by Indiana Wake
“It’s a beautiful house, Dempsey,” Grace said, trying her hardest to pull herself together. “Really, it is. And there is so much land. It seems to stretch on forever.” She was fighting to make her own voice sound hopeful.
“Sure does. It goes right out to the mountains you can see in the distance over there.” He pointed out to the east to where ragged mountains pierced the bright blue sky. Try as he might, Grace could hear the flatness in his tone. She knew they must not start out this way; it was her job to change things.
“I’m so sorry, Dempsey. I’m just a little scared is all. It’s been kind of a big day for me, and I only just lost my daddy and left my twin sister behind. I hope you can understand.”
“I’m real sorry for everything that’s happened to you, Grace. I guess it’s been kind of a big day for me too. I never got married before,” he said, with an attempt at a small laugh. “But you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. I mean, you just take your time and settle in here. Take all the time you need.”
Grace could have cried with gratitude; she knew that he was alluding to the marital bed, and the fact that he was giving her time to heal her wounded heart before throwing herself into married life was a tremendous relief to her.
“Thank you kindly, Dempsey,” Grace said, blushing a little at the unspoken subject matter.
“C’mon in and I’ll show you around your new home.” Dempsey smiled at her as he helped her down from the wagon.
From that day onwards, Dempsey had treated Grace with so much polite respect that they very much still seemed to be strangers to each other. After six months, Grace had settled into her surroundings very well indeed, but her sense of loneliness seemed to grow with each passing day. Not once in all that time had Dempsey made any move to join her in her bed at night, nor even so much as touched her. They had only kissed at the moment after the pastor had pronounced them man and wife, and Grace had been so very out of sorts that she had never stored the memory of it well enough to draw the feel of his kiss to mind ever again.
Grace felt she was torn between the devil and the deep blue sea. She did not want a loveless marriage and a life spent in a cold and lonely bed, but neither did she want to be a full wife to a man she still felt she hardly knew... a man she despaired of ever knowing.
As the wind and rain had lashed at her bedroom window, Grace wondered if it would always be this way. Not for the first time, she felt a sort of hopelessness creep over her. Here she was, married to a wonderful man, and yet she had never felt so lonely in her entire life. Once again, Grace thought she heard a cry out there in the darkness. Surely it was not a human cry; not on such a night as this? But what else could it be? The horses were all tucked away in their cozy stable and Grace had only ever heard the occasional whinny on the stillest of nights. Nothing could have been heard from the stable on such a night as that one, with the fiercest of howling gales drowning out every sound... every sound except for that haunting cry.
Grace began to rise from her bed. She simply had to know if she really had heard a cry and, if she had, who or what had made it. Grace could not bear to think of anyone, human or animal, out in the howling darkness and in need of help. As fearful as she felt of making her way out into the stormy night, Grace knew that she must.
Wrapping her thick nightgown around her, Grace decided to add her thick cloak over the top, for extra protection against the elements. She lit her tiny oil lamp and made her way silently out of her room. As she reached the top of the great staircase, Grace shrieked with fright and almost dropped her oil lamp; for there at the top of the stairs, she very nearly collided with her husband.
“I’m sorry,” Dempsey said, his good manners always there by instinct. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Seeing that her husband was also dressed against the storm, Grace realized that they were leaving the ranch house on the same mission.
“You heard it too?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Yes. At least I think so. I mean, I heard something, and I guess it kind of sounded like a woman’s cry. I thought it was you at first. I don’t know why.” His voice was low and his face full of concern. “Look, why don’t you go on back to bed, Grace. There’s no sense in us both going out on a night like this.”
As always, his kind consideration warmed Grace and made her wish they could overcome whatever the invisible barrier was made of to somehow meet in the middle somewhere.
“No, Dempsey. I’m not just going to leave you to it. I’m coming with you. I’ll dry out, sooner or later.”
“Sure thing.” Dempsey seemed somehow pleased by what she had said and, Grace could not quite work out why she felt glad. Dempsey’s smile gave her a fleeting impression of hope, and at that moment Grace felt a debt of gratitude to whatever, or whomever, was out there in the darkness.
The storm seemed to have come upon her so suddenly and turned the sky so black that Rose became lost more easily than she could ever have believed. She had taken the wrong road out of the town of Ragged Plains, she felt sure of it. It seemed as if she had been walking this same track forever. With each step the clouds grew thicker, the sun sank, and the wind picked up. Soon it was dark and the track just kept going. It had gone on for too long, yet all the while Rose had somehow expected to suddenly see something in the distance; the town of Mahogany Ridge to be precise. When it had not appeared before her, Rose had first blamed the darkness of the stormy night. Only after she had been walking the same road for nearly an hour did she realize that she was heading in the wrong direction. At this point, she figured the road had to lead somewhere, and she prayed that it would be quicker going forward than back. Now she was beginning to doubt that thought. Pulling her shawl more tightly around her young baby she put her head down and pushed into the wind.
As she walked, she chastised herself for not asking for proper directions. Rose knew that if she had, it might have been obvious where she was heading and why. A lone woman carrying a tiny baby and very few belongings, asking the way to Mahogany Ridge, would easily be suspected of carrying her infant away to the only orphanage for miles around. While that was exactly what she was doing, Rose was too weak and low to have suffered a moment’s judgment from the casual encounter of asking directions.
Yet now she truly wished she had risked such scorn.
The storm had been gathering as she had left behind the lights and safety of the town of Ragged Plains but had not hit with full force until she was some distance along what she finally realized was the wrong road.
Taking off her own shawl, she had wrapped it around baby Violet to keep the rain off the new-born. As determined as she was to take her baby to the orphanage, Rose was even more determined to keep her alive. After all, she loved Violet with every fiber of her being. Violet was, and always would be, the most important and precious person in Rose’s life, and she would shield her from the storm if it took her own life to do it.
As the wind picked up, throwing the raindrops painfully into her face, Rose wondered if she should turn back for Ragged Plains and beg for shelter there. Looking back dubiously at the now dim lights of the town, Rose realized just how far out she had come. For a moment, despair and panic overtook her, and she almost fell to her knees. The urge to weep, and to scream filled her but baby Violet moved against her, and Rose knew she must be strong. Looking ahead of her once more, Rose suddenly thought that she could see the palest of lights in the distance. As far off as the light was, it was still very much closer to her than Ragged Plains was.
A light of any sort must surely mean a homestead out there in the distance. If only God would be with her for long enough to secure a welcome at that door, then she was saved. If only she and Violet could make it that far. With the rain tearing at her face and the wind howling in her ears, Rose took her next determined step towards the tiny light in the distance. Baby Violet’s muffled cries could hardly be heard above the noise all around them, and yet Rose could feel how upset her child was. Wa
lking yet faster, almost stumbling in the darkness, Rose was truly determined to get her baby to safety.
Half walking, half running, always pushing against the wind Rose struggled forward for the next half an hour. With each step, she felt weaker, colder, and as if she could go no further. Then the light went out. Rose felt her hope go with it, but she could not stop. That light meant that people were up ahead and she had to see if she could find them. Having come this far, she had no choice. Despite her legs wanting to fold, she pushed into the wind.
Rose was soaked through and frozen to her very core by the time she reached what finally showed itself to be a ranch house. Her body was shaking so violently that it was an effort to keep a firm hold on her tiny baby.
Rose stumbled around the ranch house, looking for the front door. She knew it was late, perhaps even heading towards midnight, but she would have to rouse the occupants or die out there on their porch. As Rose headed around the side of the large wooden house, she lost her footing and began to fall. Not wanting baby Violet to come to any harm, Rose twisted awkwardly and fell onto her back. Landing painfully hard, the cry which escaped her was doubly loud, owing to the air being purged from her lungs. Violet began to cry loudly and was wriggling in such a way that Rose felt a sweeping sense of relief. Kicking that hard at least the infant had not been injured.
Rose tried to take her next breath but, being so severely winded, she was having serious difficulty drawing in so much as an ounce. She lay on the sodden ground, shaking and unable to breathe, Rose finally gave in. In that very moment, as she lay in the dirt, Rose finally surrendered; there was no fight left in her. God had truly abandoned her at last, as she was sure He must in the end. If only she could have made it as far as the Mahogany Ridge orphanage, perhaps she would have spared baby Violet the same fate.
In the end, that was all that Rose had wanted. Whatever curse had followed Rose throughout her entire life, she wanted above all things to keep it away from Violet... even if that meant losing her beloved baby forever. Rose loved her child so much that she could not bear the thought that Violet would suffer as she had; that God would abandon Violet as surely as He had abandoned her.
Never having once understood what it was she had done in her short life to have offended God so badly, Rose realized that she was very close to finding out. Her heart, which had thundered as she fell, seemed suddenly to be beating only every so often, making Rose feel weaker by the second. Unable to speak, Rose hoped that baby Violet would know by instinct just how much her mother loved her before she closed her eyes and waited for the end to come.
Find out what happens to Rose, baby Violet, and Grace in this wonderful novel full of hope and love just 0.99 for a short time or FREE on Kindle Unlimited https://amzn.to/2Aqb8lo
More Books by Indiana Wake
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A Race Against Time
Book 1 The Misjudged Bride
Book 2 To Save her Daughter
Book 3 The Courageous Bride
Book 4 The Surprised Bride
Book 5 The Beginning in the End
Santa Fe Brides and the Rescued Animals Books 1 to 3
Santa Fe Brides and the Rescued Animals Books 4 to 6
Santa Fe Brides and the Rescued Animals Books 7-10
31 Sweet Brides – a massive Box Set of sweet romance
The Brides of Russets Reach 5 Novel Box Set.
Inspirational Western Brides Series – Longer Books.
An Impossible Love
The Broken Hearted Bride
The No Good Cowboy and the Unwanted Baby
Let Love In
The Rancher’s Son 2 Book Special
A Second Chance Out West Series:
Book 1 A Little Bit of Magic
Book 2 Love me Love my Baby
Book 3 A Bright Future
Book 4 A Love to Last Forever
Book 5 Heaven in his Kiss
A New Life in the West Series:
Book 1 New Beginnings
Book 2 How About Tomorrow
Book 3 The Love of a Lawman
Book 4 Healing A Wounded Heart
Book 5 For the Family
Book 6 Christmas with the Cowboy
Book 7 Christmas with the Doctor
Book 8 Christmas with the Deputy
Across the Prairie Plain Book 1 & 2 No Choice for a Scarred Bride and Two Grooms for Grace – get this special 2 for 1 set here for just 0.99 or FREE on KU
Book 3 The Runaway Bride - Patience
Book 4 His Future Bride – Mercy
Book 5 Take a Chance – Josie
Book 6 – Healing His Heart – Abraham
The Pioneer Brides of the Oregon Trail Series: Longer Books
Trinity’s Loss
Carrie’s Trust
Josie’s Dream
Polly’s Choice
Charlotte’s Wedding
Box Sets
31 Sweet Brides – a MEGA Box Set of sweet romance
31 Sweet Christmas Romance just 0.99 for a limited time only
5 Brides of Russets Reach
15 Brides of the Wild West – A Brides Cowboys and Babies Box Set
36 cowboys and Brides Mega Box Set with 5 never before published books.
22 Book Mega Box Set – 22 Brides Ride West for Love
22 Book Mega Box Set – 22 Frontier Brides – Love & Hope Ride West http://amzn.to/1Xf8xNR
16 Book Boxed Set Love & Hearts http://bit.ly/1kXbkw4
10 Frontier Brides and Babies 10 Book Mega Box Set
10 Book Box Set 10 Healing Hearts
7 Brides for 7 lonely Cowboys box set http://amzn.to/1SXaQVG
An English Rose in Texas 5 Book Set 2 books never before published http://amzn.to/1Tl64iH
Based on a True Story
2 Book Special Into the Unknown & Call of the Hunter
Novel Length books
Christmas Hope & Redemption
About the Author
Indiana Wake was born in Denver Colorado where she learned to love the outdoors and horses. At the age of eleven, her parents moved to the United Kingdom to follow her father’s career.
It was a strange and foreign new world and it took a while for her to settle down. Her mom raised horses and Indiana soon learned to ride. She would often escape on horseback imagining she was back in the Wild West. As well as horses, Indiana escaped into fiction and dreamed of all the friends she had left behind.
From an early age, she loved stories. They were always sweet and clean and more often than not, included horses, cowboys and most importantly of all a happy ever after. As she got older, she would often be found making up her own stories and would tell them to anyone who would listen.
As she grew up, she continued to write but marriage and a job stole some of her dreams. Then one day she was discussing with a friend at church, how hard it was to get sweet and clean fiction. Though very shy about her writing Indiana agreed to share one of her stories. That friend loved the story and suggested she publish it on kindle. Together they worked really hard and the rest, as they say, is history.
Indiana has had multiple number one bestsellers and now makes her living from her writing. She believes she was truly blessed to be given this opportunity and thanks each and every one of her readers for making her dream come true.
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Thank you so much for reading this book. I both love to write and to share my stories with you and hearing your wonderful comments makes the long hours all worthwhile. Until our next adventure keep well my friend xx
Copyright © 2018 by Indiana Wake
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