The Unexpected Bride (The Brides Book 1) by Lena Goldfinch

Author:Lena Goldfinch [Goldfinch, Lena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical romance, mail-order brides, sweet western, Victorian, sweet historical western romance, brides, mail order, Christian romance, bride, marriage of convenience, wedding, clean romance, historical, Seattle, sweet western romance, Christian fiction, sweet historical romance, sweet romance, Christian romance frontier and western, clean reads, inspirational romance, love, nineteenth century
Publisher: Indigo Road
Published: 2014-10-06T07:00:00+00:00

***

Isaac waited until after supper that night to present Rebecca with his gift. He didn’t know what had prompted him to buy it for her.

“This is for you.” He pushed their plates aside and laid the package on the table in front of her. He’d kept it under his chair the entire time.

“What’s this?” Her voice held a note of suppressed excitement. Her fingers traced the surface of the brown paper, her face lit with curiosity.

“See for yourself.”

She flashed him an uncertain smile and untied the knot in the twine. Pulling back the paper, she gasped in wonder as she revealed the small Bible inside.

“A Bible?”

“I noticed how you liked reading mine in the morning.”

“You noticed.” Her simply spoken reply held a hint of question. Her eyes were bright and watery.

“Not tears again?” he begged.

“Thank you, Isaac.” She clasped the Bible to her chest, hugging it close, like a child with a beloved doll. “Thank you.”

Her sincere thanks moved him, and he felt an uncomfortable burning in his own eyes, realizing he’d bought it as a farewell gift. Unable to bring up the unpleasant topic of her leaving just yet, he resolved to tell her in the morning.

Later, as he prepared for bed, he remembered how Rebecca had sat at the table for hours poring over the pages of her new Bible, how she’d meet his eyes now and then and smile one of those bright smiles of hers, the ones that warmed his insides. She appreciated the Good Book more than anyone he’d ever known. He sat in bed propped against the wall with the covers pulled up to his chest. He was reading a few pages of scripture himself when Rebecca’s soft feminine voice made him sit up straighter.

“Isaac?”

“Yes, Rebecca?”

He couldn’t have been more surprised when she pushed aside the potato-sack curtain and poked her head hesitantly around the edge.

“May I speak with you?”

He cleared his throat and tried to sound offhand. “Of course.”

She perched on the edge of his pop’s empty bed. As she settled on the lumpy mattress, he took in the crisp white cotton nightgown she wore, noticing how it was gathered in a bow at her neck, how the cloth fell loosely about her. She propped her heels on the bedrail and tucked her feet quickly under the folds of material with one hand, hugging her Bible to her stomach with the other. Only her dainty little toes peeked out from under the hem. Covered neck to toe in white, she seemed again like an innocent bride on her wedding night.

He shook off that image. She was in love with another man, he reminded himself.

“Isaac.” She started hesitantly and stopped. She moistened her lips as if she were nervous and took a deep breath.

“What is it?” he asked, her anxiety making him anxious too.

“Isaac, I’d like to talk with you about something.”

He nodded mutely.

“The past couple of weeks...” Her words seemed to hang in the air for a moment. She cleared her throat and continued, “The past couple of weeks, I’ve come to like and respect you.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.