A Wife for Nathan

By Mary Blakey Gibbs

CeCe Carter is living what seems to be a perfect life in Maryville, Georgia, when tragedy strikes, causing her to become the mother figure for her three teenage siblings. Overwhelmed, CeCe reflects on the prayer her grandmother taught her that Jesus will never give her more than she can bear and attempts to bravely move forward. As she tries to reconcile her anger, fears, and anxiety, CeCe cannot help but feel that life is unfair.

Soon CeCe settles into somewhat of a normal routine that eventually includes marriage to her boyfriend, Lee. With help from her new husband and her faith, CeCe manages to overcome a variety of challenges that include an emotionally needy neighbor and rebellious teenagers. As the teens mature into adulthood, CeCes trials and tribulations continue as she tries to guide her younger siblings into making good choices. Now only time will tell if her reliance on the Lord and her motherly instincts have put her siblings on the right path to achieving everything her parents would have ever wanted for them.

In this touching novella, a woman suddenly thrust into the responsibility of motherhood after a family tragedy must find the strength and faith to guide her three siblings into adulthood.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781491776551

Mary Blakey Gibbs

Mary Blakey Gibbs is a retired elementary and secondary public school educator who taught for almost thirty years. She is the author of Quote, UnQuote. Mary and her husband, John, make their home in Montgomery, Alabama.

Book preview

A WIFE FOR NATHAN

Copyright © 2015 Mary Blakey Gibbs.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-4917-7656-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-7655-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015953739

iUniverse rev. date: 9/29/2015

CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Epilogue

Excerpts

mockup1flower.jpg

In memory of my brother,

Edward Blakey, 1960–2013

25429.png

Nay, in all these things we are more than

conquerors through him that loved us.

—Romans 8:37

25473.pngAmaryllis.jpg

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special thanks are given to Mr. Benny Seawright for all of his technical support with photographs.

25479.png

PROLOGUE

C eCe Carter was a relatively happy child growing up in the little country town of Maryville, Georgia, with no-nonsense parents. She and her siblings were in agreement that their parents should not have had kids; they felt they were too strict—not unfair , necessarily, but extremely strict. The perfect world CeCe thought she had soon turned into a nightmare. In the blink of an eye, it seemed she had to go from being a carefree twenty-two-year-old college junior to a caregiver/mother. Because of her parents’ unfortunate, tragic accident, CeCe had to become responsible for her three siblings.

At first, CeCe kept wondering, What am I going to do? Her twin siblings, Jason and Jayla, were seventeen-year-old high school juniors who proved to be more grown-up than CeCe thought they would be. They still had their rebellious teenage moments, but otherwise they were good kids. Their younger brother, Nathan, a fourteen-year-old high school freshman, was a different story; he was a radical teenager with raging hormones. It seemed like a bomb had suddenly gone off in CeCe’s otherwise pleasant world. She initially thought she was going to have to quit college because of the emotional roller coaster she had to deal with personally—not to mention the trauma her siblings were facing. But it worked out that she did not have to leave school. She just felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her first thought was, This is too much responsibility. Her mind was suddenly filled with questions she did not have answers to: How do I mentally deal with this adult world this early in my life? How am I supposed to handle this major task? Who is going to help me?

25481.png

CHAPTER 1

T eenagers, really? CeCe thought. She was reflecting on a prayer her grandmother had taught her and her siblings when they were young. They would spend their summers