Mistletoe Twins. Lois Richer

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      Adele pushed away the silly thought. As if there was anyone else out there like Mac. She smiled when the twins burst into laughter at Aunt Tillie’s comment. A deep sense of fulfillment settled inside her at this return to The Haven. The familiar kitchen, the orderly row of cooking tools she’d long ago coaxed the aunties to buy, memories of the savory smells she’d always loved to create—she’d done the right thing in quitting her job and bringing the twins to The Haven. They deserved a home and she was going to give these two orphans just that. Contrary to Rafe’s criticism, she could be a single mom, and she would do it without him. Wasn’t that what God wanted?

      “Delly, can we go with these aunties?” Francie jerked her arm to get her attention. “They gots some ’puter games.”

      “Aunt Margaret certainly does have lots of fun games. Go ahead and behave. I’ll be here if you need me.” She patted the little girl’s shoulder and smiled encouragement at her less boisterous brother. When they’d left, she faced Mac. “So?”

      “You tell me,” he said, one sandy eyebrow quirked upward. “How is it to be home again? For good?”

      * * *

      Mac watched Adele’s face, confused by the—how to describe it?—lack of sparkle in those amber eyes.

      “I’m home for a while and it feels very good. I’m fostering those two sweethearts.” Adele glanced at the retreating twins and then at him, but there was hesitation as she explained, “And I’m considering adoption.” He couldn’t quite decipher her expression.

      “Your fiancé wants that?” Mac sipped his coffee while trying not to show his dismay. He’d always supported Delly. That wasn’t going to change.

      “I don’t have one.” Adele grimaced. “I told you a long time ago that I was never going to marry and repeat my parents’ disasters.”

      “Apparently you forgot that vow because you did get engaged, Delly. The aunts wrote me about it a while ago.” He saw pain in those expressive eyes. “What happened?”

      “What always happens with romance, what I’ve been avoiding my entire life.” She squeezed her eyes closed and sighed. “Arguments.”

      “About?” Don’t prejudge the guy. Mac waited for her to explain.

      “Rafe and I argued about pretty much everything, but recently they centered around Francie and Franklyn. He said I was getting too involved.” She rolled her eyes.

      Mac figured this Rafe couldn’t have known Delly very well if he expected her not to get involved with a pair of needy kids.

      “We bickered a lot about that, but I thought if he’d just get to know them...” Adele shook her blond head, apparently unwilling to tell Mac all. “One day Rafe informed me that he didn’t want a ready-made family. Or any family.” She stared at her hands. “I tried to understand. But I couldn’t marry him and not care what happened to the twins. I kept praying for God to help.”

      “I see.” Mac frowned but said nothing more, waiting for the rest of the sad story.

      “Then Rafe missed an important dinner. He lied about why and I knew it, so I pressed him. People who love each other don’t lie to their partners.” The way she compressed her lips told Mac she was still hurting. “Turns out Rafe didn’t love me, not the way I thought. He wanted to marry me because he figured I’d be an asset to him in his bid for full partner at his law firm. Francie and Franklyn didn’t fit his plan.”

      Mac hissed air between his teeth, disgusted with a man he’d never met. “Ow.”

      “Yes. Reality bites. Rafe wasn’t the man I’d dreamed he was. Our so-called love was all in my mind.”

      Mac could see her struggling not to show her distress over that discovery. Since the day they’d first met, he’d understood that Adele needed to replace the painful memory of her parents’ bitter marriage and abusive home life.

      “I finally realized that marrying Rafe would be repeating the ugliness of my parents’ marriage.” She shook her head to emphasize her words. “I won’t do that, Mac. I will not subject myself or anyone else to the hate and misery of that. I experienced it as a kid. I’m never going there again. Rafe was the second guy I trusted and then realized didn’t really love me.”

      Mac sat up straight at the news. Delly had loved someone else?

      “So I’ve reaffirmed my decision never to marry,” she said firmly. “I don’t think I could endure the failure.”

      “Not necessarily gonna happen,” he murmured, but she ignored him.

      “You know me and my past. My parents—my childhood dug marks too deep. Even when they were finally splitting up they couldn’t agree on parenting, so Gina and I were sent to foster care.” She swallowed hard. Seeing her so determined not to cry made Mac feel helpless. “How could they do that to their own kids?”

      “I don’t know, Del—”

      “So-called love wreaked havoc with my self-esteem.” Adele straightened, control regained. “It was even worse this time to realize Rafe was prepared to pretend to love me, but only as long as I fit the mold he had. Love tore my family apart, Mac. I thought I was over the effects of that, but here I am, reliving the same old feelings. Love costs too much. I want no part of it.”

      “Adele, love has given you so much,” Mac countered, hating to see her so distraught. “Tillie and Margaret took you, Victoria, Olivia and Gemma from the foster system before you were teens. The four of you grew up here at The Haven surrounded by so much love from those two ladies that the rest of us local kids envied you.” He brushed his hand against her cheek before quietly continuing. “You and your foster sisters have two aunts that adore you. And you have one another to lean on.”

      “True,” she agreed solemnly, her gaze holding his. “And we love that the aunties did that for us.”

      “But?” Mac hated that she couldn’t seem to break free of her past.

      “This sounds a little schoolgirlish, but I’ve always longed to have what other girls had,” she whispered. “Boyfriends, somebody who loved me enough that I never doubted it.”

      “I don’t count?” Mac arched his brows.

      “You were my best friend, Mac, and that counts for a lot. But you never loved me,” she said. “Not romantically. We’re just friends.”

      “Just.” His mouth turned down. Adele had been a huge part of his life before he’d left home. Was he going to lose all that? “Friendship’s not enough now?”

      “It’s a great deal, Mac, and I will always treasure it.” Her hand closed around his and squeezed it. “But my escape from the past was always a dream about a fairy-tale love that would override my past.” She withdrew her hand. “Hasn’t happened and I doubt it ever will.”

      “That’s why you went out with Kent Krane from high school.” He gaped when she nodded. “I always wondered what you saw in him.”

      “Kent was handsome enough to be a Prince Charming, but he wasn’t for me.” She smiled sadly. “Before I met СКАЧАТЬ