Her Sacred Quest To Find Love (Preview)

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Chapter One

“LOOK OUT!”

The cry came at just the right moment. Amanda Blake stopped just as she was about to get off the train. She looked in the direction that the cry was coming from and saw a young man frantically pointing behind her. She didn’t even look at what was about to happen, she just ducked back inside the doorway as quickly as she could. Not an instant later, a wagon wheel whipped right past the stairway where she had just been. If that young man hadn’t alerted her to the incoming wheel, Amanda likely would have been crushed.

The twenty-six year old woman put her hand over her racing heart and allowed herself a moment to breathe. Returning to Shady Creek after so many years was a challenge that Amanda had created for herself. It didn’t help that her family’s departure from town had been such an emotionally fraught one. And now, before she had even stepped off the train, she’d nearly been killed by a runaway wagon wheel. This was certainly going to be an interesting time.

Amanda tugged her straw bonnet back onto her head. It must have flown off when she dashed back inside the cabin. She’d worn her best outfit for travelling today: she sported a dark green walking skirt with a matching blouse and her bonnet had pretty flowers of different shades of green dotting the front. Both the skirt and the blouse had delicate white flowers embroidered along the hems. Her mother had made the ensemble for her last birthday, and Amanda had been blown away by it.

“I wanted you to have something you could wear in case a gentleman ever called,” her mother, Irene, had said quietly to her. “The green provides such a lovely contrast to your eyes!”

Amanda’s startlingly beautiful blue-grey eyes were currently closed as she recalled the memory. Unfortunately for her mother, no gentlemen had ever called for Amanda, but the young woman didn’t mind that at all herself. She wasn’t much interested in ensuring that she was quickly wed. Her passions lay elsewhere.

“Are you all right, Miss?” The question forced Amanda’s eyes open, and when they focused, she discovered she was looking at the young man who had alerted her to the wayward wagon wheel. He looked like he couldn’t have been older than fifteen or sixteen, and he was so gangly that from afar, he looked like all limbs. 

“Thanks to you I am!” Amanda said gratefully, looking both ways before stepping off the train. “Thank you ever so much for alerting me to the danger. Could you tell me your name so that I might be better able to tell people who I owe my life to?”

The young man positively beamed from ear to ear. “Edward Jackson at your service, Madam. But you can just call me Eddie.”

Eddie took off his hat and gave Amanda a grand flourishing bow, which made her laugh.

“Well thank you most heartily, Eddie. I’m Amanda Blake, and looking for-”

“You’re Amanda Blake?” Eddie asked her, looking shocked. “Oh! You’re just the person I’m looking for. Mayor Welles sent me to pick you up! Or, should I say, my father suggested that I pick you up after Mayor Welles told us you were arriving here today.”

“I’m very glad to hear that you’re my ride into town,” Amanda said, reaching back into the train and hoisting her very heavy trunk to the ground. “I was so worried that Mayor Welles might forget to send someone to get me altogether. He seems like a very sweet man, but…”

Amanda didn’t want to insult the mayor right away, but judging by her correspondence with him, he seemed like a very scatterbrained man. After Amanda had heard about the Shady Creek Schoolhouse needing a new teacher she’d immediately written requesting more information. It had taken Mayor Welles an exceptionally long time to respond to her; so long that she worried her letter had gotten lost in the mail. When he did reply, the information that he provided Amanda with was vague at best. The rest of their letters back and forth had been just as ‘all over the place.’

“He needs a lot of help from a lot of people,” Eddie said, nodding knowingly as he reached towards Amanda’s suitcase. “Might I take that for you, Miss Blake?”

Amanda looked at Eddie somewhat dubiously. “Are… are you sure you’re going to be able to handle it?”

Without saying a word, Eddie took the suitcase and lifted it as though it weighed no more than five pounds. He began walking away, and then finally he looked back at Amanda.

“Well? Are you satisfied with my lifting now?”

Amanda laughed and nodded, and then quickly followed her young driver. They walked over to where Eddie’s carriage was waiting. The young man put the trunk on the back and then secured it tightly. Meanwhile, Amanda climbed inside and got comfortable. When Eddie was finished, he leaned his head inside the carriage and smiled at her.

“All set, Miss Blake?” he asked, looking around as if he had misplaced something.

“Yes, most certainly,” Amanda said, taking her small handbag and putting it comfortably on her lap. She looked at Eddie with curiosity in her eyes. “Could I help you find something?”

“My apologies,” Eddie said, looking slightly embarrassed. “The last passenger who was in here was my grandmother. She lost her wooden tooth when we went over a nasty bump and she asked me to have another look for it. I didn’t want to mention it, but I thought you might be a little disgusted if you did find it. So if you do… just tell me and I’ll take care of it.”

Eddie continued looking at Amanda with a mixture of hesitation and mortification on his face. Amanda, however, didn’t mind one bit.

“I’ll keep my eyes peeled,” she promised him and he looked relieved that she wasn’t horrified. “Thank you kindly for the ride, I’m very much indebted to you today.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Eddie said, leaning back outside and then walking around to the front of the carriage. “Just make sure you hold onto your teeth when we go over those nasty bumps!”

Amanda laughed once more and then a few moments later, the carriage gave a great lurch and they were off. As they rumbled away from the train station, Amanda began to feel the nerves that she had been trying to fight off for so long start to seep in. She was so proud of herself for being able to hold it together for as long as she had. However, she’d hoped she might have been able to maintain her resilience for just a little bit longer. She hadn’t wanted to let the bad memories at Shady Creek start to seep in. She was giving the town a second chance, and she held her breath that everything was going to turn out all right.

The ride took a lot longer than Amanda had remembered. The last time they took it, though, Amanda had been twelve years old. It was just after her father had died in what was deemed an accident at the logging camp in town. The night had been rainy, wet and miserable, and Amanda had been doing everything she could to keep her mind off of the horror she was going through. She was impressed that she was able to remember anything about that trip at all.

 As she looked out the window now, she could slowly see the town coming into view. Even from here, it looked larger than it had when she and her family had left. That made sense, of course, because it had been fourteen years that they’d been gone. She could see the outlines of what looked to be a hotel, a few stores and perhaps even a tavern. She was happy to see that the town was flourishing, and she hoped that her sad memories here wouldn’t overpower the potentially positive new ones. 

At long last, the carriage pulled to a halt outside of what Amanda guessed was town hall. She got up and straightened her skirt and blouse before exiting the cabin. As she stepped out into the warm, welcoming sun, Amanda couldn’t help but feel as though she’d made the right decision by coming here. She’d had to go to a great deal of trouble to escape the clutches of her family, but most importantly her brother Daniel, in order to get here. She could only pray that it might be worth it in the end.

“There we are!” Amanda suddenly heard from beside her, and she looked over to see Eddie gesturing jubilantly towards the rest of the town. “Welcome to Shady Creek! Population of… three hundred and fifty, I believe, at last check. We’ve got everything that a town of our size should have- good people, beautiful surroundings, and enough food for everyone!”

Amanda chuckled as the odd pair went around to the back of the wagon to pick up her trunk. “Well thank you, Eddie, for the warm welcome. And thank you once again for the rescue and the ride! Once I get settled in my new accommodations, I should like to bake you a pie to properly say thank you. What’s your favourite type?”

Eddie’s eyes lit up. “A whole pie? For me? Gosh, any flavour you’d like! Thanks Miss Blake! The Mayor should be out any minute. I’m sorry to leave you on the steps like this, but I promised my mother I’d be home by three. Anything else I can do for you before I go?”

Amanda shook her head. “Thank you very much, Eddie, but you go on home. I’m perfectly fine from here on out.”

Eddie bid her adieu and then she watched as he and his rattling carriage pulled away from town hall. She was not sure how long she would be waiting for the mayor, and so she decided to take a seat on the steps. If the mayor required as much help as Eddie said he did, then Amanda assumed that she was in for a long wait.

As she looked out upon the little section of town that she could see, a young man who looked a great deal like her brother walked by. The man was just under six feet tall, had short, somewhat scruffy-looking blonde hair and had a very similar halting gait to Daniel. Amanda knew that there was absolutely no way it could be Daniel, as she’d left him and the rest of her family behind in San Francisco. It still made her heart beat a little faster, though. It made her momentarily worried that he had found her.

“Miss Blake?” she suddenly heard from behind her. Amanda stood up very quickly and turned to see who she assumed would be the mayor. When she looked, however, she saw it was a young woman not too much older than she was.

“Yes, that’s me,” Amanda said as the young woman walked closer to her. She wore a pretty blue day dress, had stunning reddish blonde hair that cascaded down her shoulders and had a smile that made Amanda feel instantly at ease.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, my father has told me so much about you,” she said, giving Amanda a curtsey which she returned. “I’m Eleanor Welles. My father was set to come meet you until he spilled hot coffee all over himself right before he left. I sent him home to get changed and told him I would be happy to show you to your accommodations and answer any questions that you have.”

“Oh that’s wonderful!” Amanda said happily, until she realized what she’d said. “Oh my goodness. No, I’m sorry. I didn’t meant that it was wonderful that you father spilled coffee all over himself, I meant-”

But Eleanor just chuckled pleasantly and held up a hand to stop Amanda from continuing to babble. “Not to worry, I didn’t take it like that. Would you like me to assist you with your trunk?”

“That would be splendid, thank you,” Amanda said, taking up one side while Eleanor took the other.

“The Andrews’ family home where you’ll be staying is very close by, so I think that we should be able to manage this on our own. This way!” 

With that, Eleanor pointed off in the direction they were to head in, and Amanda felt like her adventure was truly starting. She took a deep breath and then kept up the pace with Eleanor as they went to her accommodations.

Chapter Two

“Miss Blake, it is so lovely to meet you!” The tall, warmly smiling woman standing in the doorway of the Andrews home suddenly embraced Amanda as though she were her own sister. Amanda was caught off-guard, but she didn’t let it show. Instead, she returned the embrace warmly. 

“I feel the same way about you!” she said as she pulled away from the woman. Now that she was out of her embrace, Amanda could get a better look at the woman. She stood about eight inches taller than Amanda, had 

“I’m Lucy Andrews, and this-” she stepped to the side and suddenly a little girl appeared, clinging to her leg- “is our daughter, Lily. Lily, would you like to tell our guest how old you are?”

The tiny little thing looked utterly petrified. She had her curly blonde hair pulled back and away from her face and her blue eyes stared at Amanda with such fascination that she felt like a painting on display. Slowly, however, Lily raised six fingers across her two hands.

“My goodness,” Amanda said, kneeling down so that she could be at Lily’s eye level, “six?! That’s certainly a good age to be, I think. Don’t you?”

Lily nodded emphatically. “Are you six too?”

Amanda looked up at Lucy and they shared a comical little look, but didn’t laugh. Amanda returned her attention to the child. 

“I’m a bit older than six, I’m afraid,” Amanda informed her. “But I wouldn’t recommend being my age. It’s far too boring. You should stay six forever.”

That made Lily smile, and with that, Amanda stood up again. 

“I’m very grateful to you for opening your home to me while I teach here this year,” she told Lucy. 

The young woman put her hands on her hips. “We’re the grateful ones! We haven’t had a good schoolteacher here for years! Come on in, let’s get you settled and then we can take you to the schoolhouse and help you get set up, right Lily?”

The little girl nodded enthusiastically, and Amanda was happy to see that she had warmed up to her. Lucy led her inside the house and Amanda was utterly charmed by it. It was a bit bigger than the home her family had in San Francisco, and the furniture looked about five times nicer. The first room they went through was the parlour. It had two medium-sized windows on the wall directly across from them, making the room feel bright and spacious. There were comfortable chairs, there was a stunning piano, a beautiful centre table and a grand fireplace as well. Next, Lucy and Lily showed her the kitchen, which, to Amanda’s surprise, was only slightly smaller than the sitting room. There was another room for Lucy’s husband’s office, and then they went down a long hallway with quite a few doors.

“I’m so glad to finally have someone staying in one of these rooms!” Lucy cried happily, throwing open one of the doors. “This was James’ parents’ house. He had seven brothers and sisters, thus the need for so many rooms. We have our lovely Lily and the two of us, so that means just a few extra rooms for us to rattle around in.”

They reached the end of the hall and Lucy opened the door on the right. She gestured for Amanda to walk in, and when she did, she was totally enchanted. It was quite a big room with a large window that looked out over the fields of their ranch. There was a darling four-poster bed in the corner that had beautifully simple yellow quilt on it. Across from the bed was another big fireplace, and beside it was a large wooden writing desk. Amanda was the most excited to see that, as she knew that she would be writing many letters to her sister back home. 

“Oh this is heavenly!” Amanda said excitedly as she took a few steps deeper into it. “Are you certain you want to give me this room? I had expected something far simpler!”

Lucy laughed. “No, no, this is most certainly your room. I’m glad to hear that you like it! I’ll leave you be to get settled in, and when you’re done, perhaps you’d like to join Lily and I for a little afternoon tea.”

“That sounds just perfect,” Amanda said. With that, Lucy left Amanda by herself and softly shut the door behind her. 

Amanda wasn’t quite sure what to do at first. She thought that perhaps she should try to unpack or maybe start writing her first letter to her sister, Maggie. The sisters were quite close, and as it stood right now, Maggie was the only one who knew where Amanda had truly gone. She’d sworn her to secrecy, though. If there was one person that Amanda knew she could trust in the world, it was her Maggie. 

If Daniel had ever found out where she was going, however, she knew that he wouldn’t have let her come. Ever since becoming the head of the household after their father died, Daniel had become incredibly protective. It had taken many, many, MANY, conversations in order for him to let her leave for a year on this teaching assignment. All she had to do was keep her location a secret from him and she would be just fine.

As she sat there trying to make a decision about what to do next, however, Amanda felt those old familiar feelings start to seep in. She knew that they would hit her at some point after she’d arrived in town. At first, it was just a bit of homesickness mixed in with some longing. She missed her home already, but she also longed for what Shady Creek used to be to her. She wanted to walk out the front door and have the town look just like it had when she was twelve. If she could have, she would have run to her old house, thrown open the door and jumped into her father’s arms.

But that was impossible, and the remembrance of that was devastating. Amanda could feel the tears stinging in her eyes and the sob building in her chest, begging to be released. She knew that she couldn’t let it out, though. If she did, the tears were never going to stop and she would spend her first day in her new old town crying her eyes out. 

The harder Amanda tried to fight it, the more the memories came flooding back. She could hear the sounds of the logging camp that her father had worked at here. She could smell the inside of the tent that the family shared all together. She could feel the happiness and innocence that she held onto as a child growing up without many worries. 

But then the worst hit her. She remembered the frigidly cold day mid-way through the winter when her father was working overtime trying to earn a bit of extra money. She could hear one of the men coming into their tent and telling them there’d been a terrible accident. And then Amanda could feel the pain of losing her father tearing through her chest as though he’d died all over again.

Amanda knew that she had to keep breathing. If she let herself get overwhelmed, she was going to start panicking, and she wasn’t about to let that happen. She took three big, deep breaths and could slowly feel herself coming out of the memory. She then did the thing that she always felt helped her the most: she reached into her handbag and pulled out the last letter that her father ever wrote her.

My dearest, darlingest Manda,

I know that we haven’t gotten to spend much time together recently because I have been so busy, but I promise we will soon. You’re being such a big help to your mother and your siblings, and I can’t tell you how proud of you I am. I know things are very hard right now, but they will get easier in time. I am leaving this beside you on your pillow so that you read it when you wake up in the hopes that you feel a little less lonely. 

All of my love,

Father.

After having read the letter over a few times, Amanda felt a bit better. Seeing his handwriting, hearing his voice in her head and feeling the paper that he touched made her feel so much more connected to him. With that, she carefully folded up the paper, replaced it in its very safe spot in her bag and got up from the bed. She had some unpacking to do, and then she was going to go get to know the lovely family that she was living with.

“Her Sacred Quest To Find Love” is an Amazon Best-Selling novel, check it out here!

When Amanda Blake returns to her beloved hometown in secret, she is forced to face a barrage of bad memories. This is where she suffered a heartbreaking tragedy in the past, but also where she will seek refuge from her overprotective brother for a chance at a new life. But when everything reminds her of her devastating loss, the only thing that will get her back up is meeting the strapping farmer who has taken over her family’s old land. Brian is everything Amanda has ever dreamed of…

The more their love deepens, the more her view of the town begins to change…

Brian Cobb has lived his whole life in the tiny town of Shady Creek and has become accustomed to monotony. He thinks that he’s quite content with his quiet life on the farm, until the very first moment he sets his eyes on the beautiful Amanda. When their relationship begins Brian feels like the happiest man alive, but will this feeling of euphoria last?

The past cannot be changed and they both know that too well…

When Amanda’s brother catches word of where she’s run off to, the blissful happiness that she’s experiencing with Brian is suddenly under threat. On top of that, Brian’s farm isn’t doing as well as he’d hoped, and he’s forced to make a difficult decision that threatens to put a strain on his new love. When an uninvited guest barges in their lives bringing back traumatic memories, will the couple be able to endure these hardships, or will Amanda be forced to return to San Francisco, never to see Brian again?

“Her Sacred Quest To Find Love” is a historical western romance novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

Get your copy from Amazon!

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OFFER: A BRAND NEW SERIES AND 2 FREEBIES FOR YOU!

Grab my new series, " Faith and Love on the Frontier", and get 2 FREE novels as a gift! Have a look here!

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