Flood of Love (A Harvey House Brides Novella) , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Tracie Peterson

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45 pages

English

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1929 San Marcial, New Mexico After traveling the West for the past ten years, working as a Harvey House girl, Gretchen Gottsacker learns her next assignment puts her back in the town of her childhood. She quickly forms a friendship with a precocious girl named Katiann, until one of their visits leads her face to face with Katiann's father--the man who abandoned Gretchen on the eve of what she was sure would be a marriage proposal. Now a widower, Dirk Martinez is intent on gaining her trust and forgiveness. Can she risk getting swept up in their strong attraction once again, or will the danger of an impending flood decide her future for her?A Flood of Love is a tender novella from historical romance author, Tracie Peterson.

Informations

Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	31 mars 2020
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781493417117
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0086€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Cover
Books by Tracie Peterson
W ILLAMETTE B RIDES
Secrets of My Heart
T HE T REASURES OF N OME *
Forever Hidden
B ROOKSTONE B RIDES
When You Are Near
Wherever You Go
What Comes My Way
G OLDEN G ATE S ECRETS
In Places Hidden
In Dreams Forgotten
In Times Gone By
H EART OF THE F RONTIER
Treasured Grace
Beloved Hope
Cherished Mercy
T HE H EART OF A LASKA *
In the Shadow of Denali
Out of the Ashes
Under the Midnight Sun
S APPHIRE B RIDES
A Treasure Concealed
A Beauty Refined
A Love Transformed
B RIDES OF S EATTLE
Steadfast Heart
Refining Fire
Love Everlasting
L ONE S TAR B RIDES
A Sensible Arrangement
A Moment in Time
A Matter of Heart
L AND OF S HINING W ATER
The Icecutter’s Daughter
The Quarryman’s Bride
The Miner’s Lady
L AND OF THE L ONE S TAR
Chasing the Sun
Touching the Sky
Taming the Wind

All Things Hidden*
Beyond the Silence*
House of Secrets
Serving Up Love**

*with Kimberley Woodhouse **with Karen Witemeyer, Regina Jennings, and Jen Turano
For a complete list of Tracie’s books, visit her website www.traciepeterson.com
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2019 by Peterson Ink, Inc.
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2019
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data for Serving Up Love is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-1711-7
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover design by Koechel Peterson & Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota/Jon Godfredson
Contents
Cover
Books by Tracie Peterson
Title Page
Copyright Page
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Note to Readers
About the Author
Back Ads
Chapter One

A UGUST 1929
Gretchen Gottsacker stepped from the train and looked around at the tiny town of San Marcial, New Mexico—pronounced Mar- see- al by those of Spanish descent and Mar- shall by the white settlers. Despite being named for a French saint, the town hugged the Rio Grande in the midst of arid sands and tamarisk brush. It was some of the most desolate land America had to offer, but amazingly there were small farms and a bustling economy here. The latter came courtesy of the Santa Fe Railway, which had built shops where extensive repair work could be done on just about any engine. There was also a roundhouse to turn the engines and, of course, the Harvey House—Gretchen’s destination.
At twenty-eight, she had worked for the Fred Harvey Company for ten years. It had never been a goal or ambition of hers to work as a waitress, serving alongside the Santa Fe. However, it gave her ample money to support herself, and promotions had lifted her to a status above that of a mere waitress. For a single woman, the money was too good to give up, even if the lifestyle was taxing at times.
She walked the short distance from the train station to the two-story Harvey House along with the other passengers hoping to be served one of Fred Harvey’s famous lunches. Since she wasn’t expected until the evening train, Gretchen decided to eat before she made her presence known to the house manager.
Like all Harvey Houses, the tables were set impeccably with china, linen, and silver in the dining room, while the lunch counter offered simpler fare. In the dining room a man had to wear a jacket, but at the counter a fella—or lady—could take their meal as they were.
Although Gretchen’s original destination had been the counter, a group of ladies from the train invited her to join their table. “We gals need to stick together,” one overly painted matron declared. Gretchen nodded and claimed the chair beside her.
As the waitresses took their orders, coffee cups were arranged in a variety of poses to signal what beverages had been selected. It was yet another detail of the intricate system Fred Harvey had designed to keep passengers on the Santa Fe dining in style.
Gretchen asked for iced tea and placed her order for a ham sandwich before leaning back to observe the handling of the dining room. The Harvey Girls were good at their jobs. Their intense training saw to that, but often they got lazy if not firmly supervised. The girls at San Marcial apparently were proud of what they did and continued to uphold the high standards.
Gretchen had finished her sandwich and started on a piece of pie when the train’s first warning gong sounded. Several passengers looked panicked until their waitress assured them they would not be left behind. By the time the second gong rang, many of the passengers had already headed back to the train. As the dining room emptied out, a couple of boys came in to start clearing the tables.
Gretchen left her huge slice of pie only half eaten and motioned one of the girls to her table. “Would you mind calling the manager for me?”
The redhead paled. “Is there a problem, miss?”
Gretchen smiled and shook her head. “No. I’m here to fill in for your house mother.”
The girl’s mouth dropped open, but she quickly regained her composure. “Oh, of course. I’ll fetch him right away, Miss Gottsacker.”
Gretchen smiled again. Apparently the staff was aware of her impending arrival.
It wasn’t but a moment before the manager appeared. “I understand you’re Miss Gottsacker.” He smiled. “I’m so glad to meet you. Did you have a pleasant lunch?”
“I did. I thought it best to come in early, unannounced, and observe the girls at work.”
“And did we pass inspection?”
Gretchen thought he actually looked a little anxious. “Yes. They are good at what they do, and they made the customers feel welcome. In fact, when one of the men dropped his bread on the floor, there was a Harvey Girl there immediately to clean up the mess while another filled his plate with more bread. He scarcely had time to notice anything had happened.”
“Wonderful. I’m glad to hear it. I’m actually delighted you’ve come early. Not only are we missing the house mother, but we’ve lost two girls. Both had family emergencies and had to leave town this morning. I know it’s asking a lot, but do you suppose you could fill in as waitress too?”
“Of course.” Gretchen dabbed her mouth with her napkin. “We do what we must. I’ll be ready for the evening passenger line.”
He smiled. “Thank you so much. Now, if you’re finished with your lunch, why don’t you let me show you around? I have your room ready.”
Gretchen folded her napkin. “Thank you.”
After an hour of touring the two-story building, the manager ended the tour on the long veranda. “We have four trains a day but also get plenty of business because of the shops,” he told her. “Most of the men in this town work for Santa Fe, and they work hard. This is the Horney Toad Division, and everything that has ever happened to a railroad has happened here.”
The Santa Fe line between Albuquerque and El Paso was known as the Horney Toad Line, and its workers were Horney Toad men. They made it very clear that the spelling included the “e” because there were no other “e’s,” or ease , to be had on that rail line. When the corporate leaders wanted to grow a man and prove his worth, the Horney Toad Line was the training ground they sent him to. There was no stretch of railroad meaner, harder, or uglier. Gretchen had ridden the train from Albuquerque to El Paso, and she had to agree. The land was desolate, with miles of nothing stretching out on all sides. Despite the hardship, the Santa Fe line was one of the most important in the country.
The manager was well aware of this fact. “We are one of the premier shops for the railroad. We also have a large team of office workers, which means a good number of the Santa Fe management comes visiting. We never know who will show up.”
“I’m quite familiar with the line and the town,” Gretchen assured him. “In fact, I used to live here. And, in keeping with Mr. Harvey’s original standards, I shall treat each man, woman, and child as if they were the most important person in the world.”
He smiled. “What a relief to have not only a well-trained member of the company, but also someone already familiar with our town.”
That evening after the rush of the passenger train and cleanup, Gretchen decided to take a walk to reacquaint herself with the area and allow the stream of memories she had so long buried to run free. She had grown up in San Marcial, which was one of the reasons she’d been picked for this job. It certainly hadn’t been her desire. She hadn’t wanted to come back—not ever—yet here she was.
She walked down Main Street in what they called New Town and smiled at the greetings of several cowboys. There were quite a few people out enjoying the evening now that the sun had set. Someone had mentioned a bingo game at the Catholic church, but most of the men seemed bound for the pool hall. The heat during the day had been overwhelming, just as Gretchen remembered. But, as she also remembered, the evenings were pleasant and cooled off fast.
The town was larger now. There were far more businesses and places of entertainment than when she’d lived here. The Santa Fe drew in many who saw it as an opportunity to make their pot of gold off the workers. With Prohibition wearing on the nerves of hard-drinking men, Gretchen felt confident there were also plenty of adventuring sorts who were happy to br