Radclyffe - Promising Hearts

PROMISING HEARTS

by

RADCLY f FE

2006

What Reviewers Say About Radcly f fe'S Books

"...well-plotted...lovely romance...I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!" -- Ann Bannon , author of The Beebo Brinker Chronicles

"The author's brisk mix of political intrigue, fast-paced action, and frequent interludes of lesbian sex and love...in Honor Reclaimed ...sure does make for great escapist reading."-- Richard Labonte, Q Syndicate

"If you're looking for a well-written police procedural make sure you get a copy of Shield of Justice . Most assuredly worth it."-- Lynne Jamneck, author of Down the Rabbit Hole and reviewer for The L Life.

"Radclyffe has once again pulled together all the ingredients of a genuine page-turner, this time adding some new spices into the mix. Whatever one's personal take on the subject matter, shadowland is sure to please--in part because Radclyffe never loses sight of the fact that she is telling a love story, and a compelling one at that."-- Cameron Abbott, author of To The Edge and An Inexpressible State of Grace .

" Stolen Moments ...edited by Radclyffe & Stacia Seaman...is a collection of steamy stories about women who just couldn't wait. It's sex when desire overrides reason, and it's incredibly hot!"-- Suzanne Corson, On Our Backs .

"With ample angst, realistic and exciting medical emergencies, winsome secondary characters, and a sprinkling of humor, Fated Love turns out to be a terrific romance. It's one of the best I have read in the last three years. Run--do not walk--right out and get this one. You'll be hooked by yet another of Radclyffe's wonderful stories. Highly recommended."--Author Lori L. Lake, Midwest Book Review .

"Radclyffe, through her moving text...in Innocent Hearts ...illustrates that our struggles for acceptance of women loving women is as old as time - only the setting changes. The romance is sweet, sensual, and touching."-- Kathi Isserman, reviewer for Just About Write .

Visit us at www.boldstrokesbooks.com

PROMISING HEARTS by RADCLY f FE 2006

PROMISING HEARTS

Š 2006 BY RADCLYFFE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

ISBN 1-933110-44-9

THIS TRADE PAPERBACK ORIGINAL IS PUBLISHED BY

BOLD STROKES BOOKS, INC.,

NEW YORK, USA

FIRST PRINTING MAY 2006

THIS 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 PERSONS, LIVING OR DEAD, BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS, EVENTS, OR LOCALES IS ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL.

THIS BOOK, OR PARTS THEREOF, MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT PERMISSION.

CREDITS

EDITORS: RUTH STERNGLANTZ AND STACIA SEAMAN

PRODUCTION DESIGN: STACIA SEAMAN

COVER DESIGN BY SHERI (GRAPHICARTIST2020@HOTMAIL.COM)

By the Author

Romances

Safe Harbor

Passion's Bright Fury

Beyond the Breakwater

Love's Masquerade

Innocent Hearts

Shadowland

Love's Melody Lost

Fated Love

Love's Tender Warriors

Distant Shores, Silent Thunder

Tomorrow's Promise

Turn Back Time

Honor Series

Above All, Honor

Honor Bound

Love & Honor

Honor Guards

Honor Reclaimed

Justice Series

A Matter of Trust (prequel)

Shield of Justice

In Pursuit of Justice

Justice in the Shadows

Justice Served

Change Of Pace: Erotic Interludes

(A Short Story Collection)

Stolen Moments: Erotic Interludes 2

Stacia Seaman and Radclyffe, eds.

Lessons in Love: Erotic Interludes 3

Stacia Seaman and Radclyffe, eds.

Acknowledgments

Innocent Hearts was among the very first "full-length" works I wrote, and I had no aspirations to publish my stories at the time. The characters and I were all "innocent"--I because I had no real concept of what it really took to write a book, and the characters because they lived in a time when there were no words for who they were and how they loved.

Over the years I have come to understand that the story is the heart of any work, but the craft that brings that story to true life is plain old hard work. It can be exhilarating and frustrating from one second to the next. It is always rewarding. I was fortunate to be able to publish a second edition of Innocent Hearts (2005) in preparation for the continuation of the story of these brave, passionate women of New Hope. It was a real pleasure to revisit that work and add the subtle nuances I had missed the first time around.

While Promising Hearts happens to be set in a particular time in American history, romance and love are universal and eternal. It was a joy for me to write this book, and I believe the love and passion between these women will transcend place and time. I admit, however, to being a lifelong fan of the "Western," so this one was doubly fun to do.

Thanks to my tireless beta readers--Connie, Diane, Eva, Jane, Paula, RB, and Tomboy, my editors Ruth and Stacia, and Sheri, artist extraordinaire. And to Lee, for all the promises of the heart. Amo te .

Radclyffe 2006

Dedication

For Lee

From the Heart

PROMISING HEARTS

CHAPTER ONE

Appomattox Court House, Virginia

April 9, 1865

The morning of the battle dawned gray and cold. Dr. Vance Phelps surveyed the low rise extending southwest from Appomattox Court House where Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant had deployed the Army of the Potomac after forcing General Robert E.

Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia to abandon Richmond. Only a few hundred yards away, 30,000 rebel troops, all that remained of Lee's war-weary forces, prepared to mount their assault. Nearby, the assistant surgeons milled in a restless knot, awaiting orders as to where to establish the regimental field hospital. Vance was the senior surgeon by virtue of having served for nearly three years in the Pennsylvania 155th Volunteers--longer than any of the other medical personnel--and by being the only formally trained surgeon in the division. Many of the others had a few weeks of apprenticeship or no medical training at all.

They'd learned the rudiments of their trade under fire.

"There." Vance pointed to a dense copse of trees on a knoll directly behind the close rows of muzzle-loading howitzers manned by Ord's 24th Corps. From long experience in skirmishes and battles too numerous to count, Vance knew that before long the air would roil with the clouds of lung-singeing black smoke spewed out from artillery and small arms fire. The walking wounded and stretcher bearers would have a hard time finding the aid station unless it was close to the battle line and clearly visible. "Set up the tents in front of that hedgerow."

"Gonna make a mighty fine target up there, Doc," noted Milton Cox, the sergeant who served as her chief hospital steward. In his mismatched uniform of regulation Union blue trousers and a frayed, faded yellow shirt of homespun cotton that he'd most likely stolen off the clothesline of some unsuspecting Southern housewife, he looked more like a vagabond than a seasoned veteran.

"Might be," Vance agreed, her black eyes holding just a glint of humor, "if Lee's men are so unmannerly as to fire upon the hospital.