“Really.”
Pauline nodded. “I don’t think they are my kin, but they say they are.”
Mae settled a warm wrap around the woman’s thin frame and got up to put more wood on the fire. How was she going to find Pauline’s relatives? Her eyes focused on the small writing desk in the corner. It wasn’t her place to pilfer through Pauline’s private papers, but how else would she find a clue to the woman’s past? Pauline had lived in this house since before Mae was born, and the only thing Mae had ever heard about her elderly friend concerned the railroad ruckus. Pauline had never married and had no children.
Settling in a chair across from Pauline, Mae contemplated her options. Her gaze shifted back to the desk, where the late afternoon light highlighted a thick layer of dust. The house often smelled of pot roast or stew, but today it reeked of neglect.
Getting out of her chair, Mae moved toward the desk, lightly wiping dust with the hem of her dress. “Pauline?”
Dementia came and went swiftly. Now that Pauline had finished her cup of tea, perhaps her memory would be clearer.
“Yes, dear?”
“About Tom?”
The older woman smiled. “Yes?”
“Would you happen to have his address?”
Downing the last sip from her cup, Pauline gave her a dry look. “Cats don’t have addresses, dear.”
Cats? Cats. Tomcat. Mae’s eyes focused on the bundle of fur sitting beside the stove. Giving a wide yawn, the cat turned around and then settled back comfortably on the rug.
Tom Cat.
Well, he’d be of no help.
Other Books by Lori Copeland
What are you going to do, McAllister? Put your life on hold forever and let a woman like Ragan slip through your fingers so you can pursue scum like Bledso?
Johnny knew Bledso wasn’t worth a hair on Ragan’s head. Why couldn’t he let it go and just get on with his life?
Convicted of a bank robbery he didn’t commit, drifter Johnny McAllister is sentenced to do time in a rehabilitation program in the home of Judge Proctor McMann, a gentle, wise soul who believes in second chances.
Johnny’s aim is to be a model prisoner. He hopes to be released early to return to his life’s mission: to find and kill Dirk Bledso, the man who wiped out his family 16 years before. Johnny has planned for everything…except his encounter with Ragan Ramsey, the judge’s beautiful and kind housekeeper, and his involvement with the generous folks of Barren Flats.
Can this would-be outlaw let go of his hate and anger and embrace something better—something he can’t yet see?
A tender romance that shows how even the hard law of the West doesn’t stand a chance when God’s mercy, warm friendship, and true love come to reside in a lonely man’s heart.
The corner of Cade’s eye caught a glimpse of a redheaded woman entering the drugstore. His quickening heartbeat caught him off guard. For a moment he thought it was Zoe. It wasn’t. He settled back in the saddle, grinning. Zoe Bradshaw. Now there was a woman not easily forgotten.
Famous bounty hunter Cade Kolby is forced off the trail to decide the fate of his late sister’s orphaned children. He’s not only returning to his hometown and nieces and nephews but also to a fiery redhead he loved and left 15 years ago.
The last person Zoe Bradshaw wants to see is Cade, but she does want to raise her best friend’s children as her own. So she tries to be polite, if cool, even as the attraction between them flares up again. Only this time, Zoe is determined not to let Cade get close to her heart.
But the townsfolk have other ideas. They want to see the little orphans with a mother and a father, and they form a plan that includes the possibility of a kiss…
A tender romance that shows how even the hard law of the West doesn’t stand a chance when God’s mercy, warm friendship, and true love come to reside in a lonely man’s heart.
“You can’t let one woman ruin your whole life, son,” the old foreman said. “You got to pray harder and ask that the good Lord will send the right woman. You got to produce an heir.”
Walker thought he had plenty of time to worry about marriage and kids. After Trudy’s betrayal, it would be a cold day in July before he gave his heart to another woman.
Abandoned by his fiancée just hours before their wedding, Walker McKay is determined to never let a woman near his heart again. Then a near-fatal accident makes producing an heir to the ranch a high priority. Beginning all over and courting someone new is out of the question, so he’ll have to find a wife another way.
Wealthy railroad heiress Sarah Livingston wants to be married, but her suitors are either fortune hunters or deemed unsuitable by her unreasonable father. When the opportunity comes to take the place of a mail-order bride, she believes she’s found the answer to her husband problem and grabs it with both hands.
Will Sarah’s deception and Walker’s wounded heart keep them from finding what they are both looking for? Or will they discover that they are, after all, truly meant for each other.
A tender romance that shows how even a wounded past does not stand a chance when God’s mercy, warm friendship, and true love come to reside in a lonely man’s heart.
Harvest House Website
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The One Who Waits for Me Page 25