Page 11 of Mail-Order Bride Secret
“This will make you feel better.”
Her poor wee son stiffened at the stranger’s voice and his nearness, but Wally proceeded slowly, talking as he dripped warm oil into Jonny’s ear.
“What a brave little man you are. Earaches really hurt, don’t they. But after I’m done here, I have something else that will help.” He stepped back and lifted his attention to Madeline, his eyes soft with sympathy. Fears lingered in her heart that had nothing to do with him and everything to do with her past, but at that moment, she knew Jonathan would be safe with this man.
For the space of a slow heartbeat…two…and then a third, neither adult moved as if something in the air had frozen them in place. Then with an audible sigh, Wally straightened.
Madeline squeezed her eyes tight in a futile attempt to clear her thoughts. Of course, she was confused, she reasoned with herself. After all, the man before her was now her husband. It was overwhelming.
“I promised young Jonathan something else for his ear.” He opened the oven and took out a towel. “It’s too warm.” He shook it. Touched it to his face then shook it again. “This is an old remedy Mrs. Shannon used. I suppose you have too.” He again tested the temperature of the towel then folded it into a pad and laid it over Jonathan’s ear. “Never known it to fail.”
“He’s never been sick and I don’t recall having earaches when I was young.”
“Hold it in place for him.” He eased back, leaving the air between them cold. “I used to have earaches. Sure did hate them.”
“At least Mrs. Shannon knew what to do.”
“I’d outgrown them by the time I joined their family.”
Something in his tone made Madeline study his expression but she couldn’t say what she saw. Regret. Sorrow. Relief. Or only the sort of nostalgia one got remembering their childhood. “Who tended your illnesses before that?”
His grin was crooked, and she figured it was lacking in amusement. “In the orphanage, if we complained, we were given a dose of Epson salts. Didn’t take me long to realize the cure was worse than any illness.”
Jonathan appeared comforted by Wally’s treatment and hung limp in her arms. She drew her son closer. Pain stung the back of her throat and closed it off so she couldn’t swallow as she considered that Jonathanmight have been in an orphanage such as that. Devoid of her love.
“You’re crying. Don’t cry. He’s going to be all right.”
She swiped at tears she didn’t realize she shed. “You needed a mother’s love when you were sick, but you didn’t get it. I’m sorry.” She sniffled back more threatening tears.
His eyes were gray as a cloudy day. He rubbed his lips together. “When I got to the place where I asked God to help rather than curse Him for the circumstances I was in, things were different.”
She stared at his mid-chest. She’d been careful not to let any hint of bitterness into her letters, but so often she’d asked where God was when she needed Him most. She’d asked for His help. He hadn’t given it.
Wally’s expression changed as if sunlight had broken into the night, dispelling every darkness. His eyes flashed with an emotion she couldn’t name and yet envied. His smile lit his face. “I stopped fighting God when He brought me to the Shannons. I couldn’t ask for a better family. Because of their love for me and their love for God, the old has gone and He has given me a new heart. He has replaced my bitterness and anger with His joy and love.”
Madeline’s eyes widened, seemed incapable of blinking. A new heart. Bitterness gone. “You make it sound easy to forgive and forget.”
His smile blessed her. “It’s not easy but first, oneneeds to want it. And then believe God’s love is bigger than one’s past.”
She tilted her head in a slight nod, agreeing without believing his words.
The air between them shifted, grew warmer as he leaned closer. “Madeline, you said you were a believer, didn’t you?”
She managed a real nod. “I am. But sometimes I find it hard to trust. You know?”
“I do know. But God is faithful.” He touched her shoulder. “My prayer is you will find His presence here and His healing.”
The touch was so brief she didn’t have time to react but there lingered a sensation of blessing. Like the soothing warmth of the towel on Jonathan’s ear.
“Thank you,” she murmured, forcing her gaze to her son. He stirred and whimpered. “I need to settle him.”
Wally held out his hand and helped her to her feet, withdrawing before she could object. “Get some sleep. Both of you.” She waited until she closed the bedroom door behind her before she let out her breath.
He’d said he would pray for her. He’d touched her and she’d felt blessed rather than threatened.
Was it possible she could put her past behind her and start anew? The weight of her lie hung heavy, weighing down her heart, making it difficult to believe God would change things.
She wasn’t a widow. She’d never been married. If she’d done what she’d been told to do…what was expected of her…Jonny would have been taken from her. Surely, having been in an orphanage, Wally would understand why she couldn’t do that to the little guy.
