Mail Order Bride: Mariah's Dream

By Mary L. Briggs

When Mariah boarded the Mail Order Bride express, she dreamed of a love match out west. But after all this time, she knew she had to give up. Her sister, married to a farmer in Nebraska, guaranteed a husband if she would move in with them. But then, Mariah receives an unexpected offer of a marriage of convenience to a rich man in San Francisco. It is an offer she would normally refuse, but when she learns that the man, a widower, has a blind, eleven year old daughter, she changes her mind. If nothing else, perhaps she can make a difference in the child's life.

Micah, a businessman with more on his mind than marriage, is stunned when his busy-body housekeeper arrives back in San Francisco with a bride for him. Blaming himself for the situation, he marries Mariah and soon finds his mind on her as much as his business.

When disaster strikes, can the two of them make a loveless marriage work? Follow Micah and Mariah as their faith, and possibly love for each other, grows on the path the God has for them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary L. Briggs
• Release date: Aug 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005341176

Mary L. Briggs

Mary L. Briggs is a wife, mother, and registered nurse. She enjoys writing inspirational fiction and is also a free-lance writer. She has had two romance stories and one mini-mystery published in Woman's World Magazine. She enjoys reading, writing, studying American history, cooking, quilting, herb gardening, and crafting. Mary lives in a cordwood home in the Ouachita Mountains with her husband and two daughters. She also enjoys the company of five cats, a German Shepherd/Border Collie dog, and a flock of chickens.

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Mariah’s Dream

By Mary L. Briggs

Smashwords Edition

COPYRIGHT © 2020 Mary L. Briggs

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com to purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All rights reserved. No part of this book maybe used or reproduced without the author’s permission.

Cover Image: Cabin home. Original art, Come With Me by olga_vasilkova. Used with permission. http://www.dreamstime.com/. Also, ashcroft_02 by hilarycl. Used with permission. https://morguefile.com/.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 1

Mariah Browne quietly shut the door behind her so as not to wake the sleeping patient. Nancy Barnes had had a quiet night, but she still needed her rest.

Mr. Barnes had tried his best to slip a few coins to her after he came home from his shift at the mine, but Mariah had refused. The man had looked so tired and worn out. No doubt the two of them were barely getting by, with the cost of food and medicine for his sick wife. The doctor said that their baby wasn’t due for another two months. Nancy’s mother was coming on the evening train and would begin to care for her daughter in a few hours.

Wearily, Mariah stepped into the gray dawn. The early morning breeze on this March morning was cold and she shivered. Her icy fingers pulled the brown crochet shawl tighter around her shoulders as she hurried down the dusty boardwalk. She glanced across the street at her friend Olivia’s dress shop. She and Olivia were two of the oldest women that had come out on Inez Pollard’s bridal trains. Olivia was well established with her own business, but Mariah was still dreaming of a home and family to care for.

When Inez Pollard first sent for marriageable women to come out west on her special train, the house the girls lived in was high on a hill overlooking the town, but a new one had soon been built in the town. So she was grateful that her early morning walk was shorter than it would have been back then.

She opened the familiar green door with the pretty leaded glass and stepped inside, glad for the warm air that greeted her. Removing her shawl, her eyes glanced at the polished oak table in the entryway and she at once spotted her sister Judith’s spidery handwriting on one of the envelopes that sat in a small silver tray. She sighed. Another letter to beg her to come to the Nebraska homestead that Judith shared with her husband, Warren, and five children. There would be plenty of opportunity for Mariah to find a husband there, her sister encouraged in every letter.

She chewed her lip. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate her sister’s love and concern, but she wanted to choose her husband on her own. But crowding out Judith’s warnings of ‘getting too old’ was hard to do, at times. Life on a Nebraska homestead might not be so bad. Judith seemed to be thriving.

Mariah stuffed the letter into her skirt pocket and headed for the kitchen. A nice hot cup of coffee and maybe a biscuit would warm her and let her sleep when she went upstairs to rest for a few hours. She had managed a few hours sleep in her chair last night, but it hadn’t been enough. And Tuesday night was her night to share cooking chores in the kitchen, so she would have to be down early in the afternoon to start preparations. At least there was Mrs. Bartlett to actually plan the meal. Mariah’s job would mostly be helper. And if she was lucky, the cook would let her make the pies herself. The kitchen was always well stocked and it was easy to put together a few apple or peach pies.

Mariah! Annie, one of the cook’s helpers, stepped out of the kitchen, her apron crisp and white, ready for her day’s work. Mrs. Pollard said to send you to her office as soon as you got home. There’s a woman I’ve never seen before in there, too, the girl whispered, as if Inez could hear through the walls of the house.

Mariah bit her lip and gave a fleeting glance at the silver coffee pot on the sideboard. She could take time for a cup, but she wouldn’t enjoy it, knowing Inez Pollard wanted to see her. Thank you, Annie, she said as she turned to go.

She felt her heart begin to speed and skip as she approached the door of Mrs. Pollard’s office. Annie had said someone else was in there. She paused and took a deep breath before she knocked on the door. Surely Judith hadn’t come from Nebraska to convince her to go home with her. Her letters had been getting more insistent each week.

Come in, Inez’s voice called.

Mariah opened the door and stepped inside of the pleasant room. Inez had had the walls papered in a beautiful rose pattern paper that gave the room a warm glow when sunshine poured through the leaded glass windows. A fire burned brightly in the field stone fireplace on the opposite wall. An older woman was seated on one of the green upholstered settees, and she stood and turned to look at Mariah.

Inez stood at the same time. Mariah, this is Mrs. Wilken. She would like to ask you a few questions.

Mariah stepped closer and her eyes met those of Mrs. Wilken. The woman was small and wiry. Her steel gray hair was pulled back in a tight bun, pulling the skin taut on her thin face. The skirt she wore was a plain and serviceable dark brown, as was the long coat she still wore, as if she was cold even though she was inside the house. Her dark eyes were quick and bright. Her expression was stern and Mariah swallowed hard. This woman did not look very friendly.

Please, both of you sit, Inez Pollard indicated the two chairs near the women.

I would prefer that she remain standing for just a moment, Mrs. Wilken said, taking a few steps toward Mariah. May I see your teeth? she demanded.

Mariah glanced at Inez and obediently opened her mouth. After a quick glance, Mrs. Wilken walked behind her, Mariah’s face turning as her gaze followed the strange woman. What in the world could this woman want? She was starting to feel like a horse at an auction. She had never had anyone request to look at her teeth, other than a dentist.

That will do, Mrs. Wilken announced heading back to her chair. You may sit.

Mariah obediently lowered herself in the chair and cast a wondering eye at Inez.

Inez sat at the same moment. She cleared her throat. Mariah, Mrs. Wilken has a...proposal of sorts for you. Ordinarily I would have turned her request down, but there are aspects to it that you may find interesting. She nodded toward Mrs. Wilken.

Mariah swallowed and turned her eyes to the unpleasant woman. She wanted to tell herself that this woman could have nothing that she might want to hear, but she trusted Inez’s opinion, so she waited expectantly.

Mrs. Wilken met her gaze and began to speak. Miss Browne, I am here representing Micah Dunning. He is a widower and a businessman. At the moment, he is settled in San Francisco with his daughter, Alice. He is very successful in his shipping business. He also owns a ranch in Wyoming, with his brother.

Mariah nodded. It was all very well, but what could this have to do with her?

Mrs. Wilken continued. Mr. Dunning finds himself in need of a wife at this time. He needs someone to be a hostess at his dinner parties and he also needs a good influence for his daughter. Alice is eleven years old. She was blinded in a train accident three years ago. It was the accident that also took the life of her mother.

Mariah felt a pang of sympathy for the young girl and nodded. Now she was beginning to see why Inez had let the woman speak. Inez was aware that Mariah had spent six years caring for her blind cousin, Amelia, before the young woman passed away of a fever.

The Wilken woman was staring at her, so she spoke. I see. And you wish for me to possibly be the wife he needs for his business purposes and also to care for his child? It seemed such a loveless proposal that she wasn’t sure how to respond.

Mrs. Wilken pursed her lips and nodded. "You must understand that this

Reviews for Mail Order Bride

[benn9314 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A simple wedding that made a lasting impression on everyone