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Redemption
Carolyn Davidson
Jake McPhersonNEEDED A BRIDE…He was a Civil War veteran, wounded in body and soul. And when his wife died unexpectedly, he retreated from life, craving only solitude and his happy memories. But his young son needed a mother's love and guidance–even if Jake wanted no woman himself. So who better to choose than the town's spinster schoolmarm?Alicia MerriweatherWANTED SO MUCH TO LOVE… She had come to warn Jake his son was running wild. But she stayed because beneath his gruff exterior she saw Jake's pain and loneliness. Having borne the brunt of ridicule all her life, tall, plain Alicia understood both all too well. But could Jake ever learn to share his home and his heart?
“Get your damn foot out of my door.”
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.”
Acclaim for Carolyn Davidson’s recent titles
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
Redemption
Carolyn Davidson
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Also by Carolyn Davidson
† (#litres_trial_promo)Big Sky Rancher
Texas Lawman
One Starry Christmas
“Stormwalker’s Woman”
The Marriage Agreement
†† (#litres_trial_promo)Colorado Courtship
Texas Gold
Tempting a Texan
The Texan
A Marriage by Chance
† (#litres_trial_promo)A Convenient Wife
The Seduction of Shay Devereaux
Maggie’s Beau
One Christmas Wish
“Wish Upon a Star”
* (#litres_trial_promo)Tanner Stakes His Claim
* (#litres_trial_promo)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.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE (#u4b4ecdf5-6b21-5209-83ee-4e7a58bc4d5f)
CHAPTER ONE (#u3e69901d-0c03-5470-90ae-b5da88266c17)
CHAPTER TWO (#u660d79f0-5657-5b6c-bd06-f76faa6ad085)
CHAPTER THREE (#u39b91439-b756-5e28-92e0-f79448bd0e10)
CHAPTER FOUR (#ub2838543-ad97-5879-96d3-d0814047cff0)
CHAPTER FIVE (#u1176b3da-6a45-5898-98f1-d775323e2ec3)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
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)
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.
