No Place for a Lady (Heart of the West Book #1) , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Maggie Brendan

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116 pages

English

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Crystal Clark arrives in Colorado's Yampa Valley amid the splendor of a high country June in 1892. After the death of her father, Crystal is relieved to be leaving the troubles of her Georgia life behind to visit her aunt Kate's cattle ranch. Despite being raised as a proper Southern belle, Crystal is determined to hold her own in this wild land--even if a certain handsome foreman doubts her abilities.Just when she thinks she's getting a handle on the constant male attention from the cowhands and the catty barbs from some of the local young women, tragedy strikes the ranch. Crystal will have to tap all of her resolve to save the ranch from a greedy neighboring landowner. Can she rise to the challenge? Or will she head back to Georgia defeated? Book one in the Heart of the West series, No Place for a Lady is full of adventure, romance, and the indomitable human spirit. Readers will fall in love with the Colorado setting and the spunky Southern belle who wants to claim it as her own.

Informations

Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	01 janvier 2009
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441203625
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0202€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Cover
Title Page
© 2009 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 2010
Ebook corrections 04.18.2016 (VBN), 10.25.2017
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 978-1-4412-0362-5
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture marked NIV is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. NIV ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
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.
In memory of Jerry O’Neal, aka Jess McCreede, better known as Gary to me—my mentor, dearest brother, and friend. Not a day goes by that you don’t cross my mind.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
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
A Sneak Peek of The Jewel of His Heart
About the Author
Back Cover
Acknowledgments
I’d like to express my deep appreciation to my best friend and critique partner, Kelly Long. There are no words to articulate what you mean to me, especially as my friend, and what your support of my writing, your prayers, and your encouragement mean. Many thanks to Caroline Friday for her encouragement, friendship, and humor. You’ve kept me laughing!
I must acknowledge the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers). In the last four years I’ve learned so much from them and the two fantastic conferences that I attended. The talent and support of the ACFW writer’s loop is just incredible, and I’m proud to be a part of it. I’m grateful to DiAnn Mills for her consideration of me when I missed my first critique appointment at the Denver conference, and her critique guidance. A warm thanks to Brandilyn Collins, my conference mentor who prayed over me, and Colleen Coble, who told me to dream big!
Many thanks to Jennifer Schuchmann, a talented writer in her own right, who convinced me to submit my writing and urged me to attend writer’s workshops. Thank you, Jen.
A special thanks to my agent, Tamela Hancock Murray, who believed in my book; Revell Books for allowing my story to come to life; and my insightful editors, Andrea Doering and Jessica Miles. Lots of hugs to Dottie, Barbara, and Sarah Sue of The Bookmark at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church for their love, prayers, and encouragement. Also, sincere thanks to Jan Tilton, the Johnson Ferry Prayer Room, and my friends of the JFBC sanctuary choir. You’re the greatest!
I’m so grateful for my children, Sheri and Jared, who told me that I can do just about anything that I set my mind to! Their amazing feedback and belief in me was extremely important. I love you both. My dear daughter-in-law, Amy, made each writing week sweeter by bringing little Sarah for visits to keep me in the “real” world. You’re both precious to me.
A heartfelt thanks to my husband, Bruce, who believed that I could do it and kept the technical side running smoothly for me. Thank you for telling me again and again what a good writer I am.
Sylvia, thanks for telling me to reach for the stars and for reminding me that Jess would be proud. And to my dear niece, Halle, you know what your encouragement means to me. I love you. Without your dad’s support throughout my life, I don’t know where I would be today. My gratitude knows no bounds when it comes to him, and I miss him deeply.
A special thanks to my O’Neal family, my grandchildren, and all my incredible extended family. What a blessing all of you are to me.
I couldn’t end this without acknowledging the gift of writing that God has blessed me with. I’m amazed that You love me!
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
1
June 1892 The Yampa Valley, Colorado
Crystal Clark gripped the side of the bouncing buckboard to keep from tumbling onto the rocky roadbed below. From the first moment she’d left home she’d been wondering if she’d done the right thing by coming to Colorado. Maybe she should have remained in Georgia. At least there she knew what to expect. Out here the only person she knew was her aunt. Crystal had once thought her life was almost perfect, but in an instant, her father’s death had changed everything that she thought secure.
Rusty, her aunt’s driver, had been waiting in Steamboat Springs when she stepped off the stage. Now he pulled hard on the reins and stopped the horses on a rise that overlooked the Yampa Valley. “Thought you might want to take a minute, enjoy the view up here.”
Crystal gazed at the unfolding vista resplendent with flaming Indian paintbrush and chickweed. Mountains loomed ahead. “What a breathtaking sight,” she said, coughing as dust filled her throat and nostrils. Sweat ran in tiny rivulets down her back beneath her fitted corset and slithered its way down her clinging stockings into her snug-fitting heels. Despite these momentary inconveniences, Crystal could only think about her heartache.
“It’s mighty pretty from up on this here rise.” He grinned. “I knew the minute Kate sent me to fetch you that you were gonna like it here, ma’am.”
Like it here? she thought.
Still, Crystal felt her lips turn up at the edges. Despite everything she’d been through, Rusty seemed to have the ability to make her smile.
“Kate said you’re coming here to stay,” he added.
Crystal frowned. She didn’t know what she would be doing with her future, but in truth, she felt she had no alternative but to stay.
“I don’t know about staying . . . That depends on a lot of things.” Crystal thought the old-timer a bit nosy for all his charm.
“So, missy, what’d ya think of the mountains? Ain’t they some-thin’?”
“They are so majestic, Rusty. God made beauty everywhere, didn’t He?”
“For a fact, ma’am. He did, He sure did.” He scratched his scruffy beard with his free hand. “It’ll be mighty nice to have a young person of the female persuasion around for a change. Being with cowboys all the time can wear on a man after a while.” He chuckled.
“Right now, I’m afraid that I’m just tired and looking forward to a good night’s sleep.”
“I hear you’re from Georgia. When’d you start out?” Rusty asked.
Crystal sighed. “Nearly two weeks ago.” Thinking back on it made her appreciate the settlers who had first come to this wild land years ago. “At Kansas I boarded the Rio Grande, which took me to Denver. From there I took the Colorado Central and Pacific narrow gauge railroad to Central City. Believe me, I was leaning as far back in my seat as possible when the engine hugged the edge of the mountains to start down. From Central City, I had to travel the rest of the way by stagecoach.” Crystal closed her eyes and thought back to how scared she had been when the stagecoach crossed over the Continental Divide and then labored over Rabbit Ears Pass. “I had trouble breathing up there and had a headache as well.”
“I know what you mean, missy.”
Inspired by the vastness of the beautiful valley nestled below the majestic snow-capped Rocky Mountains, Crystal soon forgot about her aching and stiff muscles. “Aunt Kate’s description of Colorado was accurate. This is very different from what I’m used to.”
“So tell me, what is it like in Georgia? I’ve never traveled farther south than Denver,” Rusty said.
“Well, it’s heaven on earth to me. But you might find it strange. It’s not wide open like it is here, and we have lots of beautiful trees. Magnolias, dogwoods, oaks, and a variety of azaleas. Throw in humidity and you’ll get an idea of what it’s like.”
“What are azaleas?”
“They’re bushes that bloom in early spring. Some are white, some are pink. Underneath the dogwood trees, they make a very pleasing picture.”
She felt hot tears spring behind her eyelids. Just talking about home made her chest tight. The day she had to sign the deed over to the bank, Crystal thought her heart would break. No one, not even Drew, had stepped in to help straighten out her finances.
Although Drew wanted to marry her, something in her heart told Crystal that she did not feel as deeply for him as he did for her. Maybe time apart from Drew would give her a chance to know for sure what God had planned for her.
The old-timer interrupted her meditations as his strong, capable hands flicked the reins and guided the horses into the valley floor. “It sounds beautiful.”
Crystal couldn’t bear to keep talking about Georgia, and she changed the subject. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen Aunt Kate. But I have so many fond memories of her visits to Georgia. When she wrote, asking me to come for a visit, I wired her the same day and packed my bags. But I wasn’t sure what to expect.”
“Well, good for you. We’ll do our best to see you have a fine visit. Not much longer now, missy. And it won’t always be this hot and dry, either. Reckon this is a shore sign of frost. Snow flies in September, sometimes late August here in the valley. Soon the pass will close.”
Crystal glanced at the man’s profile. Lines crinkled around his mouth on his weather-beaten face. He smiled at her, removed his hat, and mopped his brow with a handkerchief. His thick red hair swirled around his head like a flame whipped by the wind. Rusty replaced his hat and stuffed his handkerchief into his shirt pocket.
Crystal smiled back