Genevieve: Bride of Nevada (American Mail-Order Bride 36) Read Online Free Page B
Author: Cynthia Woolf
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical, Saga, Family Life, Western, Short-Story, Religious, Christian, Inspirational, Bachelor, Marriage of Convenience, Faith, Nevada, victorian era, Forever Love, Single Woman, Fifty-Books, Forty-Five Authors, Newspaper Ad, American Mail-Order Bride, Factory Burned, Pioneer, Deceased Wife, Opportunity, Thirty-Six In Series, Elko, Train West, Two-Year-Old, New Baby, Common Ground, Ruby Mountains, Child-Birth
God, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Don’t be sorry. My Martha was a wonderful, kind woman and she’d be pleased for the children to have a mother to care for her children.”
Genny’s eyes filled with tears. “Excuse me.”
She fled the dining room and went out to the front porch. Once there, she let the tears fall. How could Stuart have not told her that Martha was Nettie and Pete’s daughter? Or that Billy and Lucy were their grandchildren? How could Nettie be so nice to her?
She heard the screen door close softly behind her.
Boots sounded across the porch and stopped.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you, Martha was their daughter.” He paused before moving beside her and placing his hands on the porch railing. “Martha and I grew up together and I always thought she was just that kid who followed me around everywhere. Then when she was about sixteen, things changed. She wasn’t a child anymore. We courted for two years and married on her eighteenth birthday. We were very much in love and I don’t believe I’ll ever feel that way about anyone again. She was the sun in my life, with her curly blonde hair and green eyes that were always filled with mischief, just like Billy’s. She was a special woman.”
“Yes, I’m sure she was.” Genny kept her gaze focused on the mountains that were farther than they looked.
He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Come back in to supper.”
She nodded.
He turned and went back inside.
But she didn’t promise or say anything. How could she return to them? She’d embarrassed herself and there was no safety net here of Julia and Katie to bolster her courage.
“Just go in and hold your head up high,” Julia would have said.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Katie would claim.
Could she? Was she brave enough to face her new family? How could Nettie and Pete accept her as a surrogate mother to their grandchildren? How was she, a city girl who knew nothing about ranching, going to be able to compare to Martha, a woman raised on this very ranch?
CHAPTER 3
Genny dried her eyes, took a deep breath and rejoined the family for the meal. The atmosphere wasn’t quite as boisterous, but that was all right with her.
“Genny, why don’t you help come with me and help with dessert?” Nettie rose from the table and walked toward the kitchen.
“Of course,” Genny followed her to the room she’d be spending a lot of her day in. It was well appointed. A long counter against one wall, broken only by the sink and icebox. The stove and pantry on the next wall, to her right. The wall to the left had a long row of pegs that were full of coats and hats. On the wall next to her was a long table with benches on the long sides of the table and captains chairs one either end.
Nettie and Genny stood by the sink. “I wanted to get you alone. You need to know that Martha and Stuart didn’t have the perfect marriage as he would have you believe. Yes, they courted for two years, but Martha’s heart was with…someone else, who didn’t come through in the end. I know my daughter. She was in love with both MacDonnell brothers, but she wanted to marry Joe. While she was friends with Stuart, she struggled because he was so much older than her. I think you’ll be good for him and for my grandchildren. I feel it in my bones and I know Martha would have wanted someone to care for and raise her children. There’s no reason that can’t be you. You seem to be a good woman and now that you know, it’ll be easier for you. You’ll get used to us and fit right in.”
She nodded. “I’ll do my best, Nettie. This is my family now and I mean to keep all of you.”
Genny cut the two pies into six slices each. Nettie had baked four blackberry pies and made clotted cream to put on them.
“I’ve already decided that no matter what, I will always live here in the Ruby Mountains, in the Lamoille Valley. I’ve never been to any place so beautiful in my life. I want to raise Billy
“Don’t be sorry. My Martha was a wonderful, kind woman and she’d be pleased for the children to have a mother to care for her children.”
Genny’s eyes filled with tears. “Excuse me.”
She fled the dining room and went out to the front porch. Once there, she let the tears fall. How could Stuart have not told her that Martha was Nettie and Pete’s daughter? Or that Billy and Lucy were their grandchildren? How could Nettie be so nice to her?
She heard the screen door close softly behind her.
Boots sounded across the porch and stopped.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you, Martha was their daughter.” He paused before moving beside her and placing his hands on the porch railing. “Martha and I grew up together and I always thought she was just that kid who followed me around everywhere. Then when she was about sixteen, things changed. She wasn’t a child anymore. We courted for two years and married on her eighteenth birthday. We were very much in love and I don’t believe I’ll ever feel that way about anyone again. She was the sun in my life, with her curly blonde hair and green eyes that were always filled with mischief, just like Billy’s. She was a special woman.”
“Yes, I’m sure she was.” Genny kept her gaze focused on the mountains that were farther than they looked.
He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Come back in to supper.”
She nodded.
He turned and went back inside.
But she didn’t promise or say anything. How could she return to them? She’d embarrassed herself and there was no safety net here of Julia and Katie to bolster her courage.
“Just go in and hold your head up high,” Julia would have said.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Katie would claim.
Could she? Was she brave enough to face her new family? How could Nettie and Pete accept her as a surrogate mother to their grandchildren? How was she, a city girl who knew nothing about ranching, going to be able to compare to Martha, a woman raised on this very ranch?
CHAPTER 3
Genny dried her eyes, took a deep breath and rejoined the family for the meal. The atmosphere wasn’t quite as boisterous, but that was all right with her.
“Genny, why don’t you help come with me and help with dessert?” Nettie rose from the table and walked toward the kitchen.
“Of course,” Genny followed her to the room she’d be spending a lot of her day in. It was well appointed. A long counter against one wall, broken only by the sink and icebox. The stove and pantry on the next wall, to her right. The wall to the left had a long row of pegs that were full of coats and hats. On the wall next to her was a long table with benches on the long sides of the table and captains chairs one either end.
Nettie and Genny stood by the sink. “I wanted to get you alone. You need to know that Martha and Stuart didn’t have the perfect marriage as he would have you believe. Yes, they courted for two years, but Martha’s heart was with…someone else, who didn’t come through in the end. I know my daughter. She was in love with both MacDonnell brothers, but she wanted to marry Joe. While she was friends with Stuart, she struggled because he was so much older than her. I think you’ll be good for him and for my grandchildren. I feel it in my bones and I know Martha would have wanted someone to care for and raise her children. There’s no reason that can’t be you. You seem to be a good woman and now that you know, it’ll be easier for you. You’ll get used to us and fit right in.”
She nodded. “I’ll do my best, Nettie. This is my family now and I mean to keep all of you.”
Genny cut the two pies into six slices each. Nettie had baked four blackberry pies and made clotted cream to put on them.
“I’ve already decided that no matter what, I will always live here in the Ruby Mountains, in the Lamoille Valley. I’ve never been to any place so beautiful in my life. I want to raise Billy
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