Second Chance Mom. Mary Kate Holder

      Mick had his arm draped possessively around his wife and Jared saw what he did every time he looked at them together—a love that had taught him a lot growing up, a love he’d wanted to find someday. A love that he knew was always going to be out of his reach because he wasn’t willing to take the risk.

      “I’m bringing Annie to dinner tomorrow night. She’ll stay the weekend.”

      Eve smiled. “She can stay with us. I’ll make up the spare bed and give her the extra key so she can let herself in if we go to bed early.”

      “Thanks, Mum. I figure being here even for a few days will give her time to get comfortable with the kids…and them with her.”

      His mother cast a glance at Caroline in the front of the vehicle. “You need to think about what you’ll tell them, too. You can’t just introduce another woman into their lives and not expect resistance. Toby and Luke will probably be okay with Annie but…Caroline may need time.”

      Jared scratched his head. “That’s going to be the tricky part.”

      “Not to worry, son, you’ll find the words when the time comes.”

      Jared nodded. “I hope so, Dad.”

      As they drove away, the boys eventually fell back to sleep. Caroline searched for her favorite music station on the radio.

      Jared’s thoughts turned to Annie. He remembered a lot about the life she had lived as a child. Her father, a hardworking farmer by all accounts, had died one month before her birth. Some people blamed Annie’s neglect on the fact that her mother had been so traumatized by the loss of her husband that she couldn’t bring herself to love her daughter.

      It wasn’t for him to judge the woman…that was God’s right. But he felt heartsick every time he thought of the quiet, sad little girl Annie had been.

      Back then there wasn’t a year that went by when child welfare didn’t arrive on the doorstep because of reports. Three and a half years ago, Annie had left town and nobody had heard anything of her since. He wondered if she even knew that her mother had packed and left soon after she did, or that the house of her childhood had burned to the ground?

      Annie had been a surprise today, not at all what he’d expected. Her innocence had shone through but so had the little things he couldn’t help noticing. She was an attractive woman. The green of her eyes reminded him of an ancient jade statue he’d seen once at a museum while on a school field trip.

      He’d expected her to be taller. For a woman who stood only five feet four she seemed far too fragile for life on the land. Even her hands had been impossibly petite, her fingers touched up with clear nail gloss. There was a gentle way about her.

      His mother could play matchmaker all she wanted. He would never be any good as a husband, at least in the traditional sense.

      Maybe his father was right. Perhaps he did let his past dictate his future more than it had a right to. But how did a person leave it behind? How did a person turn and walk away from beliefs so ingrained that even a loving family couldn’t banish them?

      There wasn’t a day that went by that Jared didn’t wonder why his mother had started to hate him and blame him for everything that went wrong in her life.

      Today he had been as honest with Annie as possible. All the way home to Guthrie he had allowed himself to imagine the life they could have…one built around the children.

      Jared knew this weekend would be the test.

      Once they arrived home, he put the boys into bed, knocking on Caroline’s door as he passed by.

      “You can come in, Uncle Jared.”

      She sat in the middle of her bed brushing her hair. She had the sweetest face and a gentle smile. Somewhere there was a woman who would never see this girl grow into a young lady, achieve, succeed and be happy. Jared would never understand. He had given up trying.

      Caroline had been close to him before her parents’ death, but now she was his shadow. He’d even noticed that she’d tried to assume more responsibility. On more than one occasion he’d had to sit her down and remind her that he was the adult. She could still be a big sister, he had told her, but she didn’t have to try and be a grown-up, too.

      That would come far too soon.

      He’d wanted her to understand that she didn’t have to carry any burden, that her childhood was precious.

      “I have something to tell you.” He sat down on the edge of her bed.

      She looked at him, moisture in those big blue eyes, her chin quivering just a little. “Is that lady going to make us go away?”

      Jared reached out and touched her hair, wanting to give her comfort, wanting her to feel secure. “No, she isn’t. But that is part of the reason I went into the city today.”

      She waited, wide-eyed, a cautious expression on her face, her hands stilled now and resting in her lap.

      “I’m bringing someone home this weekend to meet you and the boys. Her name is Annie.”

      “Is she going to be our baby-sitter?”

      “No, but I’m hoping she’ll be my wife.”

      Caroline looked toward her window, eyes fixed on the night sky outside. “I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.”

      Jared called on all his patience and love to help her understand this. He was the only person she would trust to explain it to her.

      “I don’t. I knew Annie when she was a little girl. She was a friend of your mother’s.” He reached out to cup her chin in his hand, bringing her gaze back to him.

      “Caroline, she’s a good person and she wants to help me take care of you, Luke and Toby. I promised you I wouldn’t let you all be split up and sent away. I’m doing everything I can to keep that promise.”

      “Then let her be our baby-sitter or our nanny. You don’t have to get married!”

      “Sweetheart, nothing will change if I get married.”

      She cast him a dark look. “Everything will change,” she said, placing the hairbrush on the nightstand and pulling her knees up to her chest.

      “Caroline, this won’t be like when Janice got married,” he said, knowing she didn’t call the woman her mother. That word was reserved for Sara alone.

      She looked back at him. “I want to be by myself now.”

      He’d handled that like a real pro! Caroline had pulled up the drawbridge and set her walls in place. Jared just had to pray he hadn’t lost her trust or confidence.

      He leaned over and kissed her forehead, then reached out to turn off the bedside lamp.

      “Leave it on…please.” Her voice was so tiny, her tone unsure and tinged with a fear he knew only time and love would banish.

      “You look like Rudolph.”

      Annie looked across the desk at Lewis Devereaux. He’d grown up in Guthrie. He was a family friend and had gone through both high school and university with Jared. He was funny, compassionate and he told it like it was. He was also the one person Sara had trusted to handle Toby’s adoption. Since then he’d been a good friend to Annie.

      “It’s been an emotional twenty-four hours.”

      “Was I wrong to tell him you wanted to see photos?”

      Annie shook her head. Lewis was such a sweet man. He might try to pull off the hard-nosed lawyer attitude but it never worked with her. He was a big-hearted softie but he had sworn her to secrecy when she’d mentioned it to him.

      “It’s probably a good thing that I get this out of my system now. I can just imagine what kind of look I’d get from Jared if I burst into tears the minute I saw Toby.”

      “The