by Ella Cooper
#
“Thank Jesus, I got hold of you,” Pauline said at the other end.
Claudia wiped her tears and dropped on her bed, she tried to hide her sobs as Pauline explained a mistake in her file. The picture she sent to her was a picture of her match’s younger brother, Jacob Stevens had failed to provide his picture, but Pauline’s assistant still sent the file to Claudia.
Jacob Stevens. Claudia wanted to tell Pauline that her heart was about to break from the horrible pain of being rejected. How dare he do this to me? She grabbed the sheets with her other hand in anger.
Job played with her heart again. Claudia was ready to make everything work with her match. She was ready to be a mother to those two beautiful girls and he ruined it again. Worse still, their second meeting had increased her attraction to him, Job had revived her hope of a romance with the cowboy. Only for him to crush it in the end.
“Mr. Stevens is in Cheyenne right now, do you want me to arrange a meeting with him?” Pauline offered. “I know you were supposed to meet him in Greybull…”
“I’m backing out of this, Pauline, I’m sorry, but I don’t think I deserve this man,” Claudia confessed with tears flowing down her cheeks.
How could she get married to a man who desired to have a happy family when her heart belonged – no – was broken by someone else? How could she expect love from Jacob Stevens when Job cheated on his wife because of her? The trial marriage she was getting into would never work until Job stopped messing with her head and her heart. Claudia had given up hope for romance and lost her believe in finding her true love. Getting married was buried under all those issues.
“Are you sure? You could be backing out to your own happy ending,” Pauline tried to convince Claudia.
“I’m sure about this,” Claudia insisted.
A soft smile of regret appeared on her lips as she took another look at the picture of the twin girls. She took a deep breath and shifted her eyes to the child-safe make-up kits that her father suggested for the girls. I could still give this to them as a friend, Claudia said wistfully.
Chapter Four
“You should see this place dad, it’s stunning,” Claudia said cheerfully as she walked on a path between a sunflower and canola field. “My eyes are filled with yellow.”
Claudia looked around for any worker, the path was too narrow for her rented car to enter, but the GPS pointed it out as the right address to the Stevens ranch. The houses in the area were too far apart from each other. She stopped by a house on the way, but the lady did not know the Stevens.
“Dad, I think I’m lost…,” Claudia’s voice trembled when a row of sunflowers began to shake.
A man in a wheelchair suddenly appeared in the path and startled her, Claudia dropped her phone and ran, but she stopped when two girls appeared on the other side of the path with wide smiles, her gasp turned into a short laugh when she recognized the twin girls.
“Are you lost?” one of the girls asked with a wide grin.
“I believe I am,” Claudia replied. She smiled at the girls and said, “You must be Elaine and Alicia.”
The two girls looked surprised that Claudia knew their names, Elaine’s eyes sparkled with delight as she said happily, “She’s our new mommy! Jesus heard our prayer.”
Alicia looked at Claudia for a while, she grabbed her sister and ran to the young man in the wheelchair, Claudia wanted to calm the young girls, but Alicia pushed the wheelchair back to the sunflower fields. Claudia followed them and said, “I’m a friend of your dad.”
Elaine suddenly stopped and turned to her. “You’re not one of them?” she asked.
“Them?” Claudia repeated. “Who’re ‘them’?”
“The people who want to take Uncle Frank away,” the little girl answered.
Claudia looked at the man in the wheelchair, he was the man in the picture sent to her, Jacob’s profile included a mentally-disabled brother. She stooped down to level her face to the little girl and asked, “I’m not one of them, but, I’ll help you stop them, okay?”
Alicia stopped pushing Frank and looked at Claudia.
“Are you really going to stop them?” Alicia asked.
“Yes. I’ll do everything I can,” Claudia told the twins. She offered her hand and said, “I’m Claudia, you must be Elaine and Alicia.”
“I’m Alicia. I’m the older one,” the tall kid said. “She’s Elaine.”
“And you must be Frank,” Claudia told the young man.
Frank clapped with excitement and told his nieces, “Big angel!”
Claudia’s mouth dropped open at Frank’s comment, she smiled and took the wheelchair from Alicia. She looked at them and said, “Let’s go and stop them.”
The twins were reluctant to follow Claudia, she stopped and turned to the girls. They seemed to be arguing with their eyes.
“Is there a problem?” Claudia asked.
Alicia took a step forward and replied, “Are you going to be our new mommy?”
Claudia’s blue eyes met Alicia’s squinting blue eyes, joy tickled her heart and made her smile happily. She was thankful that she decided to meet the kids, she had planned to return to Memphis after what happened with Job, but Claudia decided to deliver the gifts to the girls before leaving. Their new mommy? The idea was enough to make her stay and take a risk again.
“I could be,” she told the kids.
The twins’ eyes widened with delight, they ran to her and hugged her. She laughed as their tiny arms wrapped around her hips. Take the risk. The happiness of the two girls strengthened her faith. Perhaps the match with Jacob Stevens could work.
#
Jacob’s truck slowed down as he entered his ranch, he suddenly stepped on the brake when he saw CC arguing with Becky and some other people. His daughters and brother were behind her, and her eyes were full of determination and anger. They became bluer as she glared at the people in front of her. What is she doing here?
“Who are you? A lawyer?” Becky asked.
“I’m not a lawyer, my father is, so, I know that you can’t evaluate a ward unless his guardian is present,” CC retorted.
“You don’t understand, Miss, Frank goes wild when he has tantrums,” Becky explained. “He could hurt the girls and other people.”
Jacob got angry when he heard Becky’s reason, he was about to step out of his truck to counter her words when CC argued on further, “Are you blind? The boy is a cripple, how can he be a danger to anyone?”
“You don’t hear his screams at night, why am I arguing with you anyway?” Becky countered. She raised her chin and said, “I’m sure Jacob would agree with this.”
“Where do you live exactly? Because I have looked around and I can’t seem to find another house around here?” CC argued. “Now, unless you are sisters with the horses in that barn, you have no reason to be bothered by the boy’s screams.”
A laugh escaped Jacob’s mouth at CC’s argument and a wide adoring smile formed across his face as he watched her defend his brother. Her beauty radiated with sincerity and Jacob wanted to run to her and thank her with passionate kisses.
“Daddy!” the girls called when they noticed his truck.
CC stopped arguing with Becky and looked at the truck, her face turned pale when Jacob stepped out of the truck. The muscular cowboy walked to her and Becky, CC was extremely confused as he stood next to her. He looked at Becky, who was also confused about his relationship with the other woman.
“What is going on here?” Jacob asked. He looked at CC, who was still in shock, and added, “Why are you all here?”
One of the social workers handed a document to Jacob, it was a complaint against Frank. The anonymous complainant claimed that Frank’s situation was alarming and that Frank could cause trouble in their community. Jacob suspected that the complaint was connected with the nurse’s accident.
Frank had one of his episodes and pushed the nurse on the stairs by accident and the nurse had to be rushed to the hospit
al in the middle of the night. In a small town like this, a minor accident can become a big deal and a simple problem can be distorted into a horrifying crisis. Jacob looked at Becky and thought, especially when someone volunteers to distort it.
“We are simply here to evaluate the situation and see if there is a truth in this complaint,” the social worker added.
Jacob gave Becky a glaring look, he believed she was behind the complaint. She might act like a charming woman in front of Jacob, but her actions mimicked a snake. He had always known that Becky was uncomfortable around his brother, she had even suggested putting Frank in a care home, but Jacob objected. Becky tried to get rid of Frank because of her hopes of becoming Jacob’s wife.
“The young woman is right, you cannot evaluate my brother without my permission,” Jacob told the social worker. “Now, leave before I shoot you for trespassing.”
“Jacob, you have to…,” Becky disagreed.
He glared at Becky and added, “That includes you, Becky.”
Becky gasped at Jacob’s warning, her face reddened with embarrassment. She glared at CC and said, “This is what you get for hanging around people like the Hawkins.”
Becky stomped away and the social workers left along with her. Jacob looked at CC and she looked at him like she had just seen a ghost and said, “You’re Jacob Stevens?”
#
Claudia felt like the world around her was spinning fast, she looked at the twins and back to Job – Jacob. He was my match? Different emotions and thoughts overwhelmed her and a part of her was in disbelief that the man she was attracted to was the person matched for her. The other part of her was excited that Job and Jacob were the same person. She did not have to force herself to love Jacob Stevens.
Asshole! Claudia summarized her anger towards Jacob in a word, was he playing with her? Was he testing her? Then, shame took over her emotions, Jacob knew that she was his match and he tried to seduce her. A stinging pain struck her heart. He probably thought that she was capable of cheating and that she did not deserve to be his wife.
“CC? Claudia Clarice Curtis?” Jacob asked with eyes full of curiosity. Claudia nodded softly, he looked at the clouds and uttered, “Shit.”
His reaction confused Claudia, she looked at Jacob’s twin daughters, they must look like their mother, Claudia thought. Their mother must have had blonde hair and blue eyes like her. She then looked at Jacob again, was he only attracted to her because she looked like his wife? Jacob was not looking for a wife. He was looking for a substitute, Claudia concluded.
“So, what was it? Were you trying to test if I can match your wife in bed?” Claudia accused him. Her accusations left Jacob speechless for a moment. When he was about to counter, she added, “Yesterday was just an act, right? You wanted to dump me because I was not good as your wife.”
“I did not know that you were my match!” Jacob countered with anger. “But, you knew I was your match!”
“Don’t turn this on me, Pauline sent me a different picture, I did not even know your real name,” Claudia stated in her defense.
Jacob snorted at her and retorted, “You didn’t know my name, but you were ready to hump on me like a bull? Despite knowing that you were going to meet your match? So, who’s playing who?”
Claudia felt a striking pain in her heart, her eyes turned misty and her anger pushed her to slap Jacob. He glared at her, but he calmed down when he saw tears running down her cheek. He reached out for Claudia’s hand, but she shoved him away.
“You seduced me yesterday, and because of you, I backed out from all of this,” Claudia confessed. “I had told myself that I don’t deserve to be a wife to a man who desired a happy family, I guess, you think the same way about me, too.”
“CC…Claudia, I’m sorry,” Jacob stuttered.
“Let’s just remain strangers,” Claudia said.
She wiped her tears and walk away from Jacob, but the two girls ran and blocked her way. Elaine looked at her with tears in her eyes while Alicia looked at her with angry eyes.
“You said you will be our new mommy,” Elaine cried.
“Are you a liar?” Alicia accused.
“Alicia,” Jacob warned. “Take your sister back to the house. I’ll talk to Claudia.”
Claudia’s heart jumped when Elaine held her hand, the little girl’s pleading eyes struck her heart like an arrow more powerful than Cupid’s.
“Please stay, Claudia,” Elaine begged.
Claudia forced herself to not respond to the little girl’s desperation, she looked away as the girls returned to the large wooden house. She was flustered when Jacob suddenly held her hands, he tightened his grip on her hands to keep her from resisting.
“I don’t want you to leave without understanding something,” Jacob started.
Claudia looked at the cowboy with sharp eyes as he walked closer to her, but she stepped back and tripped on Frank’s chair wheel. Jacob pulled her up before she could fall and she clenched her teeth to endure the pain of her sprained ankle.
“Just say what you want so I can leave,” Claudia said while fighting her tears from the pain she felt.
“My attraction for you was real, but you deserve more than this,” Jacob confessed. He looked at her and added, “I want a marriage not romance, I’m in this because I want a mother for my children and nothing else.”
Claudia’s mouth dropped open at Jacob’s confession, she gathered all her might and pulled her hands from Jacob, “Good luck with that, Mr. Stevens, I can be a mother to those kids and a sister to this young man, but I’ll never be a wife to an asshole like you,” she said.
Jacob wanted to retort, but he chose to be silent.
Claudia frowned and walked away from him, she stopped when the pain worsened and lifted her pants to check her ankle. The wheel had injured her heel and it bled.
“Blood! Blood!” Frank suddenly screamed. “Jacob! Jacob. She’s gonna die! Help!”
Claudia looked at Frank, the younger Stevens jumped from his wheelchair and tried to crawl towards her. Jacob carried Frank back to the chair, but he persisted in crawling towards her. She ran back to help Jacob and the twin girls also ran to their uncle.
“Please don’t die,” Frank cried while holding Claudia’s hand. “Don’t die! Don’t die!”
“I won’t, Frank, it’s just a scratch,” Claudia consoled the young man.
“Just get the girls,” Jacob ordered. “I’ll take care of him.”
Claudia nodded and ran to the twins, she hugged the girls and kept them away from their crying uncle. Tears sprung down Claudia’s cheeks as she watched Jacob calm his brother, he hugged Frank tightly and hushed his cries with children songs. The setting sun flashed on Jacob’s face and the light reflected on his tears.
Jacob carried Frank in his arms and looked at Claudia, he smiled softly as he spoke, “Please watch over the girls for a while.”
Claudia pulled the girls close to her and nodded. What happened in this family? She wondered quietly as Jacob left.
Chapter Five
Jacob sat down in front of Claudia and grabbed her foot, she wanted to pull her leg away, but he glared at her and rolled up her pants to see the wound.
“I won’t die from it,” Claudia said half-jokingly.
Jacob frowned and opened the first-aid kit, she looked at him expectantly as he avoided her eyes and focused on treating her wound.
She could no longer hold back her curiosity and asked, “What happened to Frank?”
“It’s none of your business,” Jacob snapped as he put down Claudia’s foot gently.
He looked at her, she had curiosity written all over her face, his heart throbbed when their eyes met. He wanted to hide the pain he felt with anger, but Jacob was vulnerable in front of Claudia. It felt like her eyes could look through his soul and see all his scars. He suddenly grabbed her and hugged her tightly like his life depended on it, she cradled his head close to her breast while stroking his hair gently, and tears began to str
eam down his cheeks.
Claudia patted Jacob’s back gently and hushed his cries, he pulled away and wiped away his tears, he looked at Claudia and his face reddened with embarrassment.
“I’m sorry,” Jacob muttered. “If you want to leave, I’ll walk you to your car.”
“I’m not leaving until you tell me your burdens,” Claudia opposed vehemently. She looked straight at Jacob’s eyes and said, “I want to help you, Jacob. Let me help you.”