Robert let out a sigh. “But it feels like betrayal.”
“Son, just because you loved your first wife doesn’t mean your love stopped when she breathed her last. It just means that you have felt the love of a good woman. Why couldn’t God let you feel that twice in one lifetime?”
Robert dared to hope that this was true. When he dug past the hurt over Mary that he continued to dredge up, the truth remained. He wanted to get to know Alice better. To accept the feelings he had for her and uncover what more there could be.
“Take it from me,” Leo finally said, standing, “love is a living thing. It may be cut off, but it can grow again.”
Robert watched the man as he walked to the next campfire, checking in with the other hands. Could Leo be right? Could his marriage to Alice contain love like his marriage to Marry had?
Chapter 6
Alice scrubbed the floor, the water in the bucket turning to a dirty brown. Her ankle felt strong and she had finished reorganizing the pantry while the bread was rising near the warmth of the sun coming through the window. When Jack went down for his nap she had decided it was time to clean the floors, though her knees had already started to protest the awkward position.
The front door opened and she jerked her head in the direction, surprised to see Robert standing there. His hat was in his hand and dark black hair framed his face in a wild and windblown look. His green eyes blazed with some emotion she couldn’t place, but he didn’t look unhappy. In fact, he looked…alive.
“You’re back.”
“I am.”
She stood, placing the soaking brush in the bucket and went to the counter. “I’m almost done with the floor but I can make you something to eat if—” The plate she’d just picked up slipped from her hand and crashed to the floor, shattering into tiny pieces. Her heart dropped and frustration and embarrassment overtook her. “Oh no!”
Before she knew what was happening, Robert stood at her side and stilled her hands, covering them with his own. “Are you all right?”
She was shaking, but this time it had nothing to do with her clumsiness and everything to do with the man standing close to her, the smell wind and horses emanating from him.
“I-I’m sorry.”
He smiled down at her, not releasing her fingers. “It was an accident. No need to apologize.”
She felt her flush deepen and looked down. Why was he so close? Why was he holding her hands? Had something changed?
“Alice, when you came into the barn last week…”
She looked up at him, surprised at his change in subject.
“You said you’d wait for me.”
He didn’t add anything and she felt the need to reply. “Yes…”
“It was unfair of me to withhold so much from you.” His shoulders drooped and he shook his head. “To be honest, I married you because my sister recommended it and I needed someone to watch after Jack.”
The truth, though it was one she had guessed, still stung to hear it. “I see—”
“But,” he said, before she could say more, “I’ve realized that’s not fair.”
“Oh?”
“No. I was deeply in love with my wife Mary. We had known each other for many years before we married and it took us a long time to get pregnant with Jack. When he was born, it was the happiest time of our lives. Then Mary took sick,” his voice cracked and she saw the emotion reflected in his eyes. “I was devastated by her death and, quite frankly, didn’t think I could love again.”
She searched his eyes, looking for the truth. What did he think now?
“I was wrong to believe that you can only love once.” He shook his head, his mouth quirking into a half smile. “I just wanted to tell you that…I want to be invested in our marriage. I want to try to love again.”
Her heart soared at his words. “Really?”
“Yes.” He pulled her hand up and kissed the knuckles. “I see such amazing qualities in you and have realized over the time that you’ve been here that I want to open up to you. My connection to the past has been holding me back. Forgive me?”
“Of course.”
He looked into her eyes, searching them as he leaned closer. Her heart began to beat more rapidly with the realization that he was going to kiss her. She had hoped for this moment, unsure that it would ever happen.
“And Alice,” he whispered, his lips nearly on hers, “You will always be safe with me.”
Robert's words were almost too good to be true, as was his kiss when their lips finally touched. But it was proof that God’s plans were always for the best.
God had delivered Alice from the debilitating fear she had lived in. He had provided her with a new home and a new life. And now, for the first time, she not only felt safe, but she was safe.
THE END.
Lost and Found
Mail Order Bride
CHRISTIAN MICHAEL
Chapter 1 – More Than This
Trinity carefully threaded the needle, and held her hand as steady as she could as she lined it up with the open seam. Mending was her least favorite chore, and mending fine linen was the worst. At least cotton was easy to work with and didn’t slip between her fingers as she tried to hold it together.
“Mind that you don’t sew the back to the front when you stitch up that side.”
Old Mrs. Graham spoke without even looking over at Trinity, causing her to jump. She thought Mrs. Graham had gone out for the afternoon, and she didn’t hear her employer come back in.
“You know I always mind where I am stitching, Mrs. Graham, don’t you worry. I won’t send it out without you looking it over first.”
Trinity didn’t look up as she replied, hoping she gave off the impression she had known Mrs. Graham had been there the whole time. She had gone round and round with Mrs. Graham about a number of things, and she didn’t like it when the old woman watched her. It made Trinity feel as though Mrs. Graham didn’t trust her.
“Well one can never be too careful. This is our livelihood, after all, and if the customer isn’t happy, then I’m not happy. You want me to be happy, don’t you?”
Mrs. Graham switched from a bossy tone to a shaky tone as she asked the question, trying to elicit all the sympathy she could out of Trinity. Trinity knew the old woman’s games, however, and didn’t play along. She was tired of being manipulated. Tired of working for a nit-picky old woman. Tired of sewing this shirt.
“I think the customer is going to be plenty happy with this shirt. I declare I don’t know of a place in all of Vermont that is fancy enough to justify a shirt such as this one.”
The words had scarcely escaped Trinity’s lips when she heard Mrs. Graham clicking her tongue. She cringed on the inside. Mrs. Graham only did that when she was going to lecture Trinity, or treat her like a little girl. Trinity wasn’t sure which was about to happen, but she mentally braced herself for the event.
“You poor, poor girl. Of course you wouldn’t know of such things. A girl that was left on a doorstep would by no means understand that there are fine places here. Fine places where all of the people dress in fancy clothes and eat fancy foods. Foods you never even heard of, Child.”
Trinity let her mind wander. She hated it when Mrs. Graham referred to her childhood. And she hated it when Mrs. Graham treated her like a little girl that knew nothing of the world outside. Sure, she had been abandoned as a child, but that didn’t make her any poorer than anyone else. Most of the time, Mrs. Graham wouldn’t say anything about it, but there were days she just wouldn’t let Trinity forget.
Trinity was, by relation, Mrs. Graham’s adopted niece. It was Graham’s brother, the preacher of the town that had found Trinity on the steps of the church many years ago. He had never formally adopted her, but he had seen to it that she was cared for by the families that attended his church.
Trinity was thankful to him for his kindness, and to Mrs. Graham as well for the part she had played in Trinity’s growing up life, as well as giving her a
job when she was of age, but part of Trinity hated it here. Not just working for Mrs. Graham, but in the tiny town she lived in nestled in the rolling hills of Vermont.
Trinity longed for a life of adventure. A life where she felt she belonged. True, the Graham’s and Preacher Davis had been most welcoming, as had many of the families Trinity had spent her time with as a child, but none of them felt like her real family.
She had always seen her classmates with their siblings and their parents, and it was clear they belonged. Though they did their best to make Trinity feel part of the family, she never felt that kind of connection to anyone, and she didn’t know why.
Now, as she grew older, it was assumed she was going to help Mrs. Graham in her old age, and eventually take over the business. Many people in town assumed she was going to help run the church and take care of things for Preacher Davis when he was traveling, but Trinity had other plans.
Deep down inside, she felt there had to be more to life than this. More to life than sewing these shirts that were brought in day after day, and more to life than running errands for an old woman that simply didn’t want to do them herself. There had to be more to life than the families that all felt sorry for her in her situation, and the tiny houses she walked past every single day.
In fact, there had to be more to life than this little town, in this little state. She had heard tales of the West, and the adventures people had when they went out there. It was exactly the life that she wanted.
“Trinity! Do you hear me?”
Trinity jumped as her mind was brought back to the moment, and she realized Mrs. Graham was still talking to her.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Graham, my mind was wandering.”
“No doubt you were trying to imagine that kind of restaurant for yourself, eh?”
Trinity had no idea what Mrs. Graham had been talking about, but she nodded anyway. A smile broke across Mrs. Graham’s face, and she clicked her tongue once more.
“I’d say that’s enough of that for now. Tell you what. Here is a letter I needed mailed today… would you mind doing that for me?”
Trinity muffed a sigh inside herself, and forced a smile in return. She nodded and rose to take the letter, thinking once again that there had to be more to life than this.
Chapter 2 – A Walk About Town
“Trinity! Trinity, Trinity!”
Trinity stopped to see who was calling her name, and to her delight she saw her good friend Olga running her way. Olga had been one of Trinity’s closest friends growing up, perhaps it was because Olga’s parents had moved to America from Slovakia, and Olga had always felt like an outsider around the American children at school.
“Olga! How are you? I’ve been thinking I ought to call on you one of these days.”
Trinity slowed her pace so her friend could keep up with her. Olga had been born with a foot deformity, and always walked with a minor limp. It wasn’t enough to stop her from getting around easily, but it was enough for the other children to poke fun at her. This is part of the reason she and Trinity had become such good friends.
“I have been well. Looking all over for a job, but nobody is hiring right now. I’m getting along well enough for now, but I’m going to need something a little better before the snow flies. How is old Mrs. Cranky?”
“Mrs. Graham is doing quite well herself, thank you.”
Trinity replied, but she had to stifle a laugh.
There were few people Trinity knew that she could relate to. All of them were in such awe of Mrs. Graham, few actually realized how difficult of a woman she really was. Always making promised she could never keep, and following those promises she would either back out completely, or make Trinity fulfill them. Yet everyone in town spoke of how kind and giving Mrs. Graham was.
“I’m sure she is going to continue to do quite well so long as she has you around to do her bidding. Is she even paying you enough to keep all of her promises for her?”
Olga’s face blushed red after she asked the question, and she put her hand over her mouth.
“Sorry, it’s not my place to ask what you are making, but I still doubt she is paying you enough to be her slave as well as her seamstress.”
“It’s ok. I wish I could say I made a lot more for my work, but I have to remember that I do owe her and her brother a great deal of kindness. They practically raised me, after all.”
“Oh pish posh! The whole town raised you, and they get the glory. If I were you, I’d-“
Olga was cut off in the middle of her sentence by a laugh, and the two girls turned to see Ashley and her friends walking towards them. They were all dressed in fine dresses, and carrying umbrellas to keep the sun off of them. Each of them also carried a small fan, and giggled to each other as they stopped next to Trinity and Olga.
“Oh, we’re sorry, we didn’t see you here.”
Ashley spoke with a false sweetness, and her friends erupted with laughter.
“I don’t get what’s so funny, but don’t you ladies have other places to be?”
Trinity didn’t have time for their games, but her comment caused the smiled to vanish off of Ashley’s face. She strode over, swinging her hips as she did, and holding out her gloved hand. A diamond ring glinted in the sunlight on her finger, and Olga gasped. Trinity didn’t look at all interested.
“Didn’t you hear? I have become engaged to Mr. Collins, and we are on our way to the train station. I am paying to take all of my friends with me to pick out the finest dress in New York. I must look good for the wedding.”
“You’re going all the way to New York for a wedding gown?”
Olga’s eyes widened with amazement.
“Yes, they don’t carry anything fancy enough around here. You must be quite speechless.”
“Actually, I was thinking that is quite a waste.”
Trinity was blunt in her reply and Ashley’s jaw dropped, but Olga burst out laughing. Fire flashed through Ashley’s eyes, and she leaned in close to Trinity.
“I’ll have you know, when I am married, I am going to be the wealthiest woman in the state. I will want for nothing ever again, and you… what will you have? A sewing job. That’s it. You have no parents, no family, and no husband, and I say it’s a no wonder!”
Her friends’ giggles filled the air, and Trinity could feel her cheeks burn. She opened her mouth to reply, but Ashley turned and waltzed away before anything came out. Trinity could feel her eyes fill with tears of fury, but she brushed them away.
“Don’t let her get to you. You know how Mr. Collins is. I wouldn’t marry him even if he asked me to!” Olga scrunched up her face at the thought, and Trinity smiled.
“She’s right though. I don’t have a family of any kind. At least you have your mother and your father, and I am sure things are going to progress between you and Peter one of these days.”
Olga blushed at the mention of the boy she liked and she tried to change the subject.
“You’re special, Trin… that means you are going to need a special kind of husband. One that is as wild and free as you are. You know, like a cowboy!”
Trinity agreed, but Olga said she had to be moving along. She gave Trinity a hug and told her to keep her chin up, as things were sure to work out as they always had. Trinity forced a smile and assured her friend she was happy.
As Olga limped away, Trinity’s mind raced. The fact of the matter was that she wasn’t happy here, and she couldn’t keep doing this over and over. She knew it wouldn’t be long before Olga was engaged as well, then her time would be spent elsewhere.
Trinity had to make a change, and soon.
Chapter 3 – The Idea
Trinity’s thoughts were jumping from one topic to another as she made her way to the post office. She wondered how she was going to get out West, and what she was going to do when she got there. Surely there were people out there that needed their clothes mended, but then again, surely there were people out there that could mend their clothes.
> She knew the West was no place for a woman to be alone. There were all kinds of tales of outlaws and Indians, and scoundrels of all kinds, all preying upon the unsuspecting female traveler. No, if she was going out West, she needed to have a rough idea of what to expect when she got out there.
Suddenly, she bumped into a tall, skinny man standing at the foot of the stairway leading up to the post office. Trinity didn’t know where he had come from. One minute she hadn’t seen anyone there, and the next, she had run into a complete stranger that just seemed to appear out of nowhere.
“Excuse me, Sir, I didn’t see you.”
“Are you here for the ad?”
The man’s question took Trinity by surprise. What ad?
“I’m sorry?”
“The mail order bride ad? You know… I was supposed to meet a group of young women here, all headed out to Oregon in reply to some ads that were posted. Evidently you aren’t one of them so excuse me while I find them.”
He pulled away, but Trinity was intrigued. She had heard of the concept of a mail order bride, but she hadn’t met anyone that had actually gone through with it. The idea seemed so foreign… yet so thrilling to her. She couldn’t just walk away.
“Suppose I want to join in on the group? I am looking for a reason to move out West, and this seems as good a reason as any.”
The man looked at her in surprise, looking her from head to toe and back again. He looked up and down the street, as though he feared this to be some kind of trap. Then he sighed. He reached deep into his pocket, and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“Here, take a look at this, most of the ads have been replied to, but the few that have the pen marks on them have not. If you want to answer any of those, or head out on the train tomorrow afternoon, you can find me here the same time tomorrow. If you are going, be ready, I’m not waiting around here like this again.”
[2015] A Love Miracle Page 48
