LITMIR.BIZ

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entered behind him, holding Milly by the hand. “She is a dear. Makes me miss little Isabella. I do wish they’d come back up from Denver soon.”

      Rose sighed. “So that’s what your change of heart toward children is about. You know Mitch had business to take care of, and you can’t expect Polly and the children to stay behind. I’m sure they’ll return as soon as they can.”

      With a quick glance in Silas’s direction, Rose said, “Not that it’s any of your business, but Polly and Mitch are close friends, like family.” The glare she gave him indicated that he was not included in that label.

      Though he’d once been.

      Maddie smiled at Silas. “What is this little darling’s name? I’d be happy to have her in the kitchen with me while you conduct your business with Rose.”

      “Her name’s Milly,” Silas said.

      “He won’t be staying long,” Rose said at the same time.

      “All the same, I’ve got a cookie with Milly’s name on it in the kitchen.” Then she bent down to Milly. “You do like cookies, don’t you?”

      Wide-eyed, Milly nodded as Maddie took her to the back of the house.

      “The only reason I’m not throwing you out is because it would break Maddie’s heart not to spend time with that little girl of yours.” Then Rose glared at him. “I’m assuming she’s yours.”

      “Yes.” A knot formed in Silas’s chest. Though he didn’t necessarily expect a warm welcome from Rose, this felt wrong.

      “Where’s Annie?”

      The question was a knife in his heart. “She died.”

      “I’m sorry for your loss.”

      The coldness in her voice told him she was anything but. Her gaze held little sympathy for him, and while he couldn’t blame her, he missed the easy smiles she’d once given him. Did she still smile?

      Before he could come up with an appropriate response, a baby cried in the other room.

      “I need to take care of him.”

      Rose turned and walked into the next room, barely acknowledging Silas, and not inviting him to join her. He did anyway.

      He watched as she picked up a baby out of a basket. “There now,” she cooed, “Mama’s here.”

      Mama.

      The knife Rose had been slowly twisting in his heart jabbed him so painfully he thought it might have come out the other side of his body.

      She had a child. It had never occurred to him, when he’d found out Rose’s address from a mutual friend, that she might be married. He’d assumed that if she’d gotten married, he’d have heard folks talking about it. Then again, he’d had to ask several people to even get her address.

      “Your husband is a blessed man.” The words felt like shards of glass on his tongue coming out, but he had to say them. Had to consider Rose’s happiness in the situation above his own desperate need.

      “I have no husband,” Rose said coolly, cradling the baby as she turned to face him.

      “But the baby...”

      “Is my son.”

      Silas stared at her for a moment. “I don’t understand.”

      With a long sigh, Rose sat on a nearby chair. “We both know where babies come from. There’s nothing to understand. I have a child. It happens sometimes.”

      He’d known Rose to be angry on occasion, but mostly, he’d known her sweetness. This coldness... Silas didn’t know. Nor did he know how such an upstanding young lady would find herself in this situation.

      “The baby’s father?”

      “Is dead. And I wouldn’t have married him anyway.”

      “But...”

      Rose made a noise in the back of her throat. “Look. I did something I’m not proud of. For a brief period of time, I turned away from the Lord. I made a horrible mistake. But God, in His mercy, chose to bless me with a child who brings me more joy than I could have ever imagined. Some folks might say that my reputation is forever tarnished, but I am too grateful for this baby to care.”

      Then she shot him a look deadlier than he’d ever thought her capable of. “And that is all I will say on the matter.”

      The baby fussed in her arms. “Matthew needs to eat. Say your piece and be gone so I can feed him.”

      Her eyes darkened with a flash of defensiveness Silas remembered from all the times the other girls at church made fun of her for being poor. No wonder she seemed so different. How often did Rose have to defend herself to the women in this town for having a baby out of wedlock? He’d known, of course, that there were the babies born seven months into a hasty marriage. But he didn’t know a single woman from a respectable family who’d had a child without marrying the father.

      How difficult her life must be.

      Granted, she’d come to Leadville because her brother had discovered a fortune in silver, taking their family from poor relations dependent on an aunt who resented them to wealthy patrons of society. Silas had only been in town for a couple of days, and he’d heard the Stone name bandied about as being a much-admired family. He hadn’t heard anything about Rose, but now it made sense.

      Perhaps his need of a wife fit more comfortably with Rose’s needs than he could have imagined. A husband, even this far after the fact, would quickly raise Rose’s standing as a respectable woman.

      “My daughter needs a mother,” Silas said quietly, slowly, then added, “and it seems your son needs a father.”

      Rose made a noise in the back of her throat and shook her head. “Please tell me that you did not come all this way, thinking I somehow still held a torch for you and would be grateful for the opportunity to be your wife.”

      Put that way, his idea sounded even more ridiculous. Three years was a long time, and... Silas let out a long sigh.

      “I suppose I didn’t think the idea through as well as I should have.”

      “Clearly.” The baby fussed louder, and Rose stood, bouncing him against her body. “He really does need to eat.”

      The front door opened, and Silas heard the sounds of men talking. He turned and saw Rose’s brother, Joseph, along with an older man, enter.

      “Silas!” Joseph greeted him warmly. “What brings you to Leadville?”

      Rose made an exasperated noise. “He thought that since his wife died, I’d be pining away for him, and would jump at the opportunity to take her place and raise their daughter. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to feed Matthew.”

      Hearing her tell Joseph only made Silas’s plan sound all the more wrong. Why hadn’t he considered it on a deeper level? His only excuse was the desperation he’d felt when he’d overheard the Garretts talking about a visit to their lawyer, and how they were going to try to take Milly away from him.

      But Rose wasn’t giving him the chance to explain. Not when she was already on her way out of the room with the baby.

      Silas looked at Joseph, who wore a concerned expression on his face. The older man put his hand on Joseph’s shoulder.

      “I think we should hear this young man out.” The older man held out a hand to Silas. “Frank Lassiter. Joseph is married to my daughter, Annabelle, and I consider the entire Stone family my own. Now have a seat and tell us why you’re here.”

      Frank gestured toward a chair next to the one Rose had vacated. Even at the few feet’s distance, he could still smell the rosewater scent she preferred. She used to say that if she was named after one, she should smell like one, too. Silas closed his eyes. He

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