after today to keep his hand in by joining the RHAA. The Ranch Horse Association of America showcased skills of true cowboys. His twin scoffed at those events, and at the notion of ever returning to the homeplace Ryder called Hicksville Ranch. Thinking about that had Rio grimacing. He loved the Lonesome Road and would be happy to live there until he couldn’t climb aboard a horse anymore.

Tightening his gloves, he resettled his dove-gray Stetson before climbing up to join the handlers who’d finally gotten Diablo into the chute.

Rio sank onto the saddle, then vaulted out again as the horse bucked inside the enclosure and wildly tossed his head. Rio considered asking for a tie line to run from the bit to the cinch. A head-tosser could easily break a rider’s nose, or blacken his eyes. But hearing the crowd cheer and chant his name, and because he alone knew this was his goodbye ride, he decided to ride this devil and give the fans their money’s worth.

Gingerly taking his seat again, Rio wrapped the reins tight, slid his boots into the stirrups, raised his right arm and let out a rebel yell.

The gate slammed open. The sorrel bucked stiff-legged right in the opening. And instead of bolting or bucking into the larger arena, Diablo rose on his hind legs and without warning crashed over backward, crushing Rio between seven hundred fifty pounds of muscled horse and a well-built, steel-reinforced wooden fence that he felt crack around him.

Even as he tried to haul in a deep breath, Rio heard a collective “oh” roar from the crowd. There was a momentary cacophony of curses amid fast-shuffling booted feet, seconds before everything in his world went black.

The strident sound of sirens awakened Rio to the urgent shout of old Doc Kane, a much-appreciated rodeo doctor. Rio tried to ask a question, but pain battering him from all sides seemed to clamp a fist around his voice box.

Doc called for morphine, and before Rio could object he felt the sharp sting of a needle entering his thigh and he was lost in oblivion again.

* * *

RIO OPENED HIS EYES, but didn’t recognize anything around him. He felt weighted down in a sea of white. Odd beeps came from somewhere overhead. Two men, both blurs of ocean blue, bent over him. He tried to move to see around them, but couldn’t seem to do that. He felt his heart begin to pound as panic set in.

“Dr. Layton, he’s awake.” The figure at Rio’s left shined a bright penlight in each of his eyes.

Blinking, Rio attempted to sit up. A heavy hand pressed him down. Excruciating pain followed. Enough to have him gritting his teeth.

“Settle down, son. I’m Arthur Layton, chief of general surgery at City Hospital. This is Dr. Mason, our surgical resident. A horse fell on you at the rodeo. You’re not long out of surgery and still in pretty bad shape.”

“Is the horse okay?” Rio croaked. He began to remember bits and pieces, like seeing the chute open, feeling Diablo rear right before something went terribly wrong.

“You’re worried about the horse?” The surgery chief snorted. “Worry about yourself, Mr. McNabb. I’m afraid your rodeo days are over. You broke your clavicle, cracked two thoracic vertebrae we may still later need to stabilize. You have a fractured left wrist and badly sprained right ankle. Oh, and there was the pneumothorax we hope stays fixed.”

Surfacing through the pain, Rio licked dry lips. “A pneumo what? What is that?”

“Collapsed lung,” the resident supplied.

The older doctor unwound his stethoscope, listened to Rio’s chest, then typed on his computer. “We inserted a chest tube to reinflate your left lung. It still sounds good. We’ll keep a close eye on it, though. I’ve ordered pain meds as needed. With luck, by next week we can move you from ICU into a ward.”

“I can’t stay here,” Rio said. “I’ve gotta get to my ranch.” For one thing, he was seeing dollar signs for all this surgery stuff.

Dr. Layton’s voice gentled. “According to some of our nurses you’re famous. I know performing in the rodeos makes you tough, but I can’t release you until you’re able to get up and around. You don’t have a fractured skull, but you shook your brain.”

“Famous? Not me. They must mean my twin, the bull-riding champion.” Rio tried again to scoot up in bed, but yelped when pain gripped him.

Scrolling through Rio’s computer chart, Layton frowned. “I figured you’d have someone at your ranch to cook and clean. But I see the last time you were seen here for a concussion you signed yourself out against staff’s advice. This states you’re single. If that’s still the case, who’ll care for you at home?”

“I’ll take care of myself,” Rio growled. “Health insurance companies don’t like guys in my line of work. Paying my bills depends on me getting home to help my only ranch hand ready our colts and fillies to sell.”

The doctor shook his head. “Sorry,” he said, closing out the document and tapping the hand Rio didn’t have in a cast. “You’re in serious shape, son. My best estimate is you’ll be six months recovering to a point where you can take care of your ranch. From here you’ll go to a rehabilitation facility where you’ll have therapy to regain strength.”

Rio tried to shake his head but was stopped by the tight neck collar. Clenching his jaw, he said, “No. Rehab isn’t an option. Where’s my cell phone? I need to call JJ, my ranch hand, to collect my pickup and camper from the rodeo grounds. I left my dog, Tag, in the unit while I went off to ride. JJ can look after our horses, but running the ranch is my responsibility.” He managed to gesture with the hand not in a cast, but discovered that arm was tangled up with IV lines.

“I don’t think you get it, McNabb. For a while you’re going to require assistance getting in and out of bed, to and from the toilet and shower, and fixing food. Maybe Lola Vickers can come out of retirement to take on a private duty nursing assignment,” the doctor mused aloud.

The resident interrupted. “This morning I noticed Binney Taylor on the ER roster. Must mean she finished her private duty job for Bob Foster’s wife.”

“Binney would see he keeps his braces and casts from getting wet. I suppose she can cook or she wouldn’t have lasted caring for Raenell Foster. Is Binney strong enough to keep this guy from falling and taking her down with him? It’ll be some time before he regains good balance. I still say rehab’s the best place for him.”

Rio scowled. “I’m not going to any damned rehab. You’re saying I could get a nurse to come out to the ranch?”

“Yes. A private duty nurse boards on-site for a set amount of time. Not cheap, but may be less expensive than the cost of being in rehab. A home nurse can handle initial physical therapy and see that you get to follow-up appointments here.”

The resident went to a cabinet, opened a drawer and pulled out a business card he passed to the surgeon. “You could give Binney a call and see if she’s available.”

Layton took out his phone. He punched in a number then handed Rio the card. “Binney, Dr. Layton at City General,” he said into the phone. “Steve Mason tells me you’ve ended your assignment at the Foster ranch.” He listened a moment. “Uh-huh. Well, I’ve a possible new client. A local rodeo cowboy who’s been banged up pretty bad.” Grimacing, the doctor said plainly enough, “Rio McNabb has a stubborn streak a mile wide. I’ve no doubt he’ll be a handful. Before you agree to take the job I recommend dropping by ICU to talk with him. I know Lola swore she’s retired for good, but possibly you can twist her arm to take this one. She’d give back any guff she’s handed.” He listened again. “Okay, I’ll tell him.”

Layton clicked off his phone. “She heard about your accident on the news. Apparently you two went to high school together. Today she works a three-to-eleven shift in our ER, so can swing by around two. That way you can ask any questions you may have.” Finished speaking to Rio, the doctor waited until Rio said grouchily that he’d talk to the nurse, but added that he didn’t recall knowing her. “My ranch hand is older than me. He may know her. I’ll ask him as soon as I get my phone back.”

The two doctors stepped aside as a gray-haired nurse bustled into the room. “I have Mr. McNabb’s pain shot.”

Dr. Layton nodded, then said to Rio, “Either I or Dr. Mason will be back to check your breathing around supper time. This is Nurse Murphy. Do what she says. Say, Murph, Mr. McNabb wants his phone. Is it among his personal effects you’ve put somewhere?”

She went to a cabinet and took out a sack with a list stapled to the front. “Yes, we have his cell. I’ll let him make a call while I record his vitals. This pain med you ordered will send him nighty-night.”

Shrugging at each other the doctors left the room.

Rio took his phone and with some difficulty called JJ Montoya. “JJ, it’s Rio. I’m stuck in City Hospital. Will you ask Rhonda to take you to pick up my truck and camper from the rodeo grounds? I left Tag while I rode.”

“I’m ahead of you, Rio. Rhonda already drove me over there, and I brought your rig home.”

“You did? Is Tagalong okay?” Rio had been worried about the ginger-colored stray dog that had found him a couple of years ago in the Mesquite Rodeo parking lot. His vet had called the stray an Australian Labradoodle. To Rio the big mutt was simply a great companion on lonely treks between rodeos.

“Tag’s fine. How are you?”

“Docs say I’m pretty stove-up, JJ.” He listed the injuries Layton had named. “Say, will you check on the bronc that dumped me into the fence? His name’s Diablo Colorado. He’s from Weldon Walker’s rodeo string.”

“I ran into Colton Brooks. He said a vet checked the horse. He may have fared better than you. Only had a few scrapes.”

“I’m thankful he didn’t break a leg and have to be put down. Not that I envy the next rider who draws him,” Rio mumbled. “But this was his first rodeo. You know, JJ, I’d decided that ride would be my last in the PRCA. The surgeon says it’ll likely be my last bronc ride anywhere.”

“What do doctors know about cowboy grit? You’ve been banged up before and have healed fine.”

“I hope you’re right and he’s wrong.” He glanced up at the nurse who had finished recording his temperature and pulse. “Listen, there’s a nurse here with pain medication, and I’m starting to think I should take it. I’m, uh, not going to be able to help wean and train our young stock the rest of this year. We can talk about hiring you part-time help once I’m home.” The two men signed off and Rio let the phone fall to his side. That was when he realized he’d forgotten to ask if JJ knew a Binney Taylor.

“I’ll set the phone on your tray table,” Nurse Murphy said. After doing so she took the cap off a syringe, swabbed Rio’s upper arm and administered the drug.

“Don’t they have pain pills? I hate sh-shlots,” he muttered. But clearly his ability to speak was already compromised.

* * *

AT TWO O’CLOCK, after donning a sterile gown, booties and gloves, Binney Taylor entered the ICU room where Rio McNabb lay trussed up like a Christmas goose. She could hear the soft whiffle of a snore indicating her arrival hadn’t wakened him. And that was good. It gave her time to collect her thoughts at seeing him in person again.

In high school the popular and handsome McNabb twins were crushed on by every girl in school, including her. As someone who didn’t travel in their sphere, she’d been particularly drawn to Ryder McNabb and had loved him from afar. Then in her junior year, Ryder had asked her to the spring dance. Beyond thrilled she’d borrowed a nice dress and then spent money she didn’t have to spare on having her hair done. And she’d arranged for a night off from her after-school job. Ryder never showed up to collect her at the group home. Nor had he called. Later it’d been cruelly pointed out by mean girls at school that he’d taken Samantha Walker to the dance. He had never bothered to apologize, and the rejection lingered until she got to nursing school, where in time she’d learned to value her self-worth.

She hadn’t run into either twin since they graduated from high school the year before her. She knew they were both following the rodeo. As she gazed at Rio, she was transported back to a time when the very thought of administering care to either of the hot, popular twins would’ve left her feeling awkward. Now Rio McNabb was just another unlucky cowboy in need of nursing.

Binney opened his computer chart with her access card. Reading over the many injuries diagnosed in ER, her empathy for him grew. His recovery was going to be arduous. It was easy to see why Dr. Layton thought she might hesitate being stuck on such a remote ranch, forced to ride herd on someone the surgeon had indicated could be cantankerous. But she was well trained and good nurses handled all types of grumpy patients.

She closed out of his record, and glanced up to find the patient in question studying her with serious gray eyes.

“If you’re here to deliver another shot for pain, forget it. I don’t like how they knock me out. I can’t recover if all I do is sleep my life away. And tell that hospital advocate who came by to say I need to book an ambulance to take me home next Saturday, and rent a hospital bed for a month or so, that the wrangler who works for me will collect me in his pickup. No one’s gonna turn me into an invalid.”

“Actually, I’m not on your nursing team. Dr. Layton said he told you I’d drop by around two today so we could talk about your home care. I’m Binney Taylor, a private duty nurse. I see you don’t remember me. We attended the same high school. You and your brother graduated a year prior to me.”

“You’re a home nurse? You look so young,” he blurted. “Layton said we went to the same high school, but I assumed he meant you went there years before me.”

“I believe age is just a number. But if you have questions as to whether or not I’m competent,” she said testily, “I can provide you with references.”

“Sorry. I suppose you’re capable. High school was a long time ago for both of us. To be truthful, I don’t remember you.” He closed his eyes. “The shots they give me mess with my head. I wake up fuzzy. I don’t like it, not thinking clearly, I mean.”

Frankly it irritated her to hear so bluntly that she was totally forgettable, although it shouldn’t surprise her. Back then all kids who lived in the group home were made fun of by cliques of their popular peers. That didn’t mean she had to endure his slights now.

Taking out her cell phone, she phoned Lola Vickers, the former private duty nurse. “Hi, Lola, it’s Binney. Dr. Layton has a patient at City who’s going to need home care in a week or so. Can you take this job?”

“No. Arthur called me. I’m retired. My husband and I plan to travel. Why can’t they get that through their heads?”

“Oh, I didn’t know Dr. Layton had contacted you. Sorry.” She chewed the corner of her lower lip and eyed the man in the bed. “I know you turned the area over to me, Lola. I am free to take this assignment. It’s more that this patient wants a nurse with more experience. But I understand. Enjoy your trip. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

Rio glared. “Did I question your experience? I just don’t want anybody caring for me at my ranch.” He rubbed the furrows that’d formed between his eyebrows. “Can you cut me some slack? I feel like I’m navigating through fog.”

Binney reopened his record. “I see you are on a heavy-duty opioid. Are you aware that you sustained serious injuries? While you’re here you should let them do whatever they can to keep you pain-free. Really, though, I am happy to hear you’d rather not take painkillers. Once you get home and settled we can certainly start cutting back.” Jerking upright, she keyed out and guiltily met his searing gaze. “Uh, that’s providing you elect to hire me. I didn’t mean to be pushy. Dr. Layton called Lola Vickers, but she’s not available.”

“Do I need to decide right now? I’ve been tossed off horses before, and even been kicked in the head. After those docs patched me up I recuperated on my own at the ranch. Anyway, the Lonesome Road, my ranch, is well named. It’s two hundred acres in the middle of nowhere.” He gestured with his hand and once again the IV lines rattled. “Someone like you would get bored there before a day passed.”

She began backing toward the door. Seeing the shape he was in she probably shouldn’t take personally his reluctance to hire her. After she’d taken over from Lola as the only private duty nurse in the ranch community around Abilene, her jobs were mostly caring for ranchers or their wives following simple surgeries. There was Tom Parker, who’d been gored by a bull and gangrene had set in. Besides nursing she’d done their cooking so Tom’s wife could get their cattle to market. She could handle McNabb’s job.

To be honest she felt rattled over the possibility of working for the fancied McNabb brother. Someone who had matured and had definitely gotten more muscular. Even amid all his casts and bandages, and with the scruff of a five o’clock shadow, Rio McNabb was still handsome as sin. Had he become better looking than Ryder? The deeper question—was he nicer?

Quickly contemplating what it’d be like to share his home if it was as remote as he indicated, all while handling his most intimate needs, left her thinking this was probably a bad idea.

She was almost out the door when Rio called, “Hey. In high school, did you date my brother?”