Beauty And The Cowboy Beast

By Ellie Lynn

Rosalie Sanders is almost 18 and dreams of having her own family someday. While ready to find a husband, there are no prospects in her hometown. She loves to read and by chance, comes upon an ad in the local paper from a rancher in Wyoming. She doesn't mean to get caught up in the whole 'mail order bride' business, but she is intrigued enough to send him a letter. To her delight, he responds with one of his own, and the two strike up a friendship and then a relationship.

 

Daniel Ward is a rancher who was disfigured by a horrific fire when he was a child. He never dreams he'll find someone who'll accept him because of the way he looks, so when he begins corresponding with a young woman, he's thrilled.

 

When the two finally decide to meet, both are met with fears for the future. He worries that she will discover how ugly he is, and turn away from him. The test for Rosalie though, will be if she can look past the scars and let her heart lead the way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Deslisle Publications
• Release date: Oct 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781989276198

Ellie Lynn

They always say 'write what you know', so Ellie Lynn started out writing romantic comedy. She's since discovered a love of historical western romances as she channels Gunsmoke and Bonanza, but still writes the occasional contemporary. These days she calls rural Saskatchewan home with her husband, two incredibly spoiled dogs and Horatio the salamander.

Book preview

Chapter One

Her father looked at her long and hard. Does your mother know about this?

Yes, sir, Rosalie Sanders replied. She avoided his gaze and stared at the ground. Her mother hadn’t been pleased when she found out. Mama had picked up the first letter and had questioned her extensively. Rosalie answered as best she could. She was a grown woman now, but with no prospects for a husband, there was little else she could do. She had no desire or intention to stay with her parents for the rest of her life.

When Rosalie told her that she had answered an intriguing ad from a man in Wyoming, she had cried. I’m losing a child.

You’re not losing me, Mama, Rosalie had told her. He may not even write back.

Trudy Sanders looked at her daughter. If you sent a photo, he’ll write back.

Rosalie wasn’t as confident in her looks as her mother. She thought she was rather plain with blonde hair so curly the slightest moisture turned it to frizz and her eyes were much too green. Her mother had been right, though. The first letter she received from Daniel had come back to her only three weeks after she had replied to his advertisement. Truthfully, she wasn’t certain he would write at all. She was young, and he was more likely to respond to an older, marriage-minded woman.

Hello, my name is Rosalie Ann Sanders and I am nearly eighteen years old. I live with my parents and my younger sister in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I found your ad and was intrigued. I love to read. Mostly adventure novels, but letters will do also. I have enclosed a photograph so that you may decide if I am attractive enough to continue corresponding.

Thank you,

Rosalie

Look at me, Rosalie, her father said, drawing her attention. Is this really what you want? To leave your family and go far away to start your own family with a complete stranger?

Rosalie shrugged. I’m not sure yet, Papa. That’s what the letters are for, so we can get to know one another. Neither of us are interested in rushing anything.

I don’t think I care for it, her father said. He turned around and headed toward the house. Her little sister, Carrie, bounded down the steps, narrowly missing him. It would have been like running into a tree for the skinny ten-year-old.

Papa! Rosalie’s takin’ me swimming, Carrie said.

Papa grinned. You watch for boats and the lake monster.

Oh, Papa! I’m a big girl. I don’t believe in lake monsters anymore, she said. It was a game he played with the girls until they were old enough to realize such creatures didn’t exist.

Her father frowned at Rosalie as he held open the screen door for her to pass. A twinge of guilt fluttered in her stomach as he turned and walked away. I know, baby. You’ve both gotten so big and grown-up.

Are you ready? Carrie looked up at her big sister.

Rosalie sighed. In her excitement, she’d forgotten her promise to take her little sister to the swimming hole. She would have liked to have taken the letter with her to read while Carrie swam, but she wasn’t going to ask her father for it. Hopefully, he would give it to her after he talked it over with Mama. She wished that it had been her mother who had gone for the mail as she usually did.

Yes, I’m ready, she replied. Carrie was off like a shot down the path that led to the lake with Rosalie trudging behind.

Hours later, when the girls returned to the house, Rosalie didn’t see her father anywhere. She found her mother in the kitchen making dinner, so she sat down at the table. She bit her lip and spoke the question she’d been struggling with all afternoon. Mama, is Papa going to keep my letter?

Trudy turned around to look at her oldest daughter. She wiped her hands on her apron and then reached into a pocket and pulled out the envelope. Turning it end over end in her hands, she looked at her daughter and sighed. She placed it on the table in front of Rosalie. Your father loves you very much. He’s afraid of losing you, and we’re both afraid that you'll get hurt.

Rosalie’s gaze left the envelope she so wanted to open and looked up into her mother’s worried face. This isn’t about wanting to leave you and Papa. I love you both very much. It’s about growing up and finding my own path in life. I’m almost eighteen and have not had one single suitor. I want to get married, Mama. I want to have my own children someday.

You think this man can help you with that? Trudy asked her. You want to get married so that you can start making babies?

That is what happens when people marry. But, no, I want to be in love, too. Why can’t we decide if this is right for us?

Trudy wrinkled her nose. She touched the letter and said, Just be sure, Rosalie. Be very sure before you change your whole life for someone you barely know.

I will, Mama, Rosalie replied. She grabbed the envelope and gave her mother a kiss on the cheek before going outside to read. Thank you, Mama.

This was only Rosalie’s second letter from Daniel, a twenty-six-year-old cattle rancher from Wyoming. The day her mother had brought the first letter home from town, Rosalie had been surprised and ecstatic. Mama, on the other hand, had been upset that Rosalie hadn’t discussed it with her before she responded to the advertisement.

She read Daniel’s first letter in front of her mother. Like hers, it had been a simple note of introduction:

Dear Rosalie,

I was pleased to receive your letter. I have gotten several responses, but yours was the most pleasant. You are a very attractive young lady if you don’t mind my saying so. As I said in my ad, I am twenty-six and own a cattle ranch in Wyoming. I am hoping to find a woman whom I might find some commonality with as I believe that is important in any relationship. I hope that woman might be you. I will eagerly await your response.

Sincerely,

Daniel Ward

She sat down on the porch and hurriedly pulled out the already open letter. The fact that her father read it didn’t upset her. He was worried and sought to protect her from anything awry. That was his job after all, as he had told her a thousand times. She glanced around, not seeing him anywhere in sight, took a deep breath, and read the letter:

Dear Rosalie,

I hope this letter finds you and your family well. I have found it difficult to do anything except wait impatiently for your next letter. I don’t know if I ever believed in fate or even true love before but each time I look at your picture, I feel like I’m looking at my future. I hope that isn't too much for a second letter, but I would like to keep being honest with you.

I am leaving tomorrow for a trip to Texas to buy another thousand head of longhorn cattle. I may have to make two trips as they say they can only round up five hundred at a time. After we herd them back, it will then require months of active work from me and my