Sleigh Bells & Mistletoe: A Short Story (The Brides Series 1.5) by Lena Goldfinch

Author:Lena Goldfinch [Goldfinch, Lena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Indigo Road
Published: 2014-12-21T00:00:00+00:00

Rachel Elizabeth Jessup

born April 1, 1871

THE END

Continue reading for a sneak peek at

THE BARTERED BRIDE

BOOK 2 IN THE BRIDES SERIES...

Excerpt from

THE BARTERED BRIDE

Lena Goldfinch

Note: The following excerpt is from a work-in-progress. The content is unedited and subject to change upon completion and editorial review.

ONE

The Middle of Nowhere, August 1876

Jem Wheeler was pretty sure they were in Colorado.

He’d fallen asleep on the train with little Mae laid out beside him on the seat, her head drooping sideways against his thigh, her thumb stuck squarely in her mouth. One chubby stockinged foot dangled off the edge of the seat, twitching to the beat of whatever tune she had playing in her head. She’d kicked off her shoes again, which didn’t surprise him. Like every other two-year-old he’d ever known, she’d go around barefooted all the time if she had the choice. He bent to pick up her shoes, glad the train had stopped. He’d been sitting too long.

He took another quick look out the window at the town, if you could call it that. It was more like a stop-on-the-way kind of place, with no more than a handful of plain one-story buildings, white paint, pitched roofs, and a single dirt road going off into the distance. At least they had a road. Didn’t look like they had a hotel, but maybe they’d have a restaurant or canteen where he could buy some lunch. Otherwise, it was just dirt, grass, a spattering of white-barked aspens, and the Rockies way off in the distance, not even enough to call a view. What a sad place.

Who on earth would want to live here? he wondered.

Although, it was probably quiet. And quiet sort of suited him lately.

Still, not his destination. They had bigger things awaiting them. A new life.

He struggled to feel enthusiastic. All that seemed to drive him right now was a single purpose: get back to Colorado. Settle in at the ranch. Make something of it, make a life. It would have been different if Lorelei were still with them. But she wasn’t. There was no way to get used to something like that.

Jem hefted Mae up in his arms, clasping her shoes behind her back.

“Hungry, Daddy?” she mumbled, still half-asleep, he guessed.

“I suppose,” he answered, as he filed out after a few other passengers in their car. Not many of the passengers on board—if any—would be staying in this little nowhere town. He suspected everyone just wanted to stretch a bit like he did before the next leg of the trip.

“I’m hungry,” Mae said, lifting her head off his shoulder and looking around, her eyes brightening as the last of sleep fell away from her.

“I’ve got to check on the horses, then we’ll get food.” He stepped off the train and looked around again. They’d stopped at a depot, no more than a long white shack of a building with a boardwalk-style porch and a few benches outside, but it was something at least. Shade against the sun. A decent enough place for a person to sit and wait for the train.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.