Where Heaven Begins (25 page)
Read Where Heaven Begins Online
Authors: Rosanne Bittner
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
—2 Corinthians 5:17
Dawson, October 30, 1898
Such a long journey. In so many more ways than one. My Ethan is everything I knew he would be in a husband, kind, gentle, protective, devoted. Peter baptized him before we married, and he has fully given himself to the Lord, who I know in my heart has forgiven Ethan for whatever lies in his past. Now there is only a future full of joy and love waiting for him, and I pray that already his life grows inside of me. I want to give him another child just as soon as possible.
S
he put down her pen and looked out a window of their new cabin to watch her Ethan chop wood. The thought of what it was like to lie with him still sent chills of womanly satisfaction through her. They had no idea if they would stay in Dawson forever, since because of the gold strike farther west, rumor was that Dawson could become a ghost town by next summer.
When Elizabeth had asked Ethan what he would do then, his response was, “We’ll go where the Lord leads us.”
Such beautiful words coming from a man who just under three months ago was ready to hunt down yet another man for money.
She continued writing.
God works in such strange but beautiful ways, His miracles to perform. Who would have thought, when I left San Francisco, that I would be married and settled just three months later? And to a man like Ethan Brady?
Life was good…so good that sometimes she felt as though she was just dreaming. She was not afraid of the long winter to come, after what they had survived getting here. Ethan was a good hunter. They would be all right.
Ethan and Roland Fisher have actually struck a friendship. And little Toby is fine now. He loves Ethan, and he runs to him every time we visit. I now know why God led me to this place. It was so that I might
have the chance to change Ethan Brady’s life and bring him back to God. However, I was only the voice. Everything else is thanks to God, not me. I was His instrument, and so was Peter—and even Roland Fisher.
She heard Ethan stomping his feet at the door then. He came inside the one-room cabin that Peter, Roland and others from the church had helped build in just three days. They even had a wood-plank floor. They slept on a feather mattress on a rope spring attached to a homemade bed of pine, and Elizabeth used a large stone fireplace with an oven built into the side for her cooking and baking. It also heated the small cabin just fine.
Elizabeth set her pen aside. “Are you hungry? I think the rabbit stew is done,” she told Ethan.
“Sounds good to me. Chopping wood is mean on a man’s appetite. I could eat that whole pot of stew. Got coffee?”
“You know I always do.” Elizabeth got up and removed a blue porcelain coffeepot from over the fire, grasping it with a towel. She came to the table and poured some into a tin cup Ethan had left there that morning. “There you are.” She looked up to see him staring at her. “What is it?”
“I just can’t quite get over the fact that you’re my wife.”
Elizabeth grinned. “You might not be so happy about that a few years from now when I’m older and fatter and I’m nagging you endlessly.”
Ethan laughed, rising. He picked her up in his arms and whirled her around. “You will always be beautiful to me,
Mrs. Brady.” He looked around. “What was it you said Peter called the Yukon? Something about heaven?”
“Where heaven begins,” she answered.
He kissed her nose. “For me heaven begins right here, with you in my arms.”
Elizabeth smiled, hugging him around the neck. “Heaven is also knowing God’s grace right here on earth, and understanding the full meaning of love.” She kissed him softly. “And I do so love you, Ethan.”
“And I love you. Did I ever properly thank you for saving my life?”
“
God
saved you, Ethan, not me.”
He studied her lovingly. “Well, I sure like the messenger He sent. I’ll never question the Good Lord again.”
Elizabeth relished the feel of his strong arms holding her. Her joy at knowing Ethan was truly right with God again made her heart burst with love for him. God truly did answer prayer, for even now life fluttered in her womb, Ethan’s life. She had no doubt the child would turn out to be another son for Ethan Clint Brady.
She decided she’d kept her secret long enough. It was time to tell him about the baby.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5343-2
WHERE HEAVEN BEGINS
Copyright © 2004 by Rosanne Bittner
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Steeple Hill Books.
® and TM are trademarks of Steeple Hill Books, used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.