Cherish Collection January 2014 (Books 1-12). Rebecca Winters

respond. His mind was too busy with his father’s remarks. He resented the interference. He was a grown man. Colton stood. “I’m gonna hit the sack,” he said. “Good night.”

      Colton headed down the hall and was intercepted by his sister, Rachel. In no mood for anyone else’s comments, he lifted his hand. “Don’t say a word,” he said.

      She frowned at him. “About what?”

      “About Stacey and me,” he said.

      Her eyes widened in surprise. “Stacey and you?” she echoed. “What’s going on? I’ve been crazy busy and haven’t had a chance to talk with her for several days.”

      “Never mind,” he said, and headed for his wing of the ranch.

      Rachel bobbed along behind him. “Are you two seeing each other? That would be so cool,” she said. “As long as you don’t hurt her. You have to swear you won’t hurt her, but I love the idea. I’ll call her right now.”

      “She’s got a little baby,” Colton said. “She might be in bed trying to get some sleep.”

      Rachel’s face fell. “True. Well, give me the scoop. When did this happen?”

      “Rachel,” he said as gently as he could, “it’s none of your business.”

      * * *

      The next morning, Stacey awakened with a different sense about herself and her life. She realized that in many ways she’d been hiding from the world, ashamed of how her relationship with Joe had ended, embarrassed that she and Piper had been dumped by him. The whole situation had made her feel like that mathematical expression less than.

      She was ready to start reclaiming her life. Taking a quick shower and getting dressed, she fed Piper and dressed her in a cute outfit with stockings. She met her parents just as they were headed out the door to church.

      Her mother looked at her in surprise. “Where are you two going looking so spiffy? Is there a mother/baby beauty contest I haven’t heard about?”

      Stacey laughed in pleasure at the sweet way her mother had voiced her curiosity. “Piper and I are going to church this morning.”

      “Oh, my.” Her mother covered her mouth and sniffed. “I’ve been waiting for this day.”

      “I hadn’t turned into a total heathen,” Stacey said.

      “Oh, no. Not that,” her mother said. “I’m just so proud of you and Piper. I want everyone to see what a good job you’re doing with her. I think you will be an inspiration to many people.”

      “I don’t know how inspiring I’ll be if she starts screaming in church,” Stacey muttered. “But I think it’s time.”

      “Yes, it’s time,” her father said impatiently and pointed at his watch. “If we don’t get moving we’ll be late.”

      “You can sit with us,” her mother said as they were hustled out of the house. “I’ll be happy to take Piper out if she gets fussy.”

      “I’ll take her out,” her father said. “Especially if she starts fussing before the offertory.”

      “Deke,” her mother said in disapproval. “Shame on you.”

      “What? I’m just being a nice granddaddy,” he said and chuckled. He helped Jeanne into his truck, and Stacey tucked Piper into the car seat in her Toyota, then followed her parents to church.

      She felt a twinge of nostalgia as she walked into the small chapel her family had attended since before 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