Promise of Blessing (9 page)
Read Promise of Blessing Online
Authors: Terri Grace
Another Book In the Destined For Love Series…
Crippled Mail Order Bride for a Faithful Frontier Cowboy
CHAPTER 1
A New Day Dawns
Slivers of light crept through the crack in the curtains, coaxing Mary-Beth’s eyelids open. It was a new day, and the birds were ushering it in with a beautiful dawn chorus. Mary-Beth Tanner knew that God’s mercies were new again. “Thank you, Lord,” she smiled, as she stirred from a restful night’s sleep.
Her eyes sparkled with a sense of purpose. Despite the pain in her legs, she knew she had a reason to be here and refused to feel sorry for herself. The sun was rising, and the room was filled with the golden and beautiful light of a fresh dawn. Mary-Beth thanked God for all of her blessings.
She winced as she tugged her legs off the bed, pushing them over the side where she could move them a little to get the blood flowing more freely.
A dull ache in her thighs and knee joints had been plaguing her for some days now, but that was not going to stop her preparing the morning meal for her grandparents. She had never known anything different. Grandma told her that her legs had been troublesome right from her earliest steps. Mary-Beth couldn’t remember much of her younger years.
For as long as she could remember, Grandma and Grandpapa had been her parents. Her mother and father had disappeared from her life since she was a toddler, and from what she understood, she was better off without them. At first her grandparents thought she was just a slow developer, but it soon became apparent that something was terribly wrong. As a toddler, little Mary-Beth would sit or lie on the floor, barely moving. Even crawling was an effort for her. An examination by Doc Everson left the household shaken. Mary-Beth’s tiny bones had been broken multiple times – the result of 19 months of abuse from the very people who should have been the little girl’s protectors. Doc explained that she must have been dropped and thrown on more than one occasion, and the breaks and fractures had never been tended to. As a result, as Mary-Beth grew she often could barely walk a few feet before her knees and ankles ached so badly that she had to stop and rest.
Mary-Beth was now a beautiful young woman of seventeen. However, the disabilities in her legs had caused many a suitor to look the other way rather than pursue a life-long relationship with her.
This affected her deeply, but she didn’t let another soul know of her pain.
She knew that when God was ready, He would bring her to the husband she was destined to be a help-meet to.
As she secured her auburn colored hair back into a tight bun, she smiled at her reflection in the mirror.
Even though she was saddened by not having any prospects for marriage, she still enjoyed a wonderful life.
She had her grandparents to thank for that.
Her grandparents were getting far along in years.
They were her mother’s parents, and they loved her deeply from the time they had taken her just a few months before her second birthday.
From what she had understood, her father was a no-good alcoholic, and her mother fell under his spell. They had eloped and one day appeared at her grandparents’ front door with a dirty toddler in their arms.
Alice, her mother, had asked if they could watch her for a few days while she and her husband found work and shelter.
Neither had ever returned.
After they had helped Mary-Beth to learn to walk on her crippled legs, her grandparents wouldn’t have let her parents take her back even if they had turned up on their doorstep again.
She was theirs now, and they loved her deeply.
She loved them in return.
As of late, they had begun to show signs of their old age and had begun to urge Mary-Beth to try to find someone who would take care of her when they were no longer around.
While this saddened her, Mary-Beth knew that they were right.
She could care for them now, but when they were gone, she would be utterly alone.
While all of the other young women of Boston had found suitors and were betrothed to be married, she found herself alone and longing for the love that she was witnessing all around her.
Tilly, her best friend, had just recently answered a letter in the Matrimonial Times for a mail order bride.
She had told Mary-Beth that he had responded, and she would be moving west in a few short weeks.
The thought of doing the same occurred to Mary-Beth, but she was afraid that any respectable farmer wouldn’t want a woman who could barely walk.
So she wished Tilly well and made her promise to keep in touch.
And so another day was beginning for Mary-Beth.
Even though she was happy to help her grandparents, a part of her ached for the life that she was watching all the girls her age entering.
She prayed for her chance at happiness and softly sang of Christ’s love and saving blood as she slowly took step by painful step from the bedroom, and downstairs to the kitchen.
Mary-Beth was surprised to find that today Grandmother had already prepared breakfast for her.
Mary-Beth felt slightly guilty because she knew that any housework was difficult for the ageing woman.
Even though not a word had been spoken about her taking over the household chores, Mary-Beth felt that it was her duty and responsibility, and she gladly did all she could to make her grandparents more joyful lives.
“Good morning, child.
How are you feeling this morning?
Your legs seem a little stiff.”
Her grandmother smiled kindly and motioned her to sit down.
Placing a plate of eggs and bacon in front of her, she took a seat across from her and looked at her with concern.
“My legs are aching something terrible this morning. I think that once I get up and move around some that they will feel much better.
Thank you for breakfast.
I‘m sorry that I didn’t get down her to prepare it for you.”
Mary-Beth took a mouthful of eggs and smiled at the woman she was grateful to call her grandmother.
“No worries, young lady.
I need to get used to doing things for your grandfather and myself once you marry.
I sense that we will see that day soon.”
Her grandmother’s eyes clouded with tears.
“Oh, Grams, I don’t think it will.
No man wants a woman who is crippled.
I fear that I will be an old maid.
However, if I can take care of you, then it will be a blessing,” Mary-Beth patted her grandmother’s hand and smiled.
“Don’t be so sure, young woman.
Something tells me that a change is about to take place soon.
Believe what you will, but when the time comes, I will be one happy grandmother.”
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