Snow was falling all around them as they travelled to the town. Jonah had wrapped them both in cloaks and blankets to ward of the cold. Bianca shivered still as the wind swept past them and Jonah put his arm around her and pulled her closer to his side. When she huddled deeper into him and even buried her face against his shoulder, he couldn’t help but feel very content.
Bianca, for her part was also quite satisfied. More and more, Jonah was starting to display his affection, in look and touch and Bianca was happy that they had come as far as they had. She could see them growing old together and loving each other, perhaps with a house full of children, as time marched on. It warmed her heart and she sighed appreciatively and thanked the Lord from her heart.
When they reached the town, Jonah helped her down from the carriage and then placed his arm around her waist as they walked. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Given the dense crowd, neither of them noticed the man that trailed them through the day.
Little children ran around with mistletoes tied to sticks and tried to get as many couples to kiss as they could. When one little girl ran up behind Jonah and Bianca and dangled her mistletoe over Bianca’s head Jonah laughed. And pecked Bianca on the cheek obligingly.
“No mister,” the little girl said between giggles, “you have to actually kiss her.”
Jonah looked at the little girl and then back at Bianca. She merely raised her eye brows and waited.
“You shouldn’t disappoint the children, Jonah.” She said smiling.
Jonah grinned and leaned in closer. “And how about you, Mrs. Cassidy? Would you be disappointed?”
“Very much so.”
Jonah’s eyes lit up with heat at her reply. He bent his head closer and brushed her lips with his. She responded by opening up to him and he pressed in closer. He would have deepened the kiss and happily forgotten his surroundings if the giggles of the little girl didn’t bring him back to reality.
“I think we should continue that in the privacy of our own home.” Jonah whispered.
“Is that a promise?”
The only reply she got was a wink.
Bianca had trouble keeping her mind on the festivities. It kept going back to that brief kiss she desperately wanted to continue – and the promise of more from Jonah. She had been half afraid that he would pull back from her again but he kept a hold of her hand as they meandered along and found opportunities to touch her in one way or another, whether he adjusted her hat or cloak or wrapped his arm around her waist.
When they arrived home that evening, Jonah helped Bianca to her cottage. For the first time since she had first entered the house, Jonah followed her inside. For a while, they just stood staring at each other; the only light around them came from the moonlight filtering through the window. Bianca made the first move when she stepped closer to him and reached up to remove his hat. She placed it on the hook near the door and began to untie his scarf. Before she could pull it off of his shoulders, Jonah caught her hands and pressed them against his chest, drawing her even closer in the process.
He pulled her hands up and twined them around his neck and wrapped an arm around her waist. With the other hand, he lifted her chin and pressed his lips against hers. When she responded, he deepened it further and slid his fingers into her hair. After long moments, before the kiss could go any further, he broke it off, breathing heavily. He rested his forehead against hers and gazed into her eyes.
“The horses,” he said between deep breaths, “their still standing in the snow.”
Bianca nodded. “You should go put them in the stall.”
“Mmm. Bianca. I…I think I am falling in love with you. You are not at all what I expected. And…I have to know if you feel anything like that for me.”
Bianca’s heart soared. She didn’t say anything. She just nodded.
Jonah smiled. “I can’t believe you are mine.” He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to continue but was cut off by the sound of the horses’ whines. Jonah laughed wryly.
“Let me go take care of those horses and then I will be back.”
Bianca grinned and nodded before watching him leave.
Smiling softly to herself, Bianca headed to her room after hanging up her cloak, hat and mittens. She stripped off her gown and slipped into a peignoir and wrapper Cissy had insisted she buy. She took her hair out of the constraining bun and unbraided it to brush it out. When she heard her bedroom door close, she turned to greet Jonah shyly.
But the man who stepped into the candlelight was not Jonah.
“Who are you? How did you get in here?”
The man laughed harshly. “The name’s Frank, darling. I see my son hasn’t mentioned me. Too bad. I told him what I would do to the one he loves. He must not have believed me.”
As he spoke, he drew a knife out of his pocket. Its edge glowed sharply in the small light as he advanced on her. “That was a very touching scene you shared in the foyer.”
“You were watching us?”
“Indeed I was. I’ve been trailing you since this morning when you arrived at the festival. After I saw that kiss, I came back here and waited for you.”
As he spoke, Bianca edged sideways and Frank matched her moves, circling her, as if toying with her.
“Why?”
“My son stole my wife from me and now I will steal his from him. I warned him long ago that I would.”
Sudden understanding dawned on Bianca. “You’re the reason why he’s been so hesitant to take our marriage forward.” She didn’t fully understand but she knew she was right.
The back of her legs hit the table behind her and she grasped a heavy paperweight before moving away and closer to the door.
Frank followed her but he was done talking. He lunged at Bianca with the knife but she threw the paperweight at him with all her might and it caught him on the side of the head, dazing him. Bianca didn’t wait. She pulled the door open and ran out of the bedroom and then out into the yard, screaming for Jonah along the way.
She heard Frank crash through the living room and follow her. She twisted back to look and slipped on the ice in front of her and fell. Frank was faster than he seemed and the paperweight hadn’t done much damage.
He covered the distance between him and his pray quickly. Bianca tried to scramble away from him but the ice was slippery and Frank got to her first. He turned her over and straddled her stomach. The knife glinted in his hand in the moonlight as he raised it above his head with a maniacal laugh. When he brought it down, Bianca braced herself, just as a loud boom shook the night air and Frank screamed in agony as the knife went flying and blood spurted from his hand. Another boom and Frank’s shoulder jerked and he fell back away from Bianca.
Jonah came up alongside her, shotgun to his shoulder. He pulled her up with one hand, keeping the other steadily on the trigger of the gun firmly aimed at the other man. Bianca scrambled up and Jonah swept her behind him.
He slowly advanced on Frank but the man didn’t move. When Jonah stepped over him, he was surprised to see Frank looking at him with wide, glazed eyes. A dead man’s gaze. Jonah turned him over and found the knife Frank had used on Bianca lodged in his back. It must have landed hilt first in the snow when it was shot out of Frank’s hand and Frank had impaled himself on it when he fell back from the second shot.
Jonah felt nothing but relief. The shadow specter of Frank Cassidy was no longer hanging over his life like a gloom. He was free.
The next week, on Christmas morning, Jonah and Bianca sat down before the hearth and sipped on hot chocolate. They had a pile of wrapping paper flung all over the living room and both were as giddy as children as they took in their gifts. Jonah excused himself and went to his room. When he came back out, he had a small package wrapped in gold with a red bow in his hands.
Bianca looked at him curiously when he presented it to her. I bought it a month ago but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to give it to you. At least, not until the Christmas Festival. I had
already decided that I would give it to you that morning and Frank’s demise just gave me more of a confirmation.
“I am sorry about what he put you and your mom through, Jonah. I am glad he can’t hurt you anymore.” Jonah had explained everything about Frank to her after that fateful night and Bianca was glad Jonah was finally able to move past it.
She carefully unwrapped the package and opened the small box inside. The gift inside stunned her. Jonah knelt next to her.
“I know I said when I met you that I did not want a wife, only a maid. But you changed all of that. You turned my world upside down. You are genuine and generous, practical and fun. I can’t imagine anyone else that I would rather spend the rest of my life with. We have been married for several months now but as of yet, we have not lived as husband and wife. But I love you and I want you to be mine alone. Bianca Cassidy, would you be my wife and companion from this day on for as long as God gives us breath to share?”
Bianca just stared at him. Her Christmas miracle had occurred. He was everything she ever wanted and she loved him with all that she had.
Bianca leaned forward and kissed Jonah. She didn’t have words to say what she wanted to say but he knew what she was saying all the same. He slipped the ring on her finger and enfolded her in his embrace.
*****
THE END.
Widow Finds Love
Mail Order Bride
CHRISTIAN MICHAEL
Chapter 1 – An Ad in the Paper
The school bell rang loudly, releasing the children from their afternoon class. They came pouring out of the schoolhouse, pushing each other and laughing. There was a rush by the door as they all clamored past, each headed to their homes.
Jessie looked out the window, then shook her head as she turned back to the dough she was kneading.
It’s just habit. Soon enough you will stop checking for him.
This was the time of day John always came home. At least, it was the time of day he always had come home… before the accident. Jessie tried not to think of the void she felt ever since her husband had passed. But no matter what she did, there didn’t seem to be anything that could cheer her up.
Except for you, Little One.
She placed her flour covered hand on her apron over her stomach. Jessie was pregnant with her first child, which was the only thing that kept her sane in her grief. All she could think about day and night was John, and how awful it was she lost him.
There had been a fire. It had been silly, really. Some boys were playing with matches in the neighbor’s barn, and when the straw lit up, they panicked. Sure, John had gone in after them, but they were the ones that made it out, and he wasn’t.
Jessie had wrestled with her grief, spending days at a time feeling like she had nothing in this world, until she discovered she was pregnant.
John would have been so happy. So proud… but you will make me proud, won’t you?
Although Jessie spent most of her days as busy as she could be, she couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t enough. She wanted this child to be happy, and the thought of raising a baby all on her own in this world terrified her. She had a lot of friends in this little Missouri town, but there wasn’t anyone here that could be a father to her child.
They had all known John. They had known how much she loved him, and how he had loved her. They were always together from the time he let the children out of school to when he had to return to teach class the next day.
No man in town would dare to ask me out… let alone marry me. They wouldn’t feel right about it, and neither would I. But what am I going to do? I can’t do this alone. You need a father, and I need to provide that for you.
Jessie formed the loaves and put them in their pans, then covered them with a damp towel to rise. She sat down in her chair with a sigh, and daydreamed as she looked out the window. There had to be a way to find a man to marry. A good man that would love both her and her child.
But the town she lived in was small, and the marriage potential was as slim as the chance of seeing a giraffe walking down the street.
If only I met a man off the stage coach like Lizbeth had. Or suppose the son of one of the old shopkeepers moved back here like Betty Sue’s husband did. If only my life was as easy as Mary Jo’s!
It was hard for Jessie to not feel jealous over her friends. She would often run into them as she was out in the town, usually with their husbands. They hadn’t done anything to acquire their husbands. Their husbands had all been practically gift wrapped for them.
Jessie scoffed as she saw at that moment Mary Jo and her husband walk by her window, hand in hand and chatting away.
A tear formed in her eye which she angrily brushed away. Then she suddenly sat up.
Wait a minute! Mary Jo’s husband! She met him through an ad in the paper! Look at them, she looked out the window as the two of them disappeared around the corner, happy as can be. Those two are the happiest couple I know, and they met through one of those mail order bride ads.
I could do that…
Without waiting to give it any more thought, Jessie hurriedly tied her bonnet on and threw a shawl over her shoulders. She was getting tired of wearing black, but she didn’t feel right putting on any of her cheerful colors. Not yet anyway.
She quickly closed the door behind her, and headed to the post office as quickly as she could.
Chapter 2 – Letters
Jessie Stokes bent eagerly over the piece of paper on the table. She held in her trembling hand a pen freshly dipped in ink, and next to the letter sat the ad she had clipped out of the paper.
She tried not to think too hard as she sat there, staring at the piece of paper on the table. She sighed and sat back, then picked up the ad to read it again.
It read:
Looking for a mail order bride.
My name is Toby Matthews, and I am looking for a bride to come live with me in my house. I live in California, and would be happy to pay for your trip out here if you don’t live close by.
I want a lady that knows how to act like a lady. A wife that can cook and clean, and have dinner ready on the table when I come in from the fields.
I will be good to you, and treat you with the respect a lady deserves. I look forward to hearing from you.
Jessie didn’t know what to say in reply. He seemed like the perfect man for her. Quiet, wanting a woman that could do exactly what she knew how to do, and respectful. She imagined herself going out west, and being met by a man that could sweep her off her feet.
A man that could understand her situation, and offer her the love and support she needed to make it through. A man that could raise her child as his own, and a man she and her child could be a family with.
Finally, Jessie put her pen to the paper, and just wrote. She didn’t want to try to sound too fancy, but she didn’t want to sound incapable, either. She wanted to convey to this man exactly the situation she was in, and the hopes she had for a future with him.
Jessie kept the note brief, and nervously skimmed over the words she had formed:
Dear Mr. Matthews,
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jessie Stokes and I am a widow. I am with child, but that fact won’t get in the way of what I want to do. I have only just found out, so I won’t have the baby for some months yet.
I would love to come out west and meet you, and perhaps have the honor of becoming your bride.
Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Cordially,
Jessie Stokes
Jessie rolled her eyes after she had finished reading her note, and stuffed it in an envelope. Feeling like a school girl with a crush, she found a small picture of herself she had kept in her bedroom, and placed that in the envelope as well.
I suppose he will want to know what I look like, she thought as she licked the envelope and sealed it. She then headed back to the post office. There were butterflies in her stomach as she watched the postmaster stamp the env
elope and drop it in the bag of mail that was to go out on the stagecoach the next day.
“Can you tell me how long that will take to reach California territory?” She asked the man.
“Oh… let’s see here. If Ol’ Bill takes it right there it’ll be there inside of a week.” The postmaster raised his bushy eyebrows at her, looking at her inquisitively, “Is there something important out there?”
Jessie blushed and shook her head.
“I was just wonderin’ is all. Thank you.”
She smiled at him and hurried out of the post office. Once out on the street, she was met by Lizbeth Cloone.
“Hey you! I was looking for you,” she looped her arm through Jessie’s and fell into stride next to her. “I haven’t seen you in a while and I wanted to check up on you. You know Mark and I would love to have you over for dinner one of these days. Say… what are you doing out here anyway?”
Lizbeth always talked so quickly it was hard to get a word in when Jessie was with her, and she was caught off guard by her friend’s question. Jessie hesitated for a moment, not sure if she wanted to tell Lizbeth what she was doing there or not, but the moment passed as Lizbeth continued talking.
“Never mind that! Are you free Sunday? I was thinking I would make a basket lunch and we could go over to the pond and sit for a while. Doesn’t that sound delightful?”
Jessie smiled and opened her mouth to reply, but Lizbeth continued without waiting for an answer.
“It’s settled then. We will pick you up in the wagon Sunday after church. Like I’ve always said, there’s no better way to worship the Lord than in His creation!”
[2015] A Love Miracle Page 27
