by Lilah Rivers
Blessed With a New Beginning
AN INSPIRATIONAL ROMANCE NOVEL
LILAH RIVERS
Copyright © 2020 by Lilah Rivers
All Rights Reserved.
This book may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the publisher.
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher.
Table of Contents
Blessed With a New Beginning
Table of Contents
Blessed With a New Beginning
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Her Unintentional Pure Love
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Blessed With a New Beginning
Introduction
Following the tragic death of her parents, Clementine Rogers decides to go further to the west to reconnect with the rest of her family. Leaving the painful memories behind, she focuses on her new life, as everything is completely different now. Meeting another newcomer, David, will put a smile on her face for the first time in a long time, but will she be ready to find out that he’s also running away from his past? Could love actually thrive in a place as hostile as Feldey?
Feeling utterly betrayed, David Brown leaves his home with no second thoughts to start fresh somewhere far away. When he stumbles upon an opportunity to take up his ideal job on a ranch, David has no doubt that it was God who gave him this chance. The moment luck seems to be on his side just for once, will he get a second chance in love too? Will he ever be able to trust Clementine and believe in love again?
As Clementine and David get to know each other, they will soon find out that hidden dangers lurk in Feldey. When a terrifying fire threatens to destroy the ranch's future, questions begin to arise, and they will have to face a great dilemma. Staying together will be proven much more dangerous than they could ever expect. Will they be able to track down and fight back an invisible foe? Will they sacrifice their happiness to guarantee everyone’s safety?
Chapter 1
“Thank you for the ride,” Clementine Rogers said, taking her final step out of the cart that had carried her thus far.
She had never been out west, but she was excited for a fresh start. Ever since the deaths of her mother and father, Clementine had wondered what her future might hold. There was no saying, but she knew that Feldey was a start.
Aunt Roberta’s ranch was just a mile down the road and it wouldn’t take her long to walk the distance. But from here, she was amazed at the beauty of the landscape, the rolling hills, and the open sky beyond them.
Her steps were unsure, but firm. And as she reached the door, it took a steady hand to knock.
“Hank, is that you?” came a voice on the other side.
Uncertain what to say, Clementine knew she was not loud enough when she answered.
“N-no, Aunt Roberta. It’s not Hank. It-it’s me, Clementine,” she said.
The sound of rushed footsteps gave way to the door opening and revealing the face of a woman so much like her own mother.
“Well, if it isn’t my sweet niece!” she exclaimed.
“Aunt Roberta!” Clementine said as her aunt’s arms embraced her.
“What are you doing here?” Aunt Roberta asked as she pulled away and ushered Clementine inside.
But it took only a moment for Aunt Roberta to stop in her tracks and look Clementine in the eye.
She knew.
“What happened?” Aunt Roberta asked, her eyes pooling with tears that mirrored Clementine’s.
With a labored breath, Clementine sat beside her Aunt.
“Typhoid,” Clementine replied, unable to say more about it.
“I am so sorry, my dear. I don’t know how you made it. I’ve heard that it’s getting bad in some parts,” she said.
“It truly is. I am so sorry to have to tell you this terrible news. I know that you and my mother were close when you were young,” Clementine said.
“We were. And your father?” Aunt Roberta asked.
“He went just days after she did. I know he loved me and he tried to hang on for my sake, but knowing that his wife was waiting for him? Knowing that the Lord was on the other side of that final breath? I can hardly blame him,” Clementine said.
“Nor can I,” Aunt Roberta agreed.
“What do you intend to do now? Where will you go?” Aunt Roberta asked, with a hint of hope in her voice.
Clementine was anxious about making her request. She did not want to be an inconvenience to her aunt.
“Well, I wondered if…”
“Please,” Aunt Roberta said, rushing in the moment that Clementine paused.
Clementine’s brown eyes looked into the brown eyes of her aunt with wordless gratitude.
“Honestly, I would love to have you stay here with me. Ever since your Uncle Philip died, I have been so lonely. I want company and if you need a place to stay, I want you here with me,” Aunt Roberta told her.
“I can be useful,” Clementine said, eagerly. “I am good with my hands and Mother taught me to cook well enough.”
“I have no doubt of that. She was the best cook in our family. Far better than me. And while I don’t like the idea of growing idle myself, I could use a young lady around here to help out,” she said.
Clementine was relieved by the fact that she could be useful. More than anything, she wanted to be with family, and if Aunt Roberta was willing to have her, it was the best thing she could have hoped for.
“What can I help with?” Clementine asked, excited to have something to do already.
“I like selling my needlepoints in town and would appreciate more time to do that. If you want to take on the cooking, I would be delighted. At the moment, I have only one worker. My other just got married and moved out to California to try his hand at mining for gold. But Hank is a good man and he needs to eat,” Aunt Roberta said.
“Then I would be more than happy to be the one who feeds you both,” Clementine said with a grin.
“What else do you want? How else can I help you?” Aunt Roberta asked.
Clementine shrugged.
“I’m not sure. I can say that my life has not been easy for the past month. I took what Mother and Father left for me and made my way out here. There was nothing else that I could do,” she said.
“I understand that. But I’m asking what else you want. For your life. I know that cooking for your aunt is not going to be your primary goal in life
. Would you want to be a schoolmarm? Get married? Open up an inn where you can cook for everyone?” Aunt Roberta asked.
Clementine had thought about all of these things time and time again, but more so lately than ever. Her future had always been something she had expected to come and find her. But now, for the first time, she was having to seek it out.
“Well, I never did consider opening a boarding house and I do like that idea, but to be honest, I want the life that my mother had,” Clementine confessed, releasing her blonde hair and weaving fingers through it before she tried to tie it back again.
The journey had made many of the ends come loose and she worried about it being dirty after all of the travel.
“So you wish to be married and have children?” Aunt Roberta asked.
“Yes. I wish for that more than anything,” Clementine said.
“I know that your mother loved all of you dearly, even if you were the only one to make it past the age of ten,” Aunt Roberta said.
It had been difficult, watching her brother and two sisters pass away so young. Clementine’s older sister had been bitten by a snake when she was just six years old. When Clementine was eight, her mother had a baby girl who did not survive the night. And the little brother that followed a year later made it until he was ten and died just last year as the first of the family to contract typhoid.
“Well, it was a shame,” Clementine said, not able to adequately use her words to express the grief and sorrow that she had undergone in the midst of all of this loss.
“More than a shame, my dear. You have experienced the sort of loss that no one should ever have to go through. My heart aches for you. And while I was not so fortunate to have any children of my own, I can still try to understand what your mother must have gone through in losing them,” Aunt Roberta said.
“Yes, it broke her heart day by day,” Clementine said.
“But you are still here. Moreover, you survived the journey to arrive here and that means something. I’m betting that the Lord has great plans for you and that you will be the one to carry our family forward through the next generation,” Aunt Roberta declared.
Clementine looked away, shyly. She hoped that she would have an opportunity to do just that.
“So, tell me about the ranch. How have things been since Uncle Philip passed away?” Clementine asked.
“It has been tough,” Aunt Roberta sighed. “He was my rock and he did most of the work. Well, him and Hank. After he died, I had Hank hire two new men, but one went in search of gold and the other went south because he learned that he had an inheritance of his own ranch when his uncle died.”
“It sounds like you have lost quite a lot of help,” Clementine said.
“Yes, I have. And it is help that I need. But I’m planning to hire another man soon. Hank has promised that he will be on the lookout for me. If someone expresses an interest in working here, he will find the right man for the job,” she said.
“It isn’t an overly large town, is it?” Clementine asked.
“No, sadly. Most anyone who wants work already has it. But it is a good community and I like the people here. They are good and kind. They supported me a great deal when Philip died,” she said.
“Well, that’s a relief,” Clementine said.
In the midst of their conversation, the door opened and a man looked up at them, surprised to see that Aunt Roberta was not alone.
“Ah, and here is Hank right now,” Aunt Roberta announced. “Hank, this is my niece, Clementine.”
“Very nice to meet you,” Clementine said.
“You too, ma’am,” he greeted.
Hank dragged into the house, his left leg falling behind as if it did not work so well. He was a young man, not much older than she was. And he was handsome in his own way. But it was clear that he was shy and ashamed of his leg.
“Sorry to intrude, Mrs. Roberta, but I wanted to ask if you needed anything from town. I’ve got to get a couple things for the horses and didn’t want to leave without checking,” he said.
“Thank you, Hank. I am quite well, but is there anything you need, my dear?” she asked Clementine.
“Not that I can think of. I can always go into town and explore later to buy whatever you would like me to cook,” she said.
“Oh, I have plenty around here for now. You are welcome to explore as you like, but don’t worry about something as silly as having to buy the supplies for cooking,” Aunt Roberta said.
“All right then, I’ll just be on my way,” Hank said.
He departed and Clementine turned back to her Aunt.
“He’s a bit shy. There is a young lady in town who certainly has his attention, but I think his confidence has been lost even since his accident,” she explained.
“That is unfortunate. I’m sure he is a nice young man,” Clementine said.
“Oh, he is at that. A wonderful, hard worker. But I do need someone who can bear a bit more weight than he can. It’s tough for him to be the only one out there when he doesn’t have full use of that left leg,” she said.
“Is there any way to hire from outside of Feldey?” Clementine asked.
“That is the very thing that I intend to do. But it isn’t always easy finding people. Hank went to a nearby town just last week and asked around, but nobody was looking for work,” she said.
“That’s funny. In the cities out east, there are always people seeking jobs,” Clementine said.
“Oh, you will soon find that Feldey is nothing at all like those places,” Aunt Roberta said.
“I have already noticed that,” Clementine said with a laugh.
“In this area - we call it Montana - there are far more mountains than people. It is a quiet life, but a good one,” Aunt Roberta said.
“I think I will like it here. I could do with a bit of peace and quiet for a time. After everything that has happened, my mind needs the calm,” Clementine said.
“Then you have certainly come to the right place. Now, you must be exhausted from your travels. Would you like a bit of rest?” Aunt Roberta asked.
“That would be nice,” Clementine said.
Aunt Roberta led her up the stairs in the ranch house and to an empty bedroom with nothing but a bed and a desk.
“This is all I have for now, but we can get you a wardrobe easily enough. I’m sorry if you have to keep your things in that bag,” Aunt Roberta said.
“I don’t mind it,” she replied with a smile.
Clementine looked around the spacious room and was pleased to know that she would have a home for now. Maybe it wasn’t the home that she was used to, but it was a new start.
It was a fresh place where she could heal her heart, so broken by the loss of the ones that she loved. And if everything went as she hoped, it would be a place where she could spend her future.
A future that she was blessed enough to have.
Chapter 2
David held his canteen under the artesian well that poured out the coldest, purest water he had ever tasted.
Having traveled this far, he looked around the beautiful, mountainous region that made up Feldey and wished he knew someone nearby so that he could stay the night before getting on with his journey.
Still, he had no idea where his endpoint would be. He could do what everyone else was doing and try his luck in California, but he had never been a man right for mining. Horses were his trade. Horses and cows and chickens.