A Strong-Minded Bride to Prize: The Bridal Train, #5

By Emberly Hart

When she was a little girl, Holly dreamed of a prince coming to take her away from her cold-hearted family and sweep her up into his arms. Well, those dreams are dead, along with her parents. Cut from the will by a cruel uncle, Holly has no choice but to make her own way—and it's West. Maybe her knight in shining armor is at the end of the Bridal Train line and is really wearing spurs.

 

The last thing Samuel Hollinger is in the market for is a wife. But his family is coming all the way from New York City to see him, and they might be under the impression that he's married. And that just might be his fault. The only way out is to get himself one of those mail order brides, though he has no clue what to do with her once his family returns home.

 

Samuel makes it quite clear he doesn't want a wife, and Holly is facing yet more loneliness. But then his family comes to visit, and she's embraced by their warmth and exuberance, leaving her feeling this Christmas might be her first happy one. Watching his new bride settle into the frontier has Samuel all mixed up. Now he's wondering why he never wanted a wife in the first place…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Emberly Hart
• Release date: Jan 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215503188

Book preview

eBooks are not transferable.

They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

All Rights Reserved

A Strong-Minded Bride to Prize

The Bridal Train

Book 5

Copyright Emberly Hart 2019

Ebook Edition

Electronic book publication 2019

All rights reserved. Any violation of this will be prosecuted by the law.

Also by Emberly Hart

The Bridal Train Series

A Runaway Bride to Cherish

A Quirky Bride to Treasure

An Unexpected Bride to Adore

A Second Chance Bride to Embrace

A Strong-Minded Bride to Prize

When she was a little girl, Holly dreamed of a prince coming to take her away from her cold-hearted family and sweep her up into his arms. Well, those dreams are dead, along with her parents. Cut from the will by a cruel uncle, Holly has no choice but to make her own way—and it’s West. Maybe her knight in shining armor is at the end of the Bridal Train line and is really wearing spurs.

The last thing Samuel Hollinger is in the market for is a wife. But his family is coming all the way from New York City to see him, and they might be under the impression that he’s married. And that just might be his fault. The only way out is to get himself one of those mail order brides, though he has no clue what to do with her once his family returns home.

Samuel makes it quite clear he doesn’t want a wife, and Holly is facing yet more loneliness. But then his family comes to visit, and she’s embraced by their warmth and exuberance, leaving her feeling this Christmas might be her first happy one. Watching his new bride settle into the frontier has Samuel all mixed up. Now he’s wondering why he never wanted a wife in the first place...

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

EPILOGUE

A Strong-Minded

Bride

to Prize

by

A close up of a logo Description automatically generated

Chapter One

The black shawl that Holly wrapped around her shoulders wasn’t enough to ward off the chill penetrating her twenty-year-old bones. Late fall had hit Chicago, and the inside of the house felt icy.

Or maybe that was the feeling shrouding Holly’s heart at present. Actually, she’d been in mourning for both of her parents these past three long months, but now she was grieving for another reason altogether.

The will had just been read, and her uncle Charles Bowen, that horrid cheat, had fiddled with the law and gotten everything bequeathed to himself, leaving Holly out in the cold.

She no longer had a place here in the home where she had been raised, and the lovely old place near the South Branch of the Chicago River would soon be inhabited by that cold-hearted uncle of hers.

Miss Holly, can I fetch you some tea? Maggie appeared in the doorway of the parlor where Holly was curled up on a settee, feeling sorry for herself.

She did not even turn her head when she replied, No thank you, Maggie.

May I fetch you anything at all, miss?

Nothing. Her voice was whispery with disuse. Since the reading of the will a week ago, she had not spoken very much. That was to be expected, was it not, when a young woman was tossed out in the cold and made homeless following the deaths of her parents?

Even if those parents had not been the warm, supportive type.

Tragic deaths too. Nobody had questioned the Bowens not having returned from a social event until dawn broke the sky and Maggie had gone upstairs to deliver a tray with the hot water and lemon which Holly’s father took each morning upon waking. The poor old maid had experienced a fright, seeing the bed unslept in and neither master nor mistress at home.

That had led to a flurry of events, with the police being called, investigations and livery stablemen questioned. In the end, they had discovered the smashed carriage on a wet bend hidden by tree branches.

Holly’s life had changed that day, but now it was about to change again. She must find a new living arrangement.

Trouble was, she had no other family to speak of here in Chicago or even in the country. She must somehow make her own way. The other issue was her lack of finances. Every last penny now sat in her ugly uncle’s bank account, and Holly’s time was running out to vacate the premises.

She did not know what to do about Maggie or their man Joseph, who brought wood for their fires and stoked the furnace that provided the kitchen maid with hot water to scour the dishes.

With more than Holly’s own life to think about, she knew she must get up off this settee and make arrangements for all of her family’s servants before thinking of herself. It was what her father would have done, were he here.

Were he here, she would not be stuck in this mire. Her father would roll in his grave if he knew what his only brother had done to her.

She heard the light footsteps of Maggie crossing the room to where she lay. Flipping over, she stared toward the servant, not really seeing her or her dim surroundings that were growing blacker with each second ticking by.

She also felt she was aging at least a hundred years for each stroke of the hour.

Miss, forgive me for speaking out, but you must eat and drink. I know you’ve been dealt a hard blow and then another, but you must have your health at least. Maggie always had a straightforward way of speaking to Holly that roused her into action, even as a stubborn five-year-old refusing to dress for dinner. She would miss Maggie so much. She had been like a favorite aunt or a much older sister, there to hug and kiss her when her own cold mother would not.

Bringing her focus onto the woman’s kind face, Holly attempted to sit up. She felt weak, and that was a result of starving herself this day and night since the reading of the will.

Maggie rushed forward to assist her in sitting upright, and Holly’s head swam. Gripping her arm, Maggie steadied her while she got her bearings. Her gaze swept the room her parents had adored all their lives. The books on the shelf, the fine tapestry they had brought home from one of their tours to Europe they had refused to take her on. A cart in the corner held brandy and port and some cherry cordial her mother preferred but her father had wrinkled his nose at.

All those memories would also be gone, and the new master of the house would instill new ones in this beloved space.

Holly had been ordered not to take a single thing from the home except her own belongings, but she did not plan to abide by it. She would take the tapestry right off the wall, along with several tomes her parents had loved, and one book in particular was not being left behind.

I’m fine, Maggie. I will take that tea and some sandwiches if you have them. She patted the woman’s hand and offered a faint smile that was a ghost of its former happy counterpart.

At once, Miss Holly. You sit still. Don’t want you dizzy on your feet.

Yes.

Maggie’s footsteps retreated, and Holly looked around, seeing nothing. She must rely solely on herself, and what was a young woman of decent family and social status to do besides marry?

Trouble was, finding a suitor would be impossible without the help of her family. She had friends, though. Perhaps she could call upon them to introduce her or act as chaperone to parties where she might meet a suitable man.

Though where would she live in the meantime?

No, she must truly rely on her own skills. What were those?

She had a fair hand with needlework. And friends always complimented the hats she had trimmed herself.

Trimming hats will not put bread on the table or a roof over my head.

Maggie had returned already, the tea and sandwiches obviously prepared before she had ever asked Holly.

The fragrant hot tea teased her senses and woke her stomach.

Maggie offered a smile as she settled the silver tray on a table. She dropped