time, she told herself.
"This is a big house," Dean said, clinging to her hand.
"It is. Looks like a nice place." She caught the whiff of woodsmoke as they walked up to the large double doors flanked with sidelight windows. The windows were etched with horses, a nod to the animals that stood guard in the corrals beside the house. She had no idea when Sally said that Wyatt lived on a ranch, that it would look this...nice. Almost intimidating.
Adele took a deep breath, and with her heart pounding out an erratic rhythm, she rapped on the door.
Then waited, her nerves jangling, throat dry, trying to think of how to introduce herself and Dean. What to say to the boy's father? Wyatt's wife?
She waited another minute.
Nothing.
"Maybe no one’s home?" Dean said, his voice thin, frightened.
Adele swallowed down a sob of despair. She should take this as a sign and head back to Whitehorse with him.
And then what? Park him in that crappy day care center, the only one she could afford, while she went off to work a job she hated, saving every penny for her own dream?
This was a beautiful house. It was out in the country. More than Adele could provide for him. And he would be with his father.
She knocked again, harder this time.
She finally heard a young voice calling out that he or she was coming.
The door creaked open, and a little girl with an unruly mop of copper curls stared at her. "Hi," was her simple greeting.
If Adele was uncertain of Dean's lineage, the color of the little girl's hair, the same as Dean's, reinforced what Sally had said.
The girl stared at them with unabashed curiosity. She wore a stained tank top, underwear, and nothing else.
Chocolate rimmed her mouth and she held the culprit, a half-eaten chocolate bar, in her hand.
"Hi yourself," Adele said.
"Who are you?"
"Is your daddy or mommy home?" Adele asked, dodging the question.
The little girl considered this, then, without another word, pulled the door open wider. "You come in," was all she said.
Adele glanced down at Dean to check his reaction. But he seemed intrigued, and he followed the child, which left Adele to follow him.
This wasn't the reception she had been expecting. Adele had read stories about kids getting dropped off on a doorstep, but they had always been in the point of view of the drop-ee, never the drop-er.
Which she was.
"Take your boots off, buddy," she told Dean before he went through another set of double doors.
The entrance held two long wooden benches, one on each side of the large space. A metal cradle holding some firewood flanked the door the little girl had just gone through. Coats and jackets spilled off one bench, boots scattered below it. Adele cleared a stack of newspapers and books off the bench on the other side of the entrance and sat Dean down, tugging his boots off.
He wasn't looking at her though, his eyes on the whimsical creature hovering in the doorway leading to the house.
"Where's your mom and dad?" Adele repeated to the little girl.
She said nothing, turning as Adele caught a flash of bright turquoise and glitter behind her.
Another young girl, identical to the first, joined them. The garish blue and pink princess dress she wore hung half open on her thin shoulders, its gauzy sleeves ripped. A tiara balanced crookedly on her own curls.
"Daddy’s sleeping," the newest addition announced, frowning. "My mommy’s gone." Adele tried to absorb what she was saying.
"Is your mommy coming back?"
"Nope. She’s gone. Who are you?" she asked imperiously, as befit a princess. She directed her question and her wand at Dean.
"I'm Dean," he replied, his tone showing Adele he was genuinely curious now. "What's your name?"
"I am Maya, she is Maria," the princess said, her tone matter of fact, pointing a star-tipped wand to the chocolate-eating twin. "She is eating my candy."
"No. It’s mine," Maria protested.
Maya's eyes narrowed as she raised her wand. It looked like she was about to bop her sister with it.
"How about we don't injure each other," Adele said, catching the wand before it connected.
"What do you want?" Maya asked, turning her attention back to Adele.
"I'm looking for your daddy."
"Come here," Maya announced, grabbing a handful of her too-large silky dress in one hand and scampering through the door to the kitchen.
Maria finished off her chocolate bar in one gulp and wiped her hands on her grimy tank top. "Come wif me," she commanded, following her sister.
Adele wasn't sure what to do,