Love Is Patient Romance Collection

by Vetsch, Erica; McDonough, Vickie; Barton, Janet Lee

  An ache began in the depths of Elaine’s being at the sweetness of the moment. Father, whatever happens next, no matter what Dan says, let me remember this sweetness.

  When she knew she couldn’t bear another moment, she glanced up at him. “Whatever it is, Dan, you can tell me.”

  A sound between a sob and a groan escaped from his throat. He raised her hand to his lips, then with a sigh released it and let it fall to her side.

  “I know you’ve questioned my championing of the women who work at the saloon. I don’t blame you. Maybe it’s not the wisest course to take. It surely hasn’t done my social life much good in the past.”

  He looked down into her eyes, and she could see the pain in his.

  “Until I was five, I lived with my mother in a room above a saloon. She worked there, you see.”

  Elaine blinked, trying to absorb his meaning. “She was a cleaning lady?”

  “No, a saloon girl.”

  A shock passed through her body, but Elaine took a deep breath and steeled herself against whatever might be coming next.

  “I grew up being bounced on the knees of gamblers, drunks, and women of questionable morals and had no idea it was not an ordinary life for a child.” Dan ran a hand over his face. “To this day, I don’t know why my mother was reduced to such a state. I only know she was an angel to one small boy. She cared for me, protected me, and loved me. When I was five years old, she was killed. She’d picked me up to get me out of harm’s way but never made it to the stairs. When the bullet hit her, she fell with me in her arms.”

  He stopped, and Elaine knew from the horror on his face he was reliving the moment from the eyes of that small child. The blood rushed from her face, and she fought the dizziness that tried to overcome her. She couldn’t faint. Not now. Dan was hurting. She could see the pain written all over his face, feel it in the trembling of his body.

  She reached up and touched his cheek. “How horrible for you. I’m so sorry, Dan. What happened to you after that?”

  “I was placed in an orphanage in a nearby city. Years later, when I was eighteen, I went back to try to find out more about my mother and why she was killed, but no one remembered her. Or if people did, they wouldn’t admit it. I couldn’t even find her grave.”

  He took her hand, which still rested on his cheek. “I’m not telling you these things to get your sympathy, Elaine. I want you to know why I am who I am.”

  He led her to a small bench at the back of the house, and they sat down.

  “A benefactor, knowing my desire to study medicine, paid my way to medical college. I threw myself into my studies, and my benefactor, an established physician, took me in. Over the next eight years, I became quite successful. Then a typhoid fever epidemic hit the city. We eventually got it under control, but there were many deaths. Most of them on the docks and in the saloons. You see, the upstanding folks had to be taken care of first. When I realized what was happening, I headed down there, but it was too late. I did what I could but saved very few. One girl, not more than sixteen, died in my arms. I’ll never forget the look of fear on her face.”

  He leaned back and closed his eyes, and Elaine thought her heart would break for him. She wanted to take him in her arms and comfort him, but somehow she knew his story wasn’t over.

  He opened his eyes and sat up straight. “After that, I left the city and opened up a practice in a small town. But before long, some of the good ladies there decided I was worthless and had no morals because I tried to help the unfortunates in the saloons. I realized some of them were there by choice, but most weren’t. Besides, I had taken an oath. Of course, my practice dropped off, and I couldn’t make a living, so I headed out to another town. And then another. But trouble followed me everywhere I went. I’m so tired of it all. I want respectability so badly. But I just can’t seem to stay out of trouble.”

  “But, Dan, you haven’t done anything wrong.” Surprise filled Elaine as the words left her mouth. She really meant them.

  “Do you mean that, Elaine? You’re not shocked?”

  “I probably would have been two months ago. God has changed me, Dan. I thought I had compassion before, but I know now the compassion I had was conditional. It took working with Mary and Lottie and being around Lila to show me the truth about myself.”

  Dan reached over and traced his thumb along her jawline and looked into her eyes, searching. Elaine looked back without trying to hide her feelings from him.

  “Lainey.” The word was only a whisper. He touched her face, caressing her cheek, and raised her hand to his lips.

  When he lifted his head, Elaine realized that she was trembling from head to toe.

  “Lainey, my Lainey. This isn’t the moment for the question I want to ask you. You have the right to think over the things I’ve told you. And maybe you’ll decide I’m not the man you want to give your heart to—the man you’d want to be a father to your children.”

  He bent down and kissed the top of her head. “I love you. Whatever you decide, I’ll accept and understand.”

  Dan brought the buggy to a stop in front of the orphanage and turned to Elaine.

  “It’s been a wonderful day, hasn’t it?”

  “Yes, but I’m afraid you and I were perhaps the main attraction. I hope you weren’t bothered by all the stares and knowing grins.” Elaine shook her head at the memory. India and Anika had been the worst, but even Jody had done her share—the traitor.

  He threw back his head and laughed. “Not at all. I rather enjoyed it.”

  She gave him a sidewise glance. “You would, you rogue.” She smiled to soften the words. “It seems you’ve been accepted as a full-fledged upstanding member of the town.”

  He laughed again. “Yes, well, now if it only stays that way. I hope you didn’t mind leaving while the fireworks were still going on.”

  “No, I was getting a little tired. And anyway, we can still see and hear them from here.” She smiled secretly. She was pretty sure she knew why he’d suggested they leave early.

  He jumped down and came around to help her out, and they walked hand in hand around the building and sat on the bench on the stone patio.

  He turned to face her and looked intently into her eyes.

  This is it. Oh God, please let this be it.

  Before she knew what was happening, he’d slipped off the bench and knelt in front of her. Her heart fluttered wildly. Yes, this is it. It has to be.

  “Elaine, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  She gazed into his gold-flecked eyes, her mind racing as wildly as her heart. Could this really be happening to her? Surely she must be dreaming. But the hand that held hers was warm and strong. Yes, it was a dream. A wonderful dream come true.

  “Yes, Dan. With all my heart, I will.” Her words were strong, true, and sure.

  Joy washed over his face. He examined her face as though wanting to make sure she’d really said yes. Then with a cry of jubilation, he jumped up and pulled her to her feet.

  “My darling.” His voice shook with emotion as he drew her closely to him. “I’ll spend the rest of my life making you happy.”

  He lowered his head, and she lifted her face to his, eager, with joy in her heart. And as his lips claimed hers, she could hear the fireworks in the distance.

  Or maybe it wasn’t the fireworks at all.

  FRANCES DEVINE

  Frances grew up in the great state of Texas, where she wrote her first story at the age of nine. She moved to Southwest Missouri more than twenty years ago and fell in love with the hills, the fall colors, and Silver Dollar City. Frances has always loved to read and considers herself blessed to have the opportunity to write in one of her favorite genres, historical romance. She is the mother of seven adult children and has fourteen wonderful grandchildren.

  Frances is happy to hear from her fans. E-mail her at fd1440writes@aol.com.

  The Spinster and the Tycoon

  by Vickie McDonough

  De
fend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

  PSALM 82:3

  Chapter 1

  Autumn 1895

  Please, Lord, let someone other than Elmer buy my box dinner this year.” Jody McMillan sighed and set the ACME Paperworks box that held her fried chicken meal on the table in her boardinghouse room and adjusted the frilly bow. She’d picked the blue gingham ribbon on purpose, hoping to entice someone other than her boss, Elmer Brody, to bid on her meal. Everyone in Cactus Corner knew by his trademark plaid flannel shirts that Elmer loved red.

  She smiled to herself. In a moment of unabashed orneriness, she had even affixed a little bird that had fallen off her favorite hat to the bow, because her boss had hated birds ever since he was seven, when he’d been pecked by a crow. Every box social, her boss had purchased her dinner, and this year she was determined to dine with someone else.

  She peeked out the window, delighted to see that a large crowd had gathered in the churchyard. A flash of red snagged her attention, and she dropped the curtain as if she’d been burned by a hot coal.

  Elmer owned Brody Freight Line, and his marriage proposals were as regular as his freight deliveries. She had no intention of ever saying yes to him. If he continued asking her to marry him, she just might have to seek other employment. Even though the town was growing because of a recent copper strike, few people in Cactus Corner had need for a female bookkeeper.

  Jody sighed, picked up her decorated container, and covered it with a towel. If she could keep Elmer from seeing it, just perhaps she could dine with some other lonely bachelor.

  She closed the door to her room at the boardinghouse and hurried down the hall, her shoes clicking on the shiny oak floor. If she was the last to arrive, Elmer would for sure notice which box was hers.

  Couples moseyed arm in arm toward the church. Adolescent girls giggled, excited about a chance to spend some time with a young man, and blatantly displayed their boxes for all to see.

  She drifted along with the noisy crowd. When had she lost the desire to be wooed by a handsome man?

  At twenty-six, she’d long ago come to grips with her spinsterhood and had given up on marrying, even though her three closest friends had found love and married in the past year and a half. India, Anika, and Elaine, though spinsters for years, all now sparkled with a newlywed glow.

  Jody was sincerely happy for each of them, although she felt left out and missed their weekly get-togethers. And now India was expecting a baby.

  Jody attempted to swallow as her throat tightened. Would she never know what it was like to be a mother?

  At least she had the children at the orphanage to cuddle, and they all needed cuddling. She would soon be able to lavish India’s baby with kisses and hugs. Shouldn’t that be enough?

  She shook her head in an effort to shake off her melancholy. This was an exciting day—she felt it in her heart. Something good was going to happen, and she wasn’t about to let self-pity ruin it.

  As she neared the crowded area outside the church, her gaze landed on India waddling toward her. Most women who were in the seventh month of their pregnancy wouldn’t dare be seen in public, but India didn’t mind. In fact, if Joshua hadn’t put a temporary halt to it, her friend would probably still be riding horses and herding cattle on their ranch.

  Jody sighed, knowing that deep inside, she wanted the happiness her friends had found. But she wouldn’t settle for marrying someone who didn’t make her insides tingle.

  “There you are.” India smiled and rubbed her back with her fist. “I had just about decided you’d chickened out on attending today.”

  “Well … I can’t deny I considered it.”

  India looped her arm around Jody’s and tugged her toward the front of the crowd. She flashed a mischievous grin. “Elmer has been asking about you.”

  Jody emitted a very unladylike grunt. She spied Anika and Elaine chatting near the table holding a whole slew of colorful boxes with lavish decorations. It had been a good year since the last box social, and it looked as if the ladies in town had gone all out in their decorating.

  This gathering had been her idea, and she fervently hoped they would earn enough money today to finally be able to buy the mercantile property next door to the orphanage so the children’s home could be expanded. She and her friends had been saving money and organizing fund-raising events for two years now.

  As she glanced at each container, Jody added up the amount she thought it would sell for. Like a dust devil spinning up a cloud on a hot day, a giddy excitement swirled in her stomach. They would make their goal today; she was certain of it.

  Keeping her back to the crowd, she looked both ways, relieved not to see Elmer. She lifted off the towel, set the box on the table, and then put two others in front of it. If Elmer was watching, he’d think that one of those was hers.

  Lucinda, a little girl from the orphanage, squealed and darted past her, dark pigtails flying. Pedro, another orphan, dashed by close on her heels.

  Jody snagged Pedro’s collar as he tried to slip past her. She gave him a stern glare. “Take that lizard to the other side of the church and let it go. You need to be on your best behavior today.”

  “Sí, Señorita McMillan.”

  She watched him head toward the church building and bit back a smile at the boy’s attempted regret, knowing this wasn’t the last time today she’d probably have to warn him about his behavior.

  “Pedro at it again?” Elaine smiled as Jody approached her. “What kind of varmint was it this time?”

  “A lizard.”

  Anika shook her head and chuckled. “That boy does love his critters.”

  “But Lucinda hates them—and he knows it.” Jody moved into the shade of one of the huge saguaro cacti, for which the town was named, and her friends followed. Anika’s and Elaine’s husbands stood a short distance away, chuckling about something. Jody turned so she couldn’t see them. Watching her friends’ spouses only made her loneliness greater. Each of her three best friends had found her soul mate and true love, leaving her the only unmarried woman left in the town of Cactus Corner, except for the Widow Classen, who was in town visiting her sister.

  The church bell clanged, and everyone quieted, turning in unison to face the front. Elaine leaned toward Jody. “Elmer’s been looking for you. He asked me what your box looked like.”

  The eager anticipation making Jody nearly bounce on her toes slammed to a stop like a locomotive squealing to a halt at a washed-out bridge. She spun around to face her friend. “You didn’t tell him, did you?”

  Elaine’s eyes twinkled as she shrugged. “Perhaps.”

  “Oh, Elaine …” She bit back her comment, knowing her friend was teasing.

  As the pastor stood and began auctioning the boxes, Jody kept a running tally. After the tenth sale, she glanced around the crowd, wondering who might buy her container. Her gaze collided with Elmer’s, and he lifted his straw hat. Jody quickly turned to face the front as the pastor lifted up a box decorated in red fabric. Perhaps Elmer would bid on this one. She considered turning and giving him a coy look so he’d think it was hers, but she shrugged aside the thought—tempting as it was. She wasn’t one to play games with another person’s emotions.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t like Elmer—he just didn’t make her heart sing. Only an inch taller than she, he was more than three times wider. His straw blond hair stuck out from under his hat in straight spikes that reminded her of a scarecrow’s. He was a kind, albeit persistent, man, but she simply didn’t love him. She wanted to like him, but the pressure of his constant marriage proposals had driven a wedge in their onetime friendship.

  She shivered at the thought of them marrying. Her new name would be Jody Brody.

  No, she’d rather spend the rest of her days as a spinster than marry Elmer.

  Aaron Garrett surveyed the deed in his hand again. There had to be a mistake.

  He had bought the old mercantile, sight unseen, on t
he recommendation of a business associate. The property wasn’t nearly as large as he had been led to believe, and the man had stated explicitly that the mercantile bordered the railroad.

  But that wasn’t the case.

  A run-down children’s orphanage sat between his newly acquired land and the railroad tracks.

  His father’s investment company had devoted a fair amount of money to buy the old mercantile, which Aaron planned to tear down so he could build a hotel. The recent copper strike in the mountains north of town had brought an influx of miners, investors, and businessmen into the small town. If his instincts proved right, Cactus Corner would soon be on the map.

  Aaron rubbed the back of his neck as he walked along the property line. Things were worse than he’d first thought. The property was almost too narrow for a hotel, and behind it, the land dipped swiftly down to form a gulley.

  He longed to prove that he was just as sharp a businessman as his father, but what would he do now? Phineas Garrett had told him many times location was everything in real estate, but Aaron had messed up in a big way.

  That was the last time he’d allow an agent to buy property for him. If a man wanted something done right, he had to do it himself.

  He rolled up the deed, tapped it against his leg, and glanced around the town. The few people left on the street all seemed headed in the same direction. He’d noticed a huge crowd at the churchyard as the train rolled into town. Some kind of shindig was going on there. He hoped whoever worked at the land office hadn’t left yet.

  Smacking the deed against his thigh, he strode south past the closed café. The only building after that was the bank, so he crossed the street to check the buildings on the east side of Main Street. He passed a dress shop, a doctor’s office, and the general store—all closed. Evidently when Cactus Corner held a gathering, the whole town showed up.

  He stopped at the train depot, grateful to see the clerk still there. The man was removing his black cap as Aaron approached the counter. “Excuse me. Could you please tell me where the land office is?”