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He couldn’t keep the disappointment from filling his chest, making it feel tight and empty.
He’d been so sure that Mabel was different. But she probably just needed a couple of hours to remember that he was supposed to be loaded before she came running back to see if he would loan her money. He was sure she had a ton of good causes she worked for, and of course, he would say yes to whatever she asked for, but he had been hoping that it had been something more personal. That Mabel had been different, and it wouldn’t all be about money for her.
“Did you change your mind?” she asked softly.
“About what?”
“About wanting me to tell you what my favor was. You don’t look very happy.”
“No. Go ahead. How much do you need?”
She blinked. Then her brows drew down, and her nose wrinkled.
“What?” she asked, as though she were trying to figure out what in the world he meant.
“Money. How much money do you need?”
“Oh my goodness. You thought I was going to ask you for money?” Then she laughed. “Oh, James. Wait till you hear what I actually am going to ask you. You’ll wish that I would have been asking you for money.”
It was his turn to be confused. She didn’t want money? And she was laughing at him. Why was she laughing at him?
“So...I’m wrong?”
“Oh, you are so far off it’s not even funny. I want so much more than money from you.”
The weight in his chest started to drain out. She wanted more than money? What in the world?
“Okay. Now I’m intrigued. What is it?”
“All right. I’m just going to be straight with you. Last winter, I had the pleasure of mothering three young girls. But their mother is in prison, and no one is sure who their father is, if they even have a common father. They really need stability in their lives. I fell in love with them.”
Silas had told him as much, but hearing it come from Mabel herself made his heart ache for her. It was obvious how much she cared about those children.
Whatever she wanted, he’d do it. Gladly. But he couldn’t work magic. He couldn’t bring the kids back to her. If that’s what she even wanted.
“So, today Lark told me that their grandmother was in contact with her again and is looking for a home for them.”
“That’s awesome. I’m sure you volunteered. If you’re going to ask if they can stay here—of course! When are they coming?”
“That’s just it. She wasn’t thinking of us. She liked them staying with us, but because they’ve had such an unstable life, and because there haven’t been any good male figures in their lives, any of them, since their mother isn’t married, and their grandmother doesn’t have a husband either, their grandmother is insisting that they go to a home with a mom and a dad.”
She emphasized “dad,” and then she pushed a little with her foot and the swing creaked.
He was totally confused, having absolutely no idea where she might be going with this. So he waited. He could hardly buy a dad. He couldn’t snap his fingers and provide one either. Maybe she knew one of his friends and she wanted him to ask one of his friends if they would provide a home for the girls. He tried to think of his buddies that were married, trying to figure out which one might be the best to provide the best home for the girls. Most of the couples he knew worked constantly, and the dads would hardly ever be home.
The mothers worked in those families too, and the girls would end up in daycare over the summer. He wasn’t even sure that they might not go to daycare after school most days.
He couldn’t think of a single one that he would highly recommend, although he had several he thought would be okay parents.
“I really want the girls,” Mabel said, lifting her head and looking him straight in the eye. Her gaze pierced to his very soul, and he could tell that this was one of the most important things in the world to her. “I need a husband.”
He hardly thought he heard right. But he didn’t have a chance to ask her to repeat herself, because then she said, “And I want him to be you.”
