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Stephanie wiped off her tears and started up the stairs. Hoss’s bedroom was a mess with clothes strewn all over the bed. She leaned on the doorway and watched him as he arranged clothes in a suitcase. He must have felt her presence because he looked up and met her eyes.
“Is it true what you said to James? That you love me more than life itself?”
“It doesn’t matter now,” Hoss mumbled.
“It matters to me.”
His eyes blazed as he looked at her. “Why? You love Carter, it’s him you want to marry, isn’t it?”
“I thought I did but knowing you has changed how I feel,” Stephanie said, voicing her true feelings. “It’s you I love Hoss. You’re gentle and sweet and honest.”
“What about the baby?” Hoss said.
“We’ll raise the baby believing that it’s mine and yours,” Stephanie said.
“The baby is not Carter’s,” Hoss said bluntly. “He told me himself that he had not slept with you in over two months so the baby could not possibly be his.”
Stephanie digested the piece of news. She did the math and saw the truth of Hoss’s statement. The paternity of her baby had been right there staring at her and she hadn’t seen it. The joy began somewhere in her chest and then seeped to the rest of her. She was free of Carter! A huge smile covered her face. The truth was that she would rather Hoss as the father of her child. He was kind and sweet and would make a wonderful father.
“You’re the father of my baby!” Stephanie exclaimed.
“You look happy about that,” Hoss remarked, his features softening.
“I am,” Stephanie replied. “I would rather have a child with the man I love.”
Hoss grinned.
“So where are you off to?” she said, feigning ignorance.
“New York. I’m sure that James will convince Carter to buy out my share and I can buy a house there. It will probably be a big house, with lots of room for a baby. Perhaps even a nanny and a cook.”
Stephanie clapped her hands in glee. It all sounded marvelous but first she had to confirm that he meant what he was saying.
“Are you inviting me to come to New York with you?”
“You best believe I am. What do you say Stephanie? Let’s start afresh somewhere else and give our marriage a chance.”
Her eyebrow rose. “Marriage?”
“Yes,” Hoss said with mock patience. “I can’t very well take you with me as my mistress, can I? Besides I want a mother for my child and you’ll do,” he teased.
“Alright I accept,” Stephanie said her heart hammering. Nothing this exciting had ever happened in her life. She thought of all those years growing up in a poor house, something she had never confided in anybody. Stephanie had been dumped in the steps of the poor house on a cold winter morning. The nuns had told her how lucky she had been to survive those few hours outside before they found her.
She looked at Hoss now and took a deep breath.
“I was raised in a poor house,” Stephanie blurted out.
“Oh sweetheart, that must have been terrible,” Hoss said, concern writing itself on his face.
She shrugged. “It was better than others.”
“And you survived and turned out into a wonderful young woman. I bet those nuns would be proud if they saw you now.”
Stephanie giggled and Hoss laughed along with her.
“I doubt that,” she said, recalling the nun’s solemn expressions. She shifted her mind back to the present.
“Well Mrs. Taft, you better get moving, we have a lot of work to do still,” Hoss said.
