By the Sweat of His Brow

By Doreen Milstead

By the Sweat of His Brow - A lonely rancher hopes for the one thing he's never had; a wife and family to help and to love. Two other souls, one a little girl who helps the rancher with many tasks around the ranch and house, and the other, a brand new, mail order wife sent on a recommendation from his sister on the east coast, provide a solution to the rancher's problems and a way back to God. This is a lovely new story about an unexpected angel found, and a little girl with new hope for a family and mother.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susan Hart
• Release date: Jan 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463578254

Book preview

By the Sweat of His Brow

by

Doreen Milstead

Copyright 2020 Susan Hart

Synopsis: By the Sweat of His Brow - A lonely rancher hopes for the one thing he's never had; a wife and family to help and to love. Two other souls, one a little girl who helps the rancher with many tasks around the ranch and house, and the other, a brand new, mail order wife sent on a recommendation from his sister on the east coast, provide a solution to the rancher's problems and a way back to God. This is a lovely new story about an unexpected angel found, and a little girl with new hope for a family and mother.

Sweat. It beaded off the brim of his nose and snaked down his dusty face. It moistened the soil furrowing in velvet shades behind his plow. It clung to his back. It foamed from his horse. And it pulsed in rhythm to his heaving chest. Like ocean breakers pounding out the tide of another day, Jed’s perspiration lathered him with the satisfaction of a job well done.

He loved it. He loved the blaze of late Texas sunlight setting fire to the horizon. He loved the feel of rich Texas soil covering his body with the scent of earth and the pride of labor. Stretching his powerful frame in several abrupt twists to loosen his muscles, Jed squinted. Tears added their glisten to his face. No place like home. Doggone it, now there’s a fact. Across the acres of fresh topsoil he’d just unearthed, the afternoon sun was layering the plains with streaks of gold. Warm breeze rustled patterns through his young wheat fields. Several cows dotted the plain beyond, spotting color to the land’s muted canvass. Blurred by the sunset’s haze, the horizon seemed to unite earth and sky in a seamless shimmer of light. And under all that glory, nestled in the field’s golden ripples, lay the crowning feature of Jed’s homestead: His little cabin.

To most folks, it had the presence of any snug home on the plains: rough-hewn siding, wooden shingles pressed tightly against a low-sloped roof, a chunky red chimney and glassless windows. To a farmer, it boasted of a meticulous craftsman who had done his share of raising boards and laying brick. But to Jed, it was his masterpiece. His sweat stained every shingle. His hands laid every nail. And his dreams saturated that little cabin 'til it fairly glowed in his mind with an aura of expectation. Because someday, he’d told himself, someday, not too long from now, his arms were going to carry a bride across that threshold. Then, only then, would it be home.

Shaking himself back to the present, Jed mopped his brow. The sun