by Zina Abbott
Back home, people knew her. They might criticize her choice of attire worn in the livery, but she had not needed to hide her gender. Her attempt to gain employment after moving to Lawrence had been a different matter. She sneaked away from her aunt’s home after making herself appear more like a teenage boy. Fortunately, since she was taller than many women and had a slender build with fairly flat hips, she had been able to pull off the deception while she lived in Lawrence, at least until the livery owner realized the “he” was really a she and word got back to her aunt. After that, Aunt Mena saw to it she spent her days wearing a skirt while standing next to a laundry tub.
Roslyn next undid the bun at the back of her head. Using her fingers, from behind her ears straight back to the center of her head, she parted her hair, twisted the top strands up, and secured them with several pins. The strands below the part she brushed smooth until they fell down her back.
She found her knife which, for years, she carried inside her waistband. She stared at the tool with its sharp, carbon steel blade and wrapped leather handle. Traitor. Roslyn shook her head. What had happened back home before she was forced to live with her aunt had not been the knife’s fault. She heaved deep breaths as she fought down the pounding of her heart. She blinked to chase away the tears that once again threatened. I’m already nervous about my future and devastated over leaving Emmy behind for now. I cannot think about that at the moment. She coaxed her brain into concentrating on her plan for that day—her intent to get out of this room that promised to sabotage her sanity with painful memories. She must find someplace in town where she could get away from both her past and her future—someplace where she could find peace and enjoyment in the moment.
Roslyn stood in front of the mirror. Holding the strand behind her left ear between the index and middle fingers of her left hand, she pulled her hair straight until her fingers reached her shoulder. She hacked off the hair above her fingers, which allowed the portion of those strands still attached to her head to spring back. She did the same all the way around until the lower back of her head was wreathed in a fringe of hair that brushed the top of her shoulders. She had figured out it did not matter if the ends looked poorly cut and uneven. Most people did not expect a poor teenage boy working in a livery to spend money at a barber.
The rest of her hair, Roslyn braided and tied off before she pinned it to the top of her head. She knew from experience that, as thick as her hair was, when she wished to wear it up in a more feminine style, all she had to do was tuck the short ends into the sides and bottom of her bun at the back of her head and pin them in place. No one would guess the bottom locks had been cut shorter than the rest of her hair.
To relieve the pressure on her breasts, Roslyn expressed some of the milk into the pads she had been wearing to keep her clothes dry. The entire time, she fought back tears that threatened to fall. This should be for Emmy. After tossing the pads over with the other clothes to be washed, she next took out two of the wide strips of muslin she had folded to use as pads to protect her clothes against milk leakage. She unfolded them and wrapped them around her chest, doing her best to flatten it to better match the physique of a male. She donned her shirt and jacket. Could she still pass as a teenage boy like she had before she learned Emmy was coming?
Roslyn pulled out the felt slouch hat that had been Ross’s most of his life until he exchanged it for a Union kepi. She used her hands to straighten the brim, and her fist punched the misshapen and lumpy crown into a semblance of acceptable shape. With no headband, she relied on its initial tightness as a child’s hat to keep it snug enough to hold to her head. She laced up the boots and slid on the leather gloves she had taken over after Ross’s fingers had grown too long and muscular to fit them. She stepped back from the mirror and turned side to side to gauge the effect.
Even as the tears that had plagued her ever since her arrival in Junction City ran down her cheeks, Roslyn smiled with satisfaction. “Hello, Ross. I wish the real Ross were here instead, but you’ll do for now.”
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My books that are part of a Sweet Americana Sweethearts multi-author series:
~o0o~
Grandma’s Wedding Quilts:
2.Kizzie's Kisses
Running from hostile Indians attacking Salina, Kansas in 1862, feisty Kizzie Atwell runs into freighter Leander Jones traveling the Smoky Hill Trail.
(Also Book 2 in my Atwell Kin series.)
~o0o~
Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs:
3. Aaron’s Annulment Bride
Believing she’s unworthy to be any man’s wife, Andrea Dalton marries Aaron Brinks so he can get title to a mining company house. But now she wants an annulment. Can he convince her to stay?
6. Cat’s Meow
Catherine Everett loves tall, lanky miner, Harold Calloway. She wants to marry him, but there is one “meowly” little problem.
7. Bargain Bessie
Bessie Carlson, a confirmed spinster, meets Zeb Jacobson, a successful Monarch Bend rancher who is NOT pushing forty.
11.Dead-Set Delphinia
Delphinia is dead set on being married within a week before her father can track her down. Bennett is dead set on continuing to muddle through life on his own.
15.Evasive Eddie Joe
Cowboy vs. the miners – who will marry the bride?
18.Two Sisters and the Christmas Groom
Annie comes to Jubilee Springs to work as a maid. Kate comes as a mail order bride to marry a local miner, Michael. What could go wrong?
19.Nathan’s Nurse
Will she marry a man too damaged by an injury to know who she is?
~o0o~
Zina Abbott’s Independence Day 1881
Zina Abbott’s Collection 1 of her first three books in the
Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs series.
Zina Abbott’s Harvest Dance 1881
Zina Abbott’s Collection 2 of her fourth and fifth books in the
Sweethearts of Jubilee Spring series.
~o0o~
Lockets & Lace:
0.0The Bavarian Jeweler
The Lockets & Lace series prequel:
The back of her locket read, “My heart is always with you.”
19.Virginia’s Vocation
Will Virginia’s vocation fill the empty spaces of her heart?
(Also Book 1 in my Atwell Kin series.)
3.Otto’s Offer
Will Otto’s offer still stand when trouble from Libby’s past catches up with her?
(Also Book 3 in my Atwell Kin series.)
26.Hannah’s Handkerchief
(Also Book 4 in my Atwell Kin series)
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Other Zina Abbott Books
~o0o~
Kendrick
Book 9 in the series, Bachelors & Babies
(Also Too Old for Babies in the Too Old in Columbia series)
Escape from Gold Mountain
Threatened by two unscrupulous men, he never wished to abduct her. Can he help her escape?
Nissa
Book 3 in the series, The Widows of Wildcat Ridge
Two romances. Following the mine disaster that killed most of the men in town, two women—one a widow with two children, one never married—wonder if they should plan a future in Wildcat Ridge
Diantha
Book 14 in the series, The Widows of Wildcat Ridge
Two romances. Following the mine disaster that killed most of the men in town, two women—one a widow with two children, one never married—are determined to stay in Wildcat Ridge. Will their decision mean they face a future without love?
Charlie’s Choice
Prequel to the Atwell Kin series:
Charlie, it would be easier to stop the flow of the great Missouri and Kansas Rivers than to prevent the Americans from coming to Kansas. Will Charlie stay with the white Americans, cling to the
past with the Kansa tribe, or try to straddle both worlds?
Millwright’s Daughter
The past held her future hostage. He risked future to save hers.
Mail Order Penelope
Book 23 in the Widows, Brides & Secret Babies series
(Scheduled for release August 2020)
Hannah’s Highest Regard
Book 5 in the series, Atwell Kin
If she could choose between two Army officers, which would earn her highest regard?
(Scheduled for release September 2020)
~o0o~
Christmas Stories
A Christmas Promise
The gift of second chances and a promise for a brighter future in this novelette set during Christmas in 1873 Wyoming.
Too Old For Christmas
In 1854 Columbia, California, Sean Flood meets the widow Ona McNair on one of the worst days of his life, and then he meets the widow’s two sons. At nine years of age, the oldest has been told he is too old for Christmas. Sean knows exactly what he wants for Christmas that year.
About the Author
Zina Abbott is the pen name used by Robyn Echols for her historical novels.
The author currently lives with her husband in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite.” She is a member of Women Writing the West, Western Writers of America, and American Night Writers Association. She enjoys any kind of history including family history. When she is not piecing together novel plots, she pieces together quilt blocks.
Please sign up for her Newsletter to stay informed of upcoming releases and special offers.
Please visit Zina Abbott on her Website.
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Visit and follow her Amazon Author Page.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Disclaimer
Maps
Prologue
Chapters 1-24
Epilogue
Author’s Notes
Thank you for reading Mail Order Lorena
Excerpt Mail Order Roslyn
Zina’s Sweet Americana Sweethearts books
Other Zina Abbott Books
About Zina Abbott