Mail Order Bride- Twenty-Two Brides Mega Boxed Set

by Emily Woods

  “I think it would be a real good time to say grace,” Paul said, nodding at Inge and Gerta as they took his hands and lowered their heads.

  “Heavenly Father, thank you for the thoughtful, beautiful hands that have prepared this meal,” Paul said as Gerta’s cheeks turned red. “Thank you for this real good food that will bring us nourishment, and thank you for my wife. I reckon she is the most lovely, smart, resourceful gal in all of California, and I hope she knows how thankful I am for her.”

  Paul gave Gerta’s hand a squeeze. Gerta felt her heart begin to pound quickly, and she felt her body growing warm.

  “Lord, thank you for my daughter, Inge. Thank you for the many blessings you have brought me from the east. Heavenly Father, I am a real lucky man, and I hope my girls know that I ain’t never gonna let them go. Amen.”

  Gerta felt a trickle of tears streaming down her face. Inge grinned. Paul leaned over and kissed his wife’s cheek. He touched her face, and slowly, he guided her mouth to meet his.

  “Ewwww!” Inge screeched as Paul and Gerta shared a delicate kiss.

  “Hush, Inge,” Gerta murmured as Paul pulled her even closer.

  “Do you forgive me?” Paul asked, whispering tenderly into Gerta’s ear.

  “Of course, Paul. Please, forgive me,” Gerta replied.

  Paul gently pulled away from his wife and looked into her big, brown eyes. He stroked a stray blonde hair from her forehead.

  “The Lord has blessed me! The Lord has given me more than I deserve, and with my girls by my side, we will make this inn the most beautiful in all of the West!” Paul shouted, rising from his chair and pumping his fist into the air.

  “I love you, Daddy!” Inge said, standing up on her chair and mimicking Paul’s gesture.

  “And I love you both,” Gerta said happily, finally feeling as though she had found her happy ending with Paul and her daughter in Pinecone, California.

  6

  Present Day

  As Gerta had helped Betha O’Connor prepare for her wedding, she savored every sweet memory she had of her own wedding day. She remembered the unexpected softness of Paul’s hands. She remembered the coolness of the ring Paul slipped on her finger. She remembered praying for peace, and praying that her daughter would love Paul and be a good girl in her new home.

  “Gerta? You stabbed me with the pin!” Betha said, bringing Gerta back to the present moment.

  Gerta shrugged apologetically.

  “Forgive me, Miss Betha! You look so darling in your gown, and I was still dreaming of my own wedding day many years ago.”

  Betha smiled.

  “The story of your marriage to Paul is beautiful, Gerta. Thank you for sharing it with me as you help me with my own wedding day preparations!”

  Gerta reached for Betha’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

  “I hope you learned something from it, Miss Betha. You are young and beautiful, but youth goes real quick, as does beauty. What matters is your devotion to each other, your devotion to helping the other person, and your devotion to the Lord. Your body may change, and your words may slip—you hear me, I sound more like my country husband than a Philadelphia girl—but what need remain be love, devotion, and faith. Have faith in your husband, but, Miss Betha, you must have faith in yourself.”

  Betha turned to face Gerta. Her eyes glistened with tears, and she reached out.

  “Thank you,” Betha whispered to Gerta as the two women embraced. “My own dear parents are back home in Boston, and it is so nice to have a woman here to give me counsel before my wedding day. Thank you, Gerta.”

  Gerta thought for a moment about Betha’s husband-to-be. Gerta knew that Charles had not yet revealed the truth about his son’s blindness to Betha, and she knew that she needed to instill one more lesson in the girl before she walked into her marriage.

  “Miss Betha?”

  “Yes, Gerta?”

  Gerta sighed.

  “There is one more thing you should take from my story, Betha,” Gerta said slowly. “Forgiveness is one of the most important ingredients of a marriage. It is real important to forgive. Pray for guidance when you have trouble, but always pray for forgiveness. Charles is a good man, and I have all faith in him, but even when you feel doubt, you must pray and forgive.”

  Betha nodded, her face glowing with excitement.

  “Thank you, Gerta,” Betha said breathily as she entered the last hours of her life as a young, single lady.

  Later that evening, after the festivities had ended and Gerta and Paul were cuddled together in bed recounting their own love story, Paul paused for a moment. Gerta watched as his smile faded into a more serious look, and she propped herself up and faced him.

  “What, dear?”

  “Do you think Betha will be real angry when she finds out about Billy?” Paul asked.

  Without hesitation, Gerta replied, “I’m sure she will be confused, and I am sure she might be concerned, but today, as she listened to our love story, I knew that the Lord’s hands were helping me share the lessons we learned together. I talked about forgiveness, and redemption, and devotion, and from what I can tell of Betha, she will give that grace to Charles, even if it is in her own time.”

  Paul nodded, satisfied with his wife’s answer.

  “Here we are, many children later, a successful inn to call our own, and a real good marriage filled with love. Gerta, my dear, I hope Charles and Betha have the same happiness we’ve had. We are real lucky. I consider myself a real lucky man.”

  Gerta snuggled closer to her husband.

  “I think that they will get on just fine,” Gerta whispered. “I think they will live a happy, Godly life together, just as we have.”

  “I love you, Gerta,” Paul said sleepily as he drifted into slumber. “The Lord has blessed us.”

  “Yes, he has,” Gerta affirmed as she rested her head on her husband’s muscled chest and floated into a gentle sleep.

  High Spirited Love

  A Family to Love, Book 3

  1

  “This is the final straw, Anna! Pack your things, because as soon as Sister Mary’s has availability, I am taking you to the convent!”

  Anna stared at Inge, her mother, in disbelief. At nineteen years old, Anna had been causing mischief and mayhem for years, but she had never seen Inge so furious. Inge’s face was contorted in rage. Tiny blue veins protruded from Inge’s forehead, and her fists were clenched so tightly that they had lost all color. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a bun, and her high cheekbones gave her face a severe look that sent shivers down Anna’s spine.

  “Don’t tell me that you have nothing to say, Anna!”

  Anna looked at her leather boots, her face burning. Anna had always been high-spirited and adventurous, but she never intended to anger her mother. Anna adored her mother. She was Inge’s only child, and she and Inge shared everything from their beautiful blonde hair, pale blue eyes, and fiery tempers.

  “I’m sorry, Mama,” Anna whispered, her blue eyes filling with tears as her mother glared at her.

  Inge crossed her arms in front of her bosom. She looked frail as she addressed her daughter, but Anna knew that Inge was furious.

  “Your apologies are not enough this time, Anna! Climbing to the top of Gloria Dei Church and getting caught by the police is more than unacceptable! It is practically sinful, Anna! You are a woman of nineteen years! You are too old for this kind of nonsense. I can hardly look at you as I imagine you lifting your skirts and climbing the roof of the church like an animal! What got into you?”

  Anna closed her eyes.

  “Well?” Inge demanded.

  “It’s one of the oldest buildings in the city, Mama! It was a dare!”

  Inge took her daughter by the chin and stared into Anna’s eyes.

  “A dare, Anna? You are a woman now! Most of the girls you played with and came of age with are married! Little Martha Tinley? Your best friend from girlhood? She has two children! The girls you grew up with a
re becoming proper young women and starting their families, and my daughter is climbing the roof of a church and getting dragged home by the authorities! How can this be?”

  Anna jerked free from Inge’s tight grasp.

  “It was a mistake, Mama,” Anna muttered as she fought back her tears.

  “Where on Earth do you get these ideas, Anna? Why can’t you settle down like a proper young woman and behave?”

  Anna took a step back from Inge. She clenched her own fists tightly, feeling her tails sink into the tender skin of her hands.

  “I’m brave, Mama! I’m not like most women my age. You always say that I am just like my grandmother, Gerta! Why can’t you accept me for who I am?”

  Inge’s jaw dropped open.

  “Don’t flatter yourself by comparing your silly, churlish behavior with the piety and grace of my mother, Anna. You are insulting your grandmother with such bold claims.”

  Anna narrowed her blue eyes and drew herself up to her full height. She was nearly a head taller than her mother, and she looked down at the top of Inge’s head as she addressed her mother.

  “I am brave, just as your mother was brave,” Anna said defiantly as Inge glowered at her daughter. “Your mother went off to California and married Grandfather without even meeting him first! She journeyed west all by herself with you, a little girl! Grandmother was brave, and I am like her, Mama, even though you don’t like it.”

  Inge shook her head. She turned and walked out of the room. Anna sank into one of the kitchen chairs and sighed. She detested fighting with her mother. Inge was always a force to be reckoned with, and it was unwise to fall from Inge’s esteem. Anna could not seem to help herself though; as her parents’ only child, she bored easily, and her curious nature led to into all sorts of trouble. Anna did not mean to be bad or foolish or selfish or ill-behaved, but she always managed to commit acts that placed her on the wrong side of her mother’s temper.

  As Anna leaned into the stiff back of the wooden chair, she wished that John, her father, was home to mitigate the tension between the two women in his life. Anna’s father was the opposite of her mother—John was thoughtful and pensive, and he always knew how to calm Inge down after Anna had gotten into trouble. He was currently away on business in Chicago, and Anna had been counting down the days until his return.

  “She can’t be serious about a convent,” Anna thought as she relaxed her shoulders. “A convent is not the place for me.”

  Inge was serious about the convent. The next evening, Inge returned home with a large shopping bag and presented it to Anna at dinner.

  “A gift for me?” Anna asked, surprised that Inge had seemingly forgotten about their heated exchange the previous day.

  Inge smiled as Anna tore open the bag to reveal a long, woolen black shift dress.

  “You will be wearing that each day,” Inge said cheerfully as Anna’s mouth dropped open.

  Anna examined the dress. The material was itchy and course, and it smelled of dank cheese.

  “What is this, Mama?” Anna asked, looking to her mother for an explanation.

  Inge continued to smile.

  “It’s for the convent. I went to St. Mary’s myself and spoke with the Reverend Mother. She is willing to accept you into the convent as early as May, and that is only six weeks away! This will be the dress you wear as you go through your training. I know black isn’t your best color, but this will have to do.”

  Anna furrowed her brow.

  “Mama,” Anna whispered. “Mama, please! I am sorry that I climbed the roof of the church. I am sorry that I embarrassed you. Please do not send me to the convent. It would be cruel, Mama.”

  The smile vanished from Inge’s face. Inge narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips.

  “Cruel? Anna, what you have put me through is cruel. You are our only child, and you have brought so much shame upon this family! We coddled you. I admit that your father and I spoiled you. My shabby upbringing in California caused me to give you more than you needed. Your father and I bought you everything you needed and wanted, and perhaps we should not have. Your father is only a humble trader, and I suppose spending most of his earnings on you and your happiness was a mistake. We should have given you structure. I had structure in California, and look at my life! At the age you were getting sent out of school for your behavior, I earned a place at a boarding school here in the city! I travelled back to the east by myself to attend school, and my marks were excellent. Anna, what have you done? You have caused trouble and made poor decisions, and your father and I cannot support you any longer!”

  The color drained from Anna’s face, and she felt her body growing cold. Her mother’s words echoed in her ears. She had never felt so misunderstood and unloved before, and her chin quivered as she held back the sobs threatening to escape from her mouth.

  “I have sent word to your father. In six weeks, you will enter St. Mary’s and commit your life to service! I have given up hope that you will marry well, if at all, and this will be the best choice for all of us. I deserve some peace. I have been praying about this for nearly two years, ever since you were caught wearing trousers in the park with the boys from school!”

  “That was a joke, Mama,” Anna whimpered.

  Inge shook her head.

  “Jokes. Dares. Enough is enough. You are a woman, Anna, and it is time to grow up.”

  That night, Anna cried herself to sleep as the wind howled outside. She could not get comfortable in her small bed, and she tossed and turned for hours as the night sky turned from a light violet, to a deep purple, to complete blackness. Not a single star shone that night, and Anna felt as though the skies were mourning with her.

  “A convent,” Anna whispered to herself.

  She imagined herself at a convent, her long, shiny blonde hair tucked away under a severe veil. Anna pictured her trim waist and womanly bosom hidden beneath the somber black shift dress her mother had presented her with earlier, and she grimaced as she envisioned a quiet life of service and scripture.

  “I cannot go,” Anna said aloud.

  She readjusted herself and propped herself up on one elbow. Anna reached underneath her bed and retrieved a handwritten letter from Gerta, her deceased grandmother. Gerta had been dead for nearly fifteen years now, but Anna still treasured the letters her grandmother had sent from Pinecone, California. Anna carefully unfolded the letter from its yellowed envelope. She had reread each letter hundreds of times, and the paper was becoming increasingly delicate with every touch of Anna’s gentle hands.

  Dearest Anna,

  Hello, my granddaughter! Hello from California! I am writing this by the fireplace in the Pinecone Inn. It has been a real nice night here; the crickets are chirping, and the air is cool and pleasant. The sun set over the fields just a few moments ago, and the colors looked as though they had each been painted by God himself! I do wish you and your mother and father were here to sit with us as we relax after dinner and enjoy the real nice night. I prepared a goose, a salad of greens from our garden, and some bread pudding made just this morning! We have very esteemed guests visiting the inn, and your grandfather wanted them to have my finest cooking!

  I hope to cook for you someday, dear granddaughter! I hope to cook the foods of Pinecone that I have learned to make since arriving here as a wee slip of a thing years ago. I hope to cook the German foods my mama made for me when I was a girl; my mother, your great-grandmother, came to America from Germany, and there are so many foods and words and things I am real eager to tell you about!

  It breaks my heart that I have only seen your face from the pictures your mama sends. It broke my heart when your mama left Pinecone to go to school in the east, and my heart will not heal until I have held my own granddaughter in my arms!

  I reckon we will meet soon, Anna; I can feel it in my bones! Your mama has mentioned in her letters to us that you and I are very much alike, and that makes my heart sing! She says that you have a big heart and a love of le
arning and a love of life, and I pray that the Lord uses those qualities that He has given you to honor His name.

  Anna, please know that we are real eager to meet you and that we pray for you often! You are always welcome here in Pinecone, and I reckon that we ain’t seen the last of your mama. Know that you will always have a second home here, and that Pinecone will be a real special place for you. I just know it.

  With love,

  Your grandmother,

  Gerta

  Anna touched the worn letter with her fingertips, trying to feel the love her grandmother had undoubtedly infused into the correspondence all of those years ago. Anna wished her grandmother were still alive today. She and Anna’s grandfather were both in Heaven, and Anna longed for the love and support they had poured into their letters before they passed.

  Anna was in awe of her grandmother. Her grandmother had been so brave, and from the stories Inge had told Anna throughout the years, Anna had no doubt that her grandmother would have favored her. Gerta was a dreamer, a risk-taker, just like Anna, and Anna felt as though Gerta would have understood her wild heart.

  Many years ago, after marrying and giving birth to Inge, Anna’s grandmother had been widowed. Gerta moved home with Inge to her adoring parents’ comfortable townhouse and lived happily until a fire burned through the home and killed Gerta’s parents. Left alone and destitute, Gerta prayed for guidance. She found an advertisement in a newspaper from a business owner in the West who was seeking a wife. Gerta truly believed that God had sent her a sign, and she packed her meager belongings and took her daughter on the journey that would change the course of their lives.

  According to Inge, she and Gerta had arrived in Pinecone with dirty faces and hardly a coin to their name. Anna’s grandfather, Paul, had fetched them from the train station, and Inge had immediately taken to her new father.