Free A Chance at Love by Beverly Jenkins

that she was thinking the matter over now as if she might be considering Reed’s offer. Was she? she asked herself. To her surprise, the answer came back yes.
    A bit floored, Loreli got up from the chair she’d been sitting in most of the afternoon and walked over to the window of her small room. She looked out at the purples and oranges of the quiet evening sky. Was she really going to say yes? Thinking and doing were two different things, she reminded herself, so she wasn’t really sure. She was considering it, however. In a way, Reed was right, she had done a lot of things in life, so why not this? Nothing in California needed her immediate attention, she’d already admitted that. She also readily admitted to being a sucker for someone in need. Granted the twins’ plight was far more serious than lending money to someone or nursing a sick friend back to health, but why not stay around and enjoy the girls’ company until Reed found this mythical real wife? It wasn’t as if she had to marry him. More than likely, in a year’s time she’d be ready to move on anyway. If she and the twins managed to form a bond, she didn’t think Reed would deny her the opportunity to write to them to keep up with how their lives were progressing once he married. If he didn’t she’d deal with it when the time came.
    Loreli turned her mind back to the dilemma at hand. Her biggest concerns were how the twins would react once she moved in and the inevitable gossiping began. She didn’t want them to be subjected to teasing and foulmouthed slurs because of their new mama’s occupation. Children more often than not took cues from their parents, and in a school setting, no matter how large or small the town, children could be quite cruel. The fearless Bebe would probably sock the first one to say anything offensive, but Loreli wasn’t sure how the more timid Dede might respond. Also needing consideration was the time limit Reed wanted to impose. How would the girls feel about that? There were many unanswered questions—too many. Yet the longer she debated with herself, the more she kept hearing Reed’s words: They don’t want anyone but you . What if he’d been telling the truth? Loreli didn’t know how to answer that either. All she did know was that two little girls craved a mother as badly as she herself had at their age, and that they’d chosen her to fill the role. Their faith in her was as humbling as it was frightening.
    The next morning, after a fretful sleep, Loreli washed up, then spent a moment going through the dresses hanging in the armoire. She settled on a navy blue summer-weight gown that had long sleeves, a high collar, and a very conservative neckline. She thought it best to dress conventionally. Reed would probably be spooked enough by her unannounced visit, no sense in making things worse by wearing something more suited to a gambling palace than motherhood. She pinned up her hair, put on a jaunty matching hat, then looked at herself in the mirror. Liking what she saw, she grabbed up her handbag and gloves. First she would talk to the girls, and then to Reed.
    While driving the rented hack on the thirty-minute ride to the Reed farm, Loreli thought about what she might say to Bebe and Dede. The first thing she’d have to emphasize was that she would only be staying with them until Reed found himself a wife, and once that became a reality, she’d be moving on. Loreli figured once she set them straight on that, the rest of the discussion would be easy, or so she hoped.
    When Loreli pulled up in front of the house, the girls were on the porch reading. The moment they recognized the morning visitor, they exploded off the porch like firecrackers, excitedly yelling her name.
    Stepping down out of the carriage, Loreli couldn’t hold in her grin. “Good morning, pumpkins.”
    â€œI thought we weren’t going to see you again!”