She stood before him, her eyes glowing and uncertain as rain ran like a waterfall down her face. ‘Jared, are you sure?’
His heart nearly bursting with all he’d kept locked in so long, he still didn’t know how to say it. Shaking, he took one of her hands in his, and placed it on his heart. His eyes fixed on hers, pleading in silence for her to understand.
Her eyes darkened, filled with the love she’d believed was gone and he’d feared was dead. She leaned into him, and kissed his chest. ‘If you ever change your mind—’
His beautiful Anna—his beloved wife—still setting such a low value on herself, believing herself less important to him than a million hectares. He buried his face in her hair. ‘I’m thanking God you changed yours,’ he mumbled. ‘I’m praying you never change it back.’
‘But…what will you do in the city, if we go there?’
‘I don’t care what job I do. As for the rest, I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy with me,’ he said hoarsely.
She looked up at him, her soft doe’s eyes filled with joy. ‘I love you, Jared,’ she mumbled, and drew him down to her for a long kiss, sweet, ready passion and pure happiness.
It moved him to the soul. He’d come so close to losing everything…and now he had everything that truly mattered in life. And in that kiss Jared blessed God, his mother’s wisdom and second chances.
EPILOGUE
Mumbai, India, three years later
‘SO THAT is finally everything, Mr and Mrs West. Congratulations on the adoption of your daughters Aisha and Maya. May your family life in Australia be blessed and filled with beauty.’
The rotund Indian man beamed as he shook hands with Jared and bowed to Anna, whose hands were full with two little girls, one clinging to each of her hands, eighteen-month-old and three-year-old orphaned sisters. Their parents had died within weeks of each other and Aisha and Maya had needed a home and family as much as she and Jared needed children to love.
Her heart was full at last. The long months of waiting for the formal adoption to go through had been worth every moment. They’d spent the time getting to know Aisha and Maya, learning Hindi and teaching the girls basic English. She was totally besotted, as was Jared. Beautiful girls both, they called her Mami and Jared Papi.
And to think that two years ago she couldn’t have imagined this blessing in her life…
She bowed her head in return. ‘Namaste,’ she said softly. ‘Thank you for helping to bring this joy to our lives.’
Jared swung Aisha up into his arms, she held little Maya, and they walked out of the office, parents at last. They were staying another week in India, in the apartment they’d taken while the adoption went through.
‘Mami, where are we going?’ Aisha asked in Hindi as Jared carried her into the street pulsing with humid sunshine.
‘We’re going home, Aisha.’ They’d been taking the girls to the apartment on a daily basis, to get them used to the place, and to a small family unit.
‘Straya?’ Aisha asked, stumbling over the long word. They’d been teaching the girls where home was, to get them used to the coming change.
Jared laughed. ‘Yes, Australia, Aisha…and we go there next week. We have pictures of Australia to show you when we get home. Aunty Sapphie sent you pictures of her home—and Aunty Lea sent pictures of Molly waving to you.’
‘We go see Aunty Lea, Aunty Sapphie and Molly,’ Aisha parroted wisely, and Anna and Jared laughed. Maya was chattering in baby-talk Hindi, with a little arm around Anna’s neck.
‘And the rest of the family,’ Jared added. ‘Don’t forget your nanna Pauline and grandpa Mikey, and all your other aunts, uncles and cousins.’
‘Yes, Papi. And when do we go on the little ride, and the big ride?’ Aisha asked eagerly, her massive dark eyes alight with fun. Jared wanted to take them up in a small plane to help them acclimatise to cabin pressure before putting them on a 747 for Perth next week, where their new lives would begin.
‘The little ride is tomorrow, and the big one next week.’ Jared tweaked her nose, and Aisha shrieked with laughter.
That night, in bed, Jared and Anna lay entwined, her head on his chest, talking softly. The girls’ door was open, their first night in a new place.
‘Happy?’ he murmured, kissing her hair.
‘How could I not be?’ She smiled up at him. ‘I have you, and two beautiful daughters. We’re a family.’
From the moment he’d climbed in the plane, Jared had gone wherever she’d wanted without question. He’d taken a job as a horse trainer for the racing industry in Perth—his reputation had ensured the big noises in the industry came to him with lucrative offers—while Anna had applied for teaching positions.
She’d found true joy, as well as hard work, when she’d accepted a position teaching challenged children, not just art but to sing and dance. In working with children who truly needed her, she’d found true peace in her soul. She’d come home to Jared every afternoon with some new story to laugh over or just to hold him as she’d shared something poignant, she always felt a new peace and happiness in her heart—and to his own surprise Jared found his new work exciting and fulfilling.
They worked hard at their new jobs with all their challenges; they worked hard at learning how to live in the city—and, hardest of all, they worked at their marriage. To Anna’s surprise, Jared showed no sign of regret; and if he missed Jarndirri and his old life, he said simply that having Anna’s love more than made up for his loss.
After two years Jared took her away to Bali for a holiday—he called it an anniversary of their new marriage. After two weeks of surfing, sailing and generally being spoiled thoroughly, Jared had tentatively brought up the question of adopting kids from poorer nations, orphans who truly needed a stable, loving home and parents who’d love them.
To her surprise, she was ready to hear it, ready to look at the websites he’d been quietly gathering in his spare time the past year.
After days of searching the net for adoption sites, they’d seen a picture of Maya and Aisha, tiny, sweet, big-eyed girls with smiling faces—and they knew they’d found their family at last. They’d applied to adopt them, and hopped on a flight to Mumbai before anyone else claimed the children they already saw as their daughters. Now they had their family. Life didn’t get better than this.
‘Ti amo,’ Jared said softly in Italian, lifting her face to kiss her, soft and sensual.
‘Je t’aime’, she replied in French, kissing him back…and they made love gently, quietly so they didn’t wake the girls.
Some time in the first year in Perth he’d taken to saying I love you in other languages. She didn’t question why he never said it in English; he’d tell her in his time and way, and he had. Now it was a prelude to love-play for them, coming up with new languages in which to say it—though for some reason saying it in Finnish had them rolling around with laughter instead of sensuality.
Afterwards, they lay together, drifting toward sleep. Then Anna said the words she’d been rehearsing for days, weeks. This was the right time. ‘I’m ready to go home.’
‘We will,’ he replied, more than half-asleep. ‘Just give the girls a few days to—’
‘No, Jared,’ she said softly, and kissed his chest. ‘I mean, I’m ready to go home to Jarndirri.’
She felt him turn still for a few moments. ‘Do you mean that? You’re not just saying it for me?’
The repressed eagerness in his voice made her smile. ‘No, I’m saying it for all of us. Jarndirri is a fantastic place to bring up kids. Aisha and Maya love animals. I think they’ll take to it like ducks to water.’ She smiled up at him. ‘I’d like to invite Rosie and Melanie up, too. They can be cousins, as well.’
‘But how do you feel about going back?’ He lifted her face, his gaze searching hers.
‘I have two healthy, happy children who need room to play and animals to love—and a husband who’s proven ehr liebt mich more than any million hectares,’ she added,
smiling in impish fun at saying he loves me in German. ‘I think Adam’s memory will be sweet for us both now.’ She drew a deep breath and lifted her chin. ‘I’m ready to be a Curran woman again, to be the person I was always meant to be. I want to live the rest of my life on Jarndirri. I know that now.’
He lifted her up until they were face to face—and whatever he saw in her eyes made his light with joy. He mumbled through fervent kisses, ‘Thank you, Anna, thank you—but if you change your mind…’
As he’d done three years ago when she’d used those words, she put his hand over her heart. Giving him the assurance he needed without words. ‘We’re going home.’
‘No.’ And he shook his head, smiling that slow half-smile she’d always loved. ‘I’m already home, when I’m with you and our girls.’
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5221-3
ONE SMALL MIRACLE
First North American Publication 2010
Copyright © 2010 by Lisa Chaplin
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