Trouble with Patience (Virtues and Vices of the Old West Book #1) , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Maggie Brendan

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

166 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Patience Cavanaugh has lost hope in romance. The man she yearned to marry is dead and her dreams are gone with him. Now she is consumed with the restoration of a dilapidated boarding house in order to support herself. Despite her desire for solitude, Jedediah Jones, the local sheriff with a reputation for hanging criminals, becomes an ever-looming part of her life. It seems like such a simple arrangement: Patience needs someone with a strong back to help her fix up the boardinghouse, and Jedediah needs a dependable source of food for himself and his prisoners. But Patience gets more than she bargained for as she explores the depths of the "hanging lawman"--and finds both betrayal and love.With a keen eye to historical detail and a deft hand at romantic tension, Maggie Brendan invites readers to a Montana gold rush boomtown, where vices and virtues are on full display and love is lying in wait.

Sujets

Historical romance

Historical fiction

Romance

Informations

Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	10 février 2015
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441221209
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0259€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

© 2015 by Maggie Brendan
Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www . revellbooks .com
Ebook edition created 2015
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 is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4412-2120-9
Most Scripture, whether quoted or paraphrased by the characters, is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Background image of the town on the cover courtesy of 1880 Town, Murdo, South Dakota.
“Maggie Brendan pens an entertaining romance set in my home state of Montana. She takes the reader on a delightful tale of love, betrayal, and intrigue that will keep you turning the pages. If you’re looking for a good book to curl up with, The Trouble with Patience will fit the bill nicely.”
— Tracie Peterson , bestselling, award-winning author of over one hundred novels, including A Moment in Time
“ The Trouble with Patience is a gentle, engaging romance set in the rugged wilds of gold rush Montana. When Patience Cavanaugh inherits her grandmother’s Nevada City boardinghouse, she soon butts heads with the town marshal, Jedediah Jones. Between the challenges of restoring the dilapidated boardinghouse, dealing with murdering cattle rustlers, and some dark secrets in Jed’s past, Patience and Jedediah face many obstacles in their budding romance. Maggie Brendan deftly captures the flavor of the Old West in a sweet love story filled with suspense and well-developed, interesting characters that will surely capture the hearts of readers.”
— Kathleen Morgan , author of the Brides of Culdee Creek series, A Heart Divided , and A Love Forbidden
“Maggie Brendan has created a wealth of memorable characters in this heartwarming story about a determined boardinghouse owner and an equally stubborn deputy marshal. Romance, mystery, and an intriguing plot all add up to a winning combination that’s sure to delight readers.”
— Margaret Brownley , bestselling author of Gunpowder Tea and Petticoat Detective
“Yes, patience is a virtue, but The Trouble with Patience is virtually wonderful! Maggie Brendan is a master at tender love stories that tug at your heart while touching the soul, providing rich historical detail and tension that races the pulse. Which means the only trouble with this ‘patience’ is that it’s over too soon!”
— Julie Lessman , award-winning author of The Daughters of Boston, Winds of Change, and The Heart of San Francisco series
For my dear sisters, Doris and Dianne
It has been my experience that folks that have no vices have very few virtues.
A BRAHAM L INCOLN
A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1 NIV
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Endorsements
Dedication
Epigraph
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
Sneak Peek of Book 2 in the Series
About the Author
Books by Maggie Brendan
Back Ads
Back Cover
1

Nevada City, Montana Territory Spring 1866
Trying to beat the rain, Patience Cavanaugh hurried up the single main street of raw Nevada City. But large droplets began to pelt her way ahead, leaving that distinctive smell when spring rain mingles with the thick dust of a dirt road. She wasn’t sure why it mattered to her if she were wet or not. It wasn’t likely anyone would be taking any second glances. She knew all too well her figure was a bit fuller than her younger and more slender counterparts in this frontier town.
She sighed and hurried on, clutching the basket of fruits and vegetables from the market. But her real worry was how she would survive here without a single tenant yet in her boardinghouse. Run-down though it might be, it was the only place of its kind in a small town busy with newcomers coming and going. Many of those were miners hoping for a gold strike at Alder Gulch, and when they did—strike gold, that is—everyone knew before you could holler “jackrabbit.” A few folks stopped in for lunch now and then since she’d hung the new sign over the boardwalk—C REEKSIDE I NN . She’d kept its original name in her beloved grandmother’s memory. Wouldn’t Granny be sad to see her once-beautiful boardinghouse fallen into neglect since her death? But Patience didn’t have the wherewithal to make the needed repairs, and most of the miners didn’t have the wherewithal to pay her for room and board, even if they were so inclined.
Poor Granny . . . But poor me. What have I gotten myself into? Moving to a town where she didn’t know a soul, only to realize how long it would take to return the boardinghouse to a thriving business. One glance at the dilapidated clapboard building provided all the evidence she needed.
Reaching the front door just as the bottom fell out of the dark cloud above her, Patience hurried to the kitchen with her purchases, looped her cape within easy reach on a nail by the back door, and decided a good cup of coffee and a fire would take the chill away, maybe lift her spirits a bit. Then another long afternoon . . . waiting, hoping, and praying.

Jedediah pushed the desk drawer shut and stared out the window to the other side of the street. Some movement had caught his eye, and he stood up, his hand automatically going to his gun holster as he moved closer to the window. Outside, a man, reins for his horse in hand, cast furtive glances around at his surroundings. He sidled up to a chestnut horse tethered in front of a store and quickly released the cinch underneath the horse’s belly, yanking the saddle right off the horse’s back. Just as the man slung it onto his own horse, Jedediah snatched his hat from its nail and ran out the door of his office.
“Hey, you! Hold it right there!” Jedediah’s shout brought all street activity to a stop. He waited, right hand loosely resting on the holster.
“What? You got a problem, Marshal? Can’t a man saddle up his horse in the middle of this here town?” The man paused, his hands on the top of the saddle.
“Not when it’s a stolen one,” Jedediah warned, his tone and gun-ready stance carrying more weight than the words. A small audience was gathering.
He moved forward a few steps across the street, and the man pushed his cowboy hat back, then spit a long string of tobacco juice into the mud in front of Jedediah’s boots. “You accusing me of somethin’, Marshal?” He looked around at his silent audience with a sneer and reached for the saddle’s straps.
“Don’t have to.” Jedediah narrowed his gaze at the young fellow. “That horse belongs to my friend Monty, and I’d advise you to put his saddle back just like you found it. But either way, you’ll be getting acquainted with the jailhouse.” He spoke deliberately, took another slow step, and started to pull out his gun. The man looked at the weapon, wavering with apparent indecision.
Two doors down, Jedediah heard the front door of the Creekside Inn slam back on its hinges, and a quick glance showed a young woman starting up the boardwalk toward them. Jedediah already had caught a glimpse of the new proprietor. He hadn’t spoken directly with her yet, but he’d heard her name was Patience and that she was attempting to reopen the boardinghouse.
Jedediah held his hand up, palm out, as she drew closer. “Ma’am, stay back till I settle this.” By now a few more passersby had stopped to watch the altercation, but he paid no mind to the growing crowd.
“Why, Marshal,” the man said, “you act like I’m a hardened criminal!”
The marshal took another step forward. “In the past you’d have been strung up for stealing a saddle in these parts—”
“Marshal, you can’t mean that!” Jedediah heard a female voice call out toward his right. He didn’t take his eyes off the thief, but he groaned inwardly at the thought of an interfering woman.
Ignoring her, he continued to address the man in front of him. “Lucky for you I abide by the sworn office of the marshal,” he said, keeping his voice low.
But she wasn’t done yet. “There’s no cause to hang a man for stealing.”
Jedediah turned his head, his gun steady on his prisoner. “I don’t need some woman mucking up the law,” he said through clenched teeth, “so go on back to baking your biscuits.” What was it about females? Did they always have to have the last word? Actually, this one was kind of pretty when her face flushed pink like that. He tipped his hat to her and returned to the task at hand.
“Well, I never!” she shot back. “I will not be talked to that way!”
“Suit yourself, lady,” said another voice, male this time, “but Jedediah here is not known for his soft touch. Best you stay out of his way.” He watched as his friend Monty strolled up.
The thief dropped his hands from the saddle, fingering the holster at his hip.
“I wouldn’t even consider that if I was you,” Monty drawled. “The marshal’s right. That’s my horse and saddle.”
Jedediah looked between his friend and the saddle snatcher. “Don’t worry, Monty. He’ll put it back—won’t you?”
In a flash, the thief drew his gun. But Jedediah already had his aimed, and like greased lightning he fired his handgun. The force knocked the weapon