Avery Johnson, like every cowboy in Cactus Gulch, has sown his share of wild oats. But waking up to find a six-month-old baby on his doorstep leaves him scratching his head. He might know how to soothe a nervous herd, but he has no idea how to care for a crying infant. He needs to find its mother fast or hire a nanny on the double. Halley Thorpe works at the big house on the Diamond D ranch. She's content to let work help her forget a disastrous marriage. When Avery Johnson shows up with a babe in arms, she wants to stay away. Yet one bat of the baby's long dark lashes and the tight grasp of five tiny fingers and she finds herself hooked. Will helping Avery fulfill the ache in her heart, or is she setting herself up for a disastrous fall when she realizes she's in love with the cowboy who has a baby on his doorstep?