Lyn Cote - Suddenly A Frontier Father

His Ready-Made Family

Mason Chandler is home to meet his mail-order bride—six months too late! Little wonder Emma Jones wants to honor his letter releasing her from their agreement, especially when Mason has returned from his father’s deathbed with two adopted girls in tow. And the dark secret he’s hiding makes the homesteader feel unworthy to woo anyone.

As the new schoolteacher in Pepin, Wisconsin, Emma can support herself without a husband. Yet she’s touched by Mason’s kindness to his half sister and her orphaned companion. Taking the little girls under her wing comes naturally to Emma—and they dearly want her for their mama. Can Mason break free of his past to fight for their surprise family?

A USA TODAY bestselling author of over forty novels, LYN COTE lives in the north woods of Wisconsin with her husband in a lakeside cottage. She knits, loves cats (and dogs), likes to cook (and eat), never misses Wheel of Fortune and enjoys hearing from her readers. Email her at l.cote@juno.com. And drop by her website, www.lyncote.com, to learn more about her books that feature “Strong Women, Brave Stories.”

Also By Lyn Cote

Wilderness Brides

Their Frontier Family

The Baby Bequest

Heartland Courtship

Frontier Want Ad Bride

Suddenly a Frontier Father

The Gabriel Sisters

Her Captain’s Heart

Her Patchwork Family

Her Healing Ways

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Suddenly a Frontier Father

Lyn Cote

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08042-2

SUDDENLY A FRONTIER FATHER

© 2018 Lyn Cote

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

Before you start reading, why not sign up?

Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

SIGN ME UP!

Or simply visit

signup.millsandboon.co.uk

Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

The day played through Emma’s mind.

Her shock at meeting Mason Chandler on Main Street, seeing his two little girls—the silent and troubled Charlotte, the bright and sweet Birdie—and hearing the unguarded words he’d said when he woke after falling from the roof. You’re so good. You could have been mine.

If only she was young and unmarked by war, she might have reacted differently. But for four years, she had prayed and hoped and kept up her spirits. Trusting that Jonathan, good-natured and honorable, would return whole and they would spend their life together. Instead he’d been buried in Virginia. She stopped her thoughts there.

She did not think of Jonathan often anymore. Mason Chandler returning and the words he’d said to her had brought it all back—all the pain, all the waiting. She would keep her distance from him. But then she remembered Mrs. Ashford’s remark about judgment and little Lily’s unusual reticence. Those girls, Charlotte and Birdie—how could she help them?

Dear Reader,

Well, my stories of the twin mail-order brides comes to an end, a happy one. Mason discovered that his father’s past sins were not his own and Emma learned that her heart had not died with her first love. And sweet little Birdie and Charlotte have a real family at last.

This is the fifth story set in Pepin, Wisconsin. I’ve enjoyed researching and writing about this town so rich in history, beginning with the birth there of Laura Ingalls Wilder. If you recall, Pepin was the setting for Little House in the Big Woods, the first of the Little House stories.

The romances of Sunny and Noah (Their Frontier Family), Ellen and Kurt (The Baby Bequest), Rachel and Brennan (Heartland Courtship), Judith and Asa (Frontier Want Ad Bride) and finally Emma and Mason (Suddenly a Frontier Father) have been delightful stories to write. I’ve enjoyed each one and hope you have, too.

If you’d like to keep up with my next book or check on older titles, drop by my website: www.lyncote.com. I maintain a printable booklist there. Also you can sign up for my newsletter so you don’t miss what I’ll be doing. Hope you’ll keep in touch.

Blessings,

Lyn Cote

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

—Romans 8:28

To my late mother, Catherine Jean Baker.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Extract

Chapter One

Wisconsin Wilderness

Early September, 1873

Standing on the sunny riverboat deck, Mason Chandler was painfully aware of the intense curiosity of the other passengers. No doubt it did look odd for a man to be traveling with two little girls yet without a woman. Little Birdie stood on his right and Charlotte on his left in their new matching starched blue calico dresses. The tops of their bonneted heads barely reached his belt. If the girls had resembled each other or him, people might have merely assumed that he was a widowed father with two daughters.

Certainly, Charlotte with her light golden-brown hair and green eyes could pass for his child. But Birdie with skin the shade of dark chocolate could not. And of course, there was the other matter, Charlotte’s special problem, that set them apart.