Page 4 of Mail-Order Bride Secret
“Shall I take the baby?” Mrs. Ingram reached for Jonathan, but he let out a wail and buried his face against his mother.
“Thank you but he’s fine.” She followed Wally across the room to stand before Pastor Ingram.
He harrumphed. “Seems everyone at the Shannon ranch is marrying someone they haven’t met before but if you are both agreed and are committed to making this work then I’ll do the honors.” He waited, giving them a chance to change their minds.
Wally spoke right up. “This is what I want, and I’m prepared to do everything in my power to make it work. I’ll do my best to make my wife and children happy and give them a good home.”
“Well said.” The preacher turned to Mrs. Danby and waited.
She stood straighter and lifted her chin. “I’ve not traveled halfway across the country to change my mind now. I will do whatever is necessary to create a home and family.”
“Very well. Then we shall proceed.”
Wally tried to concentrate on the preacher’s words as he read a passage from the Bible about love bearing all things. He asked them each to repeat vows which they did, accompanied by Jonathan’s cries which increased in volume.
“You may now kiss your bride.”
Wally had thought about this ever since he’d written the letter asking her to marry him. It would feel strange, awkward even, but it was expected, and he meant to do it, partly to let his new wife know thismarriage was for real and partly because he longed for the affection a kiss meant.
He turned to her, dipped his head, and pressed his lips to hers.
She gasped and jerked back, her eyes wide with…
He blinked. Studied her a second longer before she lowered her gaze. What he’d seen had a familiar ring to it.
Fear. Stark, naked, soul-consuming fear.
Why would she be afraid of him? He had no intention of forcing himself on her. Is that what she expected?
He backed away. Reconsidered. Turned to the preacher hoping he hadn’t seen the way she’d recoiled from him. They signed the register along with Mrs. Ingram and a neighbor she’d called in as a witness. Then with his head full of uncertainty Wally took his wife outside and helped her to the wagon seat.
As he joined her, he tried to find words to help them through this awkward moment.
None came.
2
Madeline’s head pounded with guilt at how she’d reacted. She realized what marriage meant. She was prepared to fulfill the requirements. Yet when his lips touched hers, her heart had developed claws, tearing at her insides. Every thought and emotion erupted in a desire to scream…to run…to hide. It had taken every ounce of self-control to stay rooted to the spot. But she hadn’t been able to stop herself from drawing back at his kiss.
However, she had not been so consumed with her own reaction that she hadn’t seen his.
He’d been surprised. Shocked. Hurt.
His hands on the reins were big, work-worn, and strong. She shivered. Strong to support or strong to overpower? She forced her thoughts back to the letters he’d written. He’d spoken of his past—orphaned at ayoung age, alone for a time, and then taken in by the Shannons where he’d been treated like family. She understood how one’s past impacted the present. Did Wally harbor deeply-buried anger from his experiences? But he’d told how kind the Shannons were. He talked of his faith in God.I believe He guides our steps.He’d even quotedPsalm 32: 8‘I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.’
She slowed her breathing. In. Out. Calm. In control. Surely a man who openly claimed to trust God to that degree would be kind, gentle…forgiving? Would he forgive her lie? She squeezed her hands into tight fists. Her plan was that he would never discover the truth. There was no need for him to know.
A sharp odor of old urine came from Jonathan even though she’d recently checked and knew his diaper was dry. Poor Jonny. He’d learned to use the potty, but travel and change had undone the process. She turned her attention to the almost colorless scenery. The evergreens were almost black. The mountains were tipped in white and their toes a deep blue, the grass carpet, a dull brown. Even the sky was gray, matching her insides. Gray, cold, and forbidding.
A flash of water near the trail indicating some sort of stream offered a promise of hope.
Above the rattle and jangle of the wagon and harnesses came the raucous call of a raven. Sheshivered. Weren’t ravens considered an omen of bad things to come?
Wally must have noticed her shiver. He reached back for a folded pile of fabric. His wary gaze met hers. He looked at the material in his hands and then at her shoulders.
She recognized he held a quilt and meant to wrap it around her but hesitated, perhaps wondering if she’d jerk back as she had when he kissed her. She leaned forward indicating she’d allow him to do as he planned. Jonathan had fallen asleep and fussed at being moved.
Wally tucked the covering around her and left her to draw it across her front. He produced a gray blanket.
