Fortune's Texas Surprise, page 19
“Hello. I’m Stephanie Fortune,” she introduced herself.
The woman offered her hand. “I’m Faye Donovan.”
Stephanie shook her hand, while hoping she didn’t look as nervous as she felt. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Please, just call me Faye. All my friends do.”
Was she implying she wanted them to be friends? Oh Lord, just how much did Faye know about her son’s relationship with Stephanie? Didn’t she know it was over between them? Except that it couldn’t ever be over entirely, Stephanie thought sickly. Not with the baby coming.
Clearing her throat, she said, “All right. And please, call me Stephanie.”
“Thanks, I will.” Smiling again, Faye gestured to the cat carrier. “Samson seems to have something wrong with his paw. I tried to look at it myself, but he’s not the most cooperative cat on the ranch.”
“Dr. Neil has already left for the day,” Stephanie explained. “But I’ll see what I can do for him. If that’s okay.”
“That would be great,” Faye said brightly. “Samson is an outdoor cat and he loves to roam and get into mischief. I’m thinking he might have stepped on a mesquite thorn.”
“That’s possible,” Stephanie agreed, while Faye unlatched the door on the carrier. “Is he friendly with strangers?”
“The only thing I’ve ever seen Samson bite is another cat,” Faye answered. “I can’t predict how he’ll react to you. But Acton says you’re a genius with animals, so I’m sure you won’t have a problem.”
Yes, Acton had praised her work as a veterinarian assistant. But as a woman, she wasn’t sure what he was thinking or feeling.
“I hope you’re right,” Stephanie replied.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the large, black tomcat to cozy up to Stephanie and she quickly went about examining all four feet.
“Are you sure Samson was limping earlier?” Stephanie asked a few minutes later as she stroked the cat’s back. “He appears to be walking up and down the exam table just fine and I don’t find a thing wrong with any of his pads.”
Stephanie didn’t miss the sheepish expression stealing across Faye’s face.
“Samson always was a little faker,” she said. “He’ll do anything for attention.”
“I guess he’s decided he’s over his lameness now,” Stephanie replied.
Faye’s chuckle was riddled with guilt. “I’m sorry, Stephanie. You’ve caught me red handed. There’s nothing wrong with Samson. I just used him as an excuse to see you.”
Stephanie had already come to that conclusion. Still it was a surprise to hear Faye admit it.
“To see me? Why?”
Shaking her head, Faye said, “In spite of how this looks, I’m actually not an interfering mother. But this one time, it’s just that I can see—the whole family can see—that Acton is in a bad way. He’s not behaving like himself, at all. And I thought you might want to know. To talk with him. Maybe?”
These past few days since she and Acton had quarreled had been some of the worst of Stephanie’s life. To think that Acton might be hurting, too, jarred her already ragged senses. “So he told you we argued?”
“No. The last time Acton mentioned you was when he asked me about having you over for dinner one night soon. I happily agreed. And then a day or two later, his mood just completely changed. He became a complete grouch, with hardly a word for anyone. His father and I didn’t have to wonder what was wrong. We knew something must have gone wrong between the two of you.”
The pain in Stephanie’s chest was smothering her and she had to look away from Faye’s perceptive gaze before she could speak. “I haven’t heard from Acton in the past few days. I think he’s decided I’m not right for him.”
Faye sighed. “And what about what you’ve decided? Do you feel the same way? That he’s not right for you?”
The question caused Stephanie’s gaze to swing back to Faye’s concerned face. “No! I mean, I thought we were perfect for each other. And then...this thing with Linus’s father happened and, well, now everything is just...awful.”
Faye stepped forward and gently patted Stephanie’s arm. “I’m sorry, Stephanie. God knows I didn’t come here to upset you. I understand you have enough problems without my interference.”
She had problems, all right, Stephanie thought glumly. Far more than Faye could know. “Then you know about Linus?”
Faye nodded. “Acton has talked a lot about you and the baby. When he told us about the father coming we could see he was crushed about the whole thing.”
“Yes. So am I.”
A moment of awkward silence passed and then Faye said, “I understand that you’re probably thinking Acton isn’t ready to settle down. It’s no secret that he’s dated plenty of women. I’m sure you’ve been told that. But until he met you he was never serious about any of them. Whatever you’re thinking, Stephanie, he’s a good, hard-working man. And he loves children. That’s all I’m going to say. Except that I hope you two can patch things up, because I have a feeling you and I could be great friends.”
With tears stinging the back of her eyes, Stephanie did her best to smile. “Thank you, Faye. I won’t forget what you’ve said.”
But in the end would it make any difference? Stephanie didn’t know. The only thing she knew for certain was that Acton had chosen to walk away from her, and in the next few hours Linus would be out of her life. Those two realities were almost more than she could bear.
* * *
That evening, Stephanie and Linus, along with her three brothers, were in the great room of the Fame and Fortune Ranch house, waiting for Eric Johnson to arrive.
In the past days since Stephanie had spoken with child services and set up the meeting with Linus’s father, Steven had taken it upon himself to research the man’s background. He was thirty-five, a native of the Houston area and a wealthy businessman who owned a trucking firm that operated nationwide. He was currently single and from what information Steven had gathered, he’d been dating Linus’s mother. But something had obviously gone awry between the two of them and Laurel had ended things abruptly.
Two days ago, Stephanie had spoken over the phone to the social worker dealing with Linus’s case and the woman had explained that Eric had provided the agency with a letter that Laurel had written to him. He’d also produced signed documents from friends who knew both Laurel and Eric, stating that the two had been in a real relationship. The information had been enough to warrant a DNA test. And now he was coming to collect his son. His baby.
Each time those words tried to enter Stephanie’s brain, she fought them like a tigress protecting her cubs. No matter what kind of papers Eric had provided, or what the lab test said, as far as she was concerned, Linus had been her baby for more than two months now. Everything inside her screamed that he belonged with her.
“Stephanie, are you okay? Would you like for me to put Linus in his bassinet?”
She looked around to see that Steven had come to stand next to the rocker, where she clung to Linus and hummed the Texas sandman lullaby to him.
Oh, God, if she could only turn back to all those times she and Acton and Linus had been together as a family. Her heart had been full then. Now it was nothing but a ragged ball of pain.
Acton is in a bad way. He’s not behaving like himself at all. Faye’s words drifted through her mind, causing the pain in her heart to intensify.
“No,” she said hoarsely. “I want to hold him. This might be the last time.”
He was studying her with a worried look when the doorbell suddenly rang. Stephanie flinched.
“I’ll answer it,” Callum offered.
When he returned to the great room, he was followed by a tall young man with light brown hair and a middle-aged woman wearing a plain dark suit.
Dillon and Steven promptly walked over to join them, while Stephanie remained frozen in the rocker, her fingers clenched to Linus’s blanket.
She could hear her brothers introducing themselves, and then a few more pleasantries were exchanged before the man stepped away from the group and began walking toward her.
He was dressed in an expensive-looking sports jacket, dark slacks and a pair of Italian loafers. By the casual way he wore the clothing, Stephanie could tell he was a man who was accustomed to having the best of things.
He came to a stop a few feet in front of her chair and the knots that were already tying her stomach twisted even tighter. “You must be Stephanie,” he said. “I’m Eric Johnson. Nice to meet you.”
With Linus in her arms, she rose from the rocker and extended a hand to him. “Yes, I’m Stephanie,” she said automatically. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Johnson.”
His gaze immediately dropped to Linus and a bright smile spread across his face. “So this is my son. I’ve been waiting for this moment and now that it’s here, I, uh, well, I’m blown away. He’s incredible!”
Her throat was clamped so tight she had to swallow twice before she could utter a reply. “Linus is a very special little guy.”
His gaze was full of awe as he continued to look down at Linus. “Dr. Green has shared all his medical history, but you’re the person who can tell me about his personality. Does he cry much?”
Since she’d learned of Eric Johnson’s existence, she’d thought of him only as a shadowy figure who’d be taking Linus away from her. She’d not pictured him as a father seeing his baby for the first time. She’d not imagined him wanting this baby as much as she wanted him. She could see now how misguided her thinking had been.
Drawing in a bracing breath, she said, “Linus is a very good baby. If he cries it’s usually because he’s hungry or wants his diaper changed. He never has a tummy ache and only spits up on occasion. He loves his bottle and usually wakes just once in the night around two.”
Eric extended his arms toward the baby. “If you don’t mind, I’d really like to hold him.”
“Of course.” Her response sounded brittle, but he was too busy plucking Linus from her arms to notice.
Feeling as though she was about to crack into a million pieces, Stephanie watched him carefully position Linus in the crook of his arm.
“My son,” he said with a wealth of tenderness. “You and I have lots of catching up to do.”
I guess it would be best for Linus to have his real dad. And probably best for you.
As she watched a look of awe come over Eric Johnson’s face, Acton’s words drifted through her mind, haunting her with the truth. Even in Stephanie’s distraught state of mind she could see this moment was monumental for him, and despite the pain she was feeling, she realized she couldn’t resent the man for wanting his own child.
“Excuse me,” she told him. “I need to speak with my brothers.”
Leaving father and son, she walked across the room to her brothers and the social worker. The woman’s features were haggard, her shoulders slumped. No doubt, the consequences of a stressful job, Stephanie concluded.
“I’m Margaret Malloy,” she said, politely introducing herself to Stephanie. “I want to thank you, especially, for making this transfer easy for everyone concerned.”
Easy? There wasn’t anything easy about having her heart ripped out of her chest, Stephanie thought. But there was no point in piling her misery on this woman. It wasn’t Margaret Malloy’s fault that this series of events had touched all their lives.
“I want what’s best for Linus,” she said simply.
Sensing Stephanie’s frazzled emotions, the agent gave her an empathetic smile. “I’ll go take a look at the baby and give you a few minutes alone with your brothers.”
After the woman excused herself and walked away, Steven took one look at Stephanie’s face and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Stay strong, honey. You’ll get through this.”
“Sure,” she said stiffly. “I’ll get through.”
“You should take comfort in the fact that Eric appears to be a good guy,” Callum said to her. “And he truly wants his son.”
“What about Laurel?” Stephanie asked. “Has he heard from her?”
“No. But he has a few ideas about where she might’ve gone,” Steven said. “He’s already talked to the authorities about her.”
“Hell of a way for a man to find out he’s a father,” Dillon said, lowering his voice so that only the four of them could hear. “Getting a letter from his ex-girlfriend telling him she was carrying his baby.”
Steven said, “Yeah, that was bad enough. But he had no idea where she or his unborn child had gone to. It wasn’t until he saw a news article about a woman going into labor in Rambling Rose, then later leaving the baby at the pediatric center and disappearing into the wild blue. He considered it a long shot that the story might be about Laurel, but he decided to look into it. I’m not sure how I’d handle that kind of shock to the senses.”
Stephanie’s eyes burned with unshed tears. “It’s pretty obvious he’s not going to change his mind and decide to leave Linus here with me.”
Callum shook his head. “Sorry, honey. No chance of that happening. He’s walking on air.”
Drawing in a shuddering breath, she said, “I have Linus’s things all packed. I’ll go get them.”
“I’ll help you,” Steven told her.
As soon as they returned from Stephanie’s suite with Linus’s belongings, Eric and the agent were ready to leave.
Thankfully, he was thoughtful enough to allow Stephanie a moment alone with Linus and she carried the baby to a private spot in the room.
“My sweet little boy, I love you so,” she whispered as she smoothed a finger over his soft hair. “I have to tell you goodbye now. If Acton was here he’d tell you goodbye, too.”
As though he understood, the baby let out a short cry and boxed the air with his little fist.
Smiling through her tears, she bent and placed a kiss on his forehead and drew in his baby scent one last time. Then, squaring her shoulders, she carried him back to his waiting father.
“Please keep me updated on how he’s doing,” she told him through the tightness in her throat.
“I will,” he promised. “And thanks again for taking such good care of my son.”
Seeing Stephanie was about to break apart, Callum quickly ushered the three toward the foyer. “I’ll see you out,” he told them.
Stephanie watched until Linus and his father disappeared. By then, Steven was at her side, patting her hand in an effort to console her.
“Linus has his father in his life now,” he said. “Just concentrate on that good thought.”
A real parent. In a little more than eight months she and Acton were going to be real parents. They just weren’t going to be parents together.
Dillon stepped forward and peered closely at her face. “Stephanie? Are you okay? You look white.”
As she looked helplessly at both brothers, her stomach roiled in protest.
“I—I’m sorry! I’m going to be sick!”
She raced to the nearest bathroom and as she threw up over the commode, she thought about Acton and how she was going to face him with the news about their baby.
Chapter Fourteen
Linus is now in Houston with his father. Get it together. Stephanie needs you.
Acton had been trying to force a few bites of breakfast down his throat this morning, when the text message from Dillon had arrived. And he’d had to read it several times over before the reality of it had finally sunk into his weary brain.
Linus was truly gone and he couldn’t begin to imagine the pain that Stephanie must be going through. He wanted to console her. To take away all the hurt she was feeling. But did she really need him now? Would she forgive him for walking away? For not understanding?
These past few days without her, he’d been trying to convince himself that she was better off without him. That she’d be better off with a man who could give her all the things she was accustomed to having in her life. Things that he could never give her.
But now as he drove through the rain toward the Fame and Fortune Ranch, he desperately wanted to believe that his love would be enough for her.
* * *
After a fitful night, with hardly any sleep, Stephanie was in such an awful state, she was forced to call Paws and Claws and tell them she was too sick to make it into work. It was the first time she’d ever missed work for any reason and she felt guilty about it. But her brothers had convinced her she was right. She couldn’t face work after going through the trauma of losing Linus.
What were her brothers going to think when they learned that not all of her misery was over Linus? That she was pregnant by the cowboy they’d feared would break her heart?
Oh, God, could it get any worse?
Finding no answers in the spring rain collecting in puddles on the walkway, she turned away from the window of her private suite in the ranch house and sat down on the couch.
After switching on a large, flat-screen TV attached to the opposite wall, she punched through dozens of channels before pushing the off button. She couldn’t focus on anything. Her thoughts continued to vacillate between Linus and Acton.
Was the baby okay? Was Eric Johnson holding him, loving him? Was he doing all the things that Linus needed to be happy and healthy?
Her heart felt heavy, and she heaved out a sigh as she tried to accept the fact that she couldn’t do anything about Linus now. But it was a different matter with Acton. Somehow she was going to have to find the strength to face him and tell him about the coming baby. Whether he had any deep feelings for her or not, he had a right to know that the two of them had created a child.
