Crippled Mail Order Bride For A Faithful Frontier Cowboy: Clean Christian Short Reads Western Romance (Destined For Love Mail Order Brides Book Book 2) (4 page)

THEY ARRIVED IN Jamestown before they even realized it.
 
During the trip, they discovered that they had more in common than they could have imagined.
 
Both of them had a love for classic literature and music.
 
Mary-Beth had been taught to play the piano, which was something that Jacob had always wanted to learn how to do.

The more they talked, the more they understood how much they liked each other.
 
Mary-Beth kept telling herself that it was in her imagination that he liked her back.
 
There was very little possibility that a rancher would want to have someone who had trouble walking.
 
Why would she be so foolish as to think he would want her as more than a friend?

Tilly and Tam met the train at the tumbledown station.
 
It was certainly nothing like the one in the city. As soon as Mary-Beth was on the platform, Tilly had her arms around her in a huge hug.
 
She was laughing and crying at the same time.
 
It was as if she had been gone for forever and they had just reunited.
 
In all reality, it hadn’t been that long since they had parted ways, but they had been so close that it felt as though it had been much longer.

“Did you have a good trip?
 
I’ve been so excited to see you.
 
I feared that you would write and tell me that you wouldn’t come, but when the letter never came, I knew that you and Jacob were on your way back here!” Tilly gushed as she hugged her best friend.
 
“Oh, excuse my bad manners!
 
Mary-Beth, this is Tam Wilder.
 
We are to be wed in a few short weeks.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Tam.
 
Tilly was so excited to come out here to marry you.
 
I’m glad she has found someone who will take care of her.”
 
Mary-Beth smiled shyly at her friend’s fiancé.

“She talks about you all the time.
 
I’m grateful to finally meet her best friend.
 
Let’s get you back to my parents’ house and settled.
 
I’m sure you two ladies will have some wedding plans to make, and some talking to do.
 
Come along, the carriage is this direction.”
 
Tam and Jacob lifted Mary-Beth’s trunk with ease and made their way towards the carriage.

Tilly laced her arm through Mary-Beth’s, and they strolled along slowly behind the two men.
 
Mary-Beth’s legs felt stiff, so she wanted to walk a little bit before sitting again.
 
Fortunately, the closest spot for the carriage was a ways off, so she had that chance to stretch her legs, and to catch up with her friend Tilly.
 
By the time they arrived at the carriage, the boys were standing there talking and laughing.
 
It felt right that they were all together.

Mary-Beth felt suddenly self-conscious around Jacob.
 
He was so sweet and thoughtful.
 
If only she were whole and she could be a good wife to him, she would hope for him as her husband.

Tam helped the ladies into the carriage, and he and Jacob climbed behind the horses.
 
The afternoon was warm and nice, and the ride to Tam’s family home wasn’t too far away.
 
They talked a little bit about the train ride and how nice it was to be finally here.
 

As they pulled into the drive of the house she was to stay at, Mary-Beth felt a tinge of sadness.
 
Once they were unloaded, Jacob would go away, and she had no idea when she would see him again.
 
She wished she could sit and talk to him forever.
 
Jacob seemed hesitant to leave her as well, but Mary-Beth told herself that this was only her silly imagination.

After the men left, Tilly excitedly led Mary-Beth to the room in which she was staying.
 
She had been waiting in excitement for weeks to show Mary-Beth what she had.
 
The room she stayed in was a lovely, light and peaceful room.
 
A soft quilt adorned the bed, and the curtains flowed lightly in the spring breeze.

“Oh, Mary-Beth, I must show you this.
 
Remember before I left that my parents said that I needed a respectable wedding dress for this venture? Well, they had one made, and I brought it along with me.
 
I expected to wear if as soon as I arrived, but when Tam insisted we court first, I put it aside until we finally did wed.
 
When he finally told me that he felt we could have the wedding, he presented me with another wedding dress.
 
He said that it was the one that his mother had worn, and he would be honored if I would wear it.
 
So, I have two dresses!”
 
Tilly pulled the two dresses out of the armoire and let Mary-Beth look at them.

The dress that Tilly had brought from Boston was simply lovely.
 
It was off-white taffeta and had intricate beading along the bodice.
 
It flowed in layers, and Mary-Beth could imagine herself wearing it.
 
She blushed as the thought of marrying Jacob crossed her mind.
 
How foolish could she be?
 
He had simply helped her to make her way out for the wedding and would accompany her back to the city once it was finished.
 
Imagining more was mere fancy.

Tam’s mother’s wedding dress was beautiful as well.
 
The white fabric had yellowed slightly over the years, but it appeared to be more of a cream color.
 
It had long sleeves and flowing skirts of white muslin.
 
The simplicity and the meaning behind it made it thoroughly beautiful.

“Of course, I will wear the one that Tam has provided.
 
It’s a family heirloom.
 
I feel kind of guilty wasting this other one dress, but I’m sure that I will be able to give it to someone who will be able to use it later on. What do you think?”
 
Tilly asked.
 
She held both of the dresses up in front of her and made a show of what it would be like to wear them.

“They are both lovely.
 
I agree though.
 
You should wear the one that Tam gave you.
 
It would hurt his feelings if you wouldn’t.
 
Two dresses?
 
You are one fortunate bride!”
 
Mary-Beth smiled at her friend.

Tilly giggled and put the dresses away.
 
She had waited two weeks to show them to Mary-Beth, and she was glad that she had the chance to.
 
“So, about this wedding.
 
Tam told me that I could do whatever I wanted.
 
His parents have provided an area out back of the house for it.
 
I will take you out there once you have had a chance to rest.
 
I know that you are probably exhausted from the trip.
 
Let’s go down and get some refreshments and talk.”

The girls made their way to the kitchen and prepared a tray with some tea and pastries.
 
Tam’s parents were not home at the moment, but they had instructed Tilly to make her friend feel at home.
 
Taking the tray to the front porch, they enjoyed the refreshments while Tilly told Mary-Beth about what it was like to live here.
 
The city was a distant memory for her, and she loved living out west.

As evening came, the two women went to the area where the wedding was to be held.
 
Tilly told Mary-Beth about what she would like done and what she dreamed would be her ideal day.
 
Mary-Beth smiled.
 
Everything that Tilly wanted would take some time to make and get set up, but she would do anything for her best friend.

“I think we can make that happen.
 
We will make a list tomorrow of what we need in order to get it set up properly,” Mary-Beth assured her excited friend.
 
She loved to make lovely decorations, so she knew that this whole time of preparation was going to be fun and exciting.
 
Right now, though, she felt tired and wished to retire to her room and write her grandparents to let them know that she had arrived safely.

The young women hugged one another and parted ways once they got to the house.
 
As Mary-Beth penned her letter to her grandparents, she couldn’t help but tell them about what a great trip she had had with Jacob accompanying her.
 
If only there were any hope that he would have her, she would say yes in a heartbeat.

The next morning dawned bright and sunny.
 
It was quite warm in the house, so the women took their planning out to the front porch.
 
As Tilly rattled off her dream wedding, Mary-Beth made a list of items that she could help make.
 
She also asked Tilly who she would like to invite to the gathering.
 
Of course, most of the town would join in the festivities, but she felt that they needed to get some sort of invitation out soon.

“Oh, Mary-Beth, do you really think that you will be able to make all of this in time?
 
That is a lot of work!
 
I can live without some of the decorations if it’s too much trouble!”
 
Tilly looked at her friend expectantly.
 
She hoped that Mary-Beth could pull off the decorations, but she also knew that she was asking a lot of her friend.

“I will do my best to get it done.
 
I know that you will be helping as well, so together I’m sure that we can get most of it ready.
 
The men will be able to set up the tent and the chairs, so that is one less thing to worry about.
 
As for the flowers, I saw some beautiful wildflowers along the road as we drove here. We could gather them and use them.
 
Mrs. Wilder also has roses that she has offered for the occasion.”
 
Mary-Beth had no doubt that Tilly would get a day that she would never forget.

Later in the afternoon, Tam and Jacob arrived at the house to help with the preparations.
 
Tilly excitedly told them about what she had envisioned.
 
They wanted to hold the ceremony in a week’s time, so they had a lot of work to do to make all of the arrangements happen in time.
 

While Tam and Tilly continued to put together arrangements, Mary-Beth and Jacob set to work on getting some of the decorations put together.
 
They took a wagon into town to purchase some of the ribbons and fabric that would be needed to make the decorations for the tents and the tables.
 
Tam’s parents had eagerly given them plenty of money to make sure that they were able to purchase everything that was needed.

Once they arrived back at the house, Mary-Beth went to work at making bows out of the fabric and ribbons.
 
The fabric that she had found was a lovely shade of pale pink, and the bows that she made with them turned out dainty and beautiful.
 
She looked down at the sets of bows that she had prepared and sighed.
 
If only she were preparing for her own big day, she would feel much more joy about making all of these pretty decorations.
 
She was happy to help Tilly, but part of her was jealous that her friend was getting all of this, and she was crippled and watching on the side.
 
Mary-Beth knew that she was being petty and selfish, but it seemed as though her dreams of getting married were being pushed further away because of her disability.

“Are you okay, Mary-Beth?
 
You have been rather quiet for some time today.
 
It seems as though you are thinking very hard about something,” Jacob remarked as he looked at her.
 
He had been helping by whitewashing some chairs to be used for the ceremony, and he and Mary-Beth had been together for most of the day.

“I’m doing well.
 
I was just thinking about how beautiful Tilly and Tam’s wedding is going to be.
 
Someday, I hope to have a special day like this one is going to be,” she said with a sad smile and began to straighten the bow that she had just finished.

“You will have a beautiful day when the time is right.
 
Trust God and allow Him to give you that day,” Jacob said with a warm smile.
 
He had to look away at that moment before she could catch onto the fact that he was thinking the same thing for himself.
 
He and Tam had been best friends since Tam’s family moved to Jamestown when they were young boys.
 
It always seemed as though Tam got whatever he wanted, and Jacob followed.