KeepingFaithCole
Page 31
“We could use a lot of help, Charlotte.” Lucille reached out and placed a hand on her mother-in-law’s shoulder. “That’s one reason we came by. We wanted to talk to you about taking care of the girls.”
Tom’s heart felt so damned big, he worried it might burst then and there. Lucille had every reason—and every right—to hate his mother but chose to love her instead.
Lucille took Charity into her arms while Tom carried Hope. Together they followed his mother and Faith into the house.
“Ma, I was thinking about fixing up the upstairs bedroom.”
“For a nursery?” Charlotte’s features wrinkled into confusion. She shook her head. “These babies need to be downstairs, close to the two of you.”
“We’re fixing it up for you,” Lucille said. “We want you to come and live with us.”
“With Faith being such a bundle of energy, and now with the twins…” Tom grinned. “We really could use your help, Ma. Please, say you’ll come out to the farm with us.”
Lucille placed a hand on his shoulder. “Really, Tom, you’re making it sound like that’s the only reason we’re asking your mother to move in.” She turned back to the older woman. “Yes, we can use the help, but it’s more than that. We’re family, and we should be together. I’d like to have more time to spend with you, Charlotte. Now that my mother has moved back to Denver with my sister, I’m feeling a little bereft. If you’d come live with us, it would be like having a mother again.”
Tears welled in the corners of Charlotte’s blue eyes. She made no move to wipe them away and soon they spilled down her cheeks.
“It’s kind of you to ask, but I’m afraid I can’t do it. I’ve got…other plans,” she said after a hesitation.
Tom grinned. “Do those plans happen to include a tall, older gentleman with a neatly-trimmed moustache and goatee? One who happens to practice medicine?”
He’d never seen his mother’s face turn so red so fast. “Please, be happy for us. Be happy for me.”
The stricken look on her face almost made him laugh, but he schooled his features into a fierce scowl, fighting hard to keep his amusement to himself. For the moment, it might be fun to let her think he was truly worried about her relationship with Dr. Kellerman.
He cleared his throat, drew himself up and planted his hands on his hips. “Just what sort of plans do the two of you have? He’s not taking advantage of you, is he?”
She caught on to his game. He could tell by the way her eyes suddenly brightened, by the sly smile she tried to hide. Like son, like mother. They were both playing.
“Only when I let him,” she teased, leaning back and gazing off toward the curtained window. “We’re going to do a little traveling. Thought we might go back east for a while. St. Louis. Chicago. Maybe all the way to New York City.”
“And what makes you think I’d allow my own mother to go gallivanting across the country with a man? Absolutely not. I forbid it. You’re staying right here in Sunset.” He was joking, but at the same time, he was serious. “It wouldn’t be right, Ma. I mean, really, we have to think about our little girls now, and you ought to be setting a good example for them. A single woman, no matter her age, has no business going anywhere with a male companion.”
“What if that male companion happened to be the woman’s husband?”
“In that case, she wouldn’t be single,” Tom fired back. His jaw suddenly went slack. “Wait a minute. You and Abner? You’re getting married?”
“You always did catch on quick, Tommy.” She laughed. “Will you give us your blessing?”
“What if I don’t?”
Lucille jumped up and came to stand beside him. “Stop it, please. Of course you’re giving your blessing. We both are.” She turned toward his mother. “You know he’s being ornery, that’s all. He’s very good at that, I’ve learned.”
“Yes, he’s an ornery one. I guess that’s my fault since I’m the one who raised him, but he’s a good man, Lucille.”
“He is,” she agreed. “A good man, a good husband, and a very good father.”
Tom’s heart swelled again. Somehow, love had worked its miracle in his life, had given him all he could ever hope for. Love had shown him the way, had helped him become the man he’d always wanted to be.
Love. That’s what made life worth living. Love was the answer to every question, the solution to every problem. With love, a man could be anything; without it, he was nothing.
Now, he had love and so much more.
He gathered his mother and his wife around him, bringing them into a circle.
Love.
Faith. Hope. Charity.
He drew them all closer, then bent to brush a kiss against his mother’s grey-blonde hair.
“Yes, Ma, you’ve got my blessing.”
*The End*
About the Author
Christina Cole will always be grateful to her grandfather who patiently held her on his lap and taught her to read. He also told her stories of his own childhood and stirred her imagination with scenes from days gone by.
From him, she developed not only a love of words and story-telling, but a deep appreciation for history and a longing to learn more about the past.
Today, she still loves reading, and loves sharing her own stories about men and women and the romance of an earlier time.
You can find Christina online at her website,
Christinacoleromance.com
Also by Christina Cole
Irresistible
Happily Ever After
Summertime
The Wrong Woman
and
Not the Marrying Kind
Secret Cravings Publishing
www.secretcravingspublishing.com