Heart's Frontier

Lori Copeland

Description

An exciting new Amish-meets-Wild West adventure from bestselling authors Lori Copeland and Virginia Smith weaves an entertaining and romantic tale for devoted fans and new readers.Kansas,1881On a trip to visit relatives, Emma Switzer's Amish family is robbed of all their possessions, leaving them destitute and stranded on the prairie. Walking into the nearest trading settlement, they pray to the Lord for someone to help. When a man lands in the dust at her feet, Emma looks down at him and thinks, The Lord might have cleaned him up first.Luke Carson, heading up his first cattle drive, is not planning on being the answer to anyone's prayers, but it looks as though God has something else in mind for this kind and gentle man. Plain and ruggeddo the two mix? And what happens when a dedicated Amish woman and a stubborn trail boss prove to be each other's match?

Sujets

• Romance

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736947534
• Langue: English

Extrait

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
All Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible , New International Version NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Cover by Left Coast Design, Portland, Oregon
Cover photos Andresr, Yuri Arcurs, Dudarev Mikhail / Shutterstock
Published in association with the Books Such Literary Agency, 52 Mission Circle, Suite 122, PMB 170, Santa Rosa, CA 95409-5370, www.booksandsuch.biz .
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
THE HEART S FRONTIER
Copyright 2012 by Copeland, Inc. and Virginia Smith
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Copeland, Lori.
The heart s frontier / Lori Copeland and Virginia Smith.
p. cm.-(The Amish of Apple Grove ; book 1)
ISBN 978-0-7369-4752-7 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-4753-4 (eBook)
1. Amish-Kansas-Fiction. 2. Families-Travel-Fiction. 3. Outlaws-Fiction. 4. Cowboys-Fiction. 5. Cattle drives-Fiction. 6. Kansas-Fiction. I. Smith, Virginia, 1960-II. Title.
PS3553.O6336H44 2012
813 .54-dc22
2011030459
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 / LB-CD / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
About the Authors
Discussion Questions
A Plain and Simple Heart: Chapter One
Other Books by Lori Copeland
AmishReader.com
About the Publisher
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it.
I SAIAH 30:21
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A Note from Lori and Ginny
When we set out to write The Heart s Frontier , neither of us considered ourselves experts on cattle drives or the Amish lifestyle. We devoured a lot of books on the cattle drives of the 1880s, and we spoke with many people who helped us understand the Amish approach to a simple life.
We re so glad we did! What a fun period of America s history, and what an incredibly interesting lifestyle we were privileged to learn about. We re grateful to those who helped us tell our story with authenticity.
We owe a debt of gratitude to our agent, Wendy Lawton, who introduced us and made this coauthor arrangement possible. We re also deeply grateful to the good folks at Harvest House who have worked alongside us to bring this story to you. Thanks to Bob Hawkins, Kim Moore, Terry Glaspey, Shane White, Barb Sherrill, LaRae Weikert, and all the others who believed in this book.
We re each thankful for our supportive families, and especially to our Lord, without whom we could produce no book worth reading.
God bless ,
Lori Copeland and Virginia Smith
PROLOGUE

El Paso, Texas
May 1881
H ot diggety! Shep Carson whipped off his hat and flung it in the air. I knew I d make a man outta you yet!
Grinning, Luke watched his father make a fool of himself in front of the other wranglers. El Paso teemed with cattle this morning as the cowhands loaded the herd into pens. He d expected as much, but watching Pa grinning like a possum eatin a yellow jacket wasn t easy. I don t know why you find my decision surprising. Haven t I spent the last few years riding herd over your drives?
Pa s gaze softened. You have, and I m not surprised but a little baffled. It took you long enough to make up your mind.
The older man sat tall in the saddle. The years had been kind to the cowboy who had spent most of his life driving cattle to market. Until he was old enough to ride with him, Luke barely knew the man, but over the years he d developed a deep bond with his father, and the proud look shining in his pa s eyes made him feel good.
So. Who signed you on? Cattle jostled the men s horses while they worked. Sharp whistles and wranglers shouts pierced the air as the milling beef bumped flesh.
Luke cut his chestnut to the left and called back, Simon Hancock.
That a fact? What trail?
Chisholm.
Pa s grin lengthened. Got yourself a fine trail and a decent boss. It says a whole lot that a man like Hancock would hire you on for your first drive.
It was Luke s first drive in the sense that he would be foreman. He had close to twenty drives under his belt but always as point rider. Every cowhand in Texas knew Hancock s reputation-a quiet man who managed his herds from a nearby hotel-but most wranglers would give an arm and a leg to take Hancock s beef to market. His stock was the finest around.
You didn t happen to have anything to do with his decision, did you? Luke headed off another stray.
Pa was waiting for the steer. With one nudge to the horse, the bull slid through the shoot. Not me. I haven t worked Hancock s herd in years. He made me mad as a peeled rattler once, and I refused to work for him again.
The news didn t surprise Luke. He d ridden with Pa since he was fourteen, and he couldn t recall seeing a Triple Bar brand in the herd, but he d never thought to ask why. Didn t matter. Luke was sure he could take whatever Hancock dished up. He must have gotten wind that Shep Carson s boy was looking for his first foreman job and decided to contact him. Hancock and Pa might have crossed swords in the past, but the cattle baron gave Luke s father the highest compliment. When the young man hired on with a handshake and a thanks, Hancock grunted and merely said, I don t have any concerns about Shep Carson s boy.
And he was right about that. Luke might have taken his time to decide what he wanted to do with his life-punch cattle or buy land and settle down-but when he obligated himself to a cause he stuck to it. Now that he was in charge of this ride, he d see there wasn t a single hitch. There wasn t much he didn t know about cattle. Over the years he d eaten enough dust and survived enough dry drives to make him one of the best in the business, but until recently he d been content to follow. Now he wanted to lead.
When the horses pulled up beside one another, Luke took off his hat and wiped his brow. He glanced up when he felt his father s eyes on him. Eyes brimming with pride.
What?
I m proud of you, son. Your ma would have been proud.
No, she wouldn t. She hated your job, Pa. And she hated even more that I rode with you. She wanted you home.
Glancing away, Shep focused on the milling cattle. Can t deny your words. I wasn t much of a husband or father. His eyes roamed the herd. The trail gets in your blood, and I had to put food on the table.
Luke traced his gaze. He didn t want to be like Pa, not in this way. He liked the work, but someday he knew as certain as he was sitting in the saddle that he d leave the job. Maybe buy a Texas ranch and raise a family. But for now he knew cattle like the back of his hand, and the good Lord willing, he still had a lot of years ahead of him before he had to decide exactly what he wanted out of life. He d yet to meet a woman he d give up bachelorhood for, and with Ma dead and his two brothers scattered, he was free to wander for as long as he wanted.
It s a hard life. Pa s quiet words broke into his thoughts.
Driving cattle? I can do it with my eyes closed. And I get along with others, but I can also be tough as nails if necessary. He figured he d make a fine trail boss, one any man could respect. Life was as simple as setting your mind to something and following through.
No, I meant life can get confusing. A man might think he knows all he needs to know, but he ll soon find out he s about as dumb as a stump in some matters.
Chuckling, Luke shook his head. You re gettin old, Pop. You need a hot bath and a T-bone steak. Life s only as worrisome as a man makes it.
The older man s eyes fastened on him. Think you got it all figured out, do you? Got your first big job. Feeling mighty good about yourself.
Am I certain I can drive cattle as well as my old man? Luke flashed a grin. Maybe not as well, but pretty durn close.
You think that s all there is to life? Knowing when to push, when to water, and when to let up?
That about sums it up, doesn t it?
Shep shook his head. Young uns. All fire and stink water. Reining his horse, he winked. Have a fine drive, son. And once you get those cattle to Hays, your old pa will buy you that T-bone. A chuckle rumbled deep in his throat. Oh and you can tell me how you ve managed to hog-tie and lasso life into a tidy little bundle.
Giving another chuckle, he rode back into the herd.
ONE

Apple Grove, Kansas
July 1881
N early the entire Amish district of Apple Grove had turned out to help this morning, all twenty families. Or perhaps they were here merely to wish Emma Switzer well as she set off for her new home in Troyer, fifty miles away.
From her vantage point on the porch of the house, Emma s grandmother kept watch over the loading of the gigantic buffet hutch onto the specially reinforced wagon. Her sharp voice sliced through the peaceful morning air.
Forty years I ve had that hutch from my dearly departed husband and not a scratch on it. Jonas, see that you use care!
If Maummi s expression weren t so fierce, Emma would have laughed at the long-suffering look Papa turne