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Abbie's Child
Linda Castle
Abigail's Child…Widow Abigail Cooprel had been devastated by the news that her daughter had died at birth and been "switched" with a healthy baby. Now, six years later, she cherished her son as if her were truly her own, and there was nothing she wouldn't do to keep him.The years he'd roamed the Colorado mining camps searching for his long-lost wife and the child he'd never seen had taken their toll on Willem Tremain. Lonely and bereft, he'd almost given up hope, until Abigail and her blue-eyed boy made him ache to love again.
Table of Contents
Cover Page (#ueb376707-4a7d-5c7e-b5ea-75e612bd7963)
Excerpt (#u04e2d1bf-9069-5abd-9674-454beffbf4a6)
Dear Reader (#u056bfff4-e197-5306-907e-ab92912e6bfc)
Title Page (#u83bfe2cb-93a0-5765-b644-2060bcadc08a)
About the Author (#u985d5c5b-6ca1-5f19-b362-d5ffe21d9449)
Dedication (#u96e05d7a-3267-596b-9a3d-668d64832781)
Prologue (#u349d29f2-ab63-526e-8329-f02166116fd3)
Chapter One (#u47dab9c2-ee93-5867-81d6-950d05302ade)
Chapter Two (#u5524f2df-0315-549f-a2f1-fee58fd4621b)
Chapter Three (#u20de274b-6943-58d9-bfc2-d3a88876eba4)
Chapter Four (#uc2b81579-1b2c-589b-92f3-d5a85eedd6e2)
Chapter Five (#u4a25c088-b50f-52ae-8308-9dbe3cabf6c3)
Chapter Six (#u7e839d63-4f2d-5658-986c-019e4bfe9679)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Author Note (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Abigail had the most singular urge to touch him,
to slide her palms over the contours of his body and see if he felt as hard as he looked. The idea that Willem Tremain was dangerous gained more substance with every passing moment. Suddenly she felt downright feverish and more light-headed than the time she drank too much of Lars’s dandelion wine.
Unable to stop herself, she raised her fingertips to touch the coin hung around his neck, lightly brushing against his warm, moist skin. Every inch of his body went rigid, and he sucked in his breath with a sharp hiss that made her own skin prickle in response.
“Abigail.” Her name was spoken in clear, sharp warning. She jerked her hand back in alarm and shifted her gaze to his face. An emotion unlike any she’d ever read there before burned in his eyes. His jaw was clamped so tightly, his cheek muscles were jumping in rhythmic fashion, and his mouth was drawn into an uncompromising line.
She took a step backward. Something wild and raw had glowed in his eyes, something that made her tremble…
Dear Reader,
When Abigail Cooprel suddenly comes face-to-face with a man who is the very image of her adopted son, she realizes that she will do anything to keep her child, even marry a stranger. Abbie’s Child is the second book from talented newcomer Linda Castle, whose first book, Fearless Hearts, was released during our annual March Madness promotion in 1995, to loud acclaim. Don’t miss this month’s title, and be sure to keep an eye out for her next book, The Return of Chase Cordell, coming in December.
Multigenre author Merline Lovelace can make any time period come alive, and in her new release, Lady of the Upper Kingdom, she does just that. This dramatic story of forbidden love brings together two strong-willed people as they struggle to overcome the treachery and distrust that exists between their two cultures, the Egyptian and the Greek.
The new Medieval from Catherine Archer, Velvet Touch, the sequel to her previous book, Velvet Bond, is the bittersweet story of a young nobleman who is sent by his king to arrange a marriage and settle a feud, only to fall in love with the intended bride. And three-time RITA Award winner, contemporary author Cheryl Reavis, is back this month with The Bartered Bride, the moving story of a pregnant woman who must swallow her pride and marry her sister’s widower, set in Civil War North Carolina.
Whatever your taste in reading, we hope you will enjoy all four Harlequin Historicals, available wherever books are sold.
Sincerely,
Tracy Farrell,
Senior Editor
Please address questions and book requests to:
Harlequin Reader Service
U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269
Canadian: P.O. Box 609. Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3
Abbie’s Child
Linda Castle
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
LINDA CASTLE (#ulink_4416e15e-144c-5d14-a2ac-c0e1c3b08bc5)
Linda Castle is the pseudonym of Linda L. Crockett, a third-generation native New Mexican. Linda started writing in March of 1992, and Abbie’s Child is her second book from Harlequin Historicals.
When not penning novels, Linda divides her time between being a wife, mother and grandmother. She loves speaking, and teaching what she has learned to aspiring writers. Her best advice: write from the heart.
Linda believes one of the greatest benefits she has received from writing historical novels is the mail from readers. She encourages and welcomes comments to be sent to:
Linda Castle
#18, Road 5795
Farmington, NM 87401
Please include an SASE for a reply/bookmark.
To Bill from your adoring wife and mate,
Logan, Brandon, Liann and Bill from Mom,
Matt and Will from Grammy,
Ira, Clay and Vicki from your sister,
Bob and Terrie from your mother-in-law,
Denise from your stepmother,
Babe from your daughter,
Don and Helen from your daughter-in-law,
Steve, Bonnie, Deb and Wendy
from your sister-in-law,
Mandi, from your aunt,
DA, EW, LA, AS, TB, HS, AS, RG, KV, MC, MT, LB,
CB, HW, SE, LC from a friend,
Western Writers of America from a country girl,
Land of Enchantment Romance Authors from a
New Mexico native,
Romance Writers of America from a
hopeless romantic,
Southwest Writers Workshop from
one with ink in her blood,
San Antonio Romance Authors from your
member from out West,
Margaret Marbury from a very grateful writer,
and most of all to the readers who have opened their
hearts to embrace the characters of my imagination,
Thank you.
Prologue (#ulink_fedb824d-298c-525d-8a66-632e701ce7e0)
San Juan Mountains, Colorado
1882
Abigail clung to the sheer side of the mountain trail while another pain knifed through her taut belly. Carl was not even cold in his grave before the first agonizing contraction had gripped her. She sucked in gulps of pine-scented cold air and squeezed her eyes shut against the biting pain. When it began to ebb and flow away as the last half dozen before it, she pulled the threadbare plaid woolen shawl snug around her rounded belly and pushed forward. She rubbed her palms over her chilled arms, but felt no warmth from the action.
Night would begin to descend from the pristine snow-covered peaks to settle around her soon. She glanced at her narrow, stone-littered back trail and wondered if she had made a fatal mistake in trying to reach the closest mining camp of Guston. Carl’s and her claim had been more isolated than most—better he had said, in case they had a big strike. Now she bit her lip and wondered if she would reach the boomtown before their child was born. If the baby came on the mountain trail at night she knew full well how slim their chances of survival were. She had begged him to take her into Silverton before her pregnancy came to term, but he had laughed and assured her he was capable of birthing their child. So she was now alone, at the end of her pregnancy, and Carl would never see his baby born.
Fear spurred her forward. She doggedly placed one foot in front of the other and tried to ignore the growing terror in the mauve shadows darkening the treacherous path. She was determined that she and her baby would survive.
Abigail found herself thinking of her mother. Long-buried fears and old memories of loss returned to haunt her. She found herself suddenly terrified of dying in childbirth and leaving her child an orphan—as she and her siblings had been.
