Betting on Hope by Debra Clopton Page B

didn’t care about her that maybe he’d care about her little baby. When that blue car sped her way, hope had sprung up in Jenna. And when it had passed her by, she’d crumbled, but then, it had whipped around and beautiful blonde Maggie had come to her rescue.
    It was as if God had sent her baby its very own angel.
    Jenna would never be able to forget what Maggie had done. Maggie had given her hope when she thought she had lost it all.
    Without even realizing it that day, her baby had become little Hope.
    Named for the beautiful woman who’d taken time out of her day to rescue them.
    Where had Maggie gone?
    Jenna took a bite of the toast and forced herself to swallow it. It made its way into her stomach and some of the queasiness stilled. Food, the sight of it, could make her want to upchuck and then once a little made its way in, she felt better.
    She took another bite and a breath. Lana smiled.
    “Better?”
    She nodded and voiced the question knotting in her chest. “Lana, do you think we’re going to find my Hope a wonderful family?”
    It was a question she’d asked that first day a little over a week ago. Lana had assured her that she would.
    “Honey, I promise, you keep poring through those files and praying about it and you’ll come up with just the right family for Hope.”
    Jenna sighed. Her heart squeezed tight like it was going to explode.
    She had to find them. She had to be strong and go through with her plan. Her baby needed more than she’d had.
    More than she could offer her.
    More than Jenna knew how to give her.
    After all, Jenna hadn’t been raised up with love and kindness; she didn’t want to take the chance of doing it wrong.
    And she was just a kid. No home . . . no job . . . no money.
    What good would that do her baby?
    Little Hope needed a chance to grow up and be . . . be like Maggie. The kind of person who radiated beauty and goodness and kindness.
    All the things Jenna wasn’t. She was a tough scrapper. Exactly what she didn’t want little Hope to have to be. It would be better if she had the opportunity to be a lady.
    Like Maggie, in her classy red heels, her funky blue car and that pretty dress that fluttered around her knees when she walked. Jenna wore sweats and oversize T-shirts.
    No, her Hope needed a shot.
    And it didn’t matter that since arriving here Jenna kept having pangs of . . . regret. She was finding her baby a happy home. It was one thing she could do for Hope.
    It didn’t matter that it was killing Jenna to think about it. She was doing it and that was final.
    Maggie had shown Jenna real kindness, and this was the kindness she could do for her baby girl.
    And it didn’t matter if thinking about it every second of the day made her sick to her stomach. It was happening.
    It was done . . . if there was one thing Jenna was, she was tough, so she could do this. She could do this for her baby.

    “It’s creepy, Amanda. You should hear the coyotes out there howling.” Maggie had made it back from the grocery store just before dusk set in. “And at dusk when I got back from the grocery store, there were shadows everywhere, looming out from the woods around this cabin.”
    Amanda laughed on the other end of the line.
    “Stop that,” Maggie demanded. “You’d have to be here to understand.”
    “I’m from Weatherford, right up the road from Wishing Springs, Mags. Remember, I’m a country girl gone city. You’re a city girl gone country.”
    “Ha, I beg your pardon, I have not gone country. I’m only here under extreme duress.”
    “This is so unlike you. Where is the woman with the heart and spirit of a mother tiger? There is something going on here that really has you stirred up, and I suspect it has more to do with that hunky cowboy than those spooky woods. Woods are not spooky, Mags. They are peaceful and calming to the soul. All things you could use right now. Tru really gets to you, doesn’t he?”
    “No . . .” Maggie had hurried back to the cabin