A Love Most Worthy

By Sandra Ardoin

She didn't know which was colder, an Arctic winter or her new husband's heart.

 

Hallie Russell believes life should be lived to the fullest. For that reason, she sails to the gold rush town of Nome, Alaska to take her cousin's place as a mail-order bride. But when her aloof husband's wedding-night announcement rocks her plans for their marriage, Hallie sees her desire for a family to call her own vanish as quickly as the dreams of hopeful miners.

Tragedy led Rance Preston to repent of his rowdy ways and open a general store for the miners in Nome. He's content as a bachelor, but his two orphaned nephews deserve a proper and serious-minded mother. Duped once by a vivacious female, he's determined to never again let his heart overrule his head...until the high spirits of his new bride threaten his resolve to keep theirs a marriage of convenience.

How can they possibly discover the treasure of a lifetime when the gale force winds of insecurity threaten to destroy what they each need most?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sandra Ardoin
• Release date: Feb 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393781875

Sandra Ardoin

As an author of heartwarming historical and contemporary romance, Sandra Ardoin engages readers with page-turning stories of love and faith. Rarely out of reach of a book, she's also an armchair sports enthusiast, country music listener, and seldom says no to eating out. Visit her at www.sandraardoin.com. Connect with her on BookBub, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. Subscribe to the newsletter and keep up with what’s new, discover what’s upcoming, and learn of specials.

Book preview

A LOVE

MOST WORTHY

A Novella

Sandra Ardoin

©2019 A LOVE MOST WORTHY by Sandra Ardoin

For more information on this book and the author visit: http://sandraardoin.com.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. For further permissions, please contact the author through her website: www.sandraardoin.com/contact.

A Love Most Worthy is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used for fictional purposes. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Any mentioned brand names, places, and trademarks remain the property of their respective owners, bear no association with the author or the publisher, and are used for fictional purposes only.

Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Cover design by Evelyne Labelle, Carpe Librum Book Design.

Table of Contents

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

Epilogue

Get Unwrapping Hope, the novella that kicked off the Widow’s Might series, as my thank you when you sign up to receive updates and special offers at www.sandraardoin.com/newsletter.

If you prefer to purchase the novella, you’ll find it at https://books2read.com/u/47EWlg

To those feeling swamped by storms of doubt.

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But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

~ James 1:6 KJV ~

Chapter One

Feminine laughter drifted across the water toward the Alaskan beach at Nome. With the faint sound, cold fingers of dread tiptoed up Rance Preston’s back.

Is that our new aunt laughing, Uncle Rance? 

Only if God had frowned on him.

Yet, he feared the buoyant sound floating over the waves of the Bering Sea did indeed come from the stranger he would marry this afternoon, a woman his friend in Seattle, Frank Connors, had assured him met his requirements for a bride.

Rance clamped a gentle hand on the cap covering the six-year-old’s head. We’ll find out soon, Robbie.

He listened in vain to hear her words over the crowd scattered among dozens of miners’ tents and mountains of freight—sacks and crates and machinery—sitting mere yards from the water.

The warmer temperatures had broken up the winter ice, and now steamships arrived in droves in this summer of 1900, forced to anchor farther out to sea due to Nome District’s shallow harbor. Those aboard rode to the shore in lighters, the boats’ flat-bottomed hulls filled with men and women intent on striking it rich in the gold rush...and one mail-order bride intent on marrying a man she had never met.

As the crew in the lead boat rowed closer, the laughing lady entertained an audience of enraptured passengers with sweeping gestures. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe she wasn’t the woman he expected. Maybe, in sending for a wife, he hadn’t created another nightmare for himself and the boys.

With the lighter a few yards from the beach, Rance pulled out the photograph he’d received. Strange that it showed two females, not one. When the woman in the boat looked up, he compared her face with the images and swallowed the urge to groan.

Miss Russell had arrived.

Once the lighter reached the shallowest point, men scrambled over the side. One smiling gent turned his back to Miss Russell and urged her to climb aboard. Rance stiffened. The man proposed to tote her piggyback? She shook her head, looking both embarrassed and uncertain.

It wasn’t unusual to carry a woman to shore to avoid the necessity of her wading the last few feet, however, Miss Russell was Rance’s responsibility now. He should be the one to bring her ashore.

The man from the boat turned and said something to her. She shrugged and allowed him to lift her from the lighter and carry her in his arms. Once they reached shore—within feet of Rance—she quickly slid from his hold and onto the beach of dark sand and small rocks. The hem of her green skirt dripped with seawater. It appeared the man’s precaution had proved unsuccessful.

His future bride smiled and said, Thank you, Mr. Digby. That was...quite an experience.

The gentleman, who was dressed more like a gambler than a miner, held out her case. It was my pleasure to assist you, Miss Russell. I hope we’ll meet again while I’m here.

Rance’s breath caught as he waited for her to reject the idea of associating with another man.

She reached for the valise. I’ll be busy with my new family, sir, but I wish you a lovely stay in Nome.

Once Digby tipped his hat and walked away, Rance exhaled.

Miss Russell caught her bottom lip between her teeth. Her timidity created in him a surprising urge, a protective urge. Though his mind shouted for him to act, to reassure her, his muscles froze.

The top of the woman’s head only reached his shoulder. Strands of light orange hair poked from under her hat, freed by the sea breeze. Wisps of curls, the shade of a winter sunset, blew across a face dappled with freckles. Not as winsome as the second woman in the photograph, her ordinary features helped to ease his anxiety. After all, he sought greater virtues from a wife than beauty.

At the pain of a sharp elbow from someone in the jostling crowd, he stepped forward, dragging Robbie and Davie with him. Miss Russell?

Mr. Preston? She glanced down, seeing the boys. Her expression lightened.

Yes, ma’am. Welcome to Nome.

Thank you. She smiled and leaned forward as if intending to hug him. When he drew back, so did she, and the smile faltered. Marriage was one thing. Affection another.

Still, those full, moon-shaped eyes, the clear blue of an afternoon sky, reeled him in like a salmon fighting the line. How could they sparkle with excitement, cast a shadow of apprehension, and glow with the warmth of a Georgia summer sun all in a matter of seconds?

Ow. That hurts. Davie tried to pull his hand from Rance’s.

I’m sorry, Nugget. Freed from Miss Russell’s gaze, he loosened his grip on the four-year-old but refused to let go. After a couple of panic-inducing experiences, he’d learned the hard way that Davie must be watched constantly or he wandered off.

Dark hair curled upward and over the bottom of Davie’s cap. Rance should have given the children a haircut before Miss Russell arrived. Caring for two small boys was difficult while operating a busy store, but shaggy hair didn’t make for a good impression of his parenting skills.

Setting her case on the sand beside her, she crouched to the boys’ level, addressing them in turn. You’re Robbie, and you’re Davie. Am I right?

Davie broke away and wound his short arms around her neck. She gasped, then closed her eyes and returned the hug as if he were her own.

Rance’s chest ached. Late night tears and drawings of family had revealed how much the boys missed the love and attention of their parents, but he hadn’t fully realized their eagerness for the arrival of his bride. Having caused their loss, he would do anything to provide them with maternal affection, including marrying a woman he didn’t love.

Miss Russell released Davie and rose. The scent of lilacs rose with her. Lilacs in a gold mining district. He caught himself before a snort escaped.

She approached Robbie as if intending to embrace him, too, but the older boy inched closer to Rance’s side. At the boy’s move, much like his own, her cheeks gave color to her otherwise pale complexion. Clasping her hands together, she looked around. This is a bustling place.

Increasingly so. You might want to change from that damp suit before we see the preacher.

Those big eyes grew bigger. We’re to marry today?

I would prefer my intended not stay alone in one of the hotels. Rance cocked his head. "Marrying me is why you came, isn’t it?"

At the purse of her lips, that spine-crawling dread returned. He’d been duped once by a female, and his nephews had paid the price. He couldn’t afford to be deceived again.

HALLIE RUSSELL’S EXHILARATION, which hadn’t faded since leaving Seattle, wilted with Mr. Preston’s question. Accusation was more like it.

She fingered the oval locket pinned to her jacket and matched stares with the man who had paid her passage on the San Juan. Of course, she had set sail for Nome to marry him. Mostly. She simply hadn’t expected to do so the minute she stepped foot on Alaskan soil.

Shouldn’t Mr. Preston want a little time to get to know her first? After all, Hallie’s only communication with him had been her hastily-written letter advising that her cousin, Harriet, had married someone else, and Hallie presumed to take her place as his bride.

Oh, well. It seemed the Nome hotels didn’t suit him, and she couldn’t stay in

Reviews for A Love Most Worthy

[benn9314 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very inspirational story about our country in the early years