Compassionate Bride And The Cowboy's Orphan Child Read online

  Compassionate Bride And The Cowboy's Orphan Child

  Terri Grace

  Clean Christian Romance

  Contents

  Copyright

  1. A Personal Word from Terri

  2. Compassionate Bride And The Cowboy's Orphan Child

  ** FOR YOU **

  Copyright © 2016 by Terri Grace

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  A Personal Word from Terri

  “Short and Sweet.”

  “Hey there, Terri here. I want to thank you again for being one of my readers. I am reminded every single time I read a review, receive and email from someone or get a comment or share on Facebook for one of my books, just how amazing and generous you are! I hope you enjoy this exclusive short story. It’s short, but very sweet. :)”

  Terri Grace (Author)

  Thank you for choosing a PureRead Romance. As a way to thank you we would also like to give you a beautiful short story collection by Terri Grace.

  Cry Of The Heart Short Story Collection

  Compassionate Bride And The Cowboy's Orphan Child

  Hugo could not believe the mess that his brother had left behind. The usually meticulous and perfectionist William had messed up big time on this one. He missed his elder brother, who had brought him up when their parents died soon after arriving in Paterson from Boston. Over the years, William had taught him all about business and how to make the best deals, such that he was fairly well-to-do in his own right.

  William had been an investment broker and had helped hundreds of people to invest their gold, silver and other wealth out in the west. Together with his wife, Nancy, the two had been all the family Hugo had and needed, but now they were gone. They had died childless and had not even told him about the child they were adopting from Paterson, New Jersey. Maybe they felt he would judge them, for on many occasions he had disapproved of their decision to adopt a child.

  “That is no relation. What if the child grows up and turns against you?” he had demanded on more than one occasion. He would miss his brother’s lazy laugh and his sister-in-law’s high-pitched voice. Why had they ignored the signs of bad weather and gone out in the freak storm?

  Hugo had been summoned by one of their employees when a day passed and they hadn’t returned home. Their bodies were found lying side-by-side in a ditch, with William’s arms around Nancy, as if protecting her from danger. In death, just like in life, they had been together.

  Hugo sighed, rubbing his sleep-deprived eyes with the back of one hand. There was so much to sort out, but so far all the accounting records were in order and he could see that his brother had really been wealthy. It was the forms in William and Nancy’s personal file that had him agitated. So, they had gone ahead and adopted a child, even after he’d told them it wasn’t a good idea. And, according to one of the documents, the child and his temporary guardian were supposed to be leaving Paterson and arriving in Seattle soon. Nancy had written on one corner of the document in her flowery handwriting that they were looking forward to welcoming Hector Little, and would be changing his name to Hector William Ballinger.

  Now Nancy and William would never name their child, and Hugo wondered what would happen to the boy. He had to write to the orphanage and inform them of what had happened so they could cancel the adoption.

  Amanda Muller was practically in tears, and Hector sat on her lap and peering at her. His small, round face was scrunched up in curiosity.

  “Mandy cry.” He raised one hand and touched her cheek, and it came away wet. “Mandy cry.”

  “No, my love.” She hastily wiped her tears away. “Mandy not cry, Mandy is happy that you’re soon going to see your new parents.” She almost choked on the words. Life was so unfair. From the moment Hector had been dropped off at the orphanage doorstep when he was only two days old, his umbilical cord attachment still intact, he had become her son. She was the rookie and the other wardens didn’t want to be saddled with an infant who wasn’t expect to live beyond a week, because he had a nasty skin rash, a bad cough and a runny nose. The child looked extremely ill and unlovable, but Amanda had loved him. She had no idea why her heart was knit to the child, but with love and gentleness she had nursed Hector back to health.

  Now, two years later, she had to give him up to a childless couple out in Seattle, Washington, and the thought filled her with so much pain. Once a year the orphanage opened its doors so their charges could be adopted. The couple in Seattle had asked for a two-year-old boy. Since Hector was the only two-year-old boy, the lot fell to him. Now she was taking him to his new parents.

  “Dear Lord, please let them be good to Hector.” Amanda wept later that night as she watched him sleeping on their bunk on the train. William and Nancy Ballinger had sent enough money for a private compartment for their new son and had spared no expense. He had new clothes – lots of them – and shoes as well. The once-abandoned child would find a home with a very wealthy family. According to the chief warden, Mrs Rose White, who had traveled to Seattle to see the couple’s house and meet their pastor, the Ballinger’s were well able to take care of Hector.

  The train didn’t stop for long, since most of the passengers had disembarked along the way, and from what Amanda could see, there seemed to be no-one waiting to meet them.

  Adjusting the sleeping child on her shoulder, she waved at a porter, who hurried over. “Please, could you help me find a chaise to take me somewhere? The people who were to pick us up must have been delayed.”

  Amanda was glad that she had thought of carrying the Nancy and William Ballinger’s address with her. She was surprised to find a number of buggies, carriages and chaises parked in the driveway of the house the taxi driver took her to.

  “Are you sure this is the right place?”

  “Yes, ma’am. You can ask inside and I’ll wait.”

  “Thank you.”

  As soon as Hugo saw Amanda stepping out of the carriage, a baby in her arms, he knew that his letter had reached the orphanage after she had left. He was talking to some of the mourners and he excused himself.

  “Miss, my name is Hugo Ballinger. Is that child Hector Little?”

  “Yes.” Amanda wanted to be cross but she read sorrow in the man’s eyes and, being a fair person, waited for an explanation as to why there had been no-one to meet them at the station.

  “I’m sorry, because you’ve come at a time when we are in mourning.” Hugo realized that the woman had no idea what had happened. “My brother William and his wife Nancy were killed five days ago in a freak storm.”

  “Oh!” Amanda swayed and almost fell down, but for Hugo’s quick reaction. He grabbed her and the child.

  “It must be such a shock to have come all this way for nothing,” he said, and she stared at him.

  “I don’t understand.”

  Hugo sighed. “As soon as my brother and his wife died, I wrote to the orphanage telling them what had happened and I was not expecting you at all.

  “You look really tired. Perhaps I could ask the housekeeper to show you to a room where you can rest. We’ve just returned from the cemetery and I need to go and be with the other mourners. We shall speak later.”

  “Thank you.”

  Amanda woke up very early the next morning and for a moment wondered where she was. Then she remembered and her eyes immediately went to the small cot that Hugo had brought from the room that had been prepared for Hector by Nancy. It was empty and she quickly got out of bed and went to find out where the child was.

  Hector was seated on a small wooden chair in the living room and Hugo was kneeling in front of him. They didn’t immediately notice her and she listened for a short while.

  “For such a little man as you, you sure make a fine mess of things,” Hugo was saying, but not in an angry voice; he sounded quite amused. “Nancy and William would have loved you.” His voice broke and Amanda’s heart went out to him. “I miss them so much, Hector. They would have been good parents to you, in spite of the fears that I tried to instill in them.”

  Hector was grinning and then he caught sight of her. “Mandy!” He danced in his chair and it took Hugo a moment to understand him. By that time, Amanda was already walking into the room. “Mandy! Mandy!”

  “Yes, darling.” She laughed and nuzzled his shoulder. He squealed in delight and grabbed fistfuls of her hair. “Ouch! No pulling Mandy’s hair.”

  But it was a new game for Hector and it took Hugo’s help to finally extract Amanda from the child’s hands.

  “You should be careful to tie it up,” said Hugo, “or else this young man will easily make you bald.”

  “I usually never have my hair down. It’s just that I got up and when I didn’t see him I panicked. Hector can be rather fussy when he gets up in the morning.”

  “I heard him crying and when I came to check, you were sound asleep so I brought him here and fed him some oatmeal.”

  “He loves oatmeal, especially if it has a lot of milk and sugar in it.”

  Hugo was shocked at the emotions the woman and child were invoking in him. He had considered himself a confirmed bachelor, announcing to anyone who cared to listen that he would never marry. But now he was con
fronted by this beautiful, dark-haired woman with blue eyes, and this child with the same eyes and hair, and his heart was acting all funny inside of him. Hector could easily have passed for Amanda Muller’s child, and Hugo noted the closeness they shared.

  Nancy had been right when she had told him that with all his cynicism, one day love would jump up and smack him right between his eyes. Could what he was feeling for Amanda Muller be termed love? For goodness sake, he had only met the woman the previous day when she arrived.

  Amanda noticed that Hugo was staring at her, a strange light in his eyes, and she felt herself beginning to blush. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  Hugo shook his head and chuckled softly. The woman was so shy and endearing. “My brother’s attorney will be coming in for the reading of the will today. After that, we need to talk about what to do about Hector.”

  The will decided the matter for Hugo. Hector had been named sole heir and he was the child’s trustee until he came of age. Mr Wilkinson, the attorney, informed Hugo that William and Nancy had made the will three months ago, once they had signed the final adoption papers.

  “It was as though they had a premonition that things would not be well. What do you want to do?”

  Hugo sighed, holding Hector close to his heart. This would have been his brother’s son and they had entrusted him with the child’s wellbeing until he turned twenty-one. He would have to put all his plans on hold and take care of his brother’s affairs. He owed William that much for having been a wonderful brother.

  “Hector will live with me in this house, which belonged to his parents,” Hugo finally said. “I’m his trustee and so his welfare, until he turns twenty-one, is my concern.” He said this as a challenge to Amanda, as if he was daring her to say anything. “The adoption was final and according to the law, Hector is – was – William and Nancy’s son.”

  “Miss Muller, do you have anything to say?” Wilkinson looked at the woman, who sat with her head bowed.

  “No.” She felt defeated. She had hoped that, after the reading of the will, she and Hector would be allowed to return to Paterson. She had been allowed a few days off her duties to ensure that the child was well settled in his new home, and had expected that Hugo would ask her to take the child back with her. She cleared her throat again. “No.”

  “I have a suggestion.” Hugo looked at both of them. “If Miss Amanda has no problems staying here, I would like to ask, for Hector’s sake, if she will marry me.”

  The other two looked at him as though he had suddenly grown horns.

  “In that way, Hector’s life can go back to normal as much as possible. Now that his parents aren’t here to see to his welfare and the child is strongly attached to Miss Amanda, she’s the best mother he could ever have.”

  “Well….” Mr Wilkinson smiled, seeing the confusion on the young lady’s face. She was a pretty girl and would make a good wife for his late client’s brother. Hugo also seemed taken with her and he hoped Amanda Muller would say yes.

  Amanda considered the option she’d been given and looked at Hector. He was such a loving boy – the child of her heart, and she couldn’t bear to be parted from him. Hugo had given her a way out and for the child’s sake she decided to take it. In this way, her dream of one day becoming Hector’s mother would be fulfilled.

  “You say it’s for Hector’s sake?”

  “Yes, Amanda. For Hector’s sake.”

  It was a small, private wedding, in view of the fact that the household was still in mourning, and it took Amanda a few days to get used to being called Mrs Ballinger. It was only after the wedding to Hugo that he opened up about the extent of William and Nancy’s wealth, and his own, as well.

  “That’s the reason you’re the best person to take care of Hector. Should anything happen to me, this child, who was loved even before he arrived, will be well taken care of. His life might have been without love but for you. I know that Nancy and William would have loved him but they aren’t here.”

  “Hector seems to love you too.” Amanda looked at him. Hector was cuddled in his large arms and dozing off. “I have never seen him take to anyone like he has to you.”

  “Never did I expect to love a child like I love this one,” Hugo admitted self-consciously.

  Amanda was deeply touched. Hannah Smith, the housekeeper, had told her that William and Nancy worried about Hugo’s seeming disinterest in having a wife or children.

  “It’s sad that it’s happened in this way, but the good Lord knows best,” Hannah had said. “Hugo now not only has a wife, but a son as well. If William and Nancy were here, they would greatly approve of you.”

  In the following days, Amanda found herself looking forward to the times when Hugo would return home from the offices he had shared with his brother. And she was not alone, because Hector, who had taken to calling him ‘’Go’, would also stand in the wide hallway, staring longingly at the oak door.

  “You miss him too, don’t you?” Amanda hugged the child to her bosom. “I also look forward to when he returns home.”

  After about two weeks of skirting around each other, Hugo had had enough. He walked into the living room one Saturday afternoon when Amanda was just putting Hector to sleep on the large couch.

  “I knew I’d find you here,” he announced. “We’ve been pretending too long. I know for a fact that you wouldn’t have stayed here if you didn’t love Hector, and you wouldn’t have agreed to marry me if you didn’t feel something for me. Tell me if I’m wrong.”

  Amanda wanted to lie but she was feeling too drained by emotion to do so. “It’s true, Hugo,” she murmured. “At first it was all about Hector, but I find that I miss you when you’re not here.”

  In a flash Hugo was standing in front of her.

  “Oh, Amanda. I was prepared to give you all facts about why you and I should have a real marriage and provide Hector with a real family. In truth, I fell in love with you almost the moment you got here and it has been killing me. I love you so much.”

  “And I love you too,” she admitted shyly, happy when he pulled her into his arms for a long-overdue kiss.

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  Terri Grace, Compassionate Bride And The Cowboy's Orphan Child

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