Twilight's Serenade by Tracie Peterson Page A

them,” Britta said, pausing to glance his way, “they would have a family . . . of sorts. My mother already loves them and has them call her Grandma Lydia. I know my father will feel the same.”
    “But, Britta, you deserve to have a family of your own. You can’t have the freedom to court suitors and enjoy your youth with two children at your side.”
    “My youth? Yuri, I’m twenty-four. I’ll be twenty-five in October. I’m hardly a girl anymore. I’ve spent the last five years enjoying my youth, and now I’m more than ready to settle down.”
    “Which is my point exactly.” Yuri got up from the table and began to pace. “Britta, you deserve to find someone to love and have children of your own. It’s not that I don’t appreciate what you’ve done for me and for the girls.”
    “Then don’t take it away from me,” she implored. “I can’t explain it, but I need this. I need the children—they make me feel . . . well, they make me feel happy. I enjoy working with them.”
    Yuri could see the anguish in her expression, and he hated that he was the cause of the pain. “I don’t know what to do.”
    “Then give it time,” she begged. “Get to know the children before you decide.”
    “But Darya isn’t mine,” he countered. “I don’t think I want to know her. She’s got a father somewhere.”
    “Are you suggesting you try to locate him?”
    He considered that for a moment. “No. Given Marsha’s penchant for promiscuity, it could be almost anyone. That’s why I was never sure Laura was mine until seeing her. She looks a lot like Illiyana, don’t you think?”
    “I don’t remember Illiyana at that age,” Britta replied. “In fact, I can hardly remember what she looked like when she went away. I suppose when I heard that she had died, I tried to assuage my pain by forgetting.”
    “I tried that with liquor,” Yuri admitted. “It didn’t work well for me.” He returned to the chair. “I had so much I wanted to forget. I’ve made so many mistakes.”
    “We all have,” Britta mumbled.
    He studied her for a moment, then asked, “Want to talk about it?”
    She looked startled at the question and then shook her head. “There’s nothing to talk about. I just have my regrets, as well. We all do.” She got to her feet and went back to putting dishes in the cupboards.
    Yuri started to say something when Kay bounded into the cabin. “Come quick,” she told them. “There’s bad news.”

    Lydia listened to all Evie and Josh had to say about the news out of San Francisco. Apparently, the entire place had been leveled by a terrible earthquake. Of course, given that people were given to exaggerating reports, Lydia didn’t know if the situation was truly that dire.
    “We heard it from the telegraph office,” Lydia’s stepdaughter told them, “so we don’t have too many details. It happened yesterday morning.”
    “Perhaps we should send a telegram to Kjell,” Lydia said. She didn’t want to assume the worst without having proof.
    “You can’t. They can’t receive. The lines are down now,” Josh replied. “What little information has been coming in suggests that no one is being allowed in or out. And if Kjell and Dalton were still there, they probably can’t get word to us.”
    “I suppose not.” Lydia drew a deep breath and hoped to settle the panic that threatened to rise up in her. “I guess all we can do is wait for word.”
    “Hopefully it won’t be as bad as it sounds,” Evie replied. She reached for Lydia’s hand and squeezed it gently. “You know how people like to make things sound worse than they really are. I’m sure we’ll hear something soon. They may already be on their way home and have no knowledge of the earthquake.”
    Yuri nodded. “They are in God’s hands no matter, and we must continue to pray for their safe return.”
    Lydia met his gaze. She was glad to have him there. “Has anyone told Phoebe yet?”
    “We did,” Evie told her. “We