The Bachelor's Little Bonus (Proposals & Promises 3)

As she texted him, Stevie laughed softly, grateful that Jenny was trying to make the best of this admittedly awkward situation. “Good luck with that. You’ll find my husband is not easy to rattle.”

“Your husband.” Holding the cat now, who’d taken a strong liking to her, Tess still looked dazed. “This is a lot to process in one night. So both my bridesmaids will be in maternity dresses for the wedding.”

Relieved that most of the confessions were out of the way—with one notable exception—Stevie nodded. “Looks that way.”

“Well, at least that loose, comfortable style I requested should work for both of us,” Jenny said with a strained little smile. “We’d better get busy finding the perfect dress that will suit whichever shape Stevie and I happen to be in June.”

The opposite of a demanding diva bride, Tess waved a hand. “Pick whatever dress you and Stevie like. As long as it works with the colors I’ve chosen, I trust your judgment on style.”

Jenny nodded. “I’ll check with my suppliers and see what I can find in the time we have.”

“Yes, well, you and Gavin had a very short engagement, and you thought my wedding was short notice,” Tess commented with a little laugh. “I’d say Stevie wins this one. She skipped all the wedding prep entirely.”

“Cole took care of everything,” Stevie admitted. “We had a lovely little Valentine’s Day wedding at a cute chapel in the Ozarks. I have a disc of photos that was part of the wedding package. I want to have them printed in one of those glossy photo books when I have time to deal with them.”

“I can’t wait to see them,” Tess said.

Tess was obviously trying hard to show support for Stevie’s decision, to look happy about the developments despite whatever concerns she wasn’t voicing. Stevie appreciated that, though she wasn’t sure she deserved it after keeping her friends in the dark all this time.

Jenny examined Stevie’s middle again. “When is your due date? Maybe it’s the same as mine. Wouldn’t that be something?”

“Um, no.” Stevie moistened her lips. “I’m a little farther along than you. I’m due in early August. My tentative due date is August 10.”

Jenny looked confused. “August? But that makes you—”

“Three months pregnant.”

“Three months,” Tess murmured, staring at Stevie’s waistline in disbelief. “But you aren’t showing.”

“I’m getting a little thicker around the middle. I’m wearing loose clothes so it’s hard to tell. But I haven’t gained much weight yet, though my doctor assured me the baby is developing as it should be.”

Comprehension dawned slowly but inevitably on her friends’ faces. “But three months ago...”

Stevie held Jenny’s gaze without looking away. “That was just before Joe moved to Austin.”

“So Joe is...?”

“Out of the picture. Permanently.”

Jenny

digested that for a moment, then asked quietly, “Does he know?”

“Yes. But it doesn’t make a difference. He made his choice. I made mine. I don’t think either of us will have any regrets.”

“Cole doesn’t mind...?”

“Like I said, Cole’s looking forward to being a dad to this baby. I married my very good friend, Jen, and we’re going to raise a child together. We’ll make it work.”

“I have no doubt of that,” Jenny murmured, her eyes suddenly liquid. “But will you be happy, Stevie? Truly happy? I always thought you’d be crazy in love when you married.”

Stevie managed a smile. “You know me. I’m always happy. I’m confident I could have handled all this on my own, just like my mother did, but I’m very fortunate that I’ll have a helpmate. That my child, like yours, will have a dad to love and encourage him. Or her.”

“It doesn’t surprise me that you’d sacrifice everything for your child. That’s just so you.”

“I don’t think of it that way at all,” Stevie assured her, equally softly. “Cole is fully committed to this partnership, and I’m so grateful to him. I just hope he doesn’t feel that he’s the one making the sacrifice.”

“I don’t.”