Stephanie laughed as Mack and Tallulah chased after the tennis ball she’d thrown toward the end of the long fenced run. With Tallulah’s short dachshund legs, she had to work twice as hard to keep up with the terrier, but neither of the small dogs could beat Buddy to the ball.
Proud of his accomplishment, the bigger dog trotted back to Stephanie and dropped the prize at her feet.
“Buddy, I think we can safely pronounce your leg fit as a fiddle. But if you want to keep Mack and Tallulah as your friends, you’re going to have to lag back and let them win some of the time.”
The dog whined and Stephanie was fondly petting the back of his neck, when she heard footsteps behind her.
Turning, she was more than surprised to see her three brothers standing near the entrance of the chain-link enclosure. Now what were they up to? she wondered as she saw Steven motion for her to join them.
Giving the three dogs final pats on the head, Stephanie walked down the run to where her brothers continued to wait.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as she got within hearing distance. “Has something happened?”
Steven was the one to answer. “No. We’d like to talk with you. And since you’ve been gone so much lately, we wanted to catch you while you’re home.”
Home. Strange how the last two and half weeks had changed her feelings about that one special word. Although her brothers didn’t know it, the Fame and Fortune Ranch didn’t feel like home to her anymore. Her suite of rooms, which were so lavishly furnished and supplied with anything and everything she could possibly need, didn’t feel nearly as comfortable and inviting as Acton’s old farmhouse.
Steven opened the gate to let her out of the dog run, then shut it carefully behind her.
Callum said, “Let’s go sit by the pool and get comfortable.”
Stephanie didn’t have time to get comfortable. She’d promised Acton that she and Linus would be over at his house by seven this evening.
“I can’t get too comfortable. I have a date,” she said.
Dillon cleared his throat and the awkward glances exchanged among the three brothers didn’t go unnoticed by Stephanie.
“Okay, what is this about? You three look like kids caught with your hands in the cookie jar.”
Callum pointed to a cushioned chaise lounge. “Sit down, Stephanie. We won’t keep you long. We promise.”
To keep the peace, she took a seat. Steven sat down in a chair opposite her, while Callum and Dillon chose to remain standing.
“Is something going on with Mom and Dad? Or our sisters?” Normally, Stephanie tried to talk with the family back in Fort Lauderdale on a weekly basis, but she’d been so busy these past few days that she’d not taken the time to call or text.
“No. They’re all fine,” Dillon assured her.
“It’s you that we’re worried about,” Steven said. “You’ve been going out practically every night for the past two weeks and—”
Seeing where the conversation was headed, Stephanie held up a hand. “That is my business. Just like where you three go is your business. I don’t try to butt into your lives, so why are you trying to butt into mine? It’s ridiculous!”
“Ridiculous? Really?” Steven said, shooting the questions back at her. “How many times have we seen you locked away in your room, crying your heart out because some jerk called it quits?”
Stephanie couldn’t believe how much she wanted to reach over and slap her brother’s face.
“Listen, Steven, maybe you think you’re trying to protect me, but what you’re doing to me is worse than dealing with a no-account boyfriend! I need for the three of you to believe in me! To trust me to use good judgment—not just about men, but every important decision. Instead, you treat me like a silly teenager with her head in the clouds.”
From the smirk on Steven’s face, she could see her remarks had rolled off his back without making a dent in his mind-set. “Have you ever stopped to think that’s what you’re acting like?” he asked.
Callum sighed, then said, “Look, Stephanie, you’re a Fortune. That makes things different for you.”
She looked at him with disbelief. “Are you saying that makes me better than other people? Better than Acton?”
Callum shook his head. “That’s not what I’m implying at all. It just means that there are some people out there who might want to take advantage of us—of you—because you are a Fortune. We just want you to take things slowly before you jump into a situation where you might get hurt.”
In spite of her being a foster mother to Linus and her new newfound feelings for Acton, her brothers couldn’t see that she was changing and evolving into a much stronger woman. They still saw her as gullible Stephanie, who’d never been able to pick a worthwhile man for herself. The idea cut her deeply.
Swallowing at the ball of emotion in her throat, she said, “So you think Acton is out to use me. Or he’s after my money. Is that it?”
“Stephanie! We didn’t say anything like that!” Dillon scolded.”
“No. You didn’t have to,” she said bitterly. “It’s pretty obvious that you’re all afraid I’m getting hooked up with a loser—again.”
“Look, Stephanie,” Stephen spoke up, “We’re not judging Acton. We don’t even know him—yet. We just want you to take your time and use your head. Not just your heart.”
Acton had opened her eyes and her heart, Stephanie thought. But trying to convince her brothers of that would be useless.
“Look, you three, I appreciate the fact that you want me to be happy. If that’s the real purpose behind this meeting,” she added crossly.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Steven asked, “What other motive would we have, except your happiness?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe all this high-rolling and wheeling and dealing you three have been doing around Rambling Rose has gone to your heads. Maybe you’re afraid I might marry my cowboy and that would embarrass all of you!”
“Oh, Stephanie!” Callum rolled his eyes. “It’s not that at all!”
Steven actually jumped to his feet. “Are you planning on marrying this Donovan guy?”
Was she already dreaming about becoming Acton’s wife? Of being the mother of his children? Even if she was, she had no idea if Acton’s future plans were headed in the same direction as hers. Yes, she’d spent every available night she could find with him, and during that time, their passion for each other hadn’t dimmed. It had only grown hotter. But that didn’t mean he was in love with her. Or that he wanted to make her his wife.
Yet even with the uncertainty of her future looming before her, Stephanie had never been so happy and she wasn’t about to let her three meddling brothers spoil it for her.
Jumping to her feet, she said, “I’d never tell you three what my personal plans are. You’d only try to ruin them!”
She hurried toward the house, leaving her brothers staring worriedly after her.
In spite of the drizzly morning, Acton, Shawn and their dad were trying to finish building a section of fence when the last spool of barbed wire they’d been stretching reached the end.
“Well, that’s it for now,” his father said as he tossed the empty spool into the back of his pickup truck. “It’s almost time for lunch, anyway. After I eat, I’ll drive into Rambling Rose and pick up a few more spools of wire. You guys go do what you want until I get back.”
The tall, lean man was in his midfifties, but looked and worked like a man twenty years younger. As Acton watched him step up into the truck and drive across the open pasture, he wondered if his mother had brought up the subject of Acton seeing Stephanie to his father. So far his dad hadn’t mentioned a word to him, but that didn’t mean he was unaware of his son’s new girlfriend. Ramsey Donovan had always been the kind of father who thought it best to let his older children make their own decisions—and their own mistakes—in order to learn from them.
“I think I’ll go back to the ranch house and eat with Mom and Dad,” Shawn said. “I didn’t bring any lunch with me, did you?”
“No. I’m going to drive into Rambling Rose and see if Stephanie can get away from Paws and Claws long enough to have lunch,” he told his brother.
The other man grinned. “So it’s gotten to the point where seeing her at night isn’t enough for you.”
Acton darted him an annoyed look. “What would you know about it, anyway?”
“Ha! I’m not blind, Acton. Neither is the rest of the family. We’ve been seeing Stephanie’s car parked at your place. You two have been keeping some pretty late hours.”
Acton tugged his hat down lower on his forehead and hoped it shaded the red blush creeping over his face.
“She’d rather come to my house than me go to hers.”
Shawn’s eyebrows arched with speculation. “Why? Because those snobbish brothers of hers don’t want you around?”
Acton grimaced. “They’re not snobs, Shawn. Not really. They’re just concerned about their sister’s happiness.”
“How can you be so benevolent? You told me they treated you like a doormat that night you were helping Stephanie with the baking. Have you talked with them since then?”
“No. But I plan to. Soon. They don’t understand what they’re doing to their sister.” It had taken him hours to calm her down from her brothers’ so-called “advice” when she’d finally arrived at his place last night.
Shawn shook his head. “By disapproving of you? Hell, Acton. I wouldn’t be talking to those guys—I’d be landing a few blows on their jaws.”
Acton rolled his eyes. “That would really show what a good guy I am.”
Shawn put a hand on Acton’s shoulder and pushed him toward the old work truck they’d driven to this isolated part of the ranch. “You know what they say about good guys, Acton. They always wind up with the short end of the stick. Think about it.”
Acton did think about it throughout the drive to Rambling Rose and even while he was sitting across from Stephanie in the fast-food restaurant. Making love to her had changed him in ways he’d never expected. Shawn would probably say she was making him soft and wimpy, but that really wasn’t the case. Loving her had given him the ability to see things through her eyes and it had made the world a different place for him.
Loving her. Had he already fallen in love with Stephanie? Was that what was causing the emptiness he felt whenever he was away from her? Oh, Lord, he might as well admit, at least to himself, just how smitten he was with the redheaded beauty.
“I’m glad you could get away for lunch,” he told her as he watched her bite into a cheeseburger. “You know I was thinking that for the exception of the Valentine fund-raiser, you and I haven’t been out on the town on a regular kind of date. How would you like to go to dinner one night? To a special place—just you and me?”
“Without Linus?”
She looked crushed, but Acton didn’t let her response put him off. “You deserve to treat yourself once in a while, Stephanie. Even parents hire babysitters and go out on occasion.”
With a nod of acquiescence, she said, “Yes, you’re right, Acton. I just feel...guilty about it, because I’m away from him during the day while I’m at work. And I hate to ask Becky to watch him. She has her hands full with her twins and then she’d tell Callum why I needed a sitter and he—”
“Wouldn’t like it,” Acton said grimly, finishing her thought. “Well, I can’t make Callum like me, but I can fix the babysitter issue. Mom would be only too happy to watch the little guy.”
Her mouth fell open. “I haven’t even met your mother! Gina is the only member of your family that I’ve met.”
“That’s something I want to change...soon.”
Her blue eyes wandered over his face as though she couldn’t believe what he was saying.
He reached across the table and took her hand. “Would you like to meet my parents?”
A smile curved the corners of her lips. “I would love to meet your family, Acton. I just hope they approve of me spending time with their son.”
“They will,” he promised. “Just wait and see.”
The muffled ring of a phone suddenly sounded from her purse and she frowned at the interruption. “Excuse me, Acton, I should look at this. It could be the clinic.”
He nodded his understanding and she took the call. The conversation was short, with Stephanie uttering only a few words. By the time she ended the call, her face was paper-white, her eyes wide. To say she looked stunned would be an understatement.
“Stephanie, what’s happened?”
She looked over at him and he could see tears pooling in her eyes.
“That was Dr. Green,” she said in a strained voice. “He had some news for me.”
Acton frowned. “I’m sorry. Who is Dr. Green?”
“He’s the head pediatrician at Rambling Rose Pediatric Center. He’s the doctor who came to Laurel’s aid when she first went into labor at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.”
“Laurel—you’re talking about Linus’s biological mother?”
Nodding, she thrust the phone back into her purse. “I’m sorry, Acton. I can’t eat. Would you mind if we get out of here? I’ll explain when we get outside.”
“No problem. Let’s go.”
Acton hurriedly gathered up the remainder of their meal and tossed it into the trash receptacle on the way out the door. Once they reached his truck, he helped her into the passenger seat, then took his place behind the steering wheel.
“Do you need to go see this Dr. Green?” he asked. “Is this something about Linus?”
Her expression sick, she said, “I don’t need to see Dr. Green. But it is about Linus. And I—I feel like my whole world has just turned upside down, Acton. I don’t know any other way to say it. Dr. Green says that Linus’s father has been located and he’s coming to Rambling Rose. I’ve known from the very start that it was a possibility that he or the mother might show up, but I... A part of me wanted to think that it might not happen. That I could end up being Linus’s adopted mother.”
Acton could understand why she felt her world was upended. He felt like someone had just whammed him in the head with a two-by-four. “Linus’s father? But with the mother saying he was out of the picture I assumed the guy probably didn’t want the baby. Looks like my assumption was wrong.” Shaking his head, he suddenly backtracked. “But maybe I’m wrong in thinking he does want the baby. Just because he’s coming to Rambling Rose doesn’t mean he wants to be a full-time parent to little Linus. It might just mean that he’s willing to help locate the mother.”
Stephanie shook her head. “He’d hardly need to come to Rambling Rose for that reason, Acton. No, it’s obvious. He’s coming for his son—my little baby—at least, my temporary baby!”
By the time the last words came out of her mouth, she was sobbing and Acton was sure his heart was going to break for her as he reached across the console and dragged her into his arms.
“Don’t cry, Stephanie. Everything will work out. Right now, you are Linus’s legal foster mother and this man might not even be able to prove he is the father.”
Sniffing, she drew her head back from his shoulder and used the back of her hand to wipe her teary eyes. “You’re right, Acton. I can’t fall apart now. I need to wait and see what this man is planning.”
“Did Dr. Green know when he’d be arriving in Rambling Rose?”
She shook her head. “He’s going to call me back as soon as he gets all the details.”
Acton could only wonder what this was going to do to him and Stephanie. He knew, probably more than anyone, just how much Stephanie considered Linus to be her own baby. If this mystery man took him away from her, he wasn’t sure she could deal with the heartache. He knew one thing for sure—he wanted to be with her, to reassure her that no matter what happened with Linus, he’d be there to support her.
Later that afternoon, between patients, Stephanie informed Dr. Neil that she needed to take a few minutes off to speak with Dr. Green at the pediatric center. The veterinarian was more than obliging and told Stephanie there was no need for her to hurry. Dayna could assist him until she returned.
On the short drive over to the new pediatric building, Stephanie prayed that the doctor could give her more details about Linus’s father. Mainly, what the man’s intentions might be. But deep down, she had the sickening feeling that this was the beginning of the end of her tenure as the baby’s mother.
Thankfully, Dr. Green’s afternoon schedule wasn’t too hectic for him to spare a few minutes to speak with Stephanie.
When a nurse ushered her into his office, the fatherly man with a head full of white hair and matching beard left his executive chair and greeted her with a gentle pat on her shoulder.
“Have a seat, Stephanie,” he said, gesturing to a comfortable chair in front of his desk. “I’m glad you came. I realize my news had to be jarring.”
She attempted to swallow away the ball of fear that had been stuck in her throat ever since she and Acton had left the fast-food restaurant.
“I won’t lie, Dr. Green. It has shaken me. I mean, it’s always been in the back of my mind that Laurel might return for her son and I’d have to give him over. And I knew there had to be a father somewhere who might want his child. But the more I grew to love Linus, the more I let myself push those possibilities to the back of my mind.”
“I understand, Stephanie,” the doctor said with empathy. “In your heart you’ve become the baby’s mother.”
Stephanie nodded glumly, then looked at him in question. “What does this man want? And how do we know he’s actually the biological father?”
Folding his hands together on the desktop, the doctor said, “I’ve not spoken to him directly, but I think it’s safe to assume he wants the child. He lives in Houston and I’ve spoken with social services there. The agency has ordered a DNA test on the man’s behalf. Apparently he has some sort of letter proving he had a close relationship with Laurel.”
Stephanie’s head was swimming with questions, along with crushing images of seeing her baby whisked away by a stranger. Her brain refused to believe such a thing might happen, but her heart was telling her to prepare for the worst.
“A DNA test,” she repeated in a hollow voice. “This man must feel certain that he’s Linus’s father.”
With his white beard and hair and warm disposition, some of the children around Rambling Rose believed Dr. Green was actually Santa Claus. Now, as Stephanie looked to him for answers, she thought how wonderful it would be if he truly was Santa and could make her fondest wishes come true.
“It does sound that way,” he agreed. “From what the woman with social services told me, this man has just now learned that Laurel had the baby and that Linus is here in Rambling Rose. As you might guess, he’s very anxious to get the DNA results. So this evening when you pick up Linus at day care I need you to take him to the lab here in the clinic. I’ve already sent orders for a nurse to take a swab from his mouth. If we put a rush on it, we should see the results in a few days. Okay?”
On the inside, Stephanie felt like she was breaking into a thousand pieces, while on the outside she was gripping her hands together in her lap to keep them from shaking.
“Uh—yes, I’ll take Linus by the lab. And then I guess we wait,” she said as much to herself as to the doctor.
Dr. Green didn’t immediately reply, and Stephanie looked across the desk to see he was regarding her with sympathy. The idea that he was already seeing the writing on the wall made her sick to her stomach.
“It’s understandable that you’ve grown fond of Linus,” he said. “But if this man does turn out to be Linus’s father, then I think your heart will tell you what’s right for the child.”
Drawing in a breath, Stephanie called upon every ounce of inner strength she possessed to hold on to her composure.
“Have you heard anything about Laurel? Did this man know where to locate her?”
“She hasn’t been located. But I was told this man might be able to help find her. Which would be a good thing. Don’t you agree?”
Stephanie nodded. No matter how much she loved Linus, deep in her heart, she agreed that he deserved to have a real mother and father.
Rising to her feet, she said, “Thank you, Dr. Green, for taking the time to speak with me. I won’t keep you any longer.”
He joined her in front of the desk. “Anytime, Stephanie. I realize this whole situation is very unusual. As long as I’ve been a pediatrician I can’t remember anything like this happening with a newborn. Especially here in Rambling Rose.”
Bending her head, she fought against the tears glazing her eyes. “I’ll be honest, Dr. Green, I was hoping to adopt Linus as my own. Now that—” She paused and drew in a shaky breath. “Well, it looks like that hope is over.”
He took hold of her hand and gently patted the back of it. “Stephanie, you’ve been a very generous and loving foster mother for Linus. You should be proud of that. And you’re still a very young woman. You’ll have the opportunity to have babies of your own.”
Yes, maybe, she thought. But Linus was already here. In her home, her arms, her life. She loved him. She didn’t want to lose him.
Sniffing back her tears, she thanked the doctor again, then left his office before she broke down completely.
Thankfully, she managed to leave the pediatric center without running into Becky. One look at her sister-in-law and she would have burst into a mess of hot tears.
When she returned to Paws and Claws, the waiting room was full of patients and the whole staff was too busy to ask her questions about leaving work in the middle of the afternoon.
Stephanie did her best to focus on her job, but Linus never left her mind for even a second, and by the time the clinic closed up for the evening, she was utterly exhausted.
As she left the building, she was thinking about her brothers and wondering how they were going to take the news about Linus, when she noticed Acton’s truck was parked next to her vehicle.
Normally, the idea that he was waiting to see her would’ve sent her heart soaring with joy. This evening, she could hardly summon a smile.
“You look exhausted,” he said as he met her on the sidewalk a few feet away from her parked car. “Has anything else happened about Linus?”
She let out a weary breath and he took her by the arm. “Let’s go sit in your car. You can tell me there.”
After they were comfortably seated in her little sedan, she said, “I went to see Dr. Green this afternoon. He informed me that I have to take Linus to the lab for a DNA swab.”
“DNA! When?” Acton asked.
“This evening, when I pick him up from day care. It seems this man from Houston believes he’s Linus’s father and he wants a test done as quickly as possible.”
“Oh, God, that’s not good.”
Her eyes narrowed with speculation as she studied his face. “Not good? What does that mean? You’ve said before that Linus deserves a biological parent. And if you were Linus, wouldn’t you be happy to know that at least one of your actual parents wanted you?”
He looked totally confused by her response. “Well, hell. Of course I would. But Linus is a baby. He doesn’t know about that sort of thing right now. He only knows when someone holds him and loves him and feeds him. That someone is you.”
“And you,” she replied.
“That’s right. And I’ll just say it plainly—I don’t want the little guy to be taken away. Real dad or no real dad. I realize that’s probably selfish of me, but I can’t help it.”
By the time he’d finished, Stephanie was crying and she didn’t bother to try to hide her tears. She was too tired, too afraid to do anything about stemming her overwrought emotions.
“You’re not making me feel any better about this, Acton.”
His expression turned to one of disbelief. “What does that mean? I don’t want you to lose Linus any more than you do!”
“I know. But we need to be reasonable about this situation. Linus isn’t my baby. Nor is he yours.”
“Well, it sure as hell feels like he’s yours—ours. And where was this guy when Linus was born? Why wasn’t he with the woman he supposedly loved enough to make a child with?”
Stephanie had been asking herself the same questions. But the answers weren’t going to change the facts. “There could be good reasons he wasn’t around when Linus was born. Laurel might not have told him she was pregnant. She might have disappeared from his life before he had any idea she was going to have his child. Without any facts, we can’t blame him for not being around when Linus was born.”
He let out a heavy breath. “Nothing about this situation feels right, Stephanie.”
“Whether it feels right or not, it’s happening.”
He reached over and gently touched the wet trail of tears on her face. “I’m sorry, Stephanie. I realize I’m not handling this very well. And that’s making things worse for you.”
She looked at him. “I understand how attached you’ve become to Linus.”
Pain shadowed his eyes and though Stephanie wanted to him help him feel better, she couldn’t. She was too crushed with her own pain to hardly know what she was saying.
He nodded. “Deep down...well, I know it would be best for Linus to have his real dad. And probably best for you. It’s just that right now it hurts to think of losing him.”
She shook her head. “Yes, it hurts. But we no longer have a choice in the matter. Anyway, I need to go pick up Linus from day care and get the swab done before I head home.”
Frowning with confusion, he asked, “Home? Aren’t you coming to my house tonight? That’s what we’d planned, remember?”
She looked at him blankly. Everything was barreling at her from all directions, tearing at her thoughts and emotions. She had to have space to collect herself. To think. “Yes, I remember. But things have changed since then. I need to speak with my brothers about Linus—”
His brows arched upward. “Your brothers? I’m the guy who’s been Linus’s stand-in dad. Doesn’t that count for something?”
She blew out a frustrated breath. “Of course it does. But my brothers—”
“Yes, I see. You feel it’s important that you be with them now,” he interrupted, his voice stiff. “So go.”
“You don’t have to be so cold about it,” she retorted.
“I’m not being cold. I’m being realistic. It’s obvious you believe your brothers can help you with baby Linus much more than I can. And you’re probably right. They have the clout and the means. All I have is my heart. And—well, none of that matters. I can see that now.”
She glared at him. “That’s not what I’m thinking! And I don’t deserve this from you, Acton! Especially now!”
“You’re right, Stephanie. You don’t deserve it.” His jaw tight, he opened the door and climbed out of the car.
“Where are you going?” she asked, stunned that he was leaving like this.
“You can handle this situation far better without me,” he said flatly. “In fact, I figure your whole life will be better without me in it.”
With that he slammed the door and went straight to his truck.
Numb with pain, Stephanie waited until he’d driven away before she started the car and left the parking lot.
As she drove to the pediatric center, she couldn’t decide which was worse—the reality that everything she’d ever had with Acton had just ended, or that this might be the last time she’d be collecting her baby from day care.