Where the Wild Rose Blooms , livre ebook

Harvest House Publishers, Inc. - Lori Wick

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

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

184 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

Can love shatter her stubborn pride?In the high mountains of Colorado, Clayton Taggart dreams of the day when he can leave the rough life of a mine surveyor to become a teacher. In the midst of his plans, he meets Jackie Fontaine, a newcomer from the East whose strongwilled spirit causes friction from the start.Just as the spark of love ignites, tragedy strikes, leaving Jackie with a secret so terrible she would rather lose Clay than share it with him. Can anything draw Jackie from her self-imposed exile and open the shutters of her blinded heart?Lori Wick at her best...a tender love story set in the exciting early West--a book you won't be able to put down!

Informations

Publié par	Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
Date de parution	01 janvier 2006
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780736934053
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0646€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Cover by Terry Dugan Design, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cover photo Art Wolfe/The Image Bank/Getty Images
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

WHERE THE WILD ROSE BLOOMS
Copyright 1996 by Lori Wick Published by Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 97402 www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wick, Lori.
Where the wild rose blooms / Lori Wick.
p. cm. - (Rocky Mountain memories series ; 1)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7369-1818-3
ISBN-10: 0-7369-1818-3
1. Frontier and pioneer life-Rocky Mountains Region-Fiction. 2. Manwoman relationships-Rocky Mountains Region-Fiction. I. Title. II. Series: Wick, Lori. Rocky Mountain memories series ; 1.
PS3573.I237W485 1996
813 .54-dc20
95-36086 CIP
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-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 / BC / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Diane Barsness, an old and new friend. How far we ve come because of God s grace. I thank you, precious friend, for your love and caring. I trust that the future will bring only continued growth and closeness. I dedicate this book to you with my love.
Contents
Acknowledgments
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
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Epilogue
About the Author
Books By Lori Wick
Harvest House Publishers Fiction for Every Taste and Interest
Acknowledgments
So much of my writing is done alone. My office is in the center of our home, but even though someone else is in the house, I am alone at the computer. I am the only one who knows where I want to go with the story and what I hope to project. However, there are many people who fill the rest of my world. On this page I would like to acknowledge just a few of them.
To my son, Tim. Thank you for the poem. It was my favorite during your fifth-grade year. Thank you for having a tender heart, warm smile, and marvelous sense of humor. I love the sound of your laugh.
To my friend and secretary, Mary Vesperman. I can t imagine a more wonderful team. Thank you, Mary, for every jot and tittle, but most especially for being you.
To Harold and Norma Kolstad. Thank you for telling me your story. It was my strongest inspiration.
And finally to my husband, Bob. As imaginative as I am, I could not have dreamed of the joy I would know in our relationship. Even if my feelings were somehow cut in half, I would still be head-over-heels in love with you.
27 December 1872
Dear Morgan,
If this letter finds you, God has certainly heard my prayers. This year marks the third Christmas without my Clara, and even though this season is the most lonely, the rest of the year is not much better. The store here is profitable, enough for three families, but success is lonely when not shared.
I would very much enjoy seeing you and Adaline; in fact, I would like to present you with a business proposition. I have moved into the rooms above the store. I still have my home, but it s too large and full of Clara. I do not know how business stands for you in Boston, so much changed with the war, but if you ve a longing for change, a position and home await you here. I feel the years that separate us now more than ever, and I can t continue on here-not on my own, feeling every one of my 63 years.
Many of the mine owners live here, so there is a school and a church, and as I stated before, business is good. Winter lasts for months, but spring is worth the wait. I do not want to paint a false picture. I work hard and the hours are long, but if you ve fathered a bunch of strapping sons, the load will be light.
Enough of the sales talk. You now know where I stand. I send this with hopes that I will hear from you soon, even if you decline to join me. I do ask myself, however, how brothers could have become so separated. I hope you come, but even a letter from the only family I have left would be more than welcome.
Sincerely,
Mitchell Fontaine
Georgetown Colorado Territory
Dear Mitchell,
We received your letter with great pleasure and are at this time making plans to join you. Look for Addy, the boys, and me sometime in July. We look forward to the change and business opportunity.
Until then,
Morgan Fontaine
Boston, Mass. 17 March 1873
1
Cut right out of the side of a mountain, Georgetown was filled with narrow streets and friendly businesses. The town of more than 3000 residents sat in a deep valley. Rocky-faced mountains, with just a sprinkling of pines, rose on three sides. The high elevation caused snow to remain on the tallest peaks even in midsummer. Amid the beauty, silver miners built shacks and moved equipment in to plumb the earth. Mine tailings made their own hills and valleys, looming dark and mysterious in the landscape.
Streets lined with houses ran north and south, east and west. Their colors ranged from white to more somber grays, with the occasional pink or bright-blue facade. Clear Creek, flowing fast and clear as its name, ran through the middle of town. Children of all ages loved to cross or stand on the wooden bridge that spanned it, its sides supported with heavy wood beams.
Clayton Taggart, a town local, waved to a few of the creekgazers as he stopped his wagon in front of the general store and climbed down. He rubbed the small of his back and then looped the horses reins over the hitching post. He d been in the saddle for days, and the seat of the buckboard had not felt comfortable. However, his mother had a long list of supplies she needed from town. Milly, Clayton s younger sister, was ill, or his mother would have come herself.
Clayton walked across the street to the barber shop, thinking, as he often did, that there must be an easier way to make a living. Land and mine surveyors were in demand, but they couldn t live, like the mine owners, in town. A dream, one he d had for years, flashed into his mind, but he forced the thought away. It was going to take more time, and he was going to have to be patient.
Well now, Clay, the barber greeted the 18-year-old warmly once he was inside the shop.
Hello, Hap. Have you time for a cut?
The chair s all yours.
The regular crowd had gathered in the mismatched wooden chairs along one wall, some smoking and some reading the weekly news. They mumbled greetings as Clayton dropped his hat onto the hook by the door and took a seat in the huge barber chair. The striped drape billowed in the air as it swung around his frame and settled below his throat.
Yer pa still out? Hap wanted to know.
Yeah. He ll be back in a few days.
Musta been nice and cool in those hills, Charlie Parks offered. He held a section of the paper in front of his nose, and Clayton only smiled. Georgetown itself was over 8500 feet in elevation, making the temperatures quite cool year round. However, it was true that the mine where Clayton had been working had been even cooler.
It s still a lot of hard work, Clayton commented softly, but no one seemed to hear.
Hap snipped along for a time, working in silence, before Clayton asked, So what s new in town? If someone didn t talk to him, he was going to fall asleep.
Well, now. Hap seemed pleased. Young Doc Edwardson broke his leg.
How d he manage that?
Hal gave a wheezy laugh before answering. Him and the missus had a fight, and he went slamming out the back door after dark. Fell down all four steps and busted his leg good. Had to call his own pa to set the thing.
Clayton was amused but sympathetic.
Billy Roper and June Hawley have decided to get married, kinda suddenlike. Some say she s in the family way.
Clayton s eyes in the mirror became very stern, and Hap cleared his throat and changed the subject.
Mitch Fontaine s brother and his family have moved into town.
Something in Hap s voice caused Clayton to study him closely, but the older man s look gave nothing away.
Yes, indeed, he continued. Name s Morgan. Got a right pretty wife too.
Where re they living? Clayton s curiosity got the best of him.
In Mitch s old place. Hey, you have been gone awhile, haven tyou, Clay? Hap suddenly interjected.
Six weeks. Clayton s deep voice was mild.
I wonder that your mother didn t tell you.
I just got in last night, Hap, and Milly s sick.
Is she now? That s a shame. Gonna miss the first day of school next week?
She s hoping not.
Mitch s havin a sale. Charlie Parks voice once again drifted out from behind the paper.
A sale? Clayton asked skeptically.
Yep, Hap took up the ball. First ever. Morgan told Charlie here they re going to be moving some new stock in, so they ve put old items on sale.
Clayton almost shook his head but remembered Hap s scissors just in time.
All kinds of changes goin on over there. You planning to stop, Clay?
Yeah. Ma sent a list.
There was a certain amount of rustling from the chairs against the wall, but Clayton took little notice. Hap was finished with his haircut and fussing about his neck and ears with a small brush. Clayton flipped a coin to the older man and went for his hat.
Be sure and have the boys help you out when you get there, Charlie