Maggie Shifts her Gent: The Mismatched Mail-Order Brides, #4

By Linda K. Hubalek

Maggie Brenner, the oldest daughter in the Brides with Grit series book, Sarah Snares a Soldier, grew up on the vast Cross C Ranch north of Clear Creek. Maggie, and all her siblings were adopted by Sarah and Marcus Brenner when Maggie's widowed mother died giving birth to her triplet brothers.

Now an adult, Maggie would have preferred to leave the area to work with young children, but she moves into Clear Creek instead when her younger sisters, Molly and Maisie, take over the town's dress shop.

The Peashooter Society decides Maggie needs a husband to complete her life, even if Maggie longs to work in an orphanage to help children find homes.

Peter Gehring, along with five friends, left New York City on an orphan train when Peter was four years old. He was adopted by a tailor and his wife. Now mustered out of the army, where Peter was a barber, the group of friends gets the chance to live and work together in a small community, thanks to the plan of the Peashooter Society.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Butterfield Books Inc.
• Release date: Jul 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9798201848927

Linda K. Hubalek

Linda Hubalek has written over fifty books about strong women and honorable men, with a touch of humor, despair, and drama woven into the stories. The setting for all the series is the Kansas prairie which Linda enjoys daily, be it being outside or looking at it through her office window. Her historical romance series include Brides with Grit, Grooms with Honor, Mismatched Mail-order Brides, and the Rancher's Word. Linda's historical fiction series, based on her ancestors' pioneer lives include, Butter in the Well, Trail of Thread, and Planting Dreams. When not writing, Linda is reading (usually with dark chocolate within reach), gardening (channeling her degree in Horticulture), or traveling with her husband to explore the world. Linda loves to hear from her readers, so visit her website to contact her, or browse the site to read about her books. www.LindaHubalek.com www.Facebook.com/lindahubalekbooks

Book preview

Maggie Shifts her Gent

Mismatched Mail-order Bride Series, Book 4

Copyright © 2019 by Linda K. Hubalek

Published by Butterfield Books Inc.

This ebook is licensed for your enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the retailer and buy your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is a work of fiction. Except for the history of Kansas mentioned in the book, the names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Epilogue

Dear Reader:

Books by Linda K. Hubalek

About the Author

A sweet historical romance set in 1892.

Maggie Brenner, the oldest daughter in the Brides with Grit series book, Sarah Snares a Soldier, grew up on the vast Cross C Ranch north of Clear Creek. Maggie and all her siblings were adopted by Sarah and Marcus Brenner when Maggie’s widowed mother died after giving birth to her triplet brothers.

Now an adult, Maggie would have preferred to leave the area to work with young children, but she moves into Clear Creek instead when her younger sisters, Molly and Maisie, take over the town’s dress shop.

The Peashooter Society (the older women in the church) decides Maggie needs a husband to complete her life, even if Maggie longs to work in an orphanage to help children find homes.

Peter Gehring, along with five friends, left New York City on an orphan train when Peter was four years old. He was adopted by a tailor and his wife. Now mustered out of the army, where Peter was a barber, the group of friends gets the chance to live and work together in a small community, thanks to the plan of the Peashooter Society.

Because of Peter’s tall, bulky stature, his benefactors think he’s built to run the blacksmith shop, even though he knows nothing about the craft. Luckily, he gets to take over the barbershop instead, enjoying cutting hair and visiting with anyone who stops by.

Peter and Maggie start a friendship that grows into love, and then a chance meeting of a group of orphans on a train cements their future.

Sounds like fate? Maybe. A happy ever after? Definitely!

Chapter 1

1892

Clear Creek, Kansas

Peter Gehring studied the downtown as he and his friends walked from the depot to the parsonage. Clear Creek looked like any frontier town of the 1890s, similar to the towns he was familiar with in eastern Kansas. Except it lacked trees compared to Topeka.

Like any other town it had its needed businesses; the sheriff’s office, the post office, a pharmacy, a barbershop, a doctor’s, and a lawyer’s offices. Nice to see a library in town too.

Peter read the signs he could see so far after leaving the depot. Clancy’s Café. Taylor’s Mercantile. Lundahl Furniture. Reagan Photography. Adolph’s Meat Market. Shepard and Sons Saddlery. At the end of the block stood the Paulson Hotel and a livery a little distance away.

Barton Miller and his brother, Gordon, lead the six of them on their mission. Their younger brother Squires, matching the older two with their brown hair and eyes, and six-foot height, following behind them. Their friend, Wesley Preston, walked with Squires.

And then Peter and Tobin Billings followed behind as they always had done since they met on an orphan train when they were young boys.

What a contrast they were from the Miller brothers. Wesley was blond, of medium height. Then there was Tobin Billings, a short man with bright red hair, and himself, with coal-black hair, towering over all of them at over six and a half foot tall in his boots.

Peter was only four years old when the train left New York City, bound for the west. For some reason, Barton, the oldest at ten years of age, kept watch on the three strays along with his brothers on their trip. Maybe the six of them sat together on the train. Peter had only a few vague memories of that timeframe, and most of them weren't ones he wanted to recall.

Although they had been separated when adopted by different families, they still all lived in the same area while growing up and kept in touch. They joined the army together five years ago, spent those years at Fort Riley, and had recently mustered out.

On their way home to visit their families, their train had been robbed, and they'd been forced to get off the train and walk back to the nearest town. They stopped to pick up letters blown out of the mail car when its safe was dynamited for its money.

Barton suggested they pick up the mail and turn it in, hoping there might be a reward. But one opened letter changed the direction of their lives.

A Mrs. Kaitlyn Reagan wrote to the Kansas City Star newspaper, wanting to place an advertisement for their town. They needed six young men to move to Clear Creek, Kansas, to take over various jobs. In return for their commitment, they would also receive housing and a wife. Although he and Wesley were concerned about the validity of the letter, the group decided to try for the jobs as a way to live in the same community. Not everyone had a good relationship with their adoptive parents, and this would be a fresh start for all of them.

Peter looked back at the barbershop, wondering what the inside looked like. He’d served in many positions in his years in the military, one of them being the post barber for a while. Because of his training in making clothes, he was good with scissors, even though he had to use his left hand.

He flexed his right hand, moving his fingers as far as they could move, considering their permanent scars. His hand was still useable, except he couldn’t get a tight grip on anything small, like a pen, a fork, or scissors.

What would the possible brides say about his scarring and limitations? He hadn’t courted a woman due to his obligations, so he didn’t know how women would react. It didn’t seem to bother the older women as he ate with them at the parsonage.

Most of the time, he didn’t think about the scars because they’d been a part of him as far back as he could remember. The day his parents died in a fire.

MAGGIE BRENNER STOOD inside the dress shop, watching six young men walk across the street on the boardwalk. They seemed to have a destination according to their pace of walking, but they still managed to look around at the businesses in town.

She guessed they were visitors just off the westbound train, which stopped at the depot minutes ago, because they all carried carpet bags of various sizes.

The first three men seemed to be brothers by their matching looks and how they walked alike. Three more men followed but didn't look like each other at all with their varying heights and variants of hair color underneath their hat brims.

One was blond of average height. Another man was very short with bright red hair showing underneath the cavalry hat he wore. He seemed to be talking nonstop as they walked.

The last man was very tall, broad-shouldered, with black hair underneath his black hat. Actually, he was dressed in a black suit with a white shirt and a dove gray vest. The other men wore the same style of clothing but in typical browns and blues.

Maggie wondered if the man had to have his clothing tailor-made because of his long arms and legs.

The first three men look like they could be brothers, Maisie, her youngest sister, stated as she and their other sister, Molly, moved to stand by Maggie.

One could never tell about siblings. Maggie and Maisie with light brown hair and bright blue eyes were true sisters, but Molly, the tall middle sister, with ash blonde hair and hazel eyes, was adopted from a different family when their parents, Sarah and Marcus Brenner took in eight children at the same time.

Maggie thought of the tallest man in the group. Something about his jet black hair and tailored suit sparked her interest.

Although Maggie missed her childhood home, the Cross C Ranch, she enjoyed the variety of activities in Clear Creek.

This is why I love living in town! Maisie gestured out the window. We missed so much...action and gossip being stuck out on the ranch.

When Mary Jones fell down the dress shop apartment steps a few months ago and hurt her back, she decided to sell her business. Mary, her husband, Kiowa, and children, Burdette and Nolie, now lived in a remodeled home to accommodate Mary's rolling chair.

Maisie begged their parents to buy the business and let her live in the upstairs apartment. They agreed to the sale, as long as Maggie and Molly moved with her.

Maggie agreed because she'd always helped take care of her sisters and five brothers. With all of them now grown, she needed something to do.

Maggie glanced at Molly, knowing she'd prefer riding a horse on the ranch over being stuck inside sewing, but they'd both do anything to get their sister established in the town.

Molly needed to marry a rancher, but no such person had asked to court her yet.

"Let’s get back to work. There’s