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    Mail Order Bride - Anna's Destiny: Faith Creek Brides, #4
    Mail Order Bride - Anna's Destiny: Faith Creek Brides, #4
    Mail Order Bride - Anna's Destiny: Faith Creek Brides, #4
    Ebook64 pages1 hour

    Mail Order Bride - Anna's Destiny: Faith Creek Brides, #4

    By Karla Gracey

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    About this ebook

    Anna Hatzidakis has come a long way, and suddenly finds herself alone in a land where she has nobody but her young son Taki to care for her. Tragically widowed within weeks of her arrival in America from her homeland in Greece, she is struggling to make ends meet and make a life for her and her boy. But by chance she finds a solution, and prays that a new husband will be the answer to her prayers. But will she let go of her guilt and give herself permission to love again having lost her beloved Costa?

    Will Ryan is a busy man. He has a farm that he has finally managed to get in good heart, and is one of the town deputies. He is gentle and the kind of man who can always be relied upon to help anyone in trouble. When Anna responds to his advertisement for a bride he knows he must help her – even if it costs him the chance to love again. He prays that if he can make this sweet woman’s life better that he will finally achieve redemption from his own past. But can he really ever forget and forgive himself for what happened to Alice?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKarla Gracey Books
    Release dateFeb 13, 2017
    ISBN9781386305248
    Mail Order Bride - Anna's Destiny: Faith Creek Brides, #4

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    • 5/5
      A love story about love that makes you think that good always wins
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      I have really enjoyed your short stories all though to short

    Book preview

    Mail Order Bride - Anna's Destiny - Karla Gracey

    Mail Order Bride

    Anna's Destiny

    Faith Creek Brides: Book 4

    Karla Gracey

    Contents

    Chapter One

    Chapter Two

    Chapter Three

    Chapter Four

    Chapter Five

    Chapter Six

    Epilogue

    Other books by Karla

    Mailing List And Free Gift

    Copyright

    Thank you for choosing a Karla Gracey story.

    As a way to say thank you, we would love to give you this lovely short story.

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    Click here to pick up your free story.

    Chapter One

    ASHES TO ASHES, DUST to dust, the priest intoned. Though holding back her tears Anna winced, knowing that Costa’s family would have wanted their son to have a proper Greek Orthodox Church funeral; but they were back in Attica, and she was here alone and there was no church here. A simple Roman Catholic burial was the best she had been able to manage. But she received no comfort from the unfamiliar service, or the cold and business-like priest. She had done the best she could, but knew that she would always regret not having done this one final thing right for her beloved husband. Taki, her son, clutched at her leg. She reached down and rumpled his dark curls fondly. Poor boy, he had no father now and she had no husband. The great adventure that Costa had promised them had ended in tragedy, the diphtheria he had contracted aboard the ship they had saved so hard to gain passage on had ravaged their lives. Now she must try to find her own way in this new country, but she had no idea as to how she might manage such a thing. She could only be grateful that her own Papa had insisted that she learn English, and a smattering of German as a girl. She would not be entirely adrift, unable to speak the language here in America, as so many other immigrant wives often found themselves.

    Silent tears poured down her cheeks, under the heavy black veil she wore, as Costa’s coffin was lowered into the grave. Taki wailed, but there was nobody here to see it, nobody to witness their loss. They had barely been in Michigan a week and in Ann Arbour just a few days before God had so cruelly snatched Costa from them. She had not had time to make any friends. She knew she was alone now, but she could not allow herself to be lonely, to be bereft. There was much to do. She needed work, and they needed a permanent home. She could not let Taki suffer, and would do whatever she could to make Costa proud of them both.

    With a quiet dignity, she took her son’s hand and led him from the graveyard back to the rooms she rented behind the bakery. Her stomach growled as they ascended the stairs, Taki smiled wanly at her, as he clutched his own tummy trying to ward off the hunger pangs. The scent of baked bread wafted up, taunting them both. The money Costa had saved to bring them here would not last much longer - especially not now so much of it had been needed to pay for his funeral. He had hoped to find work as soon as he arrived, but his sickness had meant that had been impossible. Anna had done her best to eke out the tiny amount they had left, and was proud of her efforts. It would soon all be gone though, and such an eventuality did not bear thinking of.

    She passed Taki a dry crust of bread, while she warmed through the broth she had made from the bones begged from the butcher a couple of days ago. She ladled out a bowl, and watched her son dip the hard bread into the sustaining liquid to soften it. He never complained. Even when they had been on board the ship, trapped in the lower decks amongst people who were sick, the stench overpowering and the noise deafening, yet Taki had remained calm – content even. She did not know where he got his sunny disposition, it was most certainly not a trait she herself possessed, and nor had Costa. But even he had been unable to muster any joy since his Papa’s death. She had to do something to change that. A boy should not have so little; he needed to go to school, to have friends, to be fed well and she would make sure that he had a wondrous childhood if she could.

    I must change and go and try and find work Taki, she said to him softly. "I shall not be long, but I need you

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