“Yes, she does!” Josiah burst out.
Everyone laughed, including Harrison and Abby.
Abby looked at the preacher. “Yes, she does.” Then she looked right at Harrison. “Yes. I do.” She had never meant three words more.
They finished repeating the vows and exchanged the rings, without any further interruptions. Finally, Pastor James smiled at them and said, “You are now husband and wife. Harrison, you may kiss your bride.”
“Gladly.” He cupped Abby’s face and kissed her. Not just a little short kiss either, but a long knee-locking one. When he finished, his loving gaze settled on hers. “I love you, Abby,” he whispered.
“I love you, too, Harrison,” she whispered back.
“I now present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Kingsley.” Pastor James’s voice broke through their tender moment. But she didn’t care. She knew there would be many, many more.
“Don’t forget us,” Josiah said.
“Yeah. Don’t forget us,” Graham mimicked.
Everyone laughed again.
Abby squatted down to their eye level. “Now you know we could never forget you boys. We love you both so very much.”
“We love you, too,” Josiah and Graham said at the same time.
Abby’s heart sang with their declaration.
“Can we call you mommy now?” Graham asked shyly.
“You sure can.”
Both boys’ lips curled so far upward that Abby thought they would split. Joy and happiness rushed into her as she gathered them into her arms. She now had her very own children. Not by birth, but love bound them together and that was just as wonderful. She gave each one of them a hug and a kiss on the cheek, then she stood and turned her gaze to Harrison. The love in his eyes left no doubt whatsoever in Abby’s heart that he saw her as a whole woman—complete and wonderful in every way.
He smiled at her and then scooped her up into his arms and carried her down the aisle, whispering words of love as he did. She’d never intended to marry her business partner, her unintended groom. But oh, was she ever so glad she had.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
—Romans 8:28 KJV
* * * * *
Dear Reader,
While the rest of the Bowen family’s stories were set in Paradise Haven in the Idaho Territory, Abby’s isn’t. Instead, I chose to move her out of state to a town close to where I used to live in the Colorado Mountains. For the sake of wanting to take liberties with some of the factual details, I fictionalized the town’s name which is actually based on Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado. I hope you enjoyed visiting there. Their hot springs are marvelous, the small town is breathtakingly beautiful and the people are super friendly. Perhaps in the near future we will get to spend more time there.
I hope you enjoyed Abby’s story.
Thank you for taking the Bowen family’s journey with me.
God bless you and yours,
Debra Ullrick
Questions for Discussion
In order to open the Royal Grand Theater, Abby is forced to take on a male business partner or forfeit her dream. What would happen if someone tried to do that in today’s society? Do you think it is right to force someone into doing something they don’t want to?
What dreams have you ever had to forfeit because of someone else? How did it make you feel? Are you sorry for it now?
Abby has a hard time being cordial to the mayor and his cronies. Who do you have a hard time being nice to and why? Do you feel you’re justified in your actions?
Abby’s brothers advised her not to buy the mansion sight unseen. What advice have you been given that you are now sorry you didn’t follow?
Because of the stipulations in Harrison’s father’s will, Harrison had to make a drastic decision that affected not only his life, but his sons’, as well. What drastic thing have you had to do that affected not only you but someone else, as well?
Abby and Harrison both had been controlled by someone but in different ways. Who, if anyone, in your life controlled you or forced you to do something you didn’t want to do? How did it make you feel? Who have you controlled? Do you believe control is based on fear or something else or a combination of things?
Harrison followed his gut instinct where Abby’s advertisement was concerned and that instinct had been right. When did you follow your gut instinct and it led you in the right direction like Harrison’s did? When was your gut instinct wrong?
When Abby discovers she can’t bear children and her fiancé breaks off their engagement, she’s made to feel like she’s less than a woman and is even told that no man would ever want her. What are some things someone has told you that made you feel inferior? What would you say to someone who feels that way?
Abby was rejected and therefore feared it. Harrison, too, had been rejected and used by others. Who in your life either rejected you, used you or both? How did that make you feel?
When Harrison’s sons, Josiah and Graham, came up missing, did you feel it was Abby’s fault? Do you think we should consider our words carefully around children since they pick things up so easily?
Abby is always saying, “God will take care of it.” Are there times in your life that you feel as though God has let you down and therefore you don’t agree with Abby like Harrison didn’t at first?
Abby’s example of her faith and trust in God eventually won Harrison over to the Lord. Who in your life exemplified this kind of faith and love in God?
Abby turned down Harrison’s proposal because she couldn’t give him children. What would you have done in her situation—if the man who asked you to marry him wanted children and you couldn’t give them to him?
For Abby’s wedding, she asked Harrison and her family to do something completely out of their comfort zone by wearing costumes. Name some things that either you have been asked to do or have asked someone else that took you out of your comfort zone.
What would you say is the overriding theme in this story?
We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired Historical title.
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Chapter One
Northwest Territories, Canada
October 1881
For the first time she was about to meet Eddie Gardiner. The man she intended to marry. The answer to her prayers.
Linette Edwards parted the curtains on the stagecoach—meant to keep out the dust and cold. The first few days of their trip, dust had filtered through them, and now cold with the bite of a wild beast filled every inch of the tiny coach. Four adults and a child huddled against the elements.
“You’re letting in the cold,” her traveling companion complained.
“I fear we are in for an early snowstorm,” one of the male passengers said.
Linette murmured an apology but she managed to see the rolling hills and the majestic mountains before she dropped the curtain back in place. Since they’d left Fort Benton, headed for the ranch lands of the Northwest Territories of Canada, she’d peered out as much as she could. The mountains, jagged and bold, grew larger and larger. A song filled her heart and soul each time she saw them. This was a new country. She could start over. Be a different person than she’d been forced to be in England. Here she would be allowed to prove she had value
as a person. She ignored the ache at how her parents viewed her—as a commodity to be traded for business favors.
She shifted her thoughts to the letter of invitation hidden safely in the cavernous pocket of the coat she’d acquired in Fort Benton. She longed to pull it out and read it again though she had memorized every word. Come before winter.
“I expect more than a shack,” her friend Margaret had fumed when she’d read an earlier letter from the same writer. “After all, he comes from a very respectable family.” With bitterness edging each word, Margaret read the letters describing the cabin Eddie assured her was only temporary quarters. “Temporary? I’m sure he doesn’t know the meaning of the word. A year and a half he’s been there and he still lives in this hovel.”
“It sounds like an adventure.” Linette could imagine a woman working side by side with her man, being a necessary asset to establishing a home in the new world. It sounded a lot more appealing to her than sitting and smiling vacantly as a female spectator. She’d been raised to be the lady of the manor but she wanted more. So much more.
Margaret had sniffed with such disdain that Linette giggled.
“I have made up my mind,” Margaret said. “I cannot marry him and join him in the wilds of the Canadian West. I expected far more when he asked for my hand before he left to start a Gardiner ranch out in that—” she fluttered her hand weakly “—in that savage land.” Her shudder was delicate and likely deliberate.
“Oh, Margaret, surely you don’t mean it.”
“Indeed I do. I’ve written this letter.”
Seated in the overstuffed parlor of Margaret’s family home in London, Linette had read each word kindly but firmly informing Eddie that Margaret had changed her mind and would not be joining him now or anytime in the future. I expect it makes me sound small and selfish, but I can’t imagine living in a tiny house, nor being a woman of the West.
“But what about your feelings for him? His for you?”
Margaret had given her a smile smacking of pity. “I enjoyed his company. He was a suitable candidate for marriage. There are plenty other suitable men.”
How often she’d envied Margaret the opportunity to head to a new world with so much possibility simply for the eager taking of it. “But he’s counting on you. Why would you want to stay here when the whole world beckons?” Wouldn’t he be dreadfully hurt by Margaret’s rejection?
“You should marry him. You’re the one who thinks it would be a lark.” Margaret was clearly annoyed with Linette’s enthusiasm. “In fact, write him and I’ll enclose your letter with mine.”
“Write him? And say what?”
“That you’re willing to be his wife.”
“I don’t know him.” A trickle of something that felt suspiciously like excitement hurried up her limbs to her heart. But it couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible. “My father would never allow it.”
Margaret laughed. “I think the Gardiner name would make even your father consider it a good idea. And would it not provide an escape from the marriage your father has planned?”
Linette shuddered. “I will not marry that old—” Her father had chosen a man in his fifties with a jangling purse of money and a drooling leer. His look made Linette feel soiled. She would do anything to avoid such a fate. She’d been praying for a reprieve. Perhaps this was an answer to her heartfelt petition.
Yes, the Gardiners were an old family, well respected, with a great estate and vaults of money, as her father so often said with utmost reverence in his voice.
“Of course,” Margaret started, considering her with a mocking smile, “if you’re dreaming of love and romance—”
Linette jerked back. “All I’m thinking of is escape.” Love did not enter into a suitable marriage, which was fine with her. She fully intended to keep her feelings out of the picture. A trembling in the depths of her heart warned her that love would make her weak, vulnerable, ready to give up her personal goals. Not something she intended to let happen. She grabbed a piece of paper. “I’m going to do it. Anything is better than what my parents have in mind.” Being a rancher’s wife in the new world suited her fine. She was weary of the social restrictions her parents insisted on and not at all loath to living the kind of life she’d heard existed in the new world. There, women marched side by side with their men. They were even allowed to own land! Doubtlessly they’d be allowed to get their hands dirty and be involved.
Before she could change her mind, she’d penned a short letter. A marriage of convenience if it suits you. Please reply to Margaret’s address. She knew her father would read any letter that came to the house. Much better to know she had a positive answer from Mr. Gardiner before confronting her father. If she had to be part of a business deal, it would be on her terms. She’d say who and where.
She clasped her fingers on the answering letter that had carried two tickets—one for herself and one for a traveling companion. The missive was brief. Not much more than an invitation to come. Her heart had danced for joy. Margaret was right; her father had glowed at an invitation from a Gardiner.
The stagecoach swayed to a stop. “Hello, the house.” The driver’s call shivered up and down Linette’s spine. They’d arrived at Eden Valley Ranch.
It wasn’t as if Eddie were a total stranger. She’d read his letters to Margaret. He sounded like a strong man, an independent thinker. She had no trouble imagining herself sharing his life. Yet her insides clenched in trepidation.
She squeezed right back in protest. She would not let nerves weaken her resolve. She’d prayed for such an escape and God had generously provided. Hitherto hath the Lord helped me. Renewed faith filled her, driving away any doubts and fears.
One of the two men who also rode in the coach flicked aside a curtain. “Looks like a fine establishment.”
Linette parted the curtains again and peeked outside. The coach had drawn up before a log cabin with only a narrow door and small window in the wall facing them. This must be where the man lived. She pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth and refused to think how small it looked. Hardly big enough for all of them. Never mind. Nothing could deter her now. She’d prayed her way from London, over the Atlantic Ocean, and across most of the North American continent. The rooms she’d had on the trip had left barely enough space for stretching. Although vastly different from the spacious home she’d grown up in, she’d gotten used to it readily enough. This cabin would be no different.
The door of the cabin opened and Linette took a deep breath. A man stepped forth, ducking as he crossed the threshold. This had to be Eddie Gardiner. She’d seen his likeness in pictures, but they failed to do the man justice. Despite the chill in the air, he hadn’t bothered to grab a coat or hat and in the bright sunshine his brown hair shone. He dressed like a range hand—dark denim trousers, a blue shirt that had faded almost colorless on the sleeves with dark remnants of the color in the seams, and a leather vest that looked worn and friendly.
Her heart jumped to her throat. She hadn’t expected to feel anything for him. Surely it was only excitement, combined with a touch of nerves. After all, despite the letters, he was a stranger. She wanted nothing more or less from him than a marriage of convenience.
His gaze sought the parted curtains and his dark eyes narrowed as he tried to make out the face in the dim interior.
She flicked the curtain closed and turned to her traveling companion. “You keep the child while I meet him.” The boy would remain a secret for now. Seeing her intention, one of the gentlemen stepped down and held out a hand to assist her. She murmured her thanks as Eddie strode forward.
He slid his gaze over her as if she were invisible and looked toward the stagecoach. “Is Margaret inside?”
Linette shook her head trying to make sense of his question. Surely he’d mistakenly spoken her name out of habit.
“Is she at Fort Benton? If so I’ll go for her immediately.” He glanced at the sky as if already trying to outrace the weather.
Her
mouth felt like yesterday’s dust as she realized what he meant. “You’re expecting Margaret?” It took every ounce of her stubborn nature not to stammer.
“Any day. I sent tickets for her and a chaperone to come before winter.”
Come before winter. She remembered the words well. They’d bubbled through her heart. But she thought they were meant for her. “Did you not get the letter?”
At that the driver jumped down. “’Spect any letters you’d be wanting are in here.” He waved a small bundle. “Seems you haven’t picked up your mail for some time, so I brought it.”
Cold trickled across Linette’s neck, dug bony fingers into her spine and sent a faint sense of nausea up her throat. She swallowed it back with determination. If he hadn’t received her letter, then the tickets he’d sent hadn’t been meant for her. He didn’t know she was coming. He wasn’t prepared to welcome her and accept her as a suitable helpmate on the frontier. Now what?
She stiffened her shoulders. She had not crossed an ocean and a vast continent to be turned back now. Her prayers for escape had been fervent. God held her in the palm of His hand now as He had on the journey. This was her answer. She nailed her fears to the thought. Besides, nothing had changed. Not really. Margaret still wasn’t coming and he still needed a wife. Didn’t he? She sought her memories but could not remember that he’d ever said so in clear, unmistakable terms. Had she read more into his missives than was meant?
Eddie took the bundle of mail and untied the strings. He flicked through the correspondence.
Recognizing Margaret’s handwriting, she touched the envelope. “That one.” Her own message lay inside, unseen by the man she thought had invited her to join him. She sucked moisture from the corners of her mouth and swallowed hard.
Debra Ullrick Page 24