did you give him twenty-four hours?” Stacey asked.
Colton shrugged his shoulders and winced slightly. He looked away, then back at her. “I’m in love with you. I don’t know exactly when it happened or how. It just did. I fell in love with you. And Piper. Maybe I shouldn’t have threatened Joe—”
“Stop,” she said breathlessly and nearly fell out of the chair. “Did you just say you love me?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, I did.”
“And Piper. You love her, too?”
“I do,” he said, almost defiantly.
Stacey jumped from her chair and planted a kiss on his mouth. “I love you, too, Colton Foster. So very, very much.”
He met her gaze. “Are you sure?”
“Very, very sure. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world. Say it again, please. Say you love me again so I can be sure. I feel like I dreamed it.”
“I love you, Stacey Fortune Jones. I want you to be Stacey Fortune Jones Foster,” he said.
Her heart stopped in her chest. “I feel as if I’m walking in a dream.”
“I want to make your dreams come true as much as I possibly can,” he said. “Even if that means sitting in tiny chairs I’m afraid of breaking for the sake of having a tea party with Piper.”
Stacey’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Colton.”
Piper made a chirpy sound, and he turned to her. “I wanted to take this slow and be sensible, but life is too short. Stacey and Piper, will you marry me?”
“Yes, yes and yes,” Stacey said and kissed Colton again.
His parents walked into the room. “Everything okay?” Mrs. Foster asked.
“Everything’s great,” Colton said. “Stacey, Piper and I are getting married.”
“Well, thank goodness,” his mother said, her voice full of relief and emotion. “We couldn’t be happier.”
“I guess we’re going to have to build a house on the ranch for you three,” Mr. Foster said. “We’ll get started as soon as possible.”
“Dad, I’d really like you to see a doctor about your back. I don’t want you working on a house for me when you might hurt yourself.”
His father frowned and shrugged. “Your sister’s taking me for an appointment to see a doctor next week. I didn’t want to do it, but she told me I owed it to you. I’m gonna hire a full-time hand and a few part-time guys, too. It’s time. I’ve got more money in the bank than anyone knows, but don’t spread that around. We’ll get through. I just want you to get well.”
Stacey squeezed one of Colton’s hands. “This means you can concentrate on getting better,” she said. “That’s what we all want.”
* * *
The next day, Colton arrived home from the hospital and was recovering by leaps and bounds. His doctor called him superhuman because he was healing so quickly. Stacey constantly chided him to take his time and rest, but she could see he found it hard not to forge into his regular routine. She visited him every day, and every day, it seemed as if their love for each other grew stronger.
A few days after that, Colton stood with her in the den of her parents’ home. The room was usually a warm, welcoming place for family and visitors, but not today.
Today, the visitor was the biological father of her child. Stacey had fought the meeting with Joe, but Colton had insisted that she and Piper deserved some support from Joe. Stacey couldn’t be less interested in seeing Joe. In many ways, she didn’t want Piper exposed to such a man. She could only hope that someday he would grow up.
A knock sounded at the door, and she looked at Colton. “You’ll be okay,” he said. “I’m here with you. You’re just looking out for Piper. Remember that.”
Stacey took a deep breath and answered the door to her former fiancé and Piper’s biological father. He didn’t look nearly as handsome as she remembered. She wondered how that had happened. “Hi, Joe. Come on inside,” she said.
Joe entered with a slightly ill expression on his face. “Yeah, uh. I know I need to give you child support,” he said. “I should have done it before, but I just couldn’t face the idea that I had a child. I’ll catch up,” he promised.
“That’s good,” Stacey said. She wouldn’t thank him. This was long overdue. “Do you want to see her?”
Joe took a deep breath. “Yeah. Yeah. I want to see her,” he said as if he were facing the guillotine.
“I’ll go get her,” Stacey said, and collected Piper from her mother who was staying in the kitchen. Jeanne was still too angry with Joe to face him, and Stacey had made sure her father was working away from the house that day. She picked up her precious baby girl and carried her to the front foyer.
Joe stared at Piper for a long moment. “She’s beautiful.”
“Yes, she is and always has been,” Stacey said. “I can’t thank you for how you left us, but I can thank you for giving her to me.”
Joe pursed his lips together in sadness. “I’d like to try to see her every now and then.”
“I think she deserves that,” Stacey said. “I think she deserves the best you can give her.”
Joe gave a slow nod. “I don’t know how to be a good father. I never had one. I’m gonna need some hints and nudges. My father was never there for me when I needed him. I was afraid I couldn’t be a good father when you told me you were pregnant. That’s why I told you that you should—” He cleared his throat. “I was wrong,” he said in a gruff voice.
“You can put your meetings with Piper on your schedule on your smartphone calendar. You put your other appointments on there, don’t you?” Colton asked.
“Yeah. I never thought of that,” Joe said.
“You can start now, then,” Colton said. “Input a date three weeks from today to call Stacey about when you can see Piper.”
Joe pulled his cell phone from his pocket and tapped the information into his calendar. “Done. I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused you, Stacey. But I’m going to try and—” Joe glanced at Colton. “It looks like you’re in good hands now.”
Stacey smiled. “Best hands ever,” she said.
* * *
Ten days later, Rachel insisted on taking care of Piper for a full twenty-four-hour time period. Colton had completely recovered from the accident. He picked up Stacey and drove his new truck to Vicker’s Corners so they could take a stroll downtown and spend the night at a bed-and-breakfast after dinner.
“It’s perfect, but freezing,” Stacey said, snuggling her gloved hands in his.
“It’s the
