Mary Holder - Second Chance Mom

The Campbell farm was as she remembered. The house was small and neatly kept, the gardens just as tidy, though now they were full of what would probably be the last blooms of the season.

This is where the circle of love had started. The Campbells, unable to have children of their own, had adopted Sara and Jared. And so had begun the events that had brought Annie here today. She took a deep breath as they pulled to a stop and got out as the front door of the house opened.

“You’re just in time for dinner.”

Eve Campbell looked a little older but was still a petite, casually dressed farmer’s wife. Annie felt a little of her anxiety ease as the smiling woman came toward her and enveloped her in a hug the likes of which Annie hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Welcome home.” She looked at Annie just like a mother hen checking her chick. “We’ve missed you.”

Annie had been waiting to say something to this woman for a long time. “I’ve never forgotten how kind you were to me, the dinners I had here and the gifts you bought me,” she said, squeezing the woman’s hand. “I want to say thank you.”

Eve blinked back moisture in her eyes. “Your smile told me that a million times over.” She took a good look at Annie. “You’ve grown into a very beautiful young woman.”

Annie blushed, not even trying to stop the heat that surged into her cheeks. She touched the end of her ponytail where it lay over one shoulder.

“I never did get the blonde hair I longed for as a girl, or the brown eyes…and the freckles didn’t go away.”

“Child, your beauty is natural. Your skin is so smooth and flawless and those green eyes…just striking.”

“I’ll try to remember that.”

“And freckles?” She scoffed as if it were a minor concern. “It’s features like that which make people truly interesting…make them stand out from the crowd.”

Jared came around the truck and hugged his mother. “What’s for dinner?”

“A lamb roast, with vegetables and homemade damper.”

He laughed. “I should bring company home more often.”

“I haven’t had a home-cooked lamb roast since I left Guthrie. And I’ve forgotten how damper tastes.”

“Your taste buds are about to get a refresher course. Mum makes the best bread.”

Eve led the way into the house and before Annie even walked into the homey, aroma-filled kitchen she could hear the laughter of children—a boy and a girl—and the voice of an older man.

Suddenly her palms were sweating and her heart felt as if it were lodged somewhere in her throat. It was pounding so loud she was afraid it would just stop beating.

On legs that were threatening to go numb, as the realization of what lay ahead tonight hit her, Annie followed Eve into the kitchen, Jared behind her.

“Toby got hungry and after I fed him he just went out like a light,” said Eve. “He’ll be awake soon, I expect.”

Another reprieve—or torture—Annie couldn’t decide which.

Was she really ready to see her child? No, not her child—maybe biologically, but she had to remember that if she remained in these children’s lives that was the way it had to be.

At the table sat Mick Campbell. To his left sat Caroline and Luke, and there were three empty chairs waiting to be filled.

Jared could feel the tension radiating from Annie. “Dad, you remember Annie Dawson from Rivers End Road?”

Mick stood up.

“Nice to meet you again, sir.”

He chuckled, though it ended in a cough that had Annie wondering just how long it was taking him to get over his illness.

“Nobody’s called me sir since…I can’t remember when. Call me Mick.”

“Okay.”

Jared turned his attention to Caroline, who sat with her head down and eyes glued to the plate in front of her.

He began with the easiest task.

“Luke, say hello to Annie.”

The little boy used the back of his hand to wipe a milk mustache from his top lip and grinned, showing that his two front teeth were missing.

“Hi.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Luke.”

“Are you our new mummy?”

The question exploded into the silence of the room.

Nobody spoke. Annie could feel their unease at the implications of that innocent question.

It was Caroline who broke the silence. “Mummy died. We aren’t getting another mummy.” She raised her eyes to look at Annie. “We don’t need a mother.”

It was as much of a warning as Annie would have needed had she been the kind to try and come into their lives and take Sara’s place.

“Caroline—”

Annie put a hand on Jared’s arm and he fell silent. “Well, how about a friend?” She slid into a chair opposite the girl who glared at her with a militant expression. “Could you use a friend?”

Her expression didn’t change. “I have friends.”

Eve made a quiet sound of distress. Mick sighed heavily and Jared took the situation in hand. “Annie is going to be here for the weekend.”

“You’re going to marry her, you said so,” Caroline accused. Eve moved about the kitchen busying herself serving dinner and Mick shot Annie a smile of support.

“We won’t be getting married unless Annie likes it here.”

One little eyebrow raised and Annie knew the gaunt-let had been unwittingly thrown down. Something told her Caroline would do her best to make sure Annie didn’t like it here. What Caroline didn’t know was that Annie had been a scared, lonely little girl once.

“This looks wonderful,” Annie said as Eve put the roast in the middle of the table and Mick handed the carving knife to his son.

After a brief prayer, Jared carved it with expert movements and precision before taking a seat alongside her. The roast was complemented by fresh damper, hot out of the oven, and a casserole dish filled with what Annie knew were farm-fresh vegetables.

Eve put the juice on the table and filled Annie’s glass. “Dig in, everyone. We don’t want it to get cold.”

The meal was enjoyable except for Caroline’s stony silence. If she were asked a question she would nod for yes or shake her head for no. If the question required an actual answer, she would shrug.

Luke however had no such qualms. “Do you like to play?”

Annie smiled at the boy whose blue eyes held mischief more playful than problematic. “I sure do.”

“What games do you like?”

“Are we talking inside or outside games?”

“Outside.”

“Um…horseshoes, cricket and building sand castles.”

Luke’s eyes went wide. “We have a sandpit and I can teach you to build really great castles.”

“I’d like that.”

He smiled so wide Annie wondered if he would hurt his face. But he had such wonderfully expressive features. He was a beautiful child.

Mick cleared his throat. “So Annie, Jared tells us you’ve been working in the city since you left Guthrie.”

“Yes, s—” She caught herself just in time and smiled. “Yes, Mick. I’m a waitress at one of the more popular restaurants down there.”

Annie wasn’t worried about admitting she didn’t have a job requiring a degree or diploma. The Campbells weren’t the type to look down on others for any reason.

“Tough job, waitressing. Mother did it for a while after we were first married,” he said, looking at his wife.

“I didn’t like it,” Eve admitted with a soft smile. “But we were newlyweds and back then we worked together for what we wanted.”

As it should be, Jared thought, watching the tender byplay between his parents, longing unfurling in him for something he knew he would never have, something he desperately wanted to experience. If he was honest with himself, and Jared always tried to be, he could let himself have feelings for the woman he was thinking of taking as a wife.