Homespun Bride

Jillian Hart255“You sound so sure about that. Why not?”Because I won’t trade my dreams for yours, sheached to say. Because I don’t want to be a burden tothe one man I love beyond all else on this earth.Her soul squeezed with pain, making every inch ofher ache. She covered her face with her hands, unableto say the truth. Unable to bare herself so fully.Not even Thad would understand. He would say allthe right things, about how her blindness didn’t matterto him, and that was not the truth. It couldn’t be thetruth.She swallowed hard against the burn in her throat.He hadn’t seen her real limitations yet. She had workedextremely hard to adapt to the constraints of her blindness,but he didn’t know that. He only saw what shecould do and not what she couldn’t. She had to do theright thing for them both.“Noelle? Are you crying?”“N-no.” She would make that the truth. She set herchin and blinked hard against the heat behind her eyes.“I don’t know what else to say to you, Thad. I c-can’tmarry you.”“You haven’t told me why, darlin’.”His tenderness tore her apart. Fear left her helpless.Truly in the dark, she reached out in prayer. Help me,Lord. Don’t let my words hurt him.There was no answer, not one in her heart, not onein the darkness. Outside the house another gust of windslammed against the house, rattling the windowpanes,jarring her soul.“Tell me, sweetheart, just tell me the truth.”“Which truth?” She squeezed her eyes shut. Torn, sotorn. Saying no to him was like ripping out her soul.