by Danni Roan
His humble spirit and work ethic made him someone she could respect, but now she needed to convince him it didn’t matter where he came from or what he had if he was willing to give her his heart. It was all she wanted, love, faith, honesty, qualities the man had to offer in bushels and pecks.
Following Braden’s lead, Marni walked along the driveway in plain view of the house, she didn’t want the farm boy feeling trapped by silly rumors or unwanted gossip. She knew all too well how infuriating and despicable that behavior was. They would stay in the open where Miss Ella and the others could see them.
“Mr. Prater,” Marni began, walking alongside Braden with an easy step. “I know that your mother’s words and those of Miss Ella must have been a terrible shock,” she said, offering him a gentle smile.
“I should be apologizing to you,” Braden said. “I had no idea that Mother was going to speak to Miss Ella today, and for Miss Ella Milton to indicate that you…” his words ran out as he shook his head.
Marni smiled. “Is it so hard to believe a woman like me could care for you?” she asked her voice a gentle whisper on the wind.
“What?” Braden stopped so suddenly that Marni’s momentum swung her toward him.
“Do you really believe I’m such a shallow person that what a man has or what a man does for a living would determine my feelings?” Marni queried. “If so perhaps we have nothing to talk about because honestly Braden Prater, I am not that kind of woman.”
Braden blinked at the young woman who had turned toward him, her lovely face mere inches from his own. “I’m sorry,” he said, confused and frustrated that his words had been taken the wrong way. “Of course I’m not saying that about you. It’s just that a woman like you should have the nicer things of life: a good house, fine furniture, lovely clothing.” He gazed down at the well-made traveling coat Marni wore then looked up to study her raised brow.
“Mr. Prater,” Marni began. “Braden,” she continued, her voice growing soft. “When I was a girl, I lived in a shanty along the creek where my father tried to grub out a living growing what crops could survive in the rocky soil of that poor patch of land. I had next to nothing, but my parents loved each other and despite the little we owned we had a great deal of love and joy in our home. Perhaps the hard work did age my parents before their time, but they were partners in this life and seldom complained. Mama took in wash and my two sisters and I helped with it. It wasn’t until I married my late husband that I had more than two dresses to my name.”
Braden shook his head, opening his mouth to argue. Perhaps the lovely Marni had come from humble beginnings, but she deserved more than he could offer.
“I was only sixteen when I married Jordan, he was everything to me. I didn’t care about moving to a big house or having nice things. His mother, God rest her soul, taught me the more genteel ways of living, but at heart, I was still just that girl who loved the water, even when I was up to my elbows in suds by an old rock.” Marni smiled her eyes lighting with a far away shine. “I loved Jordan,” she continued, “and when he died, that big house and the nice clothes meant less than nothing to me. It was cold, empty, and loveless. I moved in with my mother-in-law and together we ran the mill. She was the last of my family as Mama and Papa had passed on, and my sisters had married and moved west. Don’t you understand,” she said, imploring him with her eyes. “If my heart is full of love then I don’t need nice things.”
Braden stared down into the limpid brown eyes that seemed to offer promises untold and swallowed. He knew he cared for Marni, even loved her, but how could he ask her to love him when he didn’t know from year to year how he would provide. His mother and father had worked with him, but now with them both slowing down due to age, how would he keep the farm going and provide for a wife.
“I can’t do it,” he rasped. “I can’t ask it of you.”
“Then I’ll ask you,” Marni said. “I can see by the tortured look in your eyes that you care Braden. All I can ask is that you don’t turn me away because you don’t believe that you are enough.”
Braden’s heart seemed to quiver in his chest as he looked down at Marni longing to believe every word she had spoken.
“The work,” he croaked.
“I’ve worked hard my entire life,” Marni countered. “Running a mill all alone is no easy task.”
“But farming is dirty work,” he argued again.
“So is laundry,” she teased her smile lighting her entire face.
Braden could feel his arguments disintegrating like soap bubbles on a stream as Marni gazed up at him with hope in her eyes.
“Braden Prater,” she said. “Don’t you see that I love you already, and that I can only love you better the longer I know you? Don’t turn me away because of pride.
A slow smile eased the tension from Braden’s face as he placed his hands on Marni’s upper arms and stared into her dark eyes. “Are you sure?” he whispered leaning close and studying her face desperately.
“I’m sure,” Marni said, as Braden’s lips found hers.
Chapter 24
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1
Marni suppressed a giggle as together she and Braden walked back toward the lovely brick home of Ella Milton. She had seen three faces pressed against the parlor window only moments ago and could imagine the other women scurrying back to their chairs to pretend they hadn’t been watching.
“Are you sure?’ Braden asked once more still looking shell shocked by her earlier words and the kiss that had shaken him to his toes.
“I’m sure,” Marni said, “and I know together we can turn your dreams into reality. There is more to me than you know,” she added squeezing his hand.
Braden smiled. He had tried twice to dissuade Marni from believing she loved him, but every time he offered an argument, he ended up kissing her. He had turned his attention to telling her about his hopes and dreams for the farm, and how he knew that if he could continue to earn a little extra each year that in time they would be able to have a house all their own.
“It might take a good deal of time,” Braden reminded. “I’ve been improving on Mama and Papa’s cabin over the past few years and it’s a pretty enough place, but very simple.”
“Braden, I don’t want to marry your house. I want to marry you,” Marni said, letting him lead her up the stairs to the door. “You are what makes my heart happy, and it has been a very long time since I felt like that.”
Braden smiled down at her stealing one last quick kiss. “When do you want to get married then?” he asked. “We would have to live with my parents if we wed soon, but I have the entire upstairs of the house, and if the harvest continues to do well, we might be able to start our own place in the spring.”
Marni’s dark eyes sparkled with delight as Braden’s hopes and dreams came bubbling out. Now that he had accepted that she truly could care for him and that a fine house or fancy things didn’t mean much to her, he was a font of information and ideas.
“I don’t think I’d like to wait until spring,” Marni said, her eyes taking on a faraway look for a moment. “I’ve been alone too long,” she continued meeting his gaze. “I don’t want to be alone anymore Braden.”
Braden wrapped his arms around the remarkable young woman that had stolen his heart and pulled her close. “I’ll never leave you alone again,” he promised. “I’ll keep you right here,” he added pressing her head to his heart.
“Miss Ella, isn’t a mail-order bride supposed to turn up and marry a fella she don’t even know yet?” Miss Minnie asked. “I don’t think this is like any other match you ever did make.”
Ella Milton laughed turning and winking at Adalissa Prater. “Sometimes things don’t go exactly to plan,” she said with a grin, “but that doesn’t mean they don’t work out the way they’re supposed to.”
“Amen to dat,” Adalissa said. “It is time my Braden starts his own family and makes a home for himself. This young
woman is perfect for him, even if he didn’t see it at first.”
“I think he’s starting to get the picture pretty good now if the way he’s kissin’ her right outside the front door is any indication,” Minnie said with a laugh as she stomped noisily to the door and pulled it open on the young couple who jumped apart instantly.
“So this is settled?” Mrs. Prater asked looking at her son with a bright smile as he and Marni entered the room hand in hand. “I will have a new daughter-in-law soon, yes?”
“Yes,” Marni said with a grin, turning back to look at Braden who still held her hands in his. “I think an autumn wedding will be beautiful,” she continued. “Something simple near the river,” she finished her eyes sparkling up at Braden.
“We’ll have it at the church,” Ella said. “It’s near the river, and we’ll plan a picnic wedding supper if it isn’t too cold.”
“Whatever you want,” Braden hummed walking into the parlor and kissing Marni’s hand and smiling when his mother rose to embrace the young woman. “You will come for supper this week,” Mrs. Prater said. “Braden will fetch you if this is good for you?” she added her soft accent and unusual cadence a warm invitation.
“I would be delighted,” Marni said, kissing the woman’s pale cheek before Mrs. Prater made her way to the door. “Until then,” she added, her eyes glowing as she walked Braden and his mother outside.
Braden placed a soft kiss on Marni’s cheek then turned escorting his mother back to the wagon. Today everything had changed, and he realized why his mother and father were always happy even with so little. They had love and their hearts were full. He couldn’t wait until he and Marni could be married and only hoped that once she saw the cabin where he lived she wouldn’t change her mind. Pushing the thought aside, he determined to have a little faith in the beauty who had declared her love to him in no uncertain terms.
“Mama, I can’t believe you spoke to Miss Ella like that,” Braden said, helping his mother into the old wagon. “You could have knocked me over with a feather.”
“Yes, yes,” the old woman said, patting her son’s hand as he climbed into the wagon beside her, “but you would not have seen what was right in front of you if I hadn’t,” she said. “You were being almost as slow as poor Sam. I thought Lorna Lie would never snag that young man.”
Braden laughed shaking his hands as he lifted the reins sending Milly-Bell back toward home. It had been an eventful day, and he still had corn to bring in, but his heart sang keeping rhythm with the horses two-two beat as it trotted toward home. Work would seem a lighter burden knowing that he would be coming home to a woman like Marni every night.
It wasn’t what he had expected, but the measure of love he felt in his heart seemed to be pressed down and overflowing from some hidden well.
“What will Papa say?” Braden asked as they hurried homeward. “Won’t he be shocked?”
“Papa?” Adalissa said, “No, no, he understands. We talked much about this after the harvest festival. It was so plain to see that she was the one for you, that he has done nothing but worry ever since.”
Braden shook his head again. How had he been so foolish to believe that a woman like Marni Simms would care for houses, gowns, and fine things over the cares of the heart? It felt like he was flying as he turned down the dusty lane toward the neat cabin trimmed in red. He smiled seeing the place with new eyes as his mother patted his arm.
So much of what life had to offer didn’t have anything to do with what one had, but with what was in one’s heart. Love could overcome so many things if you were willing to give it a chance.
Perhaps he had made a terrible mistake before, but now he could see that in time he could realize all of his dreams if only he would believe.
“God is good, yes?” Mama said, as they pulled up in front of their home.
“He is very good,” Braden said, as he helped her down. “We do not always know what is best for us, but thankfully He knows.”
“And sometimes He even uses an old mama to help out,” Mrs. Prater laughed pushing open the front door and disappearing inside.
Chapter 25
What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. Psalm 56:3
“Papa,” Braden said, as he worked along with his father in the cornrow, “I don’t understand it. How can she want me?”
Sven Prater reached out thumping his son on the shoulder. “Love does not see things,” he said, waving his hand about. “It sees the heart, the man that is inside your clothes. You have a good heart son, don’t doubt hers.”
Braden smiled feeling a sense of peace drift over his soul. Hadn’t he always trusted God with the farm and his family? Now it was time to trust Him with his heart, and the woman he loved. “I guess if I didn’t want to get into this fix I should never have picked Marni up at the train station that day,” he joked feeling lighter than he had in weeks.
“She is a fine young woman,” Sven said, slicking his hair back over his head with both hands. “We will enjoy having her to the house for dinner tonight. Mama has been cooking all of her best dishes,” he added his blue eyes twinkling with pride. “Mama, she is a very good cook you know.”
“I know,” Braden laughed. “I’ve been eating her food all my life,” he teased turning back to the work at hand. There was still so much to do, and he wanted to have his cash crops sold and tucked away before the wedding in three weeks.
“Son, everything will be all right,” Sven said, bending back to his work. “God has brought this woman for you, and He will see that all is well. Life isn’t always kind,” the old man continued, cutting another stalk of corn, “there will be hard times, sad times, and great joy. Keep your faith.”
Braden smiled as he swung his scythe once more smoothly severing the stalks just above the ground. There was so much to be done, yet he wanted nothing more than to jump into the wagon and drive to Miss Ella’s so he could spend time with Marni. The more he came to know her, the more his heart overflowed, and the smile she had put on his face never seemed to fade. Bending his back to his work Braden cut through several plants with each sweeping arch. The field would be cleared before supper tonight when he would spend more time with the woman he loved.
Marni fidgeted nervously with a lace-trimmed kerchief as she sat on the bench seat of the wagon next to Braden.
Behind her wisps of golden corn silk floated from the wagon bed and the rattle of fallen corn kernels jingled in a familiar tune. As a miller, Marni had heard that particular sound often, indulging in the soft rattle and swoosh as bushel baskets were dumped into the main shoot before being funneled to the millstones.
“Papa and I cleared that field today,” Braden said. Marni’s nervous silence had jangled his nerves and he hurried to fill the silence with facts about his farm. “We’ll tackle the second one tomorrow then take the excess to market this weekend.”
“It looks very good,” Marni replied trying to show an interest she truly felt. She couldn’t understand it, but for some reason she was nervous. Not about having dinner with Braden and his family, she had spent a lovely few hours with his mother already and had met his father not only at the Fall Festival but also at church the past week. Still, she could feel that subtle itch between her shoulder blades, that feeling you get when a storm is just over the mountain and still out of sight, but you know it’s coming all the same.
“Braden it’s beautiful!” Marni gasped as the tall saltbox cabin came into sight. Having been raised in Tennessee, Marni was used to seeing log cabins and even humbler homes but this one was special, with a heavily sloping roof that slid down from a two-story facade to a lower section at the back of the home. “You painted all of the trim red,” she said, smiling when he nodded. The combination of the age-darkened square cut logs, white chinking, and deep red trim made the property stand out. The loving care that had been put into the place sparkled in the late afternoon sunshine, and the backdrop of golden leafed trees only added to the charm.
Braden gaz
ed over at Marni as he grinned like a fool at her delight. It was so evident that she was taken by the simple cabin that his heart wanted to shout in triumph. Perhaps she truly could be happy here.
Pulling Milly-Bell to a stop, Braden stepped down from the wagon then reached up for Marni, clasping her hands in his as he helped her down.
“Velcome! Velcome!” Mrs. Prater said, pulling the solid red door open. “Come in, come in,” she gushed pulling Marni into the house with her. “You come and sit while I finish dinner,” she added ushering Marni toward a chair in the small but neat living area at the front of the home.
“You have a lovely home,” Marni said, taking in the ornate square heating stove in the middle of the front wall. “It looks very comfortable,” she added smiling at Mr. Prater who sat in one of two matching rocking chairs on either side of the stove.
Each item in the home was well cared for and lovingly made, but what struck Marni was the bright color and deep hues that accented the whitewashed plank walls. The house was buttoned up snug against cold weather, and the bright light pouring through a heavy glass window pooled on the hardwood floor like a golden carpet.
“Can’t I help you?” Marni asked peeling off her gloves. “I enjoy cooking.”
“No, no,” Mrs. Prater said with a smile, “but you can keep me company in the kitchen.
Braden watched Marni as she gazed around her. It was obvious that she liked what she saw, and for the first time, he questioned why he had wasted so much time comparing his home to other places in Pelican Rapids. His house, though humble was beautiful and lovingly built. Over the years his father and mother had put what extra money they could into provisioning the place with the best they could afford.