The Love in his Heart

by Indiana Wake

  The Love in his Heart

  A Love to Last a Lifetime

  Indiana Wake

  Fair Havens Books

  Contents

  A Love to Last a Lifetime

  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

  Epilogue

  The Second Chance Bride – Preview

  35 Sweet Western Brides Preview

  More Books by Indiana Wake

  About the Author

  ©Copyright 2018 Indiana Wake

  A Love to Last a Lifetime

  Who doesn’t want a love to last a lifetime?

  My name is Indiana Wake and I write sweet and inspiration historical western romance. When I say inspirational I like my books to contain a message of hope over adversity.

  I am a number one bestselling author in many categories and have been inspired by the courage of the ladies who went west during the perilous 1800’s.

  You, my readers have also inspired me with your many comments and kind words and you told me you would like some longer books. This book is a 50,000 word long novel and I hope you will enjoy it.

  Janet lost her mom when she was little and for a long time she was angry and afraid to love again. Now grown and ready for love, can she overcome her past and let her heart free? Youth can be impetuous and miss the treasure that is near, will Janet make that mistake and lose the most important thing she ever had?

  Read on to find out.

  I hope you enjoy this book.

  God bless,

  This is the second book in the Love to Last a Life Time series. The first book The Second Chance Bride tells Grace’s story as she arrives having lost her husband on the Oregon Trail. Each book can be read alone and is a complete story.

  To find out about new releases and for occasional free content join my newsletter.

  1

  “It sure is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.” Jimmy Dalton leaned back in the porch seat and set his hands, the fingers laced, down on a well-filled belly. “Your ma always cooks up a fine meal after church.”

  “She sure does. I reckon it’s enough to keep a person going all week.” Janet laughed, squinting into the bright sunshine that fell across the pretty garden. “She’s always doing something. Cooking, sorting out this garden. Ma Grace never stops.”

  “Well, she does have her little helper,” Jimmy said and winked at Janet before surreptitiously tilting his head sideways.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Janet called and, when she got no response, she called again. “I know you’re there, Baby-Katie.”

  “I’m not a baby, I’m a big girl. I’m seven, Janet,” Katie complained and scuttled out from her hiding place in the doorway.

  “I know.” Janet laughed. “And I knew if I called you a baby you’d show yourself.”

  “Oh!” Katie said and slapped her forehead in a way which made Jimmy and Janet laugh.

  “Come on then, there’s room for a grown up seven-year-old here on the porch seat.” Janet moved away from Jimmy just enough to make room for her little sister.

  Katie grinned happily and planted herself firmly between them. She wriggled and fussed until she made herself comfortable, stemming the tide of conversation until she was fully settled.

  “Are you comfortable now?” Jimmy asked in an amused and indulgent voice.

  “Yes, thank you, Jimmy,” Katie said primly.

  “Are you sure now?”

  “Yes.” She looked up at him, her face a picture of confusion. “Why are you smiling at me?”

  “No reason, honey.” Jimmy laughed and ruffled Katie’s hair until she shrieked with laughter.

  Janet looked on, smiling to herself. Jimmy had always been kind to her little sister, including her always and never ignoring her as other young men of his age might have done.

  But that was Jimmy; he was a real nice man.

  “Sometimes, I can hardly believe I have known you since we were both younger than Katie here,” Janet said in a slow, lazy voice.

  “I know. It seems like longer.” Jimmy laughed, and Katie did too, although she clearly didn’t know what she was laughing at.

  “Hardy-ha-ha, Jimmy Dalton!” Janet said and shook her head. “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have any friends.” Janet laughed, always enjoying the banter between them.

  Sometimes, it seemed as if that banter hadn’t changed a bit since they were in the school room. They had always been at ease with one another, even back in the days when Janet was a tough nut to crack; a little girl angry at the world for taking her real mother from her when she was just a child.

  Back then, Janet had been so sullen and aggressive that nobody wanted to be her friend. Nobody, that was, except Jimmy Dalton.

  He’d certainly seen the worst of her and, unbelievably, he had stuck by her side throughout. But Janet had never treated him the way she had treated the rest of the world. Jimmy was her safety net, her leaning post, and he had been the most important person in her world for as long as she could remember.

  “Well, I reckon if I have just the one friend, that’ll do me just fine.” He smiled at her, his blue eyes twinkling with amusement and warmth.

  “Trust you to be nice when I’m being nasty.” Janet scoffed playfully.

  “One of us has to do it.” Jimmy’s laugh was deep and gentle all at once.

  It seemed to Janet that he had become a man so suddenly and yet she couldn’t quite remember when it had happened. There didn’t seem to have been a point when the transition had made itself known. At times, it was like it had always been. But then she remembered him so clearly, a young boy, all arms and legs, with a great shock of hair that was more red than brown.

  But all that remained of the boy he had been was his humor and tinges of deep red in wonderfully thick brown hair. His blue eyes seemed to have darkened too, although Janet wasn’t sure that was really possible.

  The fact was, Jimmy was no longer the awkward, skinny boy whose only friend in the world was an angry little girl with the wildest blonde ringlets in all of Oregon. He was a fine man of nineteen with a man’s body, his arms and legs now proportionate and his frame large and muscular.

  Janet knew that couldn’t have happened overnight, she just didn’t remember the build up to it.

  “Sunday is over and done with so fast,” Janet said, sighing loudly as she changed the subject altogether.

  “I know. But it’s not over yet, so make the most of it.” Jimmy smiled at her.

  “I’m going to check on the sunflowers me and Ma grew.” Katie scrambled to her feet and disappeared the very moment the idea came to her.

  “See, Katie’s making the most of it.” Jimmy laughed.

  “That’s because she’s seven and she’s already forgotten that Monday follows Sunday. She won’t even be thinking about sitting in the school room tomorrow.”

  Janet watched as Katie disappeared down the side of the house to check on the sunflowers she had lovingly tended since they were no more than a handful of seeds.

  “Then I reckon Katie has it just right,” he said languidly and shuffled along the porch seat to close the gap left by Katie.

  “How so?”

/>   “By not thinking about what comes tomorrow, Katie’s enjoying her day.” He turned in his seat, looked at Janet, and shrugged expansively. “Stop thinking about your day in the diner tomorrow, you ain’t there yet. That’s what I’m trying to say to you, Janet. Be here, that’s all. Be sitting on the porch seat out front of your daddy’s house with the best-looking man in all of Oregon and just enjoy it.” He chuckled and returned his gaze to the garden.

  “Oh, my word.” Janet laughed heartily. “You know, only part of what you said there is true, Jimmy Dalton. Some of it was pure storytelling.”

  “I know. I just thank God for the handsomeness. Now what would I do if that part wasn’t true?” He grinned, his eyes closed as he tilted his head toward the bright sun.

  “You are impossible.” Janet shook her head. “And I truly wish I could sit here and not think about working the rest of the week in the most boring place on earth.”

  “I thought your daddy’s lumberyard was the most boring place on earth. Wasn’t that why you went to work in the diner in the first place?”

  “Yes, I guess so. But it turns out the diner is every bit as boring.” Janet knew she was complaining, slipping back into her old ways even if only a little.

  It was a good job with reasonable, if not wonderful, pay. But Janet had only enjoyed it for the first week. She’d liked watching the diners and listening in to their conversations as she went about her business.

  By the second week, however, she realized it was the same old run of customer’s day in, day out, and she was no longer interested in hearing what they had to say to one another.

  “It’s not what you do that makes you bored. It’s always wanting to be somewhere else that does that.” Jimmy sounded more relaxed than ever, speaking slowly as if he might fall asleep on the porch seat at any moment.

  “Is that why you like working as a ranch hand?” Janet asked simply.

  “I guess so. But I enjoy it too. Being out on a horse all day in this fine country.” He paused and seemed to come back to life. “And it’s all heading toward my dream. I guess that counts for something.”

  “Your dream of owning your own ranch,” Janet said, quietly confirming that which she already knew.

  “Yep. I guess you just need your dream first, Janet. Then, whatever you’re doing, it won’t matter. You’ll know what you’re working for then. It needs to be more than just survival.”

  “You know, the fact that you’re kind of wise makes you a little predictable,” Janet said playfully.

  “Predictable, huh?” He turned to look at her with just one eye open. “Maybe I am.” He then opened the other deep blue eye and looked right at her. “And maybe I’m not.”

  2

  “Did you have a good day?” Grace asked when Janet appeared in the kitchen doorway, her blonde curls disheveled from a long, hot day in the diner.

  “I guess I did,” Janet said without any trace of enthusiasm.

  “Now why do I get the feeling you don’t mean that?” Grace said with a laugh. “Come on, sit yourself down and I’ll pour you a peach tea.”

  “Thanks, Ma Grace, but I reckon I go to sleep with the smell of peach tea in my nostrils these days. It’s kind of put me off it.”

  “All right, how about some milk?”

  “Yes, please.” Janet finally smiled and settled down at the kitchen table as Grace poured her some milk.

  As always, Grace was every bit the ma to Janet, just as she had been for the past seven years. Although Janet could still picture her own mother clearly, Grace was the one who sprang to mind now whenever she thought of her parents.

  Not that she loved her mother any less, it was just that she had come to love Grace more and more as every year passed.

  Grace was a friend to her too in so many ways and Janet truly appreciated that slightly different relationship and the idea that she really could tell Grace anything. It was like having the best of both worlds.

  “So,” Grace said as she sat opposite her with a drink of her own. “What’s eating you up today?”

  “Is it that obvious?”

  “Only to everyone.” Grace laughed, and Janet felt her low mood lifting a little.

  “Oh, Ma Grace, I am just so bored. I am so tired of this place where nothing happens and there’s never anyone different to see. I feel trapped by it.”

  “Trapped? You mean at the diner?”

  “The diner, yes. Every day seems like it’s forty feet long. Nothing happens! I cut pie. I pour peach tea.” She shuddered for humorous effect. “And I smile so much my face is hurting by the end of my shift.”

  “Maybe you need to find something else. You’re a bright girl, Janet. You always were.” Grace chewed thoughtfully at her bottom lip. “What about teaching the little ones? I always found great satisfaction when I was teaching reading and writing back east.”

  “I don’t think so. I don’t have the patience for it. And what if I ended up like poor Miss Martin with an awkward little child like me to teach?” Janet grinned, and Grace laughed loudly.

  “Oh, my word. I see what you mean.”

  “You didn’t have to agree so quickly.” Janet wore a look of mock horror.

  “You would have seen through the lie otherwise.” Grace was still amused. “But maybe you’d get to teach someone like Katie. She’d listen to every word you had to say.”

  “I know. She’s such a fine little girl.” Janet smiled and felt the warmth in her chest as she always did when contemplating her adorable little sister. “But I still don’t think it’s for me. I’d be stuck inside all day long again.”

  “Maybe think about working with your daddy again? You’re not stuck inside all day then.”

  “But the men who come to buy lumber are so dull, Ma. They talk on and on about the best nails and the best way to make a corner joint.” Janet shuddered again.

  “Then you’re just going to have to have a long think about what you’d like to do. Although, most girls your age are already thinking about settling down with a nice young man.”

  “Oh, Ma Grace!” Janet rolled her eyes and reached for her milk. “I’m too young to be thinking of all that now. I want to be free.”

  “There’s nothing to stop you being free if you pick the right man.” Grace smiled broadly. “And I was getting settled down when I was your age. My first husband, Peter, never stopped me doing what I wanted, and your daddy never has either.”

  “But that was back in your day, Ma Grace.”

  “Honey, I am only just thirty!” Grace squeaked, and Janet covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her laughter.

  “I know, but you know what I mean.”

  “I do know what you mean.” Grace gave in. “What does Jimmy say about it?”

  “Why? What does that matter?”

  “Janet! He’s your friend.”

  “I know, and he’s just about my best friend in all the world. But I can’t help thinking that you reckon I should just settle down with Jimmy and forget about being bored. I guess I’m just fighting against that as an idea.” Janet reached across the table and squeezed Grace’s hand. “I didn’t mean to sound like I was dismissing him. He’s a real good man.”

  “He is a real good man. And a real handsome one now he’s grown into his body.” Grace laughed. “My word, but he was a skinny boy. He had those long old legs like a spider and that red hair!” Grace dabbed tears of laughter before they fell. “But you’d never know that now. I have no doubt he’s turning pretty heads all over town with that face of his.”

  “I don’t know,” Janet said and wondered if any other girl did like the look of him. “I guess I never noticed.”

  “Noticed what? That Jimmy was handsome or that he’s a head-turner?”

  “Both, I suppose.”

  “You cannot tell me you haven’t noticed what a fine-looking man he’s become?” Grace said incredulously. “Maybe you aren’t looking at him properly.”

  “He is handsome, Ma Grace, but he’s my fr
iend.”

  “That’s a good thing, trust me.”

  “How?”

  “Look, your daddy is my best friend in all this world. Not many women can say that about their own husbands. A man who listens and understands you, a man who knows you as well as you know yourself, is worth his weight in gold.”

  “I’m not marrying Jimmy just because he’s worth his weight in gold,” Janet said in immediate response. “I want some excitement in my life.”

  “And you don’t think you’d have that with Jimmy?”

  “I don’t know. But I know Jimmy.” She shrugged. “I guess I want to meet someone new and exciting. Although, just where I’ll find a man like that around here is beyond me.”

  “Excitement is a funny thing, Janet. It changes as you get older and the things you once thought of as lacking, you realize that they were actually just what you were looking for in the first place.”

  “Oh my! That sounds just like something Jimmy would say!” Janet said and began to laugh all over again.

  3

  The only vaguely interesting face Janet had seen all morning was that of Connie Langdon. Connie was her ma’s friend and a regular visitor to their home, with good reason.

  Connie always had something funny to say or some piece of gossip she’d picked up from one of the guests at her boarding house. And she delivered it all with the sort of wit nobody expected from a widow of her age.

  Janet supposed that was why Connie was always so amusing.