was five,” he said, his look hardening. “The man she married didn’t want any other children in his house except his own. He gave the woman a choice…him or Caroline.”
Annie was stunned. “How could she choose a man over her own child?”
“I gave up asking why a long time ago. All I know is that little girl has brought a truckload of joy and sunshine into our family. It’s that woman’s loss and our gain.”
There was a fierce determination in his tone. He wasn’t giving any of these kids up without a fight.
“Luke’s mother was unmarried and apparently very sick for most of the time she had him. When she died he became a state ward, too.”
“Lewis said to see them together you would think they had been brother and sister their whole lives.”
“That was the kind of love Sara and James instilled in them. The same as our parents instilled in Sara and me when we were adopted.”
That two children born to different families and raised by two loving, gentle people could become as close as Jared and his sister gave her hope that Toby, Caroline and Luke could find that, too.
“Toby’s adoption went through soon after he was born. Sara and James named me as legal guardian in their will.”
If he noticed her sudden stillness, the way her breath caught and held, he made no mention of it.
“I don’t want to be married, Annie. But if that’s what it takes to allow me to adopt Caroline and Luke myself, then that is what I’m prepared to do.”
“I know about your aversion to marriage. Lewis told me you would rather have your teeth pulled without anesthetic than say the words ‘I do.’”
Jared smiled slightly. “He knows me well.”
“But what happens if you meet someone and fall in love, if you meet ‘the one’? It won’t be very convenient being married to me.”
“I believe in love, I believe in what my parents have, in what my sister and her husband had,” he said resolutely. “But I also believe it isn’t for everyone. My commitment to the children is the most important thing in my life.”
That commitment was evident. “How is your dad?”
“The cancer is in remission and the doctors are optimistic.”
“I’m pleased,” she said sincerely.
“Any other questions?”
“Not a question, really…”
“Go on.”
“Lewis said you do have a sense of humor, but I’d need a pick, a shovel and funding from a major mining corporation before I found it.”
His lips twitched but he managed not to give in to a smile, which, judging by the two he had already bestowed on her, was a real shame.
“Lewis is a good friend and a fine lawyer but he talks too much.” He motioned for the waiter. “Are you ready to leave?”
Annie nodded. She reached for the bill but Jared beat her to it, casting a frown that would have intimidated a lot of people in this room.
“Call me old fashioned, but when I take a lady out for a meal, I pay the bill.” He left enough to cover the cost and a generous tip. “If we go ahead with this, you’ll find I’m old-fashioned in a lot of ways.”
Annie felt a surge of pleasure to know that the man who very well could be her future husband believed in chivalry.
“You mean like opening doors, and waiting until a woman is seated before sitting down?”
“Among other things,” he replied, tucking his wallet back in his trouser pocket. “So if you’re a rabid feminist who believes men shouldn’t protect their women or try to make life easier for them, now is the time to say so.”
“I can live with that. Just so long as you remember that I’m no wilting violet, Jared. I’m capable, intelligent and more than willing to pull my own weight.”
“I think we’ll make a good team,” he said finally. “Lewis told me you don’t have a vehicle. I’ll save you the bus ride and drive you.”
The drive back to her apartment in the city was slowed down by rush hour traffic. “How big is your farm?” she asked.
He checked the rearview mirror of his four-wheel-drive truck and indicated before changing lanes. “Dad’s place has thirty thousand acres but I’m also working the land that James and Sara owned and it’s about the same size. A lot of it is just grazing land and some of that I lease out to other farmers, but I’ve got crops in.”
His words sparked a memory and Annie smiled. “When I was young and Mum was passed out I’d climb the big hill behind our old house and sit there looking out at the fields. The purple Patterson’s Curse. Yellow rapeseed. The brown of newly turned earth. And then the green fields. It always reminded me of a patchwork quilt.”
“You and my mother will get along like a house on fire. She calls our little corner of the world God’s canvas. According to her, the shades of nature are His watercolors and the goodness of men is His inspiration.”
“Your mother always was a wise woman. Very few people take the time to see the world like that.”
“She’s one in a million, all right.”
Later, when she was alone, she would sort through her emotions, but she couldn’t help but wonder what his life had been like before the Campbells had taken him into their family.
“What kind of animals do you have?”
“Sheep, milking cows, hens and horses.”
“Milking cows?” she queried. “You milk them and use it?”
That got an amused grin out of him. “Where did you think we’d get our milk?”
“I was hoping you’d say you stock up regularly from the store in town. I guess it’s too much to hope that you don’t butcher your own meat.”
He chuckled again. “Afraid so.”
He pulled into the parking garage under her building.
“Once we’re married—if we get married—will you teach me about being a farmer’s wife?”
“You won’t need teaching,” he replied, his eyes softer, his voice a deep baritone. “You’ll learn it as you live it.”
He got out of the vehicle and came around to her side, helping her down and escorting her to the elevator. As they waited, Annie knew the time had come to tell him about her past.
“Adoption saves so many children from never knowing love,” she said and began gathering the courage that had allowed her to contemplate marrying him. “You’re adopted. You know how well it can work. You’ll be able to help them through any transitions they
