Accidental Dad

by Lois Richer

“We found it! We found it,” Sadie yelled at the top of her voice. She swaggered a little as she lugged the box he’d made and spray painted metallic gold. “But we need a key,” she huffed, plopping it at his feet. “How do we get a key, Uncle Sam?”

  “Well, mateys, ye pirates will just have to figure it out.” He grinned when Kelly rolled her eyes at his attempted pirate accent.

  “You just had to complicate it, didn’t you?” she said in a droll voice.

  “I have good ideas, too, you know.” He only half noted her gurgle of laughter because his attention strayed to the dust trail of a vehicle headed his way. “Wonder who that is?”

  “I thought everyone who was coming was already here, but maybe someone’s late.” Kelly’s hand slipped into his when a huge black SUV turned into the drive. “I don’t know them, Sam,” she whispered, her voice tense. “Do you?”

  “No.” Keeping his voice low wasn’t difficult since Sadie and Emma had opened the box and were tossing the gold chocolate coins to their screaming friends. “I’ll go check.”

  Trepidation filled him as he disentangled his hand and walked forward. The door of the vehicle opened as he arrived. A tall, slim woman with gray hair stepped out, followed by an equally tall, equally slim man. The woman held out her hand.

  “You must be Sam,” she said in a well-modulated voice. “I’m Eunice Edwards. This is my husband, Tom.”

  A stone dropped into his stomach, heavy and ice cold.

  “Yes, I’m Sam. How can I help you?” he asked while inside his heart demanded of God, Why?

  “We’re here for the twins’ birthdays,” she said. “I phoned this morning to tell you but no one answered, and I couldn’t leave a message.”

  “I guess we forgot to turn on the machine,” Sam said automatically. Why couldn’t he get a grip on this, make the world come right again?

  “Would you prefer we come back later?” Mrs. Edwards asked in a low tone. “We don’t want to cause a fuss.”

  Then leave, his brain screamed. Go home and don’t ever come back.

  “You’re welcome to stay, but there can be no discussion about your plans to adopt the twins.” He stared at her to ensure she realized he was completely serious. “This is their day in their home, and they’re happy. I want them to stay that way, not be lambasted with the worry that someone is going to take them from everything they know and love.”

  “I understand, Sam. We know this must be a difficult time for you.” She nodded, generous, graceful and courteous.

  Everything he didn’t want her to be. He wanted a villain, a wicked stepmother-type whom he could hate and vilify.

  “Sam? Will you introduce us?” Kelly stood by his side, close, as if she was afraid.

  “Certainly.” He slung an arm around her shoulders, trying to reassure her. “Meet Mr. and Mrs. Edwards, the twins’ aunt and uncle, though we won’t mention that to anyone here. Not now,” he said with a warning look at the couple. “This is Kelly Krause, their aunt, their mother’s sister.” He put a little emphasis on that last part, to reinforce their claim.

  Mrs. Edwards simply smiled and shook hands. “It’s very good to meet you, Kelly. May we join the party?”

  “Sure,” Kelly said swiftly, too swiftly. She glanced from her worn jeans to Sam’s and then to the couple’s more formal attire. “It’s a picnic,” she said quietly.

  “And we’re not dressed for it. Oh, well.” Eunice slid out of her jacket and put it in the backseat of the car. She rolled up her sleeves, kicked off her heels and wiggled her bare toes in the grass. Her husband followed suit, except for the shoes. “We’ll manage,” she said with a smile.

  “I’ll introduce you to our friends.” Sam led them toward Abby and performed the introductions. He saw her eyes flare at the names before she glanced his way. He gave a quick nod and kept moving around the group until all the adults had greeted the interlopers. “Help yourself to a drink, coffee, tea or juice,” he said. “Lunch will be in a while. The kids will be having a wiener roast.”

  “How fun,” Eunice Edwards said with a smile. “I see it’s bubble time. I haven’t done that in years. Do you mind if I join in?”

  “You’ll have to ask Kelly. She planned the games.” He watched Mrs. Edwards walk toward Kelly then turned away, irritation making his jaw tighten.

  “I can’t believe they came here today,” Abby murmured darkly. “I’m going to have a word with someone about this,” she promised, hurrying away, phone in hand.

  With a sinking heart, Sam observed Sadie’s awareness of Mrs. Edwards and her nudge of Emma, whose gaze also tracked the woman. In that moment his goal became crystal clear. Allow nothing to interfere with the joy of this birthday party. He hurried toward Kelly.

  “Let’s keep the games going as if she wasn’t here,” he said in a whisper meant for her ears alone. Kelly nodded. “Are we flying the kites now?”

  “If you can handle those with Cade while I bring out the cupcakes. It’s just about time to feed everyone.” She smiled at him and squeezed his arm as if to reassure him that everything was okay. Which didn’t work.

  “Oh, that reminds me,” Mrs. Edwards said from behind them. “We brought along a birthday cake and a few gifts. We didn’t want to show up empty-handed.”

  You couldn’t fault her for manners, Sam thought. There was no trace of guile or trickery in her wide-eyed gaze, no sign from her voice that she was being anything other than honest.

  Yet he said, “Let’s wait on gifts until after the food.” Mrs. Edwards’s easy agreement did not reassure him, but there was no time to dwell on it. Twelve little kids wanted to fly kites, so Sam got to work.

  But inside he kept asking God, Why? Why now, why today? Why at all?

  And though he searched for and found Kelly’s reassuring smile, a balm to his troubled soul, Sam did not find an answer to his question. Nor, once lunch was underway, could he accept her whispered “Trust God.”

  Too much was at stake.

  * * *

  “Now that’s what I call a birthday cake. Nothing homemade about it.”

  Kelly tried to ignore her mother’s whispered comment as Mr. Edwards set a beautifully decorated fairy princess cake beside her crudely decorated cupcakes. She realized that she’d forgotten the candles inside, but by the time she returned with them, Mrs. Edwards had already lit the candles on the fairy cake and everyone was singing “Happy Birthday” while Sam snapped pictures of the twins and their friends.

  Kelly stuffed down her chagrin when a wide-eyed Sadie commented to Emma about the pretty cake the “lady” had brought. If they liked cakes so much why had they chosen cupcakes? She chided herself for being petty then forced a smile as Sam snapped a picture of her with the twins.

  Once everyone had finished their cake and ice cream, Kelly assembled the kids in a circle on the grass so the twins could open their gifts. She couldn’t suppress her pride when they dutifully thanked each giver. She quietly slipped her own gift out of the stack and into the bottom of a closet after the girls opened Eunice Edwards’s gifts. No way did Kelly want someone to compare her handmade outfits with the Edwards’s designer shirts and jeans as they’d compared her cupcakes and their fancy cake. Okay, so she was insecure—she was also afraid.

  As the kids raced off to swat the piñata Sam had hung from the old oak tree, Kelly and Abby cleared the tables with the other moms.

  “Isn’t it amazing?” one mom said to another. “That fancy cake and all those expensive clothes. Marina never mentioned well-to-do relatives.”

  “Ignore them, Kelly,” Abby whispered. “You did a wonderful job.”

  “Thanks, but even my own mother is impressed.” She inclined her head to where Arabella was raving about the Edwards’s stylish car.

  “I’ll fix that.” Abby hurried toward Verna, and a few moments later t
hat woman escorted Arabella into the kitchen on the pretext of amusing a cranky Jacob Samuel. “A reprieve.” Abby grinned when she returned.

  “You’re a good friend.” Kelly hugged her.

  Finally, the Edwardses said goodbye, promising the twins they’d see them again soon.

  “Perhaps you girls could come for a visit,” Eunice offered, glancing at Sam from her hunkered-down position face-to-face with Sadie. “We could go to the zoo. There are a lot of fun things to do where we live.”

  Kelly heard the words with dismay, her worries building when she glanced at Emma. The little girl’s face paled as she reached out to grasp Sadie’s hand and moved to stand behind her.

  “I think we’ll talk about that another time.” She held Mrs. Edwards’s gaze with an unflinching look until that woman finally nodded. “Now say goodbye, girls, then we need to thank your other guests.”

  Sadie dutifully thanked them for their gifts, particularly the computer tablet they’d received. Emma whispered “thank you,” still cowering behind Sadie.

  “It was nice to meet you.” Kelly wrapped an arm around Emma’s shoulder. “Please excuse us now. We have to hand out the treat bags.”

  “Of course. I hope we’ll see you again,” Mrs. Edwards said. “I understand you’re leaving in August.”

  The words made Kelly furious, but her first concern was for the twins. She ignored the couple to usher the girls away.

  “What did she mean, Auntie Kelly?” Sadie demanded. “Where are you going?”

  “I’m not going anywhere for a long time,” Kelly told her, trying to infuse reassurance into her words. Seeing Sadie’s dissatisfaction and Emma’s growing worry, she knelt on the ground and pulled the twins into a tight embrace while mentally whispering a prayer for the right words. “Look, you two. You know I love you, right?”

  Sadie nodded first, then Emma, more slowly.

  “So I would never want to hurt you.” Loving the way they leaned into her, she kissed each brow. “But the man I work for only gave me so many holidays, and then I will have to go back to work. Uncle Sam’s work is here but mine is on a ship, far away.”

  “Like the princess story,” Emma whispered.

  “Kind of.” A group of boisterous kids were headed their way. “I’ll tell you more about it later, after the party’s over and your friends have gone home. Okay?”

  They both nodded, but serious questions lingered in their blue eyes. Kelly rose, watching the twins leave with their friends. Emma paused and glanced over her shoulder, as if to ensure that Kelly was still there. That action brought tears to Kelly’s eyes.

  “I thought you were handing out treat bags?” Sam murmured from behind her.

  “They are. See?” She dashed away a tear then pointed to where Sadie was distributing the bags Kelly had hidden under the table. Emma stood apart, alone, her gaze fixed on Kelly and Sam. Kelly’s heart bumped for the child’s sadness. Somehow Emma knew the truth; she was convinced of that.

  Kelly let out her pent-up frustration on a sigh. “Why did the woman have to say that about me going?”

  “Mrs. Edwards apologized. She said they thought the twins knew everything, including their intention to adopt.” Sam’s lips pressed tightly together, but his voice remained calm. “Thanks for not letting your irritation show. I feel the same, but it wouldn’t have done our case any good to show it.”

  “They must have seen the girls’ birthdates on the adoption forms they filled out. But why did they come here?” she demanded.

  “To make it clear that they have the financial clout to care for the kids far better than we can?” He shrugged. “Abby’s trying to get some kind of restraint so they can’t just show up here again, but I doubt it will work.”

  Kelly didn’t argue because she had the same doubts. “What are we going to do, Sam?”

  “Keep on loving them, caring for them.” He draped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her to his side. “What else can we do?”

  “Pray,” she murmured, leaning in to his warmth, hoping it would take away the chill she felt. Every nerve in her body was aware of this man. She longed to throw herself into Sam’s arms and wallow in his care. But he didn’t love her.

  “Praying hasn’t done us much good,” he said darkly as he lifted away his arm. “But if it makes you feel better, go ahead. I don’t think things could get any worse.” He clasped her forearms so that she had to face him. “Kelly, are you sure you can’t marry me?”

  Hope ballooned inside her. Maybe he did feel something...

  “For the twins?” he added.

  “Sam, I don’t want them to leave any more than you do.” It hurt so much to say that, to reject the one thing she wanted to do most—stay with him, marry him, live here with the twins. “But I don’t believe marrying you is the answer.”

  “Then what is?” he demanded, his hands falling away.

  “I don’t know.” Kelly peered into his beloved face. If only... “But I believe God has a reason for this,” she said quietly. “We just have to trust Him.”

  She tried to instill strength into her voice, but inside, her faith was shrinking. She couldn’t stay here, marry Sam. Okay, she’d accept that. Somehow. But surely God didn’t want the twins to leave their home?

  As Kelly stood by Sam’s side to thank parents and children for coming to the twins’ birthday, she stored the memory of being with him, shoulder to shoulder, sharing every precious moment of this day.

  She would need his strength and support for their upcoming discussion with the twins.

  Chapter Eleven

  “So that’s why Mr. and Mrs. Edwards came,” Sam summarized after he’d explained the twins’ relationship to the couple that evening. “They’re your family and they want to get to know you.”

  Hoping he’d said all the right things, he glanced at Kelly and found her attention riveted on Emma. The little girl had said nothing during the past hour that he and Kelly had spent with them in the family room. She’d kept one hand tightly clasped around Sadie’s, her blue eyes moving from person to person as she listened, her worry obvious.

  “But they asked us to visit them. I don’t want to,” Sadie said, her voice whiny. “Do we have to?”

  Sam looked to Kelly for help. It seemed that lately he was always doing that. When Kelly rose and left his side, it felt as if he was losing his right arm. He depended on her so much. She sat between the twins and wrapped one arm around each girl, snuggling them close. To his relief, some of Emma’s sadness seemed to melt when she dredged up a smile for her aunt.

  “Listen, my dear girls. Uncle Sam and I love you very much. We want you to be happy because we want the very best for you. Getting to know your family is a good thing. We don’t want you to be afraid,” she said with a wide smile and repeated, “Family is good.”

  Where did she get this assurance? Sam wondered. She, who’d found family such a trial? At the moment Kelly seemed perfectly fine with the Edwards’s visit, and yet he knew that wasn’t true. Had she attained this newfound strength because of the prayers she said earlier when he’d seen her kneeling by her bed? Did she really believe God was going to somehow come through for them?

  “We want our family around us,” she continued, her voice filled with love as her fingers brushed the flaxen curls. “They love us and help us be strong. When we’re with family, we’re home.”

  “This is my home,” Sadie said stoutly, her lips set. “I don’t know that lady and man.”

  Sam held his breath, wondering how Kelly would answer.

  “Listen, sweetie.” Kelly lifted the little girl onto her lap. “When you and Emma first came to the ranch, you didn’t know Mommy and Daddy, either, did you?”

  Sadie thought about it.

  “No,” Emma whispered.

  Sam couldn’t sto
p himself. He needed to be part of this, so he rose, walked across the room and swung Emma into his arms before settling beside Kelly. This was his family, he thought with a fierceness that surprised him.

  Kelly blinked at his closeness, but when she smiled Sam’s worries diminished and suddenly he was certain the twins’ questions weren’t too hard. The problems ahead seemed a little less insurmountable with Kelly beside him. They could handle it.

  “You had never met Mommy and Daddy before, but they became your family, didn’t they?” Kelly waited for the twins’ nods of agreement. “How did that happen?”

  “I dunno.” Sadie stared at her blankly.

  “How about you, Em?” he asked the child in his arms. “Do you know how they got to be your mom and dad?”

  Emma shook her head. Her tiny hand slid into his, seeking, he was certain, reassurance.

  “Tell us how it happened, Auntie Kelly.” Sam was completely willing to go along with her on this because he trusted her. He was comfortable with leaving Kelly to explain because she had a knack for making things all right.

  What would he do when she left?

  “It happened because God gave you love to make you a family. Just like He made us a family.” Kelly waved her hand around in a circle to include the four of them. For an instant her brown gaze clung to his, and Sam couldn’t have looked away, even if he’d wanted to.

  “An’ Jacob Samuel?” Sadie asked.

  “Of course Jacob Samuel is part of our family.” Kelly hugged her. “See, God takes Sadie and Emma and Jacob Samuel and Kelly and Sam and Gran and Grandpa and Grannybell and Grandpa Neil, and he puts them all together into a family who loves each other and takes care of each other. And that’s what makes a family. Right, Sam?”

  Kelly lifted her head and stared directly at him as if she was trying to tell him something important. Only he couldn’t figure out what it was. And he wanted to. He wanted to know what gave her face that soft glow, lent her eyes that sheen and softened her manner to that inviting look that drew him to her.

  “So you mean God wants that lady and man to be our fam’ly?” Sadie asked before Sam could respond to the question.