The Shepherd's Heart Series: A Boxed Set Book Bundle Collection Volumes 1-4

by Lynnette Bonner

  She smiled softly. From the pain pulsing through her cheek, she probably didn’t look much better. “Good morning.”

  He tilted forward and brushed a soft kiss against her lips. “Morning.” Resting his head against his bent arm he worried his upper lip for a moment then said, “I realized in all that happened yesterday, I forgot to talk to you about something.”

  Her heart thudded. “Oh?”

  “Smith is selling his half of the Bar B.”

  She relaxed. “Of course you should buy it.”

  His teeth flashed white. “Good, because I already told Cade I wanted to, but I’d need to talk to you first.”

  “I have one condition.” She laid a hand ever so softly against his cheek.

  A frown flitted across his face. “Oh?” Then realization dawned and he chuckled. “Of course we should keep the children.”

  She felt a jolt of joy and… rightness. “Let’s go tell them!”

  One of his eyebrows quirked, “The sun’s barely up.”

  “I know.”

  He laughed. “Alright.”

  Thirty minutes later, at their knock, Sean answered the door in his bare feet. At the sight of them standing on his porch with sloppy grins on their faces, Sean rubbed his jaw and glanced back and forth between them, a frown of befuddlement on his face. “You two do know what time it is, don’t you?”

  Victoria felt a stab of consternation. “This was my idea, I’m sorry we woke you. We just—”

  Rocky laid a hand against her shoulder and brushed past his father. “He’s teasing, Ria. He’s probably been up for at least an hour already.”

  She looked at Sean who grinned with an unrepentant shrug and motioned her inside.

  “Pa, I’m buying in with Cade.”

  Sean nodded. “Figured you would.”

  “And we’re going to keep the children.”

  He grinned at that. “I’m glad.”

  “We’d like to take them out to the ranch, let them know our decision and show them around the place a bit.”

  Sean gestured up the stairs without a word, but a glimmer of moisture shone in his eyes.

  Rocky started up the stairs, but when Victoria started to follow, Sean laid a hand on her arm. “Young lady, I don’t believe I’ve told you yet…” he pulled her into a warm fatherly embrace, “but welcome to the family.”

  She hugged him back, feeling a little overwhelmed by the roil of excitement and joy welling through her. “Thank you.”

  A few moments later, Rocky handed a sleepy Damera up to her on the wagon seat and Victoria snuggled the little girl into her lap. She rested her chin on the top of the mop of dark curls and closed her eyes, love and thankfulness rolling over her. Rocky boosted ChristyAnne up to sit beside her and Victoria wrapped one arm around her, pulling her up tight against her side as Jimmy climbed into the back.

  “Where are we going?” There was a hint of trepidation in ChristyAnne’s question.

  “Just a few minutes and we’ll show you,” Rocky said. He clicked to the horses and set them into motion with a snap of the reins.

  The children settled into silence, Damera’s soft little snores, the musical notes of the birds, and the jangling of the trace chains, the only sounds marring the morning stillness. A few minutes later Rocky pulled the team to a stop at the top of a hill overlooking the Bar B spread.

  Victoria scooted nearer to Rocky and pulled ChristyAnne even closer to her side, making room for Jimmy on the seat beside her.

  “Jimmy, come on up here and sit next to your sister.” She met Rocky’s gaze and he gave her a wink and a smile.

  “She ain’t my sister,” Jimmy grumbled even as he complied and climbed over the back of the seat to plunk down beside ChristyAnne.

  Rocky set the brake and looped the reins around the brake handle. “Oh yes she is.” He grinned at the family seated beside him.

  ChristyAnne’s head popped up. “I am?”

  Victoria and Rocky answered together. “Yes. You are.”

  “Wait, so you’re saying…?” Undisguised hope tinged the edges of Jimmy’s question.

  “We’re saying,” emotion clogged Rocky’s voice and he cleared his throat looking to Victoria for help.

  Victoria put one hand on his forearm. “We’re saying you’re home to stay.”

  ChristyAnne squealed in glee and threw her arms around Victoria, startling a sleepy Damera into wakefulness.

  A grin the size of a half moon spread across Jimmy’s face and he reached out and tweaked ChristyAnne’s hair. “Guess that means I can tease you for real now.”

  Damera pushed ChristyAnne away. “I’m twying to sweep. Pwease be quiet.”

  ChristyAnne pulled away from Damera and folded her arms with a disgusted glare in Jimmy’s direction. “What it means, Jimmy, is that you have to stick up for me now instead of helping all the boys tease me!”

  Jimmy chuckled and looked down at the spread below them. “What’s this place?”

  “This is the Bar B, our new home.”

  “Really?!”

  “Wow!” Jimmy leapt to his feet. “Can we go down and look around?”

  Rocky chuckled. “We sure can.” With a flip of the reins he set the team in motion again. After several hours of exploration looking around the ranch and showing the children the horses, including the mare Rocky hoped would be the start of a great herd, they trooped back to the wagon in happy spirits.

  “When do we get to move in?” ChristyAnne asked. “I’ve never had my own room before!”

  Victoria smiled. “Well, we need to give Cade some time to decide what he wants to do with the things in the house. It won’t be easy for him so it might be a few weeks before we actually move.” She squeezed the girl in a sideways hug. “The most important thing is that we’re all together.”

  ChristyAnne nodded with a happy sigh and Victoria couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this joyful. But a few moments later when they pulled into their yard, the sight of a man waiting in a buggy, set her pulse racing.

  “Whoa.” Rocky pulled the team to a stop by the front porch.

  “Who’s that?” Victoria couldn’t disguise the tremor in her voice.

  “I don’t know.” Rocky leapt to the ground and reached up to help her and the girls from the seat, then approached the man. “Hello. Name’s Rocky Jordan. What can I do for you?”

  “Good to meet you.” The man shook Rocky’s hand eyeing first his battered face and then Victoria’s with a frown of concern. Finally, he pushed his round spectacles up on his nose. “I’m Roger Evans, here on behalf of The Children’s Aid Society.”

  ChristyAnne’s hand slipped into Victoria’s and held on tight.

  “Would you like to come in?” Rocky stretched his hand toward the house.

  “No. No. That won’t be necessary. I need to be on my way, but wanted to drop in and check to see if there was anything you needed with regard to the children.”

  Rocky didn’t hesitate. “We’ve decided we’d like to adopt all three children. Can you help us with that?”

  The man blinked and pursed his lips. A flick of his wrist and a pistol appeared in his hand. A pistol aimed directly at Rocky. The man glanced over at Victoria calmly. “Does your husband beat you ma’am?”

  Victoria gasped in shock, wondering where in the world he’d gotten that idea, then suddenly she remembered her face. “Oh! No! This wasn’t him. Another man did this to me, and Rocky got that,” she gestured to his face, “when he came to my rescue. The other man is now in jail. It’s a long story.”

  Roger seemed to ponder that, then a huge smile split his face as he holstered his gun. “Sorry. I’ve seen a lot of strange things in this job and one can never be too careful. As to your question, Sir, certainly! This is just what we like to see happen. Our goal at the Society is to try and find new families for children, not just places for them to stay. I have to admit, that I had my reservations based on the information I received from Miss Nickerson, but I’ve do
ne some checking on you two in town. You both come highly recommended by your friends and neighbors. So I don’t see any reason to delay adoption at all so long as the story you’ve told me here today turns out to be true.”

  Rocky grinned and Victoria realized she and the children were all doing the same. “It’s true. You can check in at the Sheriff’s office in town. They’ll confirm what happened.”

  Roger settled his top hat more firmly. “I will. And if all is as it seems I’ll bring by the paper work next week. Does that sound alright?”

  “Yes!” Victoria couldn’t help the outburst. “Yes, it does!”

  Everyone laughed.

  “Well, alright then. I will see all of you next Tuesday. Say three o’clock?”

  “That should be fine,” Rocky affirmed.

  Later that night after they’d tucked three very excited children into bed Victoria collapsed onto the settee in the parlor. Rocky came in a moment later and eased down beside her. Leaning forward he rested his elbows on his knees, clasped his hands together and looked over at her.

  She couldn’t stop the tears that sprang to her eyes.

  “Hey.” Scooting closer, he wrapped one hand around the back of her neck and pulled her head down onto his chest. “Shhhhhh. Everything’s alright, now. Everything’s alright.”

  She dashed the moisture from her cheeks. “All these years I’ve been so sure about the reasons I was given up for adoption. But then when I heard the story of why my mother gave me away, I realized how wrong I’ve been. I’m so ashamed.”

  Rocky brushed her hair back from her face and dropped a kiss on her temple. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

  She ignored his reassurance. “All these years, I’ve thought God must not really think I’m special because he allowed me to be born to parents who just tossed me away like so much garbage. Yet that wasn’t the case at all.” Awe seeped into her voice. “She loved me. She really loved me.”

  “Yes, she did.” He nuzzled her temple again.

  “I feel like the Psalmist when he said God prepared a table for him in the presence of his enemies. God watched over me and gave me refuge from what could have been a horrible life.” At the thought of growing up with Simon Saunders for a father instead of her own dear Papa, she shuddered.

  “Yes, He did.” His arms tightened around her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop him from hurting you the other day. I’ve never felt so powerless.”

  She lifted her head and looked deep into his eyes, then leaned forward and pressed her mouth to his briefly. “I felt the same way. I don’t want to hold back anymore Rocky, but it still scares me. I don’t think I could handle it if anything happened to you.”

  Softly, his fingers skimmed over the swollen cut on her cheek and she felt a tremor race through him. “And I don’t think I could handle it if anything happened to you. So what are we going to do with each other?”

  She gave a little chuckle and snuggled even closer. “Well, maybe we should just never leave the house again.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “In case you’ve forgotten, we’ve got children. I don’t think the never-leaving-the-house idea is going to work so well.”

  “Well maybe just for tonight then.” She tilted her head up and gave him a lingering kiss. “After all each day has enough trouble of its own.”

  “Now you’re talking.” He cupped the back of her head and pulled her firmly toward him, slanting his mouth over hers.

  Distinct snickering emanated from the hallway.

  Rocky jerked his head up and met her gaze, a twinkle glittering in his eyes as he dropped one lid in a quick wink. “Seems like the mice in this house must be getting bigger,” he said loudly. “Sure hope I don’t have to stomp a couple of them!”

  There was the sound of scrambling feet and then silence.

  “Now where were we?” he asked.

  She grinned. “Oh, I remember, but perhaps we’d like to continue this in another room?”

  He pumped his eyebrows twice. “Why yes, I think we just might.”

  He stood and reached down a hand to help her up and as Victoria followed him down the hallway, she praised God for helping her to recognize the refuge He’d placed her in and for blessing her with such a wonderful family.

  Dear Reader,

  I hope you’ve enjoyed Rocky and Victoria’s story as much as I have. Researching about the many orphan’s who came west on the trains was indeed heartbreaking at times. There were many reasons why orphans ended up on the trains, and I’ve only captured a few of them here. Some were ”adopted“ for nothing more than slave labor, but there were a few children who found loving homes out west, and it was my pleasure to portray a couple similar scenarios here.

  If you enjoyed this story and could find some time to leave a short, honest review on your favorite site, I’d really appreciate it.

  I’d love to connect with you. You can find out more about me by visiting www.lynnettebonner.com, signing up for my infrequent newsletter (you'll receive a free contemporary romance novella), or on Facebook.

  by Lynnette Bonner

  Spring Meadow Sanctuary

  THE SHEPHERD’S HEART SERIES, Book 4

  Published by Serene Lake Publishing

  Copyright © 2012 by Lynnette Bonner. All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Lynnette Bonner of Indie Cover Design - www.indiecoverdesign.com

  Images ©

  www.fotolia.com, File: #18460975_XL

  www.bigstockphoto.com, File: #2351853

  Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Spring Meadow Sanctuary is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity and are used fictitiously. All other characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination.

  Printed in the U.S.A.

  TO THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE:

  Our country has been built on the hard work and dedication of many generations and nationalities. Many resided during times when a living was made through hard-scrabble work and a lot of bootstrap pulling. They labored like nobody’s business but also put their faith in God for protection and sustenance. I, for one, am thankful, because we wouldn’t be where we are today without their endurance and unflinching work ethic.

  In my books I attempt to honor that spirit.

  Psalm 23

  A PSALM OF DAVID

  The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

  He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

  He leads me beside the still waters.

  He restores my soul;

  He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.

  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;

  For You are with me;

  Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

  You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.

  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life;

  And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.

  Prologue

  Shiloh, Oregon.

  September, 1887

  Cade Bennett massaged one hand over the muscles of his neck as he stepped out of the bank. He’d just returned from a long trail drive and weariness weighed heavy.

  “Cade Bennett! How’ve you been?”

  Cade blinked. Sam Perry was a long ways from home. “Sam! Good to see you.” Cade shook his friend’s hand, even as a leery uneasiness narrowed his gaze.

  The short greenhorn stood in the center of the boardwalk blocking Cade’s progress, and his presence here could only mean one thing, more work. And likely the work revolved around some trouble with Sam’s conniving sister, Katrina.

  He rolled his head stretching tired muscles. “Walk with me, would you?” he
said, as he pushed by and headed toward the mercantile. “What can I do for you, Sam?”

  Even as Cade asked the question, he dreaded the answer. All he wanted was to drop into a chair out at the ranch, drink a hot cup of coffee, and catch up with Rocky and his wife, Victoria. He hadn’t spoken with Rocky, his best friend and partner, for several months, and it would sure be nice to sleep in a real bed for a change. Maybe find out a little information about Rocky’s sister, Sharyah. Was she still teaching here in town?

  Sam snatched his bowler from his head and hustled to catch up, his snakeskin boots beating a tattoo on the boardwalk and the gold chain from his pocket watch clinking against the buttons of his vest. “Now Cade don’t brush me off so fast. You know I wouldn’t be here unless I really needed your help.”

  Cade kept walking. Whatever had brought Sam here, especially if it did revolve around Katrina, smelled like trouble. And trouble he could do without. Perry, an eastern banker who’d only moved west a few years ago, owned a ranch near Beth Haven where he lived with his sister. Cade had sold Perry horses on a number of occasions, but the man had never come to him – he’d always summoned Cade to his lavish spread, always too busy to leave home. So whatever had broken his pattern must be important. Still…he rolled his shoulders wishing away some of the weariness…the last thing he wanted right now was another cross-country trip.

  Knowing Sam would get to the point soon enough, Cade stepped down into the dust of the street, crossing just in front of an oncoming buckboard.

  The little man darted after him. “I asked around. And I’m still hearing that if I want to hire an honest hombre to do some lawmen’s work, you’re the one to talk to.”

  ‘Hombre’ pronounced with his Yankee twang, was quite the thing to hear. Cade suppressed a grin. “Sam, my friend, I’d like to help, but you’re catching me at a bad time. I’m not interested. Sorry.” Cade pushed into Halvorson’s Mercantile, the bell jangling above his head. He couldn’t go out to the ranch without some candy for the three kids Rocky and Victoria had adopted.