she was born. She’d celebrated so many holidays and Sundays in this place. As soon as she walked inside with Piper in her arms, she saw several familiar faces. She waved at each of her neighbors, then took her seat with her parents.
Piper did well until the minister began to speak. She got a little squirmy, but Stacey couldn’t blame her. There’d been plenty of times she had gotten fidgety when a minister spoke. Despite her squirminess, Piper didn’t let out a peep until the congregation sang a benediction.
“Good job,” she said, praising the baby, and left the pew. Several people greeted her and made a fuss over Piper. There was no mention of Joe, but Stacey was prepared in case someone did. She made her way to the back of the church and found Rachel waiting for her with open arms.
“I decided to come to church at the last minute today. I’m so glad I did. Look at you and Miss Piper,” she said, squeezing the baby’s hand. “All dressed up for church. She must have done well during the service. I didn’t hear her.”
“She, ahem, sang during the benediction,” Stacey said.
Rachel giggled. “Good for her. She’ll be in the choir before you know it. Listen, I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch with you. Changing careers to education and doing my student teaching has made me crazy. I had no idea how much time the lesson plans and parent meetings would take.”
“No worries,” Stacey said. “I know you’ve been busy.”
“Not so busy that I should be the last to know that you are dating my brother,” Rachel said.
Stacey groaned. “Oh, no. Not you, too. It seems as if everyone has an opinion about us seeing each other. And it’s not as if either of us has any privacy where we live.”
Rachel raised her eyebrows. “Privacy?” she echoed. “You want privacy with my brother?”
Stacey shook her head and waved her hand. “Forget I said anything.”
“You sound like Colton,” Rachel said. “He didn’t want to talk about it either.”
“Well, who wants to talk about a relationship when it’s first starting? Who knows where this will go? Colton has a lot on his mind with your father’s back problem. He keeps trying to talk your dad into seeing a doctor, but your father won’t go. Colton says he’s got to stay one step ahead of your dad to keep him from hurting himself.”
Rachel nodded. “My father avoids doctors at nearly all cost.”
“I think Colton wonders if you might be more successful with your father than he has been,” Stacey said, hoping she’d managed to distract Rachel from her questions. “I need to get Piper home to change and feed her, so I need to head out to my car.”
Rachel tagged along. “Well, just so you know, I’m all for this. Colton is a great guy, and you’re the best friend I could ever have. He would be lucky to get you, and in a way, maybe you would be lucky to get him, too. Especially after Joe,” she said.
“I don’t want my relationship with Colton to have anything to do with Joe,” Stacey said as she buckled the baby into her car seat. “I want to leave that behind.”
“Kinda hard to do when Joe is Piper’s father,” Rachel said.
“He’s been invisible for over a year. I need to move on,” she said.
Rachel met her gaze and nodded. “Good for you. But when it comes to my brother, you need to know something,” she said and lowered her voice. “He’s slow at making the moves, so you may have to help him along.”
Stacey bit her lip to keep from laughing at Rachel’s warning. She couldn’t help thinking of the scorching lovemaking she’d experienced with Colton. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she managed.
“Good,” Rachel said. “I’ll call you soon. Maybe I could babysit for you sometime.”
“You may have a hard time squeezing me in with your student teaching,” Stacey said.
“Maybe,” Rachel conceded and gave Stacey a hug. “But I have three reasons to try to make that happen.”
“Three?” Stacey said, hugging her in return.
“My brother, you and me. Wouldn’t it be cool if you were both my best friend and sister-in-law?”
The possibility gave Stacey a jolt. “Oh, Rachel, don’t go there. These are very early days.”
“Well, it’s not as if you haven’t known each other forever.”
“Yes, but I haven’t always had a baby. I’m not at all sure Colton is ready to be a father to a child that isn’t really his.”
“He might need a little persuading, but I think it could be done.” Rachel shivered. “It’s too cold for me out here. I’ll call you.”
Stacey watched Rachel race to her car and tried to unhear the words she’d just heard, but it was like trying to unring a bell. What if she and Colton got married? Was it even a possibility? Her heart squeezed tight with a myriad of emotions. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She shouldn’t even think about it.
* * *
The next day, Colton went into town to get some equipment to repair some fences and overheard a couple of workers talking about something happening at the bar.
“So, what’s going on?” he asked.
“Live music at the Two Moon Saloon on Tuesday,” the worker said.
“Really? I can’t remember the last time there was live music at the bar,” Colton mused.
“And I hear there might be dancing,” the worker said. “I’m taking my girlfriend.”
“Hmm,” Colton said. He wondered if Stacey would be able to go on such short notice. On the way home, he called and left a message about the live music and continued on with his chores.
Stacey must have returned his call while he was out fixing a fence. Her mom would keep Piper. She sounded excited. He hoped that whoever was performing didn’t bomb. The smile he heard in Stacey’s voice did strange things to his gut. He felt a little lighter, a little less burdened as he pulled into the driveway to his house. His conversation with his father had kept him awake for an extra hour last night, but Colton knew he wanted to spend time with Stacey and she felt the same way about him. He knew his mother and father shouldn’t be involved in this decision, and if they intervened again, he would have to speak his piece.
Colton stomped up the steps to the house with the winter wind whistling through his coat. He was dog-tired and all he wanted was a home-cooked meal. If that wasn’t available, he would heat some canned soup and make a sandwich.
“Hiya,” Rachel called as he passed the den. She appeared to be doing lesson plans or grading papers.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
“I wish I’d earned my first degree in education. This is so time-consuming,” she said.
“I’m not sure it changes much, sis,” he said. “I never hear teachers talking about how much extra time they have.”
“True, I guess,” she said. “But I like it, so maybe I won’t notice the time.”
He nodded. “I’m gonna get whatever is available in the kitchen.”
“Wait,” she said, scrambling to her feet. “I talked to Stacey at church yesterday,” she said.
“Great,” he said and moved toward the kitchen.
“I also talked to her today. Amazing what I can learn about my brother from his girlfriend,” she said, following him.
He shot her a quelling glance.
“What I mean is I didn’t realize how bad Dad’s back is. Stacey said you’ve offered to take him