The Twins' Family Wish

by Lois Richer

  “I would.” Finally Molly lost the sadness in her eyes. “I really would. Thank you, Penny. I’m going to try asking God. Because I know I can’t keep him.” She stared down at the child and shook her head. “It isn’t right for him. I know that.”

  “We’ll talk tomorrow,” Penny called before she hurried inside. As it happened Katie had fallen back asleep. Certain that both children were comfortably resting, Penny returned outside. Since Molly had left she decided to send a few prayers of her own. All of them were for Rick.

  “Penny?” The familiar sound of that voice had her jerking her head upright.

  “Todd?” She gaped at her former fiancé. “What are you doing here? And why?”

  “I’m in town on a case. Before I left, some friends back home told me you’re getting married and I—” He seemed at a loss to continue.

  Penny couldn’t help but recall their last encounter. She was not eager to have this new relationship tarnished with that ugliness.

  “Didn’t you say it all last time, Todd? That I’m inadequate, that I could never be a mother and therefore never be your wife?” It should have made her feel better to say that and yet Penny felt horrible when he winced at her words.

  “I know I was hateful, but please, Penny. Just hear me out,” he begged in a voice nothing like she’d heard before. “I came to apologize to you.”

  “Apologize?” She frowned uncertainly.

  “Yes. And to ask your forgiveness. I was a fool and I’m so ashamed of how I acted.” He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets, staring at his feet as he explained. “You might not believe me but what I said—it didn’t have a lot to do with you not being able to have kids, Penny.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “Please, will you just listen? I need so badly to say this. It’s been eating at me for months.” He exhaled. “You see, I’d been having doubts about our getting married for a long while, long before we broke up. But I kept trying to ignore them. Yet the more plans we made, the more my reservations built. I wasn’t ready to marry, Penny, and I knew it was because I couldn’t be the husband you expected.”

  So it was still her fault. Penny frowned as anger surged but decided to wait for him to finish.

  “I felt inadequate but you seemed so certain about us. I couldn’t face my fears but I couldn’t proceed, either, so the only way I could figure to get out of it was to blame you. Actually, I blamed you in order to feel better about myself. It sounds awful and it was.” Todd shook his head. “I’m so sorry I did that.”

  “You’re sorry now,” she said, lips pursed.

  “I was sorry immediately,” he corrected. “But it took me a while to admit it to myself and by then you’d disappeared and I couldn’t apologize.”

  “So why bother now?” she asked curiously.

  “You always used to talk about God having a plan for us.” Todd’s cheeks burned. “I never really agreed but I’m starting to.”

  “Why?”

  “Apparently His plan includes sending me here, though I have tried every which way to get out of it.” Todd’s wry grin confused her. “But I can’t run anymore. The guilt I feel is oppressive. I know that’s God telling me to make it right. So when I was ordered here on a case, I knew the time had come to face you.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. A case?” she repeated.

  “Oh, I forgot. You wouldn’t know that I changed jobs right after we—uh, over a year ago.” Todd stood tall and straight now. “I’m pretty good at what I do, Penny. Besides that, I love my work. I’ve spent my whole life trying to be the honorable man my father raised, but I can’t live with this feeling anymore. I’m very ashamed of how I made you feel when it was not your fault and I knew it. I should have been there for you. Will you please forgive me, Penny?”

  How could she have ever thought she loved this man? Not that Todd wasn’t a perfectly nice man. He was. He just wasn’t Rick. And her heart belonged to Rick.

  “I’m not exactly sure what brought you here but I do forgive you, Todd.” Penny smiled at him. “A while ago I came to the same conclusion, that we weren’t right for each other. Because God had someone else for me.”

  Suddenly Penny knew it didn’t matter that Rick didn’t love her. Because God had a plan, He would work out that plan for her life. All she had to do was trust. And she did.

  “Penny?” Rick’s voice drew her attention as he walked toward them. “Is anything wrong?”

  “Rick, I want to introduce you to a friend of mine from my Seattle days. This is Todd Markham. Todd, my fiancé, Rick Granger.”

  She didn’t understand why Todd’s face lost all its color.

  “Rick—?” He frowned. “What was the name again?”

  “Granger.” Rick held out a hand. “Pleased to meet—” He frowned as Todd backed up. “What did I say?”

  Todd, ignoring him, shook his head as he gaped at her. “I’m so sorry, Penny. So very sorry.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?” she demanded. “Todd, what’s this about?”

  “I changed jobs, Penny. I’m an arson investigator now. That’s why I’m here, to testify in the case of a house fire that—”

  “You’re the one who’s blaming Rick for his sister’s fire.” Penny couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “It’s you who’s trying to send him to prison?”

  “I didn’t know—” Todd reached out a hand toward her, dropped it as he repeated, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Penny.”

  “You should be. You tried to wreck my life once and now you’re determined to do it again, only this time you’re hurting a man who would never do what you’re accusing him of doing to his own sister.” Furious, she ordered, “Just leave, Todd. Go away and don’t come back to ruin my life a third time.”

  Unable to control her tears of anger, disappointment and frustration, Penny threw herself into Rick’s arms and wept.

  How could God do it? She’d bragged to Rick a hundred times about trusting God. How could He betray her?

  * * *

  Rick hung on to Penny as if she was his lifeline. And in fact, she was the only thing that kept alive the flicker of hope that once burrowed deep inside him. But now even Penny and her staunch support couldn’t suppress the nugget of guilt he’d carried since the day Gillian had died.

  He had to be responsible for her death. Otherwise God would have done something. Not guilty because he’d caused the fire, but maybe guilty because he hadn’t saved her. It really didn’t matter whether an arson investigator or a court case blamed him or not because in his heart Rick carried the scars for not saving Gillian. The hardest part would be living with it.

  And living without Penny.

  “It doesn’t matter, sweetheart,” he soothed, brushing his hand down her back to calm her. “Don’t cry like that. It will upset the twins.” Rick kept murmuring whatever came into his head, trying to console Penny while furious that she should have to suffer because of him. He should never have asked her to give up her world to help him.

  But there’d been no alternative. He would keep the sacred trust he’d made to Gillian.

  Rick loved Penny for her self-sacrificing love that flowed out over everyone she met. He would have loved sharing the future with her, watching the twins grow. But for some reason only God knew, that wasn’t his path.

  All Rick could do now was make the best of where God led. And protect Penny. She must never know that he loved her as much as he knew and treasured that she loved him. He savored her love, knew it as surely as he knew his own name. He tucked it against his heart and examined it in the darkest moments when he thought losing her would smother him. For Penny he would keep pretending that God would intervene.

  “One more day and the cabins will be finished,” Rick whispered, loving the way her silken hair brushed his
scarred cheek. No chance now that he’d have to keep his promise about plastic surgery. And yet, if he had the time, he would do it to ease sweet Penny’s heart.

  “One more day and we’ll be married. And then what?” She struggled for control. “For the first time I’m really scared, Rick. What if—”

  He put his lips over hers and kissed her the way he so often dreamed about. And when she responded his heart rose in his chest and sang for the love of her. Then he gently drew away, hoping those few moments had been enough to take her thoughts away from the thought of God not coming through for them.

  “Let’s get married first. Then we’ll worry about tomorrow,” he murmured.

  She stared at him with those trusting blue eyes.

  “Deal,” she said in her spunkiest tone. “But only if you kiss me again to seal it.”

  Rick had no problem with that.

  Chapter Fourteen

  She was getting married today.

  Penny floated around her house in a daze, making coffee then forgetting to drink it when she fell into a silly dream about Rick loving her and sharing her happily-ever-after with him and the twins. And then crashing back to earth when she remembered that getting married today had nothing to do with happily-ever-after.

  That hurt too much to think about so Penny focused on Molly. She’d wanted so badly to see her again, to hold the baby once more, but early this morning when she’d tried to visit, Molly wasn’t in her cabin. In fact, it had been emptied. Mother and child were nowhere to be found.

  Penny had wept for the young girl whose innocence had been stolen and for the child she couldn’t keep, the one who’d reached in and squeezed Penny’s heart only a few moments after he’d been born. How blessed she’d been to attend his birth.

  Then the phone rang.

  “Good morning.” Rick sounded calm, even slightly happy. “Do you have cold feet yet?”

  “Why? Do you?” she asked, worrying that he’d call everything off.

  “Me have cold feet about marrying the most wonderful woman I’ve ever met?” Rick scoffed with a laugh. “I’m not that dumb.”

  “Me, neither.” Penny felt warm all over and it had nothing to do with the summer sun shining in the window. Silence hummed between them until he coughed.

  “Uh, about this bow thing on the back of Katie’s dress.”

  “Yes?” Penny smiled, imagining big, capable Rick trying to calm a wiggling little girl long enough to tie a proper bow.

  “So, uh, is it supposed to be lopsided?” he asked in a hopeful tone.

  “Of course. We are going for natural, aren’t we?” Penny chuckled at his silence. “Seriously, don’t fuss, Rick. I can always retie it if necessary.”

  “Okay. So I guess I’ll see you later,” he said quietly. “At Wranglers Ranch.”

  Penny hesitated. “You’re sure you’ll be there?”

  “Long before you will. Don’t make me wait, lady,” he ordered, a gruff edge to his voice. “I’m not good at waiting.”

  “Me, neither.” Penny smiled, caught up in imagining a future with this wonderful man. Surely nothing could go wrong. Surely it would all work out; God would work it out. Wouldn’t He?

  Reality butted in with the ring of her doorbell.

  “I have to go,” she said. “See you later?”

  “Count on it. And Penny?”

  “Yes?”

  “Um, you might also have to fix Kyle’s tie,” he warned.

  “We’ll manage, Rick. By the grace of God, we’ll manage all of it.” Hoping she sounded more confident than she felt she said goodbye again and hung up just as Sophie peeked her head around the door. “Good morning. You look lovely.”

  “So will you when you get your dress on, which by the way, I am dying to see. Come on, lady. Move. It’s here comes the bride time.” Sophie followed her into the bedroom and gazed at the dress on the hanger.

  “Do you think it will do?” Penny asked, suddenly unsure about her choice of wedding gown.

  “Are you kidding? It’s spectacular!” Sophie hugged her excitedly. “You’ll be the most beautiful bride Wranglers has ever seen.”

  “I just hope it’s okay. It’s not exactly a bridal dress, you know,” Penny worried. She took off her robe and with Sophie’s help slid into the dress, twisting and turning in the mirror, watching as the pristine layers of her delicate organza sundress-turned-bridal-gown fluttered around her legs. “It’s probably not in the Wranglers Ranch style, either.”

  “Our style is ‘everybody is always welcome,’ and you always will be because you’re my best friend,” Sophie said loyally. “Rick is a fortunate man to marry such a gorgeous woman with such exquisite taste. That pale lemon tone is perfect for a summer bride. You’ll knock his socks off. C’mon. Let’s go show him.”

  Penny was still struggling to suppress the butterflies in her midsection twenty minutes later when Sophie turned into Wranglers Ranch and parked as close as she could get to the rear of the house.

  “You’ve decorated so beautifully.” Penny forced back her tears of joy so as not to weep at the sight of fluffy tulle bows tied to trees here and there and big urns spilling bountiful flowers over the sides. “You shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble, Sophie.”

  “I didn’t go to any trouble. We did it because we love you and Rick and we want you to be happy.” Sophie hugged her, careful not to crush Penny’s lovely dress. “Now, I’ll go first. You follow the rose petals to the patio to get to Rick.”

  “The kids scattered the petals?” Penny asked.

  “Yep. We’ve all had a part in getting you two married.” Sophie waggled her fingers and started walking.

  Penny loved that each of those she loved and cherished were part of her wedding day, that it wasn’t some cold impersonal ceremony in a justice of the peace’s office. Her heart began thumping at the thought of what today and marrying Rick meant to her world. Nothing would ever be the same again. She would never be the same.

  That’s when Penny made her decision.

  I will trust You. I won’t stop. No matter what. I will trust in You to work out Your plan for my life. Please work out Rick’s, too.

  Then Penny followed Sophie, sandals tapping against the flagstones. She stopped where Sophie waited with Katie and Kyle, dressed in their wedding finery and dancing from one foot to the other.

  “Hi, Penny,” they greeted.

  “You look really pretty,” Kyle said, his eyes huge.

  “Thank you. So do you. Well, actually, Kyle looks handsome.” She glanced at Katie and found her frowning. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

  “Uncle Rick said today’s the day we get our fam’ly wish,” she said.

  “Yes, it is.” Penny gulped as her eyes met Rick’s.

  “Then what’s that man doing here? Did you ’vite him, Penny?” Katie said, her eyes dark with suspicion. “He’s not fam’ly.”

  Rick, too, seemed irritated as he strode toward them. Penny turned around and gasped when she saw Todd and a man who wore a sheriff’s badge standing at the edge of the patio.

  I will trust.

  “What does he want now?” Rick asked in a low growl meant only for her ears.

  Penny could hardly speak around the fear gripping her. Was Todd here to have Rick arrested before their wedding could take place?

  I will trust. She mentally repeated the words.

  “Todd?” Gathering her skirts and her courage Penny walked toward him. “This is our wedding day. After your apology I hope you’re not here to spoil it. Why are you here?”

  “To give you a wedding gift. This is Sheriff Peters. He’ll be a witness.” Todd smiled at Katie. “Boy, that little one looks as fierce as you, Penny.”

  “What do you want from us?” It was clear Rick’s patience had w
orn thin.

  From the corner of her eye Penny saw Eva and David move closer but her concern lay with Rick. He was tense with fear. She touched his arm then rose on her tiptoes and whispered words meant only for the man she loved.

  “Remember the God we serve. He is well able to handle anything. But you have to trust Him, Rick. Totally.”

  She straightened, slid her arm through his and waited. She knew the exact moment he decided. A shudder worked through him before he finally nodded.

  “I’m trusting God,” he murmured then brushed his lips across hers.

  “Hey, lovebirds, don’t you want to hear about my gift?” Todd asked, smiling when they broke apart. He seemed unnaturally cheery until he glanced at the twins. “Uh, it might be better if they receive a later condensed version.”

  Rick gestured to Sophie, who shepherded the twins away, much to their disgust.

  “Okay. What is this about, Todd?” Penny wrapped her hand in Rick’s and hung on.

  “I couldn’t stand thinking that I’d ruined your life by finding Rick at fault for that fire. It tore me up but I didn’t know how to fix it. Then last night when I was on my way back to Phoenix I remembered a previous case I worked on. That sparked another memory that wouldn’t go away and it gave me an idea.” Todd looked deadly serious now. “So I came back to Tucson, got some helpers and some huge lights and we went to what remains of the house. I’m sure glad they refused to demolish it until a cause was determined.”

  “And?” Penny’s patience was exhausted.

  “In the wee hours of the morning I completed a personal and very thorough inspection of everything left over from the fire. Then I compared photos I’d taken there with photos of another case, which I have on my computer.”

  Todd’s pause made Penny grit her teeth with tension. She squeezed Rick’s hand tighter and finally prodded, “You found something?”