The Twins' Family Wish. Lois Richer

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СКАЧАТЬ a man she didn’t know disconcerted Penny. She felt a little nervous as she gathered up her grocery sacks. She was ready to leave when she noticed his struggle to hold Katie and unload his purchases.

      “May I help you?” The offer was out of her mouth before she could stop it. When he nodded she decided she could hardly retract. Penny set down her sacks and began removing the items from his cart. Out of habit she placed them in categories; cans first, boxes next—many of which were varieties of cookies, she noted with a frown and then scolded herself for her interest.

      Maybe the kids’ aunt can’t bake.

      She arranged meat and then dairy—she had to gently shift Kyle to get the milk but thankfully he remained asleep—then added the produce and at last the cart was emptied.

      “There you go.”

      “Thank you very much.” Rick held up each child’s hand with fingers still clutched around their toys so the cashier could scan them. It was only as he swiped his credit card that Penny realized she was staring and that the cashier had noticed.

      “The parking lot’s kind of rough.” It was a lame attempt to cover her interest in the little family but some inner need to help made Penny offer, “Would you like me to steer your cart so Kyle doesn’t wake up?”

      Hearing the cashier’s snicker made Penny wish she’d simply walked away. She must sound desperate and yet something about this little family drew her.

      Rick was apparently oblivious to both the cashier’s amusement and Penny’s inner turmoil because all he said was “Thanks.”

      Penny shifted her two bags into his cart then pushed it through the automatic doors and across the heated pavement, trying to match his long strides though her wedge-heeled sandals and shorter height made that difficult. She huffed a sigh of relief when he finally stopped beside a shiny black truck.

      “Well, thanks for your help,” he said with a grin. “Again.”

      But Penny remained frozen in place, her gaze captivated by his tender expression as he slid sweet little Katie into a car seat and tenderly belted her in. When she stirred momentarily, he pressed a kiss against her brow, waited for her to settle then went through the same process with Kyle. He treated the children as if they were precious cargo, not as if he was in a hurry to get home and shove them into bed. He loved them.

      “So, uh, thanks a lot for your help.” Rick gave Penny a funny look when she didn’t move. With a frown then a shrug he turned his back and began storing his groceries in the truck.

      The sound of the truck box closing finally drew Penny out of her stupor. She blushed with embarrassment.

      “Good night.” She racewalked away from them to her car feeling like she’d peeked in on something private and special. Yet no matter how she tried, as she drove home to her condo she couldn’t erase the image of Rick’s loving glance at the children.

      Why were they his kids, she wondered? And what would it be like to be adored like that? Questions about Rick and his darling little family tortured her all the way home until Penny told herself to stop wanting what she couldn’t have.

      Remember Psalm 138:8? The Lord will work out His plan for your life.

      Quashing the image of Katie and Kyle and their hunky uncle, Penny reminded herself that she’d decided teaching kindergarten kids would be enough.

      But her heart asked, Will it?

      * * *

      As Rick drove through the night to his ranch, he savored the peace of sleeping children while at the same time worrying about how he’d manage tomorrow. Three nannies in three weeks had to be a record, even for the twins. This was only June. With the rest of their summer vacation looming he had to find some kind of permanent caregiver for them.

      There was still daycare, of course. Lots of parents enrolled their kids in summer daycare, and their children seemed to enjoy it. His business partner did that. But Rick had heard his sister, Gillian, say a thousand times that she wanted her kids to be cared for at home, by her, one-on-one. Well, Gillian wasn’t here anymore, and the twins’ home was his home now. But Rick couldn’t stay with them full-time. He had a construction company to run.

      Rick had mentioned his difficulty to his parents but they kept reassuring him that Gillian would be proud of him no matter what he did. Nice thought but it did nothing to appease the guilt nestled inside him. He was the twins’ guardian because Gillian trusted him to do his best for Katie and Kyle. Good enough wasn’t his best.

      “This is where You step in, God,” he murmured. “I need help. Now that Greg’s out with that back operation I’ve got to keep the company running on my own. It isn’t easy to keep all our jobs going, let alone make time for the kids. Can’t You send someone to care for them as Gillian would have done, as a mother would?”

      The company wasn’t behind but there was the job at Wranglers Ranch coming up and that had Rick worried. He needed to start building those cabins immediately or he’d miss their September first completion deadline. The one thing he and Greg had vowed when they’d started RG Construction was that they’d always keep their promises. The day he’d buried his sister, Rick had promised Gillian the same.

      Boy, he missed her. If only...

      With a sigh for what couldn’t be changed, Rick pulled into his yard and up to the front porch, grimacing when his headlights highlighted the unfinished projects littering his yard. He’d only had the place a few months before the kids arrived, just long enough to build a basketful of dreams and fill a notebook of plans. Paint the outbuildings, repair the pasture fences, buy some horses to breed, trim the long grass and cut the overgrown bushes—that was only the beginning of what needed doing. But he hadn’t started any of it because now his days were consumed with caring for Kyle and Katie, making sure they were safe and as happy as possible as they all adjusted to life without Gillian.

      Actually, Rick wasn’t upset by the sidelining of his plans. He’d gladly do whatever it took to keep Katie and Kyle healthy and happy. He’d vowed that six months ago, the day he’d carried them out of their burning home, the day he’d failed to save Gillian.

      Caring for Gillian’s kids was his duty and nothing would change that. Not the grief that almost consumed him every time he thought of his sister dying in that inferno. Not the urging of his former fiancée, Gina, who’d not only been repulsed by his scars but also determined not to burden her upcoming marriage with someone else’s children, which had ended their relationship. Certainly not the twins’ paternal grandparents, who were still deeply mourning the loss of their only son, who’d died last year on the mission field.

      Rick carried the kids inside and tucked each into bed, loving their sleepy hugs and moist good-night kisses against his scarred cheek.

      “Love you, Uncle Rick.”

      “Love you, too,” he whispered, his throat closing with emotion.

      Only when they were fast asleep did he retrieve the groceries from the truck. Once they were put away Rick sat on his porch, savoring the night’s cooler breezes that washed down the slopes of the Rincon Mountains. He resumed his earlier prayer.

      “You know I’m committed to the kids. Only how am I supposed to do my job and care for them, Lord?” he murmured just before thunder rumbled in the distance.

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