The Mail Order Bride of Break Heart Bend (Break Heart Brides Book 2)
Page 21
Arm in arm, they walked home to their new house. At the door, Rafe scooped Charity into his arms and carried her across the threshold while she laughed at his silliness.
He set her down in front of the fireplace as the mantel clock Belle and Brady had sent them from New York chimed nine o’clock. Rafe checked his pocket watch against the new timepiece.
“Perfect.” He slipped the watch back into his waistcoat pocket, then wrapped Charity in his arms.
“It is.” She laid her head on his chest and listened to the beat of his heart. She thought it quickened a little. “Everything is perfect.”
He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes, intense and serious.
“I love you.” He kissed her, and her heart soared with so much happiness she felt giddy.
“Rafe, I’m so happy, I don’t know if I can bear it.”
“You can.” He smiled as he kissed the corner of her mouth, her cheeks, her eyelids, murmuring the whole time. “You belong to me now, Charity, as I belong to you. We’re were bound together by God, which makes the love we already shared stronger than any earthly challenge. We can bear anything together, even happiness.”
She chuckled and led him upstairs.
She’d seen all the house before, of course. She’d chosen all the furniture and decorations. The Graysons had been well pleased with the orders for furniture and the kitchen stove, but they’d purchased everything they could from Mae.
Rafe had bought the silver tea service as a surprise.
I remember my mother always wishing she had a silver tea service, he’d told her. She thought it signified the height of culture.
You made Mae happy with this purchase, she’d told him. I think she feels the same as your mother about tea services.
But you like it?
It’s perfect.
Charity knew everything about the house—especially what awaited her in the master bedroom. It was large and lovely, situated in the back of the house at the corner with windows on two walls. There was an alcove off one side with plenty of space for a crib. On the other side, a sitting room held two desks. On one sat Charity’s writing tools and journal—and Ma’s mourning brooch.
Naomi had sent it with a note: You are the keeper of our family’s memories. This brooch belongs with you.
“Would you like the windows open or closed?”
This was what Charity had been dreading. Rafe was especially proud of the huge skylight which provided a glorious view of the stars at night. He tried to sound neutral, but she could tell he hoped she’d say open.
She did, and to her surprise, she felt perfectly calm about it.
Rafe helped her take off her dress, and she was careful to hang it in the wardrobe.
“What’s funny?” he asked.
“I was thinking I’ll have to take better care of my clothes now, with Naomi fifty miles away.”
She was more excited than nervous—okay, a bit nervous—when he gently removed the crown of roses from her hair. She detached a couple the rosebuds and some baby’s breath and pressed them between two leaves in her journal. Another memory, made today. God was so good to her! She was so very happy!
When Rafe had made her truly his and she had claimed him for her own, she fell into the most restful, glorious sleep she’d had in years. Then her dream came.
She was on the shore at Break Heart Bend. It must be late spring, because the river flowed by at top speed and the sound of the rushing rapids was strong. Her raft came by, intact. Mark was at the rudder, and it looked like Mathew and Pa were having a game of checkers—with Ma and the vaquero angel looking on.
They all waved to Charity from the raft. Ma looked so… happy.
Charity noticed Mark, smiling at her. Everybody dies, he had told her, and now she understood: what mattered was how she lived.
Rafe put his arm around her. His love made her spirit sing, and she pulled him close and leaned into his strength. The raft moved on and disappeared around the bend toward its mysterious and wonderful destination.
With her husband at her side, Charity stood firm on the enduring shore.
~ The End ~
The Mail Order Bride of Break Heart Bend
Note from Rachel:
I hope you liked The Mail Order Bride of Break Heart Bend. Charity was sure a busybody, but she just wants everybody to be happy!
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