Bride of Paradise by Katie Crabapple Page B

and Kristen recoiled from it.  “Your name was on this.  The sheriff and I both read it, but it’s for you.”
    Kristen took the paper from him, tears streaming down her cheeks.  How were they going to tell the precious little girls waiting for them in the house their mother was dead?  She unfolded it carefully and read the words, “Dear Kristen, If you’re reading this, then it means I’m dead.  I couldn’t keep going without my John.  The responsibility of the girls was too much for me.  They’ll be much better off with two parents.  I know you’ll keep your promise to me and take care of my girls.  Thank you for befriending me when no one else would.  Yours, Mary Thatcher.”
    She was sobbing, her breath coming in short spurts as she finished reading it and handed him back the note.  “What are we going to do?  How can we tell them?”
    Samuel pulled her into his arms and held her close.  “I don’t know.  I really don’t know what to do.”  His hands stroked her back and carefully smoothed her hair. 
    Kristen stood leaning against them, trying to get hold of herself.  She barely knew Mary, but her little girls had been left orphans.  She wanted to scream at how selfish the other woman was, but never having been in her position, she didn’t know that she wouldn’t have done the same.
    Finally, after several minutes of just holding onto one another, Kristen pulled back, lifting the apron she was still wearing to wipe the tears from her face.  “We either need to keep the girls or find them a home.  I promised.  I don’t think she’d have done this without my promise.”
    Samuel sighed and shook his head.  “You can’t blame yourself for this.  It’s not your fault.”  He was too busy blaming himself for not seeing that she needed help to let his wife blame herself.
    She shrugged.  “Can you honestly say this wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t agreed to keep the girls?”
    He shrugged.  “I don’t have any way of knowing that.  I do know that she was in a terrible state of mind for this to have happened.”
    “What are we going to do about the girls?”   She didn’t know if it was too soon to bring them up, but she knew they needed to be cared for.
    Samuel studied her for a minute.  “You want to keep them, don’t you?”
    Kristen nodded.  “I do.  They have no family, no close friends.  They know us and they’re comfortable with us.  What else can we do?”
    “We just got married last week, Kristen.  Are either of us really ready to be instant parents to small children?”  Samuel wasn’t opposed to the idea, but everything was happening so suddenly.  He really wasn’t sure what he felt at this point. 
    “I don’t know.  I do know that everything happens for a reason.  She asked me to make her that promise, so that must have been God’s hand guiding the children to us.  He wants us to keep them.  There’s no other explanation.”  She sniffled indelicately, wishing she had a handkerchief handy.
    Samuel watched her for a moment before nodding.  “You’re right.  Let’s go talk to them and let them know that we’re keeping them.”
    Kristen stared at him for a moment, almost not believing that he was agreeing.  When she comprehended what he was saying, she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly.  “Thank you!  Oh, I love you!”  She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the living room, only realizing what she’d said once they were inside.  She didn’t look over at him again.  She hadn’t even realized she felt that way until the words had come out of her mouth, and now she realized she’d felt it since the very beginning.  Well, maybe not that first night when he’d been tired, hungry, rude, and dirty, but certainly the next day when he’d been so sweet to her.
    She walked to her spot between the girls on the couch.  They were each holding a corner of the book as if they were waiting