Authors: Terri Grace

Promise of Blessing (8 page)

BOOK: Promise of Blessing

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My dearest cousins,

I am going further west to answer an advertisement for a bride.

Perhaps my fate will be a better one this time, but I feel that I am able to bear anything after these past two years.

My intended does not know that I have a child, and unmarried I cannot give my Ethan what he needs.

I know that you will take good care of him, as you have so generously taken care of me in the past.

He is yours now, but if you should see fit at some future time, please remember me to him as a mother who loved him too much to make him share her uncertain fate.

Perhaps I shall see you again, if the Lord so wills it, or perhaps I must wait until we reach that distant and blessed shore, but ever I shall remain thankful for two such souls as yours.

Helena Judson

Josie was so shocked that she could not even cry.

She lifted baby Ethan out of the basket and cradled him carefully, tucking a blanket in well around him.

He stirred, and his tiny nose and mouth wrinkled, but he did not wake up.

“We must go after her,” Clae said, his voice hardly above a whisper.

Josie nodded, but replied, “We won’t find her.

She doesn’t want us to.”

“I’ll – I’ll ask what the protocol is.

The legal….

We can’t assume….”

“I know.”

“I’ll ride to town today.”

“Yes.”

Josie sank down into the rocking chair, and Clae sat at her feet on a small stool, watching the sleeping baby’s face.

Suddenly, Josie’s eyes locked onto Clae’s, and there was panic in them.

“Milk,” she said.

“Say what now?”

“Milk!

He’s got to have milk.”

“I’ll do the milking for you real soon, but…may I hold him for just a while?”

Josie handed Ethan over gently, careful not to wake him.

She watched her husband, the ache deep in her heart stealing her breath away.

“Clae…do you think…he might be ours?” she finally managed to ask.

“Oh, Josie,” he burst out, tears at the corners of his eyes betraying the depth of his feeling, “I don’t like to think it, but I hope so.

I really do!”

He was to be.

Helena had been most careful, using what little remained from the sale of her assets, to ensure that she could not be traced, and the judge saw fit to respect the evident wishes of both the mother and the prospective adoptive parents.

Christmas Day dawned, and the baby’s gifts outnumbered the rest of the family’s combined.

Josie, at first terrified of making a mistake, was beginning to settle into her new role, and Ethan seemed healthy and content.

Clae was the happiest Josie had ever seen him, and he and Harland almost wore the strings out on their instruments during the celebrations.

The Dreschers and the McKinleys were to have Christmas dinner together, and food enough for ten families was laid out on the McKinleys’ table by the time the Dreschers arrived in their wagon, bearing even more treats.

As the two families were taking their places to eat, Pastor William cleared his throat and gestured for silence.

Josie bowed her head automatically, expecting him to say the grace, but instead she heard:

‘Dearly beloved, we are gathered here together, on this holy day, in the sight o’ God, to celebrate His gift to us, His Son…” here, there was a dramatic pause – “and also to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony.”

The company at the table spontaneously cheered and applauded the welcome surprise.

Josie was laughing and crying at the same time, as she raised her head.

Pastor William was now over by the stove, and Beth and Harland were standing in front of him, holding hands and beaming at everybody.

Once again, Pastor William had to call for silence.

“Yes, well,” he said, “we waited long enough for these two to get to the proposin’ part; let’s get the marryin’ part done so’s we don’t have to wait so long for dinner!”

Josie smiled at Clae, and then her eyes fell on the centrepiece of the table.

It was Clae’s Christmas gift to her.

He’d spent weeks carving it out of a large block of driftwood he’d found at the river.

It was the city of Jerusalem, with the words of the 128th Psalm below it, bordered by olive branches:

Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in His ways.

For though shalt eat the labour of thine hands:

happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house:

thy children like olive plants round thy table.

Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.

The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion:

and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.

Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.

The End

I hope you enjoyed this second book in the beautiful
Pioneer Hearts
series. Keep your eyes peeled for more pioneering adventures in the near future. In the meantime, have you read any of the titles in the popular
Destined To Love
collection? If not, I think you will really enjoy the inspiring story of Mary-Beth Tanner, a crippled Mail Order Bride who overcomes every disability and win the heart of the man she has grown to love.
It is only $0.99 or free on Kindle Unlimited
.

I have also included the first chapter of
‘Crippled Mail Order Bride For A Faithful Frontier Cowboy’
at the end of this book for your enjoyment…

Promise of Blessing is the second book in the Pioneer Hearts Series

PIONEER HEARTS is a heart warming series of Wild Western romances celebrating the courage of young Mail Order Brides and their trailblazer husbands. Each book is a complete story in itself, with strong characters you will fall in love with.

Book 1:
Promise to Love

Book 2:
Promise of Blessing

Another wonderful series by Terri Grace you might enjoy

Faith & Hope Find Love on the Frontier