Chapter 6

Now that Irene was no longer around to nag, Lorraine could focus on her work. Meanwhile, Logan settled all his work before leaving the office at 3:30 pm to pick the children up from kindergarten. He brought them to the shopping mall to buy gifts before having a bodyguard drop them off at Cowtail Village. In the car, he told the kids, "Finn, Lulu, I've found you two a mother today. We're heading to her house now to have dinner. Remember to be nice to her when you see her later, okay? She's seen photos of you two and adores you." Logan had remained single despite already being 31 for a few reasons. Firstly, he hadn't met anyone who had caught his interest. Plenty of women admired him, but he'd never given them hope or led them on. His love life had been nonexistent thus far. Secondly, he was raising Terence's children. Finnegan and Luna weren't his flesh and blood, and the outside world thought he had decided to raise them because of their birth mother. She and him grew up together and were considered childhood friends. He had never loved her, of course. She'd only been like a sister to him. But the outside world thought he was desperately in love with her, leading to him adopting Finnegan and Luna—who had only been three months old—after Terence's death. It wasn't like the Quall family had ceased to exist. Why was it necessary for him to adopt the twins back then? Logan had never cared about what others thought of him, and he couldn't bother to explain his motives. He allowed the outside world to guess at the truth. All he knew was that his family had stopped urging him to marry since he adopted the twins, which left him at peace. Finnegan and Luna were only four, but they knew Logan wasn't their birth father. They were both excited at his words, and Luna chirped, "Is our mom back, Dad?" All the other children in kindergarten had mothers and fathers, but they only had their father. Logan had told them that their mother had gone to a faraway place because of her job and that it would take her a long time to come home. With his mention of a mother now, the twins thought their mother was back. Logan lifted Luna into his arms. The twins both looked like Terence. Logan supposed this would bring Terence peace if he could see them from the heavens above. "This 'mother' I'm talking about is my wife, Lulu. She's not your birth mother, but you can call her 'Mom' if you want. If you don't want that, you can also call her Lorraine. That's her name—Lorraine Somner," he said. Despite the twins' young age, Logan treated them like they were friends. He didn't use his status as their parent to force them into submission. Instead, he would give them room to make their own decisions. Whatever they chose, he would respect them. They didn't understand what a wife was, but they did know the other kids' mothers were their fathers' wives. "Can I wait until after I meet her to decide, Dad?" Finnegan asked. He was the older twin and slightly more level-headed than Luna. His personality resembled Logan's, perhaps because Logan had raised him since he was three months old. He acted like a mature older brother all of the time, so much so that Logan couldn't help but think he was way too mature for his age. Logan rubbed Finnegan's head affectionately and smiled. "Of course. I'm sure you guys will love her, though. She's an… interesting woman." "I'll wait until after meeting her to decide too." Luna copied everything Finnegan did. Since he wanted to wait, she would too. Logan pulled them both into his arms. "Trust me, okay? I won't allow a bad woman to be your mother." Marriage wasn't child's play. He only agreed to Lorraine's suggestion for a shotgun marriage because she had left an exceptionally good impression on him. It wasn't a decision he made in the heat of the moment—he had truly felt something for her. Of course, it'd be too far-fetched to say he was madly in love with her. At most, he had fallen for her at first sight. There was also the fact that he had thought about the kids when deciding. If Lorraine had shown even the slightest hint of scorn for them, he wouldn't have married her no matter how good an impression she had left. "There's one more thing I have to tell you two," he said. The twins looked at him, and he continued, "Don't let your mother know what our family is really like, okay? Even if we have to tell the truth, I should be the one to do it." Seeing that they didn't really understand him, he chuckled and said, "All you need to do is pretend to be poor when she's around. Don't let her know that I'm the son of an affluent family. She thinks I work at a construction site." The twins still didn't seem to get it, but they nodded seriously. They would complete any task Logan assigned them to the best of their abilities. They wouldn't drag him down. But why was he teaching them to lie? And to their mother too. Hadn't he told them they had to be truthful at all times? Alas, it was so hard to understand adults. … The bodyguard followed the navigation app to the location Lorraine had sent. It took about an hour to arrive. Lorraine had sent Logan the location for her orchard, so the bodyguard parked at the entrance and turned to the family of three in the backseat. "We've arrived, Mr. Moore." "Remember not to be so respectful to me before my wife finds out who I really am, Stephen," Logan said. Stephen Nord was baffled. Then, he said, "Yes, sir." This place was so out of the way. He couldn't believe Lorraine lived here. Logan carried the kids out of the car. Then, he told Stephen, "Come over at 6:00 am tomorrow to pick Finn and Luna up." He had taken three days off work, but the twins still had to go to kindergarten. He hadn't asked for time off for them. It would be the weekend in three days, so he could rest for five whole days. "Yes, sir." Logan collected the gifts he had bought from the trunk and gestured for Stephen to leave. Once the car was out of sight, he called Lorraine. The children looked around curiously. They thought the place looked like an orchard deep in the mountains. They could see the trees laden with ripe cherries. Lorraine soon answered Logan's call. He said, "I'm outside your house, Lorraine. Should I head inside myself, or are you coming out to meet me?" "You're outside my house? How did you know where I stay?" Lorraine was surprised. How did he find out her address? Logan paused, then said, "You sent me the location." "Oh." Lorraine laughed awkwardly. "I forgot about that. The location I sent you is actually for my orchard. Hold on a second while I come outside to meet you. Once I'm done counting the fruits, I'll lead you to my home." "Okay." Lorraine couldn't help feeling dazed for a second after hanging up. She had just realized what a nice voice Logan had. It was like music to her ears. "Give me a minute. I need to go meet someone." She apologized to the fruit merchants before leaving to meet Logan. When she saw him and the children standing at the orchard's entrance, she was taken aback for a second. She looked around, making sure no one else was around. Then, she smiled and approached them, asking Logan, "Are you Mr. Moore?"