Her Story’s Unexpected Hero (Preview)

Chapter One

Ruth knew how to run a farm better than most men did. It required more skills than many women realized, from mending fences to make sure stable hands got paid the right amount. She hadn’t expected to have to learn everything, but ever since her father had gotten sick there was a need for good help. He had been sick ever since her mother-in-law’s death, and she thought the two were somehow related, though she didn’t have any proof of it. 

“Oh, he’s just so perfect,” Teresa said as she watched Ruth clean up one of the horse’s pens. She made no attempt to help, but they were a few stable hands short, so Ruth knew she had to help whether Teresa did or not.

“Just like Joseph was, him?” Ruth said, mucking out the stall and trying to keep herself from dumping some on Teresa. They got along well, as long as stepsisters went, but Teresa was a few years younger than Ruth, didn’t have as good a head on her shoulders, and was always falling for one man or another.

“This is different,” Teresa said.

“How so?” Ruth asked.

“Well, it’s simple really. We’re getting married,” Teresa said, and the way she smiled looked so matter-of-fact that Ruth wasn’t sure it was a joke.

“Did he ask father?” 

“No, but he said that he doesn’t have to since I am my own woman.” 

“Oh, you are, are you? Do you even know what that means?”

“I know enough.”

“Teresa,” Ruth said, “Elijah is known to be with multiple women all the time, and on top of that you know he’s a part of petty crime.”

“He says that’s all a misunderstanding,” Teresa said. “He’s never been convicted after all. And I trust him.”  

“Well, I don’t think you’re ready to run a home, and you are definitely not ready to run his home. And father will agree. Would you like to ask him yourself? I can leave this for Onan.” 

“Fine,” Teresa said. “Let’s go talk to him.” 

Ruth stopped shoveling and whistled to Onan, pointing it over. “Can you finish this please?” 

“Sure ma’am,” he said, and Ruth and Teresa walked into the house. Ruth knew, as Teresa was getting older, that she would have to worry about this. Teresa was striking: tall with blonde hair slightly wavy, and blue eyes that were bright and lively rather than piercing. The exact sort of face men found exciting. She also always had boys on her mind, so Ruth knew it was only a matter of time before someone tried to make an honest woman of her. But this Elijah, the one she had been talking to most recently, wasn’t one that she should be even consider. 

They walked inside and Ruth looked over her aging father, brown hair and eyes matching her own. She walked over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

“Hello daughters,” he said. 

“Teresa says she has something to tell you,” Ruth said. 

“So quick to put me under fire,” Teresa said. 

“What is it, Teresa?” their father Daniel asked, tiredly. Ruth thought he was used to Teresa’s antics as well. 

“I’m engaged to be married.” 

“Nonsense,” their father said. “No one asked me.” 

“Elijah told her he didn’t need to answer you because she is her own woman,” Ruth answered.

“Ruth,” Teresa snapped. “I can speak for myself.” 

“Well, is that what he said?” their father asked.

“He made it sound more romantic than that,” Teresa answered.

“You will be marrying no such man,” Daniel said. “You know I will forbid it.”

“You cannot forbid it,” Teresa said. “The choice has already been made.” 

Ruth saw Daniel’s jaw work in anger, then his fingers clench a little around the arm of his chair. The latter always suggested pain from his sickness. 

“Maybe you should go help Onan,” Ruth said. “So father and I can talk.” 

“I’ll go to my room,” Teresa said, and Ruth wasn’t surprised for a moment that she refused to go out and help with the farming. She walked off and Ruth looked at their father.

“She’ll be fine,” Ruth said. “We can talk sone sense into her.” 

“I think she’s past the point of having sense talked into her,” Daniel said. “I think it’s time we send her away.” 

“What?” 

“She can’t stay here any longer. Who knows who she will end up with? I have better plans.” 

“And what are those?” Ruth asked, feeling herself panicked.

“I made them as soon as she started talking to Elijah. It seemed necessary to have a backup plan.”

“And what plan was that?” 

“She will marry a man of my choosing,” Daniel said matter-of-factly.

“What?”

“I am to send her West as a male order bride. It has already been decided. I know it may seem like a drastic choice, but it is what I have decided.”

Ruth felt her heart stop. She hadn’t ever considered that her sister may be sent away. It was true they weren’t blood relatives, but Ruth had always wanted a sister and Teresa had become that. They had lived together since Ruth was eight, and she couldn’t imagine ever living apart. She had known, of course, that when they both got married they wouldn’t live together, but she always imagined them having farms down the road from each other, perhaps even splitting their father’s farm down the middle. “She can’t go.” 

“We do need her to, unfortunately,” Daniel said. “I am appreciative about the fact that you two have gotten close, but this will protect her.” 

“Marrying her off to some man you’ve never met?” 

“We’ve corresponded some back and forth.” 

“And how did you do that?” Ruth asked, knowing her voice was raising.

“Through letters. There really is no need to be concerned, the train will be taking her out in the next few days.”

“And when were you planning on telling her that?” Ruth asked.

“I’ll tell her when it is settled, when it is too late for her to do something stupid. For now, let’s keep this to ourselves, shall we?” Daniel said.

“I don’t think that we can do this.”

“Ruth,” her father said, leaning closer, “I know you don’t like to hear this, but I don’t think I’ll be around much longer. It’s just a fact of life. And because of that, it is important to me that I protect her. You can protect yourself; Teresa doesn’t have that sort of head on her shoulders.”

Ruth hated hearing this, mainly because she knew he was right. As many times as he started bringing up that he wasn’t doing well, she had always tried to change the subject. She wanted to keep him positive, but this was the first time that he mentioned his death. It was something they had all tried not to think about, but Daniel had met with the doctor recently, which meant they probably had discussed it. Her father refused to let her sit in on his meetings with the doctor, so he was never quite certain. 

“I’ll protect her.”

“I can’t expect you to be watching your sister constantly, it’s not your place.”

“I would be happy to have it be my place,” Ruth said. “It would be an honor.” 

“Ruth, please let me take my last chance to protect my—” he stopped, going deep into a coughing fit. Ruth knew this argument couldn’t continue any longer with her father staying healthy. She told herself that Teresa would be fine, that plenty of women went and married young, but she couldn’t find a way to believe it completely. Teresa didn’t seem the settling down with a stranger. But maybe it would calm her down. 

“Fine,” she said, softly. She didn’t really think everything was fine, in fact she felt a little like crying, but she knew that this would have to do for now.

 

Chapter Two

Ruth didn’t know how she was meant to keep such a big secret quiet. She had never been a big secret keeper. Their family had been mostly open, as far as families went, though no one knew who Teresa’s father was, except possibly her mother before she died. Ruth knew that her father was right though: tell Teresa early and she was bound to do something stupid. 

“When are you going to tell her?” Ruth found herself whispering a few days later while Teresa brushed her hair in her room once again: she did a dozen times before going to see Elijah. 

“I will tell her soon,” Daniel answered. Ruth wanted to argue, but she knew she had nothing to hold over him: she certainly wasn’t going to tell Teresa if she wanted to be the one to. 

“Please reconsider. You know how hard life out west can be.” 

“It will be even harder if she stays here with Elijah. You know that. That is where all your concern comes from as—” he paused, following into a coughing bit so intense that he found himself spitting blood into his hand. 

“Fine,” Ruth said, hating to see him in such pain. “I understand that. Fine. Just please tell her soon. I can’t afford to wait any longer.” 

“I promise. I—” 

Teresa came into the room and glanced at her stepfather’s hand anxiously. “Oh father, should I go get the doctor again?”

“Oh, do not worry, little one,” he said. “I will recover easily. There is just something I need to talk to you about, something I should have told you a while ago.” 

“What is it father? You can tell me anything,” Teresa said. She had taken to calling her stepfather father almost as soon as they had met. Ruth knew Teresa had wanted a father almost as much as Ruth had wanted a sister. 

“Well, I believe that there will be some changes we have to make to keep everyone in the family safe. I have found a place for you to stay a bit further into Nevada. It’s only three hours there by train, which means that we can visit you over the holidays and at other times when it may be hard with a new family.” 

“A new family?” Teresa asked, and Ruth saw that she sounded more curious than she did worried.

“Yes, I have found you a man to be your husband, and I think that you two will be a good pair. You have to have some changes happen in order to keep you safe. We will be sending you off tomorrow, so good ahead and pack your things.” 

“Tomorrow?” Ruth said, and she was surprised to see that she felt more worried about that than Teresa seemed. 

“Very well father,” Teresa said. “I do trust that you know best.” 

“I’m glad you understand. The train leaves in the early morning tomorrow, so try to get some rest if you can.”

“I will certainly try,” Teresa said.

“That is all for now,” their father said. “Why don’t you go pack so I can talk to Ruth for a moment.” 

“Yes father,” Teresa said, and Ruth found herself glaring daggers at her father while Teresa left with no real pause. 

“You didn’t tell me it would be tomorrow,” Ruth said. 

“I thought it would be best to simply rip the Band-Aid off.” 

“Well, I think that that’s not fair to Teresa. Or me, for that matter.”

“This isn’t about you,” Daniel said. “I know that you are struggling to see how this will make things better, but I have to do my duty for Teresa. She is just as much my daughter as you are.” 

“I never would suggest she wasn’t,” Ruth said. “We all are a family. None of us have ever treated each other any different. You are the only father Teresa has ever known.” 

“Thank you,” Daniel said, and Ruth was surprised that they were having this conversation to begin with. In the entirety of their families coming together, there had never been any possibility that they were not one whole family. The mothers were the only missing piece now, and Ruth’s brother that died in the childbirth as well. 

“Are you really sure this is best for her?” Ruth asked.

“I’m not going to pretend like it’s not scary,” Daniel said. “I know I pretend like I always know, but some things are a gamble. I am sure, however, that this will be better than her marrying Elijah.” 

“Let me go with her.” 

“I don’t have a husband for you down there,” Daniel said. “You can’t just live on your own down there.” 

Ruth knew that there was also an unspoken role she played in running the farm; there was no way her father could do it on his own, though she knew he would always be too embarrassed to admit that. “Then let me take the train down with her. It’s the least I can do.” 

“I suppose that would make me feel a bit better. I will find the money for your ticket as well.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Ruth said. “I can take care of my own ticket. And I’ll make sure her—the man comes and looks safe for her to go with.”

“You’ll have to get used to saying her husband eventually,” her father said. 

“Well, I suppose I just don’t yet. Do you think she was calmer than she should have been?”

“Perhaps she is just finally seeing reason.”

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“Her Story’s Unexpected Hero” is an Amazon Best-Selling novel, check it out here!

Ruth,a young woman burdened with the loss of two mother figures, is forced to search for her kidnapped sister around the Nevada grasslands. She is desperate to save her and can’t imagine losing anyone else in her family. With her father already sick, this mission seems crucial, and when a kind man offers to help her, there’s finally hope in Ruth’s heart…

Is it possible that except for her lost sister, she will also find love?

Edward, a man that ran from home at fifteen, lives on the grasslands, sometimes bringing in running criminals for money. When a young hopeless woman calls for his help, he knows that unless he takes her under his wing, she may die. But when he finds out she is independent and brave, not to mention beautiful, he suddenly finds all the more reason to be near her.

But will this last for long after the truth comes knocking?

A hurtful revelation leaves Ruth devastated and her trust broken. How will Edward prove to her that he deserves her trust? Will they ever manage to relieve each other from the burdens of their mistakes, and find peace in each other’s arms?

“Her Story’s Unexpected Hero” is a historical western romance novel of approximately 60,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

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