He wanted marriage, had sent for a wife. According to what she remembered of his letters, he'd asked the woman to come in time for Christmas, yet he appeared not ready to make a full commitment. That made her long for it all the more.
She saw no wrongness in the longing. If God had brought them together, if she truly believed she'd been saved from death for him, then having a wish for union was as it should be ... and a prayer God would answer. God would grant them love out of this, and they'd no longer be strangers, but friends, confidants, one in mind and flesh.
Unable to face Christmas alone, Lafayette Faulkenberg advertised for a bride, one of plain countenance, able to cook, clean, and sew. But his wish for a woman to tend his house did not come with plans to share his heart. She was simply there to relieve his loneliness and thereby help him forget his inner pain.
Pigeon Burgess was headed west to marry an older man at her parent's behest when a tragic ferry accident took the life of a woman she'd met on the train. Taking the woman's name as hers, she easily switched places. Better to marry the man the woman had raved about than be locked into something she knew she'd hate.
Yet, ex-minister, Lafayette has a tragic secret in his recent past, one that eats at him night and day, and his self-hatred, combined with her ever-expanding lie, soon prove to be a volatile mix. Unless the gift of Christmas and the grace of a loving God turns their hearts toward the forgiving power of love.
A mail-order bride story and a story of repentance and forgiveness by best-selling author, SUZANNE D. WILLIAMS. 23,000 words.