CHAPTER ONE

      JENNIFER RODRIGUEZ stared up at the office building in downtown Midland. Inside was her salvation, the only person in the world who might be able to help her in this time of crisis. Though she hadn’t seen him since that day almost a month ago, she was hoping Ryan Madison remembered his promise to her as she’d left him at the hospital in San Antonio.

      If there’s ever anything I can do for you, don’t hesitate to call.

      He’d taken her hand as he thanked her, though she couldn’t understand his gratitude. She’d walked into his life, dropped a bombshell of atomic proportions, then walked away. The chaos she’d wreaked on Ryan Madison’s life would reverberate for years to come. Jennifer sighed softly. The only satisfaction she’d found in the completed assignment was that she’d tried to help a little girl who wanted nothing more than to grow up strong and healthy. Ryan had been tested but was only a remote match.

      But then just days later, a compatible donor had unexpectedly been found, a nearly perfect match for Lucy. Yesterday, Carolyn St. Clair had called from the San Antonio office of Finders Keepers, her voice filled with excitement, to say Lucy was so much better that she would be going home the very next day. She also passed on the good news that she and Ben Mulholland had exchanged wedding vows in Lucy’s hospital room. They’d be a real family now.

      Jennifer thought back to the day she met Ryan, a day so full of startling revelations. She’d never expected to become so emotionally entangled in a case, her concern for both Lucy Mulholland and Ryan Madison weighing heavily on her mind. In truth, she hadn’t had a case of such magnitude since she’d started working in the tiny private investigations firm in downtown Odessa. That was probably because the Mulholland case had been her first real case—sort of.

      She’d begun work at Budnicki-Morales Private Investigations a week after she’d graduated from the University of Texas-El Paso, leaving her family and hometown for an exciting life of her own in a brand-new city. The two veteran investigators had advertised for a bookkeeper and office manager at the campus job placement center and she’d found the possibility of working for private investigators intriguing. And Odessa was just far enough away from El Paso-282 miles to be exact—that her parents’ interference in her life was minimal.

      Carmen and Diego had been so proud. She was the first Rodriguez to graduate college. And with a degree in accounting, she’d always be able to find work, setting a fine example for her four younger siblings. But from the first time she’d balanced the books for the two crusty old P.I.s, she’d known that she wasn’t cut out to simply count the company’s pennies. She wanted to be an investigator, just like Ralph Budnicki and Roy Morales.

      She got her first break when Lily and Dylan Garrett started referring work from Finders Keepers in San Antonio. The workload doubled almost instantly with missing persons cases for the two licensed P.I.s and Jennifer found herself doing more and more investigative work. Recently she’d been promoted to assistant investigator by Ralph and Roy and had begun taking night classes to get her P.I. license.

      She’d worked the Mulholland case from start to finish, and though a licensed investigator should have been the one to approach Ryan Madison, both Ralph and Roy thought Jennifer better suited to handle such a highly charged emotional situation. There was a benefit to being the only woman in the office.

      Right now, Jennifer was thankful for the fates that had put her in Ryan Madison’s path. She smoothed her palms over the bodice of her cotton dress, ran her fingers through her perpetually windblown hair and started toward the front entrance to the office building. She’d reviewed her strategy over and over again, planning the exact words she would say to him, the perfect way to convince him to go along with her plan.

      But there was one part of her plan she still hadn’t refined—the exact moment to tell him she was pregnant. Should she just blurt it out at the start or should she chat for a few minutes before carefully steering the conversation in that direction? Should she offer an explanation about the baby’s father or would it be better to gloss over that particular lapse in judgment?

      At this point Ryan seemed her only hope. The prospect of telling her parents had been hanging over her head like a dark cloud for months, and it was only after she met Ryan Madison that she’d decided on a strategy. He had a good heart. Though he’d wanted to deny all she’d told him about his parentage, in the end, he’d done the right thing. He’d tried to give Lucy Mulholland a chance at life.

      She stepped inside the quiet, air-conditioned lobby and headed toward the elevators, plucking at the damp fabric of her dress. For early October, the weather in West Texas had been unbearably hot. Though she wanted to appear fresh and confident for this meeting, she knew she looked damp and wrinkled.

      As she rode the elevator to the seventh floor, she tried to slow her pounding heart. Was she really so nervous asking for his help, or was the prospect of seeing Ryan Madison again too much to bear? She couldn’t deny she found him attractive. Not just physically, though his broad shoulders, narrow waist and long legs were not lost on her. Nor was his handsome face, the high forehead and sculpted cheekbones, the impossibly straight nose.

      On the outside he appeared supremely confident, but she’d seen a side of him that Jennifer suspected he didn’t show to the rest of the world. A side he kept hidden behind his striking hazel eyes. There was a vulnerability about him, and a depth of character that wasn’t apparent at first glance. He’d probably had his share of women, but she wondered if any of them knew the real Ryan Madison.

      Jennifer stepped off the elevator and came face-to-face with a wide glass door. Fine lettering told her she’d found the place—Madison Drilling and Oil. Drawing a deep breath, she stepped inside and crossed the plush reception area to the front desk. “Good afternoon. I’d like to see Ryan Madison.”

      The receptionist frowned. “Do you have an appointment?”

      “No,” Jennifer said. “But I called earlier and his secretary told me he’d be in the office after lunch.”

      “Then you have a delivery for him?” she asked.

      “Not exactly. At least not right now. But I do need to talk to him.”

      “I’m sorry, miss, but I’m afraid he can’t see you without an appointment.”

      “Can