From the Ruins Comes Love (Preview)

Chapter One

“How was work?” Daisy asked Joyce as she came in and sat at the table, running her hands through her hot, sweaty hair. 

“You know, cleaning, taking care of the kids, just everyday stuff,” Joyce answered. Roy, Daisy’s husband, grunted, waiting for food on the table. 

“You could do that for your own kids if you ever found someone,” he said. 

“I’m only nineteen. Besides, I don’t want to find just someone…I want to—”

“The right one is the one you settle down with,” Roy said. “Love is a choice.”

“I’m sure your wife loves to hear you say that,” Joyce said. She glanced at her sister, though, and realized it wasn’t a kind thing to say. She was beautiful, brown hair down to the end of her back, bright blue eyes, somehow focusing both on her nimble hands on the stove and the lively eyes of her sister. They were both beautiful, but each sister would argue that the other was prettier. 

“He’s not wrong, Joyce,” Daisy said. “Sure, I liked Roy. I even loved Roy. But the thing that really cemented it for us was marriage, moving in together, and expanding the ranch. There are a lot of things you learn by being with someone that you can never learn before marriage.”

“Well, I don’t even like anyone,” Joyce said, but she knew she just sounded pouty at that point, so she decided to change the subject. “How was your day, Daisy?” 

“Well, I think it would be better if the holy Lord sped up a bit and gave us children, but overall it was a pretty good day. Cooking, cleaning. The same things you do, just for my own home. We’re more similar than you think.” 

“Then what have you read lately?”

“I hardly have time to read much outside of our morning psalms but talking about that every morning together is certainly a lively discussion, no matter what you say about discussions with the other servants at your work.” 

“I don’t say it like that,” she answered. Daisy’s eyes were laughing, so Joyce wasn’t too concerned, but Roy didn’t seem to be having that same level of patience. 

“Reading doesn’t really help you get out on your own. Your job isn’t it. You’re going to need a husband,” Roy said. 

As if her everyday savior, one of the cows started baying, and Roy went outside to check on it. 

“I don’t mean to cause so many fights,” Joyce said softly. 

“I know. You’re just getting hard to defend, Joyce. I know you want adventure and romance and everything else, but this is the real world. I know it’s all been harder since our folks died, but we each have to do our part. I married at eighteen, so you wouldn’t have to. But maybe Roy is right. You’re not meant to be with us forever. Your adventure probably isn’t going to be able to feed you long-term. And even if it did, don’t you want to be able to spend the rest of your life with someone?”

“I just want it to be the right someone. I want to meet someone and fall in love with them. You’ve heard about the horror stories when mail-ordered brides go wrong.”

“We’re not asking you to be a mail-ordered bride. That’s one of the reasons I married so quickly. But please look, okay? Just see your options. I’m not saying you need to get married tomorrow. I’m just saying that if I don’t see you trying, I’m going to have a hard time being patient, and we already know Roy is not being patient.” They both shared a little laugh, but Joyce was pretty sure Daisy felt bad for it. That hadn’t been Joyce’s intention either. 

“I’ll try something,” Joyce said. “I just don’t want to settle.”

“This life I live, it’s not settling.”

“Maybe not for you. And besides, even with everything, I know that you love Roy. I want to love my husband as much as you love Roy. But I would hate to just be okay with my husband, whether he loved me a lot or not. I just don’t want someone I’m not completely behind.”

“Joyce, I didn’t love Roy at first.” 

“What?”

“I didn’t think he bathed enough without a woman telling him to do it. He takes his time with household chores. And his beard is scratchy. But I grew to love him, and now I love him immensely.”

“You did that for me?” she asked.

“For us. And, you know, mother told me something when I turned eighteen. She didn’t know that would be her last chance, anyway. She told me it was time to start looking for a husband. She told me to look for a kind man who could provide for me and that everything else would fall into place. Despite how it may seem, Roy is kind and can provide for me. For both of us. Everything else has fallen into place. So now that you’ve had two years to recover from losing our parents, it’s your turn. Find a kind man who can provide for you, and everything else will fall into place.”

“But what if it doesn’t?” 

“I’ll be here. No matter what happens or how horrible it is, we’ll make it through it together. We already made it through losing our parents so young. You know how hard that can be. We can handle a bit of material strife. And I know how to skin a chicken, just in case. I can’t imagine that it’s so different.” 

This sent Joyce into a peal of laughter. She knew that her sister wasn’t serious. Of course, she didn’t have a violent bone in her body, and yet another part of Joyce thought that maybe if her sister did have to, to protect her, she would suddenly grow another bone for it. 

Roy came back in. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, just women things,” Daisy said. “I don’t think you have to worry about it.”

“Well, there’s a lot less I will worry about soon,” Roy said, and Joyce didn’t like how that sounded at all. She didn’t know what he meant, but she was pretty sure she didn’t want to know. 

“Do you need any help with dinner?” Joyce asked Daisy.

‘Well, now you ask,” she teased, “I’m all done.” 

“It doesn’t seem very fair that you get home from work and Daisy makes you dinner.”

“Well, Daisy makes you dinner,” Joyce pointed out. 

“She’s the woman. Besides, I just went and helped with the cows. What have you done?”

“I’m sorry,” Joyce said, but she wasn’t sure if she meant it. She didn’t want to be expected to work more just because she was a woman. There were plenty of nights when he didn’t help the cows, just waiting while Daisy worked away. Joyce didn’t want that life for herself. 

“Let’s go ahead and pray and eat,” Daisy said. 

“Then I have something I want to talk about,” Roy said. Joyce knew something horrible was going to happen, but she didn’t know what.

Chapter Two

Austin came in from a long day of ranch work to find Irene, his sister-in-law, cooking dinner in his mother’s cabin, which they all had been eating dinner in since their mother became too sick to go anywhere else but wanted Irene and Matthew there for every meal. 

“Is that Austin?” Deborah, his mother, called out from her room. 

“She’s awake,” he said to Irene. “That’s a good sign.” 

“Yes, she’s been up most of the day. She helped me cut up some vegetables earlier.” 

“I’m going to go see her,” Austin said, her heart already lightened by the good news. He walked in, and his mother, with blonde hair and pale eyes, lay on the bed in a nightgown, the blanket pulled up high. “Hello, Mother.”

“Hello Austin, it’s so nice to see you. Sorry, I’m not up and ready for dinner. I will be when it’s time to eat.”

“You know you can wear your nightgown to dinner, Mother. That will never bother any of us.”

“Irene will help me get dressed soon. How are you? What did you do today?”

“The fence in the east pasture needed fixing, and then some of the horses needed exercising, then a few more chores. Nothing exciting.”

“Did you meet any girls along the way?” Deborah asked.

“Mother,” he said, “I was just working on the ranch.”

“Then I’ll tell Matthew to give you more jobs in town.” 

“I’ll find someone when I’m ready to find them. I just want to make sure I have the right person. I don’t want to settle.”

“The right person will be the one you marry,” she said. “Marriage takes effort, not butterflies.”

“I would prefer my marriage have effort and butterflies. Besides,” he looked away a moment so she couldn’t see the emotions in his eyes, “don’t you remember Alissa? I can’t risk that happening again.”

“Austin,” his mother said, reaching out and patting his hand, “it’s okay. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to go through that. But I promise, most women aren’t like that. Irene and I have shown you how happy a married wife can be. It’s important to go ahead and let yourself be happy with someone.’“

“I will, Mother,” he said, but he really didn’t want to. He was tired of constantly trying, or rather feeling like he should try, while not actually doing it. He just wanted some space. 

But his mother was dying. There was no way around that. The doctor said a few more months, maybe a year. And he would do just about anything to make her death peaceful. “I promise I’ll look,” he said, and this time he meant it. He would look till she passed, and then he would move on with his life, hopefully wifeless. “How are you feeling today?” he asked, eager to change the topic.

“I helped with dinner,” she responded, “so really not so bad.”

“Are you sure you don’t shake too bad to cut vegetables?”

“I didn’t cut myself, did I?”

“Okay, but if it’s too much, I can always help do it.”

“Or you could get a wife to help you do it,” she answered. Austin barely kept himself from sighing. 

“I’ll look, okay? Why don’t I go get Irene to help you get dressed? Dinner is just about ready, I think.” 

“Thank you,” she said. 

When he walked out to get Irene, Matthew was back. “See, she’s still on the wife thing, isn’t she?” he teased. “Well, it really is about time.” 

“I’m working on it,” Austin said.

“No, you’re not. You haven’t even talked to any women in ages. But we’ll find something to get you out of your comfort zone, don’t you worry.”

“Is there something you have in mind?”

“We could always get you a mail-order bride.”

“Absolutely not,” Austin said.

“Why not?”

“They make it so clear that they are just in it for the money. There’s not really even a reason to question it. They’ve never met you.”

“Or maybe they want a new life. That’s not the same thing as just wanting money.”

“It may as well be. Either way, it’s not for me.”

“So write her a few times first, get to know her.”

“So I’ll be ready to marry her because she spells well?”

“Just think about it,” Matthew said. 

“That’s the scary thing,” Austin answered. “I am thinking about it.” He knew it might be a good option: he would see his wife right before marrying her, not even have a chance to back out. But there would be no part of her that was marrying him for him. She would be willing to marry anyone. At least, that was the way it went, wasn’t it?

If he could rent a mail-order bride, that would be different. Try one out before he knew if she was the right one. But that was just courting, wasn’t it? So he needed to find someone to court. 

“I know it’s hard,” Matthew said, clasping a large hand on Austin’s shoulder. “It can be horrible to try to figure out who to marry. But Irene and I are so happy. You know that, you’ve seen it. You could be just as happy, I promise. I’m not the only one with good possibilities. I’ll pray someone comes along, but you have to be open to see who comes.” 

“I don’t know that I want anyone.”

“Well, God will bring you the perfect person. You just have to keep in mind that the perfect person may not be perfect.”

Austin considered that. He hadn’t considered it that way, but it made sense now that he had heard it. “How will I know?”

“You may not know for certain. You need a wife. Find someone you like, and you may be able to feel that love right from the beginning. But if not, the love will grow.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“It will. I promise.” 

“How can you know?”

“Because God won’t let you pick the wrong one, and neither will I or Irene. Or Mother, for that matter.” Matthew’s mostly jovial tone grew serious. “You should find someone before Mother passes. It’s only fair to her. At least try.”

“I am trying,” he said, but Austin was pretty sure they both knew that wasn’t true. “I’ll start to try, I promise. For Mother.” 

“Thank you.” Matthew reached down and ruffled Austin’s hair. Sometimes Austin hated being shorter than him. “You’re a pretty good brother, you know that?”

“Oh, believe me, I know that,” Austin answered, and they both laughed.

Chapter Three

After dinner, Roy said, “I want everyone to sit down.” 

Joyce figured something was pretty wrong. Maybe he was sick or something, leaving something uncertain in the pit of her stomach. She also worried it could have something to do with her, but she pushed that thought out of her mind.

“What is it?” Daisy asked, and Joyce could tell she was nervous. “Is everyone okay? Your mother?”

“Everyone is fine. In fact, I think everyone should be better than fine soon.”

“What does that mean?” Joyce asked, and she could barely keep herself from snapping. Roy glared at her, and even Daisy sent over a look, so she realized she may not have done as good of a job controlling her voice as she had hoped she had. 

“I have some relatives out West, in Texas. They’re willing to take you in for a bit, help you find your own life, maybe even your own person.”

“No,” Joyce said as a reflex and stood up from her chair. 

“At least consider it,” Daisy said, and Joyce felt herself brace against their complaints. 

“No,” Joyce said. She grabbed her sketchbook and some charcoal pencils. She needed a break from this conversation, from them, and this would be one of the only things she did for herself.

She could tell Daisy was starting to follow her as she left the room, but Roy said, “Let her have some time to acclimate to the idea,” and Daisy sat back down, choosing her husband. 

Joyce didn’t have to walk far to find a stream, trees, and the beginning of a sunset. Some people thought sunsets might be hard to draw with only one color, but Joyce drew with charcoal pencils so often, mostly at sunset and sunrise, so she did a good enough job.

At least, that’s what she told herself when she flipped through her sketchbook. There were a few favorites she focused on: a deer, each individual hair creating a soft layer of fur, drinking out of the stream, and not seeming scared of her. Or a woodpecker in the midst of finding bugs. Or her sister, sewing in her lap and a Bible in her hands. It was pretty rare that Joyce drew people instead of places, but her sister was special. She didn’t know how she would handle leaving her. Instead, she told herself, she’d never have to leave Daisy. Maybe eventually, she would find a man and get her own home, but it would be right across the street from her sister. She had to demand that. Maybe if she could figure out who owned that land, she could find her future husband. 

She flipped through to an empty page. The stream was gurgling, and she wished she knew how to draw the noise. Perhaps if she drew it all clearly enough, they’d be able to see the sound. She could only hope, anyway. It didn’t seem right to include a stream like that without it. 

There were fish swimming, enjoying the cool water, and two ducks in the stream. There were always animals if you looked closely enough, but they weren’t even hard to find that day. 

She heard loud steps behind her, and the ducks flew away. She could curse whatever hiker thought it may be a good idea to come to her stream. 

But when she turned to look at them, telling herself to be kind, Daisy looked at her. “I’m sorry for pushing you to do it,” Daisy said, standing in front of the log.

“Sit down,” Joyce said with a sigh. “Did you know he was going to ask me to do this?”

“I had no idea,” Daisy answered. “I would have brought it up myself, possibly. It’s not as if he’s very nice about these sorts of things.” 

“Well, I wouldn’t want to do it even if you were the one to say it.”

“Then we won’t make you.”

“You mean you won’t make me,” she scoffed, looking away. After a long pause, she looked back at Daisy. “I don’t mean to create strife between you and your husband. I want you to have a happy marriage.”

“I know that,” Daisy said, patting the hand that wasn’t holding the sketchbook. “I’m not sure I want this. You’d be so far. But I think, either way, we should consider it. Just to make sure we have and know our options.”

“Texas is only a train ride away,” Joyce said. “But I’m even closer if I don’t go.” 

“Can you give it some thought? I think he’s doing it with your best interests in mind.”

“I’m not convinced of that.”

“I know you don’t get along with him, but please try. He’s not going anywhere. And I think we’ll have a much easier time when you have your own husband. He’s only so hard on you because he wants things to get better. I know that can be hard to see because he’s so hard on you.”

“I hate hurting your relationship,” Joyce said. “I don’t want you to be any less happy just because I’m there. You deserve to feel love every day, not just when I’m in a good mood. So maybe…Well, I’ll think about it. For your sake if not for mine.”

“You should do it for you, too, but I do appreciate your care.”

Joyce didn’t know what to say, so she leaned against her sister and kissed her cheek.

“I know,” Daisy said. “You want to finish your drawing before it gets dark.”

“Yes, please,” Joyce said. “I also may need to think privately.”

“I can definitely give you some space then,” Daisy said as she walked away. Joyce wasn’t sure she was ready to think about any of these things, but she was ready to draw. The stream gurgling brought her back to nature once more, and she had a chance to draw it at dusk, just a matter of minutes before the light faded. She used lots of shadows and wondered what animals did when they only came out at night. She understood it as far as trapping animals went, but she worried they might feel lonely. She knew it was a silly worry, but she felt lonely when everyone was asleep, and no one else was there to talk to her. Maybe with a man around, she’d have someone to spend the nights with. But wouldn’t she rather draw? As much as she liked seeing her, she didn’t even like her sister being there when she drew, as it was important for her to have silence. She was also a bit self-conscious. But it always got dark, and she was always alone again. A nocturnal animal with no other members of her species.

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“From the Ruins Comes Love” is an Amazon Best-Selling novel, check it out here!

Joyce finds herself stuck when her brother-in-law wants her out of the house and sends her to his family living a few towns away. In a leap of faith, Joyce moves on to a town a bit further in order to avoid living with some strangers that could be just like him. As she starts running out of money and ways to escape her written fate, a seemingly kind stranger she encounters could become her salvation.

Could this man really be what she was always dreaming of?

Austin’s whole family is pushing him to get married before his mother’s death. However, since he realized his ex-fiancée was only after his money, he cannot trust anyone with his heart. But a quick marriage he can buy and get out of it just as quickly seems like the perfect solution. So when he comes across a pretty woman who seems lost on a train, he steps in and has a proposition that is a bargain for both of them.

Will this be another woman who sticks around just for the promise of money, or will he finally come to experience what true love is?

Joyce and Austin start a business relationship, but Austin’s family sees them already as lovebirds. When someone with a plan of vengeance comes after his family, and they lose everything, he will no longer be able to pay. Will they manage to overcome those who wish them harm? As they each start to develop feelings privately, will they reveal their true intentions even though their arrangement was supposed to be based on a lie?

“From the Ruins Comes Love” is a historical western romance novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

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