Carolyn Davidson: Redemption

This time it was a subdued roar, delivered from a twisted face of anger. “Do I have to call the sheriff to toss you out on your fanny?” He looked her up and down. “Though unless my eyes deceive me, it might take two husky men to do the job.”

Alicia felt the flush climb her cheeks. It was an insult, delivered honestly—but an insult, nevertheless. And as the town’s schoolteacher, she had until this moment been accorded the courtesy due to her position. She gritted her teeth. That her weight was, and always had been, a problem was neither here nor there. But this blatant intention to offend her had touched a sore spot, one she guarded closely.

“Two husky men?” Her brow jerked upward. “More like three,” she answered crisply, “unless the blacksmith is one of them.”

The Marriage Agreement

“Davidson uses her considerable skills

to fashion a plausible, first-class

marriage-of-convenience romance.”

—Romantic Times BOOKclub

Colorado Courtship

“Davidson deftly mixes courtship

and a marriage of conveniece with the intrigue

of gold hunting, robbery and murder.”

—Romantic Times BOOKclub

Texas Gold

“Davidson delivers a story

fraught with sexual tension.”

—Romantic Times BOOKclub

A Marriage by Chance

“This deftly written novel about

loss and recovery is a skillful handling

of the traditional Western, with the

added elements of family conflict

and a moving love story.”

—Romantic Times BOOKclub

The Tender Stranger

“Davidson wonderfully captures gentleness

in the midst of heart-wrenching challenges,

portraying the extraordinary possibilities

that exist within ordinary marital love.”

—Publishers Weekly

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†Big Sky Rancher

Texas Lawman

One Starry Christmas

“Stormwalker’s Woman”

The Marriage Agreement

††Colorado Courtship

Texas Gold

Tempting a Texan

The Texan

A Marriage by Chance

†A Convenient Wife

The Seduction of Shay Devereaux

Maggie’s Beau

One Christmas Wish

“Wish Upon a Star”

*Tanner Stakes His Claim

*The Bachelor Tax

The Midwife

The Tender Stranger

The Wedding Promise

Runaway

The Forever Man

Loving Katherine

Gerrity’s Bride

This story is dedicated to all those

wonderful readers who took time to write me

after they’d read The Wedding Promise.

And to those who asked why I hadn’t given

Jake, a strong secondary character,

a book of his own. I agreed with them, and

found myself thinking often of Jake and

wondering what had happened to him. This

is it, ladies. Jake’s story, which in my humble

opinion is the best story I’ve ever written.

My dedication would not be complete

without mentioning my manager,

the wonderful Mr. Ed, who is my other half,

my inspiration and my love.

PROLOGUE PROLOGUE Green Rapids, Kansas—Summer 1877 THE GRAVE GAPED, an obscene rectangle wherein lay a simple coffin. Lorena McPherson, wife of Jacob, mother of Jason, lay beneath the scattering of flowers the mourning family and townsfolk had dropped into the grave. Whether to relieve the stark presence of death, or to send a final assurance of love to Lorena, the effect was the same. But since the flowers would soon be covered by six feet of dirt, they failed to offer any comfort to the man who watched. Jake McPherson sat in his rolling chair, his only form of transportation since he had lost parts of both legs, courtesy of the war. A familiar figure in Green Rapids, Kansas, he was pitied beyond measure today. Beside him, his son, a boy of six—who would grow up motherless from this day forward—stood dry-eyed, with shoulders straight. The boy’s gaze was focused intently on the open grave. Across the grave site, Jake’s brother, Cord McPherson and his wife and children watched, Rachel shedding tears but standing erect and strong beside her husband. The sun shone brightly, and Jake thought with macabre humor that it should have, at the very least, been raining the proverbial cats and dogs. But the heavens had not even had the decency to lend their tears to the event. He’d shared almost nine wonderful years with his Rena, had discovered a life worth living with her at his side. Now it was all for naught. Life would never be the same. Two men picked up shovels and began the slow, methodical rhythm that would fill the grave, leaving it mounded and barren of grass. Rachel carried a basket of flowers to strew over the surface once the men were finished, an attempt to conceal the scars of a fresh grave site. Jake hoped it would bring Rachel comfort, this final act of love for her dearest friend. He would not deny her any solace she might gain, but knew that nothing could ease the stark despair that gripped him. He was alone, again. It seemed he’d been a solitary man for most of his life. Until Lorena…

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

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Green Rapids, Kansas—Summer 1877

THE GRAVE GAPED, an obscene rectangle wherein lay a simple coffin. Lorena McPherson, wife of Jacob, mother of Jason, lay beneath the scattering of flowers the mourning family and townsfolk had dropped into the grave.

Whether to relieve the stark presence of death, or to send a final assurance of love to Lorena, the effect was the same. But since the flowers would soon be covered by six feet of dirt, they failed to offer any comfort to the man who watched.

Jake McPherson sat in his rolling chair, his only form of transportation since he had lost parts of both legs, courtesy of the war. A familiar figure in Green Rapids, Kansas, he was pitied beyond measure today. Beside him, his son, a boy of six—who would grow up motherless from this day forward—stood dry-eyed, with shoulders straight. The boy’s gaze was focused intently on the open grave.

Across the grave site, Jake’s brother, Cord McPherson and his wife and children watched, Rachel shedding tears but standing erect and strong beside her husband.

The sun shone brightly, and Jake thought with macabre humor that it should have, at the very least, been raining the proverbial cats and dogs. But the heavens had not even had the decency to lend their tears to the event.

He’d shared almost nine wonderful years with his Rena, had discovered a life worth living with her at his side. Now it was all for naught. Life would never be the same.