Kelsey Roberts - The Best Man in Texas

Isabella Trueblood made history reuniting people torn apart by war and an epidemic. Now, generations later, Lily and Dylan Garrett carry on her work with their agency, Finders Keepers. Circumstances may have changed, but the goal remains the same.

Lost

One heiress. Sara Pierce, the missing beneficiary of Violet Mitchum’s will, wants to disappear. When her roommate in a women’s shelter dies suddenly, Sara thinks she’s found a way to erase her past forever. She hasn’t counted on the “accident” that erases her memory.

Found

One knight in shining armor. Dr. Justin Dale finds himself between a rock and a hard place—he’s falling in love with a patient…a woman who knows less than he does about herself. A woman who needs him, not as a doctor, but as a man.

Finders Keepers: bringing families together

Dear Reader,

The Best Man in Texas was a wonderful opportunity to work with an incredible group of authors and editors! It is always a joy and an honor to be offered the chance to work with a terrific team.

Writing about Texas was great fun and it gave me a chance to reminisce about a trip my husband and I took to the state. We traveled through much of the diverse landscape and ended up at a dude ranch. Well, actually, it was more like a dude resort. We had a cabin with a hot tub, fireplace and a butler, so I doubt I can claim to have experienced true Western living. The butler was a nice touch, though.

Sara Pierce was a challenging character to develop. Though I could never imagine the true horrors of living through an abusive marriage, I fully enjoyed creating a woman who had not only survived, but had taken control of her life. What better reward than to find a true hero at the end of the journey. Dr. Justin Dale embodied all the qualities that make being a writer such a marvelous job. Crafting the hero is—secretly—my favorite part of the writing process. I’ll admit, Justin is my ideal fantasy man—gorgeous, intelligent, morally grounded and genuinely kind.

And Justin has many things in common with my husband. Acknowledging the similarity makes me remember why I wanted to write romance. I not only believe in “happily ever after,” I’m lucky enough to have found it in my own life as my husband and I prepare to celebrate twenty years of marriage.

I hope you enjoy the book.

Happy reading!

Kelsey Roberts

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Kelsey Roberts is acknowledged as the author of this work.

Kelsey Roberts is acknowledged as the author of this work.

Words simply cannot express my gratitude to my supportive

and loving husband, Bob, my dear friends, my sister, Linda,

the caring readers, patient editors and members of the writing community for their overwhelming support when I lost my son. Without all of you, I could easily have lost my way. Thank you!

In loving memory of Kyle McKinley Pollero

(November 19, 1985–September 7, 1999)

THE TRUEBLOOD LEGACY

THE YEAR WAS 1918, and the Great War in Europe still raged, but Esau Porter was heading home to Texas.

The young sergeant arrived at his parents’ ranch northwest of San Antonio on a Sunday night, only the celebration didn’t go off as planned. Most of the townsfolk of Carmelita had come out to welcome Esau home, but when they saw the sorry condition of the boy, they gave their respects quickly and left.

The fever got so bad so fast that Mrs. Porter hardly knew what to do. By Monday night, before the doctor from San Antonio made it into town, Esau was dead.

The Porter family grieved. How could their son have survived the German peril, only to burn up and die in his own bed? It wasn’t much of a surprise when Mrs. Porter took to her bed on Wednesday. But it was a hell of a shock when half the residents of Carmelita came down with the horrible illness. House after house was hit by death, and all the townspeople could do was pray for salvation.

None came. By the end of the year, over one hundred souls had perished. The influenza virus took those in the prime of life, leaving behind an unprecedented number of orphans. And the virus knew no boundaries. By the time the threat had passed, more than thirty-seven million people had succumbed worldwide.

But in one house, there was still hope.

Isabella Trueblood had come to Carmelita in the late 1800s with her father, blacksmith Saul Trueblood, and her mother, Teresa Collier Trueblood. The family had traveled from Indiana, leaving their Quaker roots behind.

Young Isabella grew up to be an intelligent woman who had a gift for healing and storytelling. Her dreams centered on the boy next door, Foster Carter, the son of Chester and Grace.

Just before the bad times came in 1918, Foster asked Isabella to be his wife, and the future of the Carter spread was secured. It was a happy union, and the future looked bright for the young couple.

Two years later, not one of their relatives was alive. How the young couple had survived was a miracle. And during the epidemic, Isabella and Foster had taken in more than twenty-two orphaned children from all over the county. They fed them, clothed them, taught them as if they were blood kin.

Then Isabella became pregnant, but there were complications. Love for her handsome son, Josiah, born in 1920, wasn’t enough to stop her from grow-ing weaker by the day. Knowing she couldn’t leave her husband to tend to all the children if she died, she set out to find families for each one of her orphaned charges.

And so the Trueblood Foundation was born. Named in memory of Isabella’s parents, it would become famous all over Texas. Some of the orphaned children went to strangers, but many were reunited with their families. After reading notices in newspapers and church bulletins, aunts, uncles, cousins and grand-parents rushed to Carmelita to find the young ones they’d given up for dead.

Toward the end of Isabella’s life, she’d brought together more than thirty families, and not just her orphans. Many others, old and young, made their way to her doorstep, and Isabella turned no one away.

At her death, the town’s name was changed to Trueblood, in her honor. For years to come, her simple grave was adorned with flowers on the anniversary of her death, grateful tokens of appreciation from the families she had brought together.

Isabella’s son, Josiah, grew into a fine rancher and married Rebecca Montgomery in 1938. They had a daughter, Elizabeth Trueblood Carter, in 1940. Elizabeth married her neighbor William Garrett in 1965, and gave birth to twins Lily and Dylan in 1971, and daughter Ashley a few years later. Home was the Double G ranch, about ten miles from Trueblood proper, and the Garrett children grew up listening to stories of their famous great-grandmother, Isabella. Because they were Truebloods, they knew that they, too, had a sacred duty to carry on the tradition passed down to them: finding lost souls and reuniting loved ones.

“You’re supposed to be in bed, Molly, not sitting at my desk.”

Justin tossed down the leather backpack he used as a combination medical bag and briefcase.

Molly. Molly. Molly. Sara repeated the name over and over in her mind, willing herself to think of it as her own.

“I’m going a little stir crazy,” she admitted. “And I thought the clinic could use some help. You have no organizational skills.”

“Guilty,” he agreed easily.

Sara averted her eyes, afraid some of her lecherous thoughts might be evident in her expression. Getting a grip on her feelings for the handsome doctor was part of her new plan.