by Karen Kirst
“Well, girls, say goodbye to the Siddons Sisters Millinery Shop,” Susannah pronounced, breaking into Hannah’s domestic reverie. “Lillian Bellamy has a new sign ordered. The shop is really and truly hers now.”
Hannah gazed across the meadow at the small building that had been both her home and her torment for many years. The sign proclaiming Siddons Sisters Millinery Shop had grown so faded, it was difficult indeed to distinguish the writing. It still leaned against the front wall, never having been hung up properly in all the time they had owned the shop.
“What will become of the sign?” Becky asked. The cool breeze blew her dress closely against her figure. Hannah shook her head in wonder. Already her beautiful elder sister had slimmed down to her normal, slight frame. Not a pound lingered from her pregnancy.
“Daniel said he would have one of the men come down and remove it.” Susannah tucked a stray auburn lock back into her bonnet. “We will keep it in the barn, I think. I can’t bear to burn it. If I destroy the sign, it’s like it never happened.”
“But it did,” Hannah interjected. How ridiculous to think that all their shared history could be obliterated by the destruction of a single wooden plaque. “Don’t you both remember what it was like when we first arrived in Tansley?”
“We had just stepped off the mail coach,” Susannah began, a pensive look crossing her pretty face. “The solicitor said he’d left a key, but, of course, we couldn’t find it.”
“Just as Sue was about to break into the shop, Daniel happened along and picked the lock,” Becky continued. “Paul was with him. Who knew, on that day, that those two men would change our lives?”
“Through Paul, of course, we met John Reed.” Hannah hated to have her own husband, who had wrought the most profound changes of all, left out of this narration.
“Yes, I met John for the first time when Paul took me to London with Juliet,” Becky replied, tugging Hannah closer. “I thought him an awful dandy and a bad influence on my beloved. Of course, he was, and yet it was he who helped Paul understand just how much we had fallen in love.”
“But this story isn’t just about the men in our lives,” Susannah interjected, turning to them both with that leashed intensity that signified how very moved she was. “Through the shop, we each gained our independence. I’ll never forget the first time we made a sale, and it was to a genteel client—The Honorable Elizabeth Glaspell. How proud I was that day! We left Uncle Arthur’s house so downtrodden, so broken and absolutely penniless. We built this little shop up from the ground. We must never forget that.”
Hannah nodded. The shop hadn’t been her salvation in the same way it had helped Susannah. It had been a burden and an obligation, a sort of well-worn path she had to follow to secure a future she didn’t actually want. Yet, without it, she could not have understood, perhaps, what she wanted and what she was fighting against. In that way, she could appreciate the impact it had on her life.
Becky squeezed her hand, and Hannah looked at her sister. Her violet eyes held an understanding light. Becky hadn’t found the shop as vital as Susannah had, either. She, too, could comprehend the mixed emotions flooding through Hannah.
As they stood on the ridge, watching, the shop buzzed with activity. Customers came and went, some with packages, some empty-handed. Occasionally, she could discern Lillian Bellamy’s imperious French accent raised in excitement or anger. She stifled a smile. Yes, this shop was certainly not the Siddons sisters’ any longer. It didn’t even sound or look the same.
“I hate to leave, but it’s time for me to go home and nurse Sam.” Becky squeezed Hannah’s hand once more and released her. “This is the longest I’ve been away from him since he was born, and I can’t bear it any longer.”
Susannah nodded. “I should go see what mischief Charlie’s been up to.”
“And I am ready to return home,” Hannah replied. “I have so much to do to get the Park ready for the winter.” She paused, struggling for the right way to end this scene. After all, this was likely to be the last time the three sisters would stand together, looking over their shared early lives. Susannah had been right to bring them all together, to witness and testify to the end of this phase of their lives. “Sue, thank you for having the courage to stand up to Uncle Arthur all those years ago. Without your bravery, we would not have found our places in life.”
“Hear, hear,” Becky chimed in. “Nan is right. We are grateful to you, Susy.”
Susannah turned to look at them both, tears welling in her gray-green eyes. “Thank you for coming along with me,” she replied, in the humblest tone of voice Hannah had ever heard her use. “I could not have done it without you two.”
Hannah smiled, fighting back the tears stinging her own eyes. This was no time for sadness. Rather, this was a time of purpose and strength. She turned, following her sisters as they struck back across the moor, returning to their own homes and their own lives. The carriage was waiting for her at Goodwin Hall, and in just a short while, she would be back with John again. With difficulty, she restrained herself from breaking into a run. Already she had gained some disapproval from her eldest sister by running away from her own wedding festivities. She could not ruin the delicate balance of this bittersweet day by running once more, as hard as it was to slow herself down to a decorous pace. She would see John soon enough. She must be patient.
She was not sure what the future held, but as long as it held John and he was by her side, she could not wait to see what the Lord had in store for them. Or for all of them, for that matter.
*
Dear Reader,
It was difficult indeed to write Nan’s—or, rather, Hannah’s—story, because she was never really intended to have a story line of her own. Originally, I was going to write about Susannah and Becky alone, but it seemed coldhearted to keep the third Siddons sister from her own happily-ever-after. Thus, I had the rather daunting task of fleshing out her story and her character, and I hope I did her justice.
This book was also difficult to write because it is the last one I am writing, at least for the near future, about Tansley Village. Tansley is a real place in Derbyshire and I picked it off a map one day when I was writing my very first book, Captain of Her Heart. Since that book, every story I’ve done has featured Tansley either as the main setting or as the background for the rest of the story, as characters depart for other places in England.
My next series will also be about three sisters, but they will be a continent and a few generations apart from Tansley and the Siddons sisters. The Westmore girls are born and raised in New York at the turn of the last century, and must make the adjustment to life on a Texas ranch after their father passes away. I hope you will enjoy their stories, as well.
As always, you can read more about my upcoming books at www.lilygeorge.com, follow me on Twitter as @lilygeorge2, catch me on Facebook as lilygeorgeauthor, or shoot me an email at [email protected]. Thank you for reading!
Blessings,
Lily George
We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired Historical title.
You find illumination in days gone by. Love Inspired Historical stories lift the spirit as heroines tackle the challenges of life in another era with hope, faith and a focus on family.
Enjoy four new stories from Love Inspired Historical every month!
Connect with us on Harlequin.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com
ISBN-13: 9781488007750
A Practical Partnership
Copyright © 2016 by Sarah Baker
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable r
ight to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com
You find illumination in days gone by. Love Inspired Historical stories lift the spirit as heroines tackle the challenges of life in another era with hope, faith and a focus on family.
Four new titles are available every month.
www.Facebook.com/LoveInspiredbooks
www.Twitter.com/LoveInspiredbks
ISBN-13: 9781459295940
Copyright © 2016 Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
Reclaiming His Past
Copyright © 2016 by Karen Vyskocil
The Texan’s Engagement Agreement
Copyright © 2016 by Noelle Marchand
The Express Rider’s Lady
Copyright © 2016 by Stacy Henrie
A Practical Partnership
Copyright © 2016 by Sarah Baker
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com