by Terri Grace
Crippled Bride for the Soft Hearted Cowboy
Romance Short Story
Terri Grace
Contents
1. A Personal Word from Terri
2. Crippled Bride for a Soft Hearted Cowboy
Also by Terri Grace
Thank You for Reading
Chapter 1
A Personal Word from Terri
Thank you so much for picking up one of my books. Without you, the reader, not one of these stories would ever come alive. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing! Also, make sure you sign up for new releases and pick up a copy of my free short story collection if you have not already done so. It would be great to keep in touch.
Much love,
Terri Grace (Author)
Thank you for choosing a PureRead Romance. As a way to thank you we would also like to give you a beautiful short story collection by Terri Grace.
Cry Of The Heart Short Story Collection
Chapter 2
Crippled Bride for a Soft Hearted Cowboy
Harriet is an underpaid seamstresses in one of Boston’s French couture stores. She and her best friend, Juliana, long to excel and be appreciated for their work. They decide to become mail-order brides and head west, but Harriet finds that her honesty about her lame leg doesn’t work in her favor. Men immediately lose interest in her. So when Juliana finds a man, she insists on taking Harriet west with her.
* * *
Juliana’s groom, a struggling rancher named Parker, has a good friend, Michael, and Harriet is instantly attracted to him. But Michael is unhappily engaged to the beautiful, rich Beatrice Fox, and Harriet must suffer her growing heartache in silence when Beatrice asks her to make her wedding gown.
“One day Harriet, the Lord will open a way for us and we will have our own shop. No more being tortured by Madame Giselle. The French have such unstable emotions. I’m sorry she screamed at you.”
Harriet Wicks looked at her friend, smiling resignedly. “She is the best in Boston and knows it, so she can afford to treat us the way she does. Madame Giselle knows that we want to be very good at what we do, and not just end up as regular seamstresses.”
“Still, I don’t think it’s fair for her to pick on you and belittle you.”
“Juliana, think nothing of it. All my life I’ve lived with people who mocked me because of my disability, and if it was not for your friendship, I would have probably become bitter. You’ve taught me how to forgive and see it as a mere challenge. Think nothing of Madame Giselle’s words.”
“One of these days….” Juliana stopped talking when the object of their conversation stepped into the sewing room. Madame Giselle was a tall, dark-haired woman with flashing green eyes that never seemed to miss anything. Juliana often stood up to her, but Harriet was rather intimidated by the French woman.
“Chatting is all you American girls know how to do,” Giselle shouted. “I want that wedding gown stitched with fine stitches or you will not go home anytime soon. We are long overdue with it and the owner has threatened not to pay us. Should that happen, guess who is going to go home without a wage this month!”
Harriet sighed. She was working on the bodice of said gown. It was a very intricate pattern and she was the best that Madame Giselle had when it came to embroidering wedding gowns. She loved what she did, but also feared her employer.
Juliana chose to ignore Madame Giselle. The woman had just bought two large sewing machines to make work easier for them and so expected the two girls to churn out clothes at the speed of lighting.
“I am going out to appease the client, and when I return, I want that gown all ready for fitting. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Madame Giselle,” Harriet replied, wishing the woman would just leave. With a wave she turned and left and Harriet sighed in relief. “Thank God she’s gone.”
Juliana studied her friend and felt protective of her. She and Harriet had been friends from when they were about five years old and their families had moved to live in the same area of lower Boston. Coming from what Juliana termed as upper-low-class families, the girls had promised to work very hard and lift themselves from the borderline poverty that threatened them. When they had turned twenty, two years ago, they’d decided to apprentice with Madame Giselle, a French couture who had just opened a new clothing store in upper Boston.
Given the hardships they faced while growing up, their small wages at first seemed like gold to them and they had worked very hard, hoping to rise up. Unfortunately, there would always be only one star of the show, according to Madame Giselle, and it was her. Two years down the road and the two girls’ wages were barely able to get them through. They lived with Juliana’s aunt, who had taken them in after their parents died within months of each other. Though Mildred King was Juliana’s real aunt, sister to her father, the woman behaved as though the two girls were a burden to her, in spite of the fact that they met almost all the needs of the household.
“Like I was saying, Harriet, one of these days we shall finally find a way out of here. It’s just unfortunate that Aunt Millie is the way she is. I’m slowly getting tired of being treated so badly by everyone around us. Oh! Something has just come to me! Remind me when we get home so we can talk about it.”
“All right, but now let’s get back to stitching or else the woman will not pay us this month, and you know how Aunt Millie would react to that.”
Something must be wrong with him. A man engaged to a beautiful woman and expecting to walk down the aisle in a few months’ time should have been more excited about the prospect than he was.
Michael sighed as he led his horse by the reins towards the small stream at the end of the fifty-acre farm he owned. He and his friend Parker Massey had been granted one hundred and sixty acres of land each five years ago, but because of financial constraints they hadn’t been able to develop the whole area, so they had decided to relinquish one hundred and ten acres each, so as to concentrate on what was left and make the land as productive as possible.
Parker was really lucky, and Michael almost envied him his freedom. He’d decided to send for a mail-order bride by placing numerous advertisements in papers back east, and even though he was still searching, at least he had not yet decided to settle on one woman.
Michael couldn’t believe that just a few weeks ago he’d been so excited at the thought of marrying the beautiful Beatrice Fox, a woman he’d felt was clearly out of his league. She came from a prosperous family, while he was just a struggling farmer, and it had been his joy when she had asked him to dance during the Mayor’s Christmas party. From then on, he’d been the envy of many a man, as Beatrice continued to seek his company. He’d finally gathered the courage to propose to her, and to his delight, she had said yes.
“So what has changed?” he wondered. Beatrice was still the same sweet and caring girl. Why then did he feel stifled by the whole idea of marrying her?
“You asked me to remind you to talk about something,” Harriet whispered as they made ready for bed.
“Yes, just let’s give Aunt Millie a few minutes to settle down and sleep.” The girls shared a room and a bed, which they were thankful for. Even though their Aunt Millie was harsh and unreasonable most of the time, at least she had offered them a roof over their heads when they had nowhere else to go. Being single young ladies in as large a town as Boston could be daunting and unsafe.
When they heard loud snores coming from the room next door, Juliana sat up in bed. They were careful not to light the gas light, just in case Aunt Millie came in. “Harriet, I’m going to find you
a husband and then you can be very happy.”
“What? Where is this coming from?”
Juliana put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “I see the pain in your eyes each time a man only notices your lame leg, Harriet. You have such a clean and pure heart that I am humbled. You’ve seen the number of suitors I’ve had, yet never have I sensed jealousy in you. Do you know the reason I won’t respond to any of them?”
“No.”
“Because whenever they ask me to go to the park with them and they see you, I see the look of irritation and annoyance on their faces – all of them. If a man won’t accept that you are a very special part of my life, then I have no business being with him.”
“Julie, you are a crazy girl, but thank you.”
“I just thought about the many men out in the west who are looking for wives. I’ve seen a few advertisements and, also, I know that there are one or two agencies that send women out to the west as mail-order brides. Do you think it’s a good idea?”
Harriet thought for a short while. “Do you think I might find someone good out there, Juliana?”
“Most certainly. The men who go west are not as prejudiced and judgmental as these ones we have in Boston. I’m almost certain that we will find you a good Christian man – he has to be of the same faith or else it will be trouble all through for you.”
“Well, I’ll agree on the condition that you also write to them, so we can always be together.
“Of course! What an easy task for us! We shall soon find good husbands and leave this terrible life behind.”
It was, however, easier said than done, at least for Harriet. The two girls at first settled on Twin Falls, Idaho and decided that it was an area they would love to live in. So they began corresponding with men out there, and Harriet insisted on informing every man she communicated with about her disability.
“There’s no need to lie to someone. What if he gets interested and then asks me to go out there? Can you imagine the shock and embarrassment of having to explain my lame leg, when I hadn’t done so in the first place?” She smiled at Juliana as they prepared a batch of letters to post. “It’s better that someone takes me for who I am, than for who I’m not.”
Unfortunately, of the almost twenty men Harriet wrote to, not one ever wrote back. After three months of waiting, she finally gave up and admitted that maybe it was not her lot to get married.
Juliana would not hear of that. “You’re a beautiful and kind person, Harriet. Perhaps Twin Falls, Idaho is not the place we should be looking.”
“You have found some three good prospects out there, Julie. I think it’s a matter of my disability that is putting the men off. They probably feel that a lame wife will be more of an encumbrance than a help. It’s all right. If you want to carry on with your friends in Idaho, don’t mind me.” She felt really disheartened and discouraged, but didn’t want her friend to sense her dismal mood. “I really would be happy for you if you got a good man to marry, Julie. Just think, when you have children, I could come over and visit you.”
“Rest assured that if I get a man who I believe is good for me, there’s no way I’ll be leaving you behind to be taunted and harassed by Madame Giselle. You will come with me.”
Two months later, Juliana finally decided that Parker Massey was the right man for her., He was a cowboy who owned his own fifty-acre farm in Kearney, Nebraska, and was beginning to keep some animals. He had good prospects of having a large ranch one day
“There’s something about Parker that is so real,” said Juliana. “He doesn’t claim to be a rich man or anything, just a hardworking one. That’s the kind of person I know I can build a future with. Someone unpretentious.”
“Julie, I’m really so happy for you. When does Parker want you to travel to Kearney? We could make your wedding gown and then, when you get there, you won’t need to look for one.”
“Well, we’re making my wedding gown all right, but Harriet, I was serious when I said that when the right man came along, I would take you with me.”
“I don’t want to be any trouble to you and your new husband. Parker might baulk at the sight of his future bride dragging someone else along.”
“Well, then, it will be his loss, because I’m not leaving you at the mercy of Madame Giselle. She’ll soon drain you completely. Please think about it, Harriet. Together, we can begin making clothes out there for ranchers and farmers’ wives, not to mention other women in Kearney. This could be the opening we’ve been praying for. Out there, I’m sure women are not as picky and prejudiced as here in Boston. Besides, we’re going to make a lovely gown for me, which will be our show piece. But I am not leaving you behind.”
Harriet couldn’t believe that she was finally away from Aunt Millie and Madame Giselle, the two women who had made her life so difficult. Both women had expressed rage when the girls announced that they would be moving to Nebraska in a month’s time.
“You are fools, both of you,” Madame Giselle had screamed. “You think there are men growing on trees out in the west, just waiting for you to appear and they drop down for you to pick?”
Harriet was trembling at the rage on the older woman’s face. Juliana, however, was not in the least bit intimidated.
“For your information, Madame Giselle, I have a man to marry me. He sent me the fare so Harriet and I can travel to Kearney. So, yes, there are men out in the west just waiting to be picked up.”
“If things don’t work out for you, don’t ever imagine I would take you back.”
“Rest assured Madame, we will never be back.”
Aunt Millie had called them both ingrates who cared for nothing except their own ambitions and desires. It was a difficult month for the two girls as they finalized their plans, but eventually the day of departure arrived. Aunt Millie locked herself in her bedroom and would not come out to bid them farewell.
“I think my aunt believed that we would live with her forever, so she wouldn’t have to pay a single dollar towards rent.” They were seated in the third-class section of the train because they couldn’t afford a higher class. Had Juliana been travelling alone, the money Parker had sent her would have been enough for a second-class ticket.
Madam Giselle had found many excuses not to pay them their full wages, but the girls were too excited about what lay ahead of them to get angry at her.
“I feel sorry for both Aunt Millie and Madame Giselle,” said Harriet. “They are behaving as though they are in mourning, and it makes me feel guilty.”
Juliana laughed loudly and their fellow passengers turned to look at them. “You are such a simple soul, dear girl. Those two women caused you a lot of pain and yet here you are, sympathizing with them for having lost the people they treated so ill.”
“It is just that Aunt Millie offered me a home when I had nowhere to go, and Madame Giselle gave me work when no-one else would.”
“You have repaid their kindness over and over again, Harriet. All the money you gave Aunt Millie whenever she demanded, and all the work you did for Madame Giselle, is enough payment. Stop feeling guilty and sad for people who were only out to exploit and frustrate you. We are going into a new world. Forget the past and reach for the future.”
“Am I really sure this is what the Lord wants for me? That this is how I am going to fulfill my purpose on earth? What if I’m making a mistake by coming with you, and yet it’s not my portion?”
Juliana stared at her friend for a long while before replying. “Nothing is written in stone. When we get there, take time to look around, and if you feel that you don’t belong, Parker and I will help you find your place. Just keep an open mind and heart, okay?”
“Yes, Juliana.”
Michael took another look at the pocket watch he carried everywhere. He had bought it off an old miner some months back. Abel had been frustrated at having lost everything chasing a dream, and in the end he had nothing left. Disappointed and full of despair, he’d decided to return to Raleigh, from where he had
originally come.
It was sad to see so many once-hopeful men reduced to desperation as the gold ran out or the fields were taken over by large corporations who had the equipment to work the tough areas. Many of Michael’s peers had returned east, refusing to accept land allocation because they said they were not farmers and didn’t relish the idea of eking out a living by turning the earth. The only land they wanted to turn was one full of gold or silver.
The train was late but Michael wasn’t worried. It sometimes happened, and as long as the station master hadn’t reported a derailing anywhere, things would be fine. It was almost another half hour before he heard the long whistle of the train, announcing its arrival. He was here to meet Parker’s fiancée, a woman from Boston with whom he had been corresponding for four months. And she was bringing a friend along, according to the last telegram she’d sent Parker.
Michael waited until the train left before carefully observing the many young ladies who had disembarked. Apparently, the mail-order business was quite attractive to many young men in Kearney, if the happy and excited faces of the women from the east were anything to go by. He spotted two ladies who were most likely the ones he had come to meet. Taking his hat in his hand, he strode over to them.
“Miss Juliana Fenton?” he asked, not sure which woman was Parker’s fiancée. “My name is Michael Parson. Parker Massey sent me to get you.”
“Oh.” Juliana frowned slightly. “I’m Juliana, and this is my friend Harriet Wicks. Where is Parker?”
“One of his cows is calving and there have been complications that only he can deal with. He sends his apologies.”