Fortune's Heart

“She’s getting more interested in food,” Stacey said. “Especially whatever I’m eating.”

“Can’t blame her. What does she get? Dry cereal? She looks as if she wants to reach right over and grab the rest of your sandwich. You’re clearly starving her.”

“Right,” Stacey said, shooting him a mock chastising look. “This is probably more than you want to know, but she’s allowed to have strained and pureed fruits, vegetables and meats.”

Colton made a face. “I didn’t hear hamburger on that list.”

“She doesn’t have any teeth. She’d have to gum it,” Stacey said.

A woman stopped by their table. “Why, Stacey Jones. I haven’t seen you in ages.”

Stacey recognized the woman as a member of her church. Stacey had missed quite a few Sundays since Piper had been born. Truth be told, she’d missed more than she’d attended since she’d gotten pregnant. “Mrs. Gordon, it’s good to see you. How is your family?” Stacey asked as she stood and gave the woman a hug.

“We’re hanging in there. My husband has had a terrible time with gout, but we keep plugging. Look at your baby. She’s just gorgeous,” Mrs. Gordon said, and glanced at Colton in confusion. “Colton Foster, right? For some reason, I thought your fiancé’s name was Joe.”

Stacey’s stomach knotted. “He was. Joe moved to Dallas. But Piper is thriving, as you can see.”

“Yes, she is. And how nice for both of you to have big, strong Colton around,” Mrs. Gordon said in a coy voice.

“Hmm,” Stacey said, so ready for the woman to move along. “Thank you for stopping by,” she said. “And please give your husband my best.”

She sank back onto her seat. “Why does everyone have to know everything about everyone around here?” she muttered and took a sip of her hot chocolate. She wondered how long she would be answering questions about Joe and why they weren’t together. At this point, it looked like forever.

After they finished their meal, Colton drove Stacey and Piper back to Stacey’s house. “You’re awfully quiet,” he said.

“I know I said that we have to expect people to talk here in Horseback Hollow because that’s what they do, but I hate having to talk about Joe. People always look at me with pity. Poor Stacey. She couldn’t keep her man,” she said.

“Joe’s leaving wasn’t your fault. He couldn’t handle the responsibility of a baby. He’s the loser in this situation, not you,” he said. “If you need another way of looking at it, aren’t you glad that you and Piper aren’t stuck with a man who doesn’t love you? You deserve better than that.”

“When he first left, I was in shock. I couldn’t believe he would abandon his own child and me. It made me wonder if I ever really knew him,” she said.

“Do you wish he would come back and the two of you could get back together?” Colton asked.

“I did for a while,” she confessed. “It sounded like the perfect ending to a fairy tale that had gotten off track. But I don’t know that I would ever be able to trust him again. I do know that I’m not the same woman who fell for him years ago. I just wish he wouldn’t have rejected Piper. That’s the worst part,” she said.

Colton pulled the car to a stop in the Joneses’ driveway. He leaned toward her. “I’m not sure this little outing cheered you up all that much.”

She blinked at him. “I didn’t know that was the purpose,” she said. “I thought we just wanted to spend some time together. We did that with no meltdowns from Piper, and I had terrific hot chocolate and company.”

“You’re some kind of woman, Stacey, and don’t you forget it,” he said as he lowered his mouth to take hers in a delicious kiss.

Stacey felt her heart race. Her body immediately responded. His kiss triggered all sorts of forbidden emotions and sensations. She slid her hands beneath his jacket to pull him closer. He responded by nearly hauling her onto his lap.

“Damn this console,” he muttered and kissed her again. He slid one of his hands from her waist upward to her breast.

Her nipples turned hard, and she felt her need for him pool in all her secret places. “Oh, Colton,” she whispered and scrubbed at his chest, wishing she could feel his naked skin.

His kiss turned hot with want and need, and she strained toward him, her body and mind recalling how good he’d felt inside her. She wanted him that way again. Now.

The sound of Piper gurgling and talking her baby language penetrated past the mist of arousal crowding her mind. Colton froze. Stacey did the same.

Frustration nicked through her. “This is hard,” she said.

“In more ways than one,” Colton said, his voice taut with forced denial. “Between you living with your parents and me living at the ranch, I feel like a randy teenager,” he said and pulled back.

Stacey felt the same sense of dissatisfaction she heard in his voice. “What do you usually do? How do you usually handle things when you and a woman—” She broke off, wondering if she really wanted to know about Colton’s previous partners.

“That’s part of the reason I want a place of my own,” Colton said. “Privacy. But I’ve felt as if I needed to keep an eye on my father, and I haven’t wanted to tell my parents I want to build. The time is coming sooner than later, though. In the past, the women had their own places or we spent the night in Vicker’s Corners.”

“A whole night?” she echoed. “I’m trying to imagine spending the whole night away from home without a lot of questions.” She sighed. “I wish this were easier.”

He kissed her lightly on the mouth as if he didn’t want to get anything started between them again. “Most good things don’t come easy. Let me walk you and Piper to the door.”

Stacey said good-night to Colton and walked through the door. No sooner had she closed the door behind her than her brother Jude appeared.

“So, you went out with Colton again? Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Taken aback by his confrontational manner, she tilted her head at him. “I enjoyed Colton’s company, a grilled cheese sandwich and hot chocolate. Is there anything wrong with that?”

“Well, not really,” Jude said.

“We had a chaperone. Nothing naughty happened. Trust me, nothing naughty can happen,” she grumbled.

“I just want you to be careful. I don’t want to see you get hurt like you did with Joe,” he said.

“Colton is nothing like Joe. Nothing,” she said, and took Piper to the nursery. It was true that Colton was nothing like Joe, but Colton had never asked her to marry him. Stacey felt a stab of concern that Colton wasn’t interested in being anybody’s baby daddy, which also meant he wouldn’t want to be Piper’s daddy.

That night when she went to bed, it took her a long time to fall asleep.

* * *

Colton did a last check around the north pasture, then returned to the house. Grabbing a cup of decaf, he sank onto one of the recliners in the den. He halfway watched a basketball game through his drooping eyes. Feeling himself drift for a few moments, he awakened when his father walked into the room and got into the other recliner.

“Hey,” Colton said.

His father nodded.

“You worn out from the second day of the winter festival?” Colton asked.

His father gave a heavy sigh. “Your mother insists on staying for the whole thing, and she wants me to stay with her.”

“Your back okay?” Colton asked.

“A little sore. Nothing unusual,” his dad said.

“Any time you want to go for lunch in Vicker’s Corners, I’m glad to take you. There’s a chiropractor there,” he said.

“Chiropractor?” his father said. “Don’t they crack your bones and put you in traction? Sounds as if that would make you worse.”