Pioneer Love: Damaged Hearts Head West: Mail Order Bride 5 Bundle (19 page)

Epilogue

Mary and David packed up their homes and got ready to head West. Before they left they both went to the churchyard and said their goodbye to their respective loves. Neither one of them would forget, but both were ready to move forwards.

The last week before they were due to head West, David bought a beautiful wedding dress with his lovely bride. They had received news that Jolene had married Ryan and that a small office was waiting for Mary so she could continue her business. Their wedding was to be held in the same small church as soon as they arrived.

One day before they set off John Robertson returned to her office. Mary had already sent word to him that she was to be married and could not accept his proposal. Still she was nervous when he strolled into her office.

“How can I help you Mr. Robertson?” she asked.

He pulled a bunch of flowers from behind his back. Mary felt herself starting to worry. Would this man not take no for an answer?

“Forgive me,” he said. “I did not mean to scare you. These are simply a token of my son’s thanks. Etta is perfect and I do believe that love will develop between them. For now she has a safe home and my son has the joy of a wife and a beautiful daughter. Thank you, Mrs. Hawkins.”

John handed her the flowers dipped his hat and left.

Mary packed the daguerreotype of Jefferson Hawkins in her bag and left her office for the last time hand in hand with David Montgomery.

The train journey was long and tiring, but it gave them time to learn all they could about each other. At last they arrived and as they got down from the train, Anna leaped into her father’s arms.

“This is the best news ever,” she said as she pulled back and then hugged Mary. “Do you want to go straight to the church?”

David looked at Mary and she nodded her head. Was this really happening? Had he found his own bride? “Yes,” he said without taking his eyes off Mary.

“Good, Mary comes with me and Jolene,” Anna said. “We will get you dressed and all pretty for your wedding. Father go with Ian and Ryan. They have a new suit waiting for you.”

David felt strong hands pat him on the back and usher him away from his love. The girls were all talking excitedly and it was wonderful to see them so happy. When they got to the hotel, David took Ryan’s hand. “Congratulations,” he said. “Jolene is a wonderful woman.”

Soon he was dressed and ushered out to the church. It looked like the whole town had turned up and he stood at the front staring at the sad old pastor and waited. Never in his life had he been so nervous as the minutes ticked on and on and he began to wonder if Mary had changed her mind.

“Don’t worry,” Ian shouted. “Anna wants her to look her best. No doubt she is pampering and titivating and making sure that Mary is just perfect.”

David smiled. “There’s no need she already was.”

Just at that moment a hush settled over the church and he turned to see Mary. She was a picture in a long cream dress with the fullest skirt he had ever seen. He puffed up his chest and looked at the red waistcoat, beneath the black suit the men had dressed him in. What a splendid couple they made. Mary seemed to glide down the aisle a picture of such beauty, even with her face beneath the veil. His breath caught in his throat and he felt as if his eyes were popping from his head. “You are so beautiful,” he said as she took his arm.

“And you are the handsomest man I have ever seen,” Mary replied.

The pastor cleared his throat and like two giggling teenagers they turned to face him. The service was a blur. They made their vows, promised under God to love each other until they died and then they were pronounced man and wife.

“You may kiss the bride.”

David turned to Mary and with shaking hands he lifted her veil. Her eyes brimmed with tears and he gently stroked her cheek and then he bent towards her. As their lips touched, he felt his heart burst with joy and love flowed from her lips and filled him with bliss. The kiss deepened until David felt a tap on his back. With regret, he pulled apart and looked deep into her eyes before turning around.

Ryan and Ian stood there. “Come on,” Ian said. “It’s time for a party and to meet your new neighbors.”

David nodded and lifted Mary into his arms, holding her felt right and good and wonderful. As he strolled down the aisle, he whispered into her ear. “I hope the party doesn’t go on too long Mrs. Montgomery.”

Mary hugged him tight and nuzzled into his neck. “I hope so too, Mr. Montgomery.”

The End.

Mail Order Bride

Grace & Mercy find Peace on the Prairie Book 1

Terri Grace

©Copyright 2015 Terri Grace

All Rights Reserved

“
But
he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”

Job 23:10

“
Grace and Mercy Find Peace on the Prairie
is a trilogy following the individual journeys of three friends, Grace, Mercy, and Emma. Each of these young women faces significant odds that they must overcome to reach their place of peace and love. I think the same is true for all of us. Whether it is a physical disability like the tender-hearted Grace, forced circumstance like Emma, or a restless spirit like Mercy, we all have inward and outward obstacles that sometimes blind us from the provisions of God.

What struck me most as I was writing was the way that faith and love are often tested in the fires of adversity, but through it all come out with a refined purity and renewed gratitude that shines ever more brightly.

I hope that you enjoy following their journey too, and that your own heart is strengthened to face every challenge with renewed vigor!”

Terri Grace (Author)

CHAPTER ONE

Scarred For Life

T
HE
BLACKING
BRUSH
flew across the room and smashed into the wall next to Grace Oakes’ head. She ducked to avoid it, and the blacking splattered off the wall into her long dark hair. At least the blacking wouldn’t show up in her hair, but it spotted her cheeks, too. She didn’t have to worry about that, either, though. Deep scars marred her face and neck. A bout of smallpox when she was four years old destroyed Grace’s face and killed her mother. The blacking couldn’t make her any uglier.

She took shelter behind her arm when a wooden bowl followed the brush and bounced off her elbow. Her stepmother grabbed up a dish mop and screamed at her. “Get out! Get out of my house. I’m sick and tired of you moping around and dragging the rest of us down. Get out of here before I do something drastic.”

Grace ran for the cabin door, but before she got there, her sister Mercy stepped between her and her stepmother. “Don’t you dare take this out on Grace. You should be ashamed of yourself, Mother, for treating a kind and innocent girl this way. Where’s your Christian charity?”

Cynthia Oakes balled her hands into fists, but when she faced her daughter, her anger cooled and her voice dropped. She waved her arms in agitation, but she didn’t throw anything at Mercy. She wouldn’t dare. “It’s for your sake I’m driving her off. She’ll deprive you of your future, but you’re too soft-hearted to realize that.”

“Grace isn’t depriving me of anything,” Mercy shot back. “I made my own decision to put off getting married until Grace is settled in her own home with her own husband. If you had a beating heart in your body you would understand that. You’re cruel to treat her this way. I can’t even step out of the house without you attacking her. Please, mother!”

“You know as well as I do no man in his right mind would marry her.” Cynthia jabbed her finger at Grace. “Look at her. She’s disgusting. She should wear a bag over her head so decent people don’t have to look at her. She’s a monster, and every man who looks at her runs away in horror. You can’t blame them, either.”

“How dare you?” Mercy screeched. “How dare you talk about my sister like that?”

“She’ll never get married,” Cynthia went on. “The best she can hope for is to die an old maid. You’re nineteen and the belle of Boston. You could have any man you want, and you’ve had so many offers of marriage I gave up counting them long ago. You’re letting your own future slip away by waiting for her.”

Mercy crossed her arms over her chest. She looked so much taller than she was when she threw her shoulders back. She looked down on her own mother. “Some good man will see through Grace’s scars. Some good man will see the beautiful Grace underneath and fall in love with her. If anyone deserves happiness, it’s Grace, and you have no right to deprive her of that. I’ll stay at home for the rest of my life to protect her from your cruelty, if that’s what it takes.” It pained Mercy to speak to her own mother that way, but her mother’s scathing tongue toward her beloved half-sister was too much to endure.

Cynthia opened her mouth to answer back, but a knock at the door interrupted her. She opened it, and a shriveled old man with a scraggly white beard and cloudy eyes stood on the front porch. “I hope I’m not disturbing anything.”

Cynthia took him by the arm. “Not at all. Come right in. We were just expecting you.” She ushered him into the house and marched him over to Grace. “Now, Grace, you know Ennis Patterson from the mill. He’s not the youngest man in town, but he’s a very eligible bachelor, and beggars can’t be choosers. Now why don’t you two sit down here by the fire and get to know each other?”

Grace stared at the old man through a film of tears. On the other side of the room, Mercy smacked her lips. “Mother, how could you?”

Grace clamped her eyes shut, and the tears streaked down her ruined cheeks. She ran out of the house, down the porch steps, and into the trees at the edge of the park. She ran away from her stepmother, from her whole life—even from Mercy’s kindness. She ran until she found her favorite spot by the stream and collapsed in tears on the mossy bank.

Minutes later and out of breath, Mercy laid her hand on Grace’s shoulder. “Don’t pay any attention to her, Grace. She’s wicked. She should be run out of the house, not you, for acting that way.”

Grace shook the tears out of her eyes. “Your mother’s right, Mercy. I’ll never get married. She’s doing the best thing for me by finding these blind old men to marry me off. No other man would have me.”

“Don’t tell yourself that, Grace,” Mercy insisted. “If I can see past your scars to the beauty and goodness of your heart, then the right man will be able to do the same thing. One of these days, you’ll meet a man who loves you for who you really are, and then you’ll be happier than you can ever imagine. Keep a good thought, believe and pray, and it will happen.”

“You should get married,” Grace told her. “You have your whole life ahead of you, and I’m twenty-four years old. I’m already an old maid. I should give up hoping to get married. I have a good life teaching school at the church, and I have my poetry. This must be the life God wants for me, or He wouldn’t have scarred me like this.”

Mercy clapped her hands. “Nonsense! God didn’t scar you! But He can use those terrible scars for His glory. He will shame the devil and use those scars to make you kinder and gentler and more caring than you already are. His power at work in you will prove how you can rise above these hardships and find even greater happiness for your struggle. Remember, my beloved sister, the Savior was scarred and torn beyond any man, and our Father in Heaven used those stripes to bring healing to the world.”

Grace wiped her eyes and peered at her sister. “You’re too nice to me, Mercy. My life wouldn’t be worth living if I didn’t have you.”

Mercy jumped to her feet. “Stop crying now. I’ve got something wonderful to tell you.”

Grace’s eyes widened. “What?”

Before Mercy could answer, her friend Emma Johnson stepped out of the trees. “I thought I’d find you two here. Let me guess. You’re mother’s been throwing things at Grace again.”

Mercy brushed the soil off her skirt. “We’re not talking about that anymore. I’m just about to break the good news to Grace about.....you know what.”

Emma frowned. “About what?”

Mercy jerked her head to one side. “You know!”

Emma burst into a smile. “Oh, that! Right. Let’s tell her.”

Grace stood up. “Tell me what.”

Mercy took a step closer and laid her hand on Grace’s arm. “Do you remember that newspaper advertisement we saw a few weeks ago for mail order brides? Emma and I wrote away to some of the men wanting brides. We told them about you.”

Grace stiffened. “What did you do that for? I’m sure those men will be just like the bachelors and widowers your mother has been parading in front of me. They’ll be old and worn out and have body parts missing from the war. I don’t want to marry someone like that.”

Mercy shook her head. “That’s where you’re wrong. A lot of them are young and want women of child-bearing age. They would be perfect for you.”

“If they’re so perfect,” Grace asked, “why can’t they get married?”

“Because they live out on the Frontier,” Mercy replied. “They live on homesteads hundreds of miles from the nearest town, and they work the land for their living. They need hard-working women to come and live and raise their families there. And they don’t care so much what the woman looks like.”

“They’ll care what I look like,” Grace murmured. “When they find out what I really look like, they won’t want to have anything to do with me.”

“They already know what you look like,” Mercy told her. “I sent them each a copy of the painting I made of you.”

Grace gasped. “Mercy! What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking I’d find you a husband,” Mercy returned. “Emma and I got so angry at Mother cooking up these ridiculous schemes about marrying you off to some decrepit old gentleman that we decided to take matters into our own hands. We sent out twelve letters to twelve different men, and when we got several responses, we set about eliminating the ones we didn’t like. We narrowed the field down to four, and then I sent them your portrait.”

“But those paintings you made don’t show my scars,” Grace pointed out. “You painted what I would look like without them. You tried to circulate them around Boston, but when the men saw what I really look like, they all turned their backs on me. Don’t you remember how Jacob Hornsby said living with me under the same roof would give him nightmares for the rest of his life?”

“I made one painting of you the way you are,” Mercy told her. “I didn’t tell you about it because I knew you’d never let me make it if you knew. I sent it to the four most suitable men.”

“I’m sure they changed their minds when they saw what I really look like,” Grace muttered.

“Three of them did,” Mercy replied, “but one of them didn’t. His name is Jackson Pikes, and he’s a farmer and rancher in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He said he thinks he can see beyond your scars and he can still love you. He sent you one hundred dollars toward the train fare to come out to Cheyenne and marry him. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Grace stared at her sister. “He sent you one hundred dollars?”

Mercy glanced at Emma. “Well, actually, he sent
you
one hundred dollars. He thinks he’s been corresponding with you all this time.”

Grace’s mouth fell open. “Mercy! What have you done?” She spun away and hurried through the trees.

Mercy ran to catch up with her, and Emma followed. “I only did this for you, Grace. I did it to make you happy.”

Grace rounded on her. “How could you do this? How could you correspond with a man you’ve never met and arrange for me to travel across the country to marry him? What will Papa say?”

“Why don’t you ask him?” Mercy returned. “Maybe he’ll be happy for you. He’s always wanted you to be happily married and out from under my mother’s thumb.”

Grace pursed her lips. “I didn’t know you could be so devious, Mercy. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

Mercy set her fists on her hips. “Well, what was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to just stand around and watch my mother throw boots and buckets at your head, day in and day out? You’ve got to get out of here, Grace, before she loses her temper and really hurts you. The only way that’s going to happen is if you get married, and none of the men in Boston will come near you.”

“You should have stayed out of my business,” Grace shot back. “This has nothing to do with you—or Emma. Get yourself married and leave me alone.”

Mercy ran after her again. “You know I can’t do that, Grace. I love you more than anyone in the world, and I can’t stand to see you unhappy. Give this Jackson Pikes character a chance. He knows what you look like and he wants to marry you anyway. This could be the chance at happiness you’ve been waiting for.”

Grace glared at her sister with her mouth sealed shut.

“He has a brother in Cheyenne, too,” Mercy went on. “Thomas Pikes is a preacher at the local Baptist church, and he supports his brother’s plan to get a mail order bride. He could marry you and Jackson as soon as you get off the train.”

Grace faced her sister with flashing eyes. “You lied to me, Mercy, and you lied to all those men by telling them you were me. God only knows what kind of nonsense you told them in my place. You had no business doing any of this. You’ll have to send the money back to Jackson Pikes and explain everything.”