Wranglers of the Western Hearts (Preview)

Chapter One

Belle

Aunt Martha let out a little groan, coughing heavily. Belle set a hand on her shoulder and said, “Eli, I really think we should stop.”

“I think we’re fine,” Eli said, and Aunt Martha shot him a look, then had another coughing fit. 

Belle wasn’t the type to force anything from her fiancé, he was the man after all, but this she wasn’t standing for. “Eli, we’re stopping,” she said. She had gotten a glance at the handkerchief her aunt was hiding, which had blood on it.

“Don’t talk to me that way,” Eli snapped. “We can leave her with the doctor, then get going.”

They had just come to the outskirts of a town, Silver Valley, Colorado, filled with hills and tiny ranches. They weren’t surrounded by the actual town center, but when they passed the farms, people looked at them and even waved. It seemed like they were friendly, and Belle appreciated that because no matter what Eli said, they were staying for a while.

They came to a boarding house and Eli jumped down, saying, “Let me get a room for her.” 

Aunt Martha looked at Belle, who felt even more scared than Aunt Martha looked.

“Don’t worry,” Aunt Martha said, “I’m going to be fine.”

“We’re not leaving you here.” 

“Absolutely not, you two aren’t even married.”

And it was true, Belle had had to find someone quickly when her parents died. She had her mother’s beauty, with long blonde hair, light blue-gray eyes, and a bit of pink perfectly on her cheeks, so she had different marriage options. However, she needed someone who could marry her quickly and who wouldn’t mind taking care of Aunt Martha. After her aunt’s husband had died, her brother (who was Belle’s father) watched out for her, but Belle wasn’t going to just give up on her because she had no one. So, Belle would be her someone.

“Are you going to be okay?” Belle asked softly.

“Of course. I’ve stuck around this long, haven’t I?”

She was the eldest woman in the family, her once-blonde hair mostly gray, and with plenty of laugh lines. Still, with Aunt Martha being 65, Belle didn’t think she was as old as she pretended to be. Belle was determined to keep her around forever. If they could get rid of this cough that gotten steadily worse throughout the trip. 

“Maybe you’ll do better with a bit of rest,” Belle said, kissing Aunt Martha’s cheek. The trip had been hard on their covered wagon, and Belle wished they would have taken the train. They wouldn’t have been able to bring nearly as much, but Eli was able to pay for them to buy most things. Aunt Martha hadn’t wanted to take the train, because she’d wanted to save family keepsakes, but now Belle wondered if it would have been better for them to use the train.

Belle looked around at the town. “This won’t be such a bad place to stay.” There were a few people walking back and forth, one couple holding hands and smiling at each other, almost to the point of not looking where they were going.

There was a general store with a few horses tied in front of it and one covered wagon. Men lugged grain while women held bunches of fabric.

There was a church off to the side, cross held high, and a few horses in front of that even though it was a weekday. Belle hoped the church was active, as she had always been an active member of the church. It was white, with a full cemetery to the side, moss growing over some of the gravestones. Belle felt a pang of guilt over the fact that she would no longer be there to clean up her parents’ gravestones.

 

“Are you thinking of them?” Aunt Martha said softly, looking where she looked.

“I always am,” Belle answered softly.

“That’ll get easier.”

“How can you be sure?”

“It got easier with my parents too,” Aunt Martha answered. Belle hadn’t considered how much experience Aunt Martha had in this, so she hoped she could learn from her aunt. Anything that might make the ache in her chest a little bit better.

“I didn’t even ask anyone to clean up the gravestone.”

“We can write a letter while we’re here; it won’t take long for someone to get it.”

“I don’t know who to ask.”

“Someone from church will,” she said, leaning in to kiss Belle’s cheek. Then Aunt Martha frowned.

“What is it?” Belle asked. Aunt Martha reached up to pat Belle’s cheek with a clean piece of her handkerchief. “Did you get blood on me?” 

“It’s nothing to worry about, I’ll get it cleaned right off.”

“You know that’s not why I’m worried.”

Eli came back out and said, “Martha—”
“You can call me Aunt Martha,” she corrected. “We’ll be family soon.”
“Aunt Martha, you can take a room here, and I’ll leave you with plenty of money for the doctor, food, anything else you need. We’ll send more money when we’re settled.”

“You’re not leaving me here,” Aunt Martha said.

“We’ll bring you over when you’re feeling better. If you’d like, we’ll even make the trip back to pick you up.”

“I’m not worried about me; I’m worried about the two of you.”

“What do you mean by that?” Eli asked.

“You two aren’t married. You can’t go on the rest of this trip alone.”

“We’ll be married as soon as we get there.”

“Do you think her parents would have been fine with that? I agreed to help with Belle if anything ever happened to them.”

Eli glanced between Belle and Aunt Martha, and Belle thought he could tell she was on her aunt’s side. She also wanted to honor her parents’ legacy. She wasn’t the type to cause trouble, but she would about her parents and Aunt Martha.

“Fine,” he said. “We’ll get married, and then we’ll go.”

“When Aunt Martha is getting better,” Belle corrected.

“We want to get out of here quickly, don’t we?” he pointed out.

“You know,” Belle said, “not everyone lives forever.”
In her eyes, Eli had had just about the perfect life. His parents were together, and they passed on money to him. They hadn’t lived near each other ever since he left his parent’s house, but he said he liked it better that way. They wrote regularly, and they encouraged him to move with his new wife, to start his own destiny.

So, his money had been with him for quite some time, and his looks lasted for now. He had dark hair and eyes, and a bit of muscle underneath his neat shirts. He always looked put-together, like someone who had a wife keeping him that way. It should be something she should be grateful for, having a husband who took care of himself. Still, something wasn’t quite right about it. 

“We’ll stay for now,” Eli relented. “Then after we’re married, we can discuss what we want to do next.”

That was only a momentary win, but it would have to be good enough for now. “Thank you. Did you see about a doctor?”

“One is already on the way,” Eli said, and Belle was relieved that he did think of these things, even if he came off as a little harsh sometimes. “What do you need to get settled here for a few nights?”

“You know I don’t need much,” Belle answered. “Just the one trunk.” She reached up to offer Aunt Martha a hand, helping her down. Eli walked around and grabbed a trunk for each of them.

“I can grab mine,” Belle said. “You don’t need all three.”

“Why don’t you just focus on helping get Aunt Martha to your room? You’re last on the left.”

Luckily, he was smart enough to give the women and him separate rooms. He also called her “Aunt Martha,” rather than “Martha” or “your aunt.” Perhaps things weren’t perfect, but she really did think she was lucky to have him. She didn’t know where this sense of foreboding came from. 

She started the walk with Aunt Martha, and the boarding house was nice enough. There was a small dining room in the front, and Belle thought the beef they were eating smelled like it was filled with spices, just how she liked it. 

When she got to the room and settled Aunt Martha to be sitting on the bed, Belle said, “Why don’t you lay down for a bit?” 

“I’m fine.”

“I’m sure the doctor will be here soon, but maybe it would be best to rest.”
Eli came in and set both of their trunks down. “Why don’t you two get cleaned up? I’m going to do that myself, and then we can meet up for dinner.”

“What about the doctor?” Belle asked.

“I’m sure the doctor will be here soon enough, but if you’d like to wait for dinner until after, we can.”

“I just worry about whether or not she should eat something. I don’t know what would be better.” She paused, glancing at Eli. “I would like to clean up though, so if you can give us a few minutes, I’ll get you when the doctor comes.”
“Sounds perfect,” he answered. Belle didn’t think he actually felt the need to be there for the doctor, but someone had to pay the doctor, and it couldn’t be her. She didn’t have to have money, not with Eli there, but she didn’t like being dependent, especially on Eli. It was different with her parents. Maybe that was just how it was with a husband. 

When she went over to the washbasin, filled with fresh water, she took out a small cloth and started washing herself the best she could. Maybe eventually she would take a bath, but she didn’t know when the doctor would show up.

She looked at Aunt Martha. “Do you want me to do anything to help you clean up?”

“Belle, if I were worried about looking perfect, I wouldn’t have made this trip. Cross-country trips like this are never clean. We’ll get me cleaned up after the doctor leaves; for now, we’ll have to go ahead and deal with however we look.”

There was a knock on the door, and Belle opened it. A man she assumed was the doctor came up to her, and she forced a smile. 

“Who is it I’m seeing here?”

“It’s my Aunt Martha, there sitting on the bed, and my parents also had a mysterious breathing illness.”

“And what helped them?”
“They died.” 

Chapter Two

Cole

“When are you going to find a wife?” Cole’s mother, Teresa, pressed, and he sighed. 

“Will you put some sense into her,” Cole asked his sister Betsy.

“She’s got a point,” Betsy said. “I bet you could if you tried. You’re not unattractive, if you ever brushed your hair, and you could make them all sorts of jewelry.”
“I should have known you wouldn’t be any help,” Cole teased. Betsy was happily married but had been struggling to have children, and Cole thought she possibly wanted to have even a niece or nephew to watch out for.

And he knew his family weren’t necessarily wrong about him being attractive. Though his hair was sometimes messy, it was a chestnut brown with a bit of curl, and his eyes were green speckled with gray. He had muscle from all his time as a blacksmith, but his hands were always dirty. That was part of the trade-off, no matter how long he spent scrubbing his hands.

“I’ll get married when I’m ready to get married,” he answered.

“And why aren’t you ready to get married right now?” his mother asked. “You have a reliable line of work, on top of the ranch.” 

“I need to find the right—”

“Don’t say that,” his mother chided. “I know you think that you need to wait for the right person, but that’s not really how this works. Do you think I knew your father was the right person? No, I didn’t. I just went with who was a good individual. He worked hard, he came from a good family, and he was kind. What more could I want?”
“Love,” Cole answered, but he knew his mother was right. Eventually, he would need to learn to settle. “Anyway, I need to get some things done on the ranch so I can get some blacksmithing work done tonight, so I need to get going.”

He worked hard between the ranch and blacksmithing. When he got to the barn, the ranch hands were already in there, bridling the horses and milking the cows.

“About time you arrived,” Michael said sharply. He was the foreman, and Cole sometimes imagined putting him in charge of everything so that he could focus on blacksmithing. But he wasn’t making enough from that quite yet.

“I had some things to attend to with the family. Besides, I’m not late.”

“You’re not early either. Some of the cattle need to go to the far pasture, and I thought you would be the one to lead that, everything considered.”

“Of course,” Cole said. He wondered if he should let someone speak to him that way, but Cole had always been the type to agree with what other people said rather than having a lot of fight in him. He didn’t see it as a problem, but rather as a part of the way he was raised. His father had been calm under a very focused wife, and Cole wouldn’t mind a woman to direct him either. His mother thought it could be good for him, in fact. She said that, anyway, while also wanting him to settle for the first woman who looked at him. It was rather unfair; he would mess up either way.

But he did know what he wanted. It wasn’t the first woman that came to him. He had physical characteristics he was generally interested in, but that wasn’t the most important thing to him. He wanted someone who would be a life partner, not someone who only made dinner. He liked someone possibly a little shy, who opened right up with him. He wanted to be that special person for her. Was that so much to ask? For the people in Silver Valley, it did seem like a lot to ask. He certainly didn’t want to leave town, so he found himself wishing that the perfect woman would come through, but that probably wouldn’t happen either. So, settling it was. He just didn’t even see anyone worth settling for.

But he did have to remind himself that just like his dad didn’t live forever, his mother wouldn’t either. She was heathy now, but if his dad taught him anything, it was that being healthy didn’t mean living long.

After they got the cattle out to the pasture, Cole looked to Michael. “I’m going to go to the blacksmiths’.”

“Don’t you think your work is here?” Michael asked.

“Not forever,” Cole said, and he took the horse and shook the reins, riding off his farm and whooping on his way to town. He slowed when he got there though, not wanting to actually hurt anyone or draw much attention to himself. He enjoyed riding hard and fast, but he wasn’t the sort to cause any problems.

He got to the blacksmith’s shop. He didn’t have any projects for customers at the moment, but he had something he had been working on for himself for a while, and he had to hope he would be able to use it soon.

A necklace from one piece of his mother’s jewelry that he was making for a special woman when the time came. He had already made one for his sister, and she loved it, so if he didn’t find a woman of his own to give it to, he would have to give it Betsy. It wasn’t quite that he didn’t want to give it to Betsy as much as it was the hope that he would find someone someday.

The blacksmith, Christopher, looked at him. “Here to work once again?”

“You know you appreciate it.” Cole liked the man, and he was a perfect contact to have. Christopher was getting older and had no sons at home, and the quiet conversation was that when he decided to retire—which he had made it sound like he would too—he might leave it to Cole. It was rather an out-there dream, but he could hope.

“The necklace again?” Christopher asked.

“Yes.”
“And what beautiful woman are you giving it to?”

“I don’t know yet,” Cole said.

“What do you mean by that?” 

“I’m hoping that woman is out there, but I just haven’t found her yet.”
Christopher studied him, and Cole wondered what he was about to ask. “You know, Sierra is coming of age.”
Cole hadn’t even considered Sierra, Christopher’s daughter, but now he wondered if he should have. Sierra seemed kind, and with her red hair and freckles, she was pretty, but he was a bit loudmouthed for Cole, and she focused a bit too much on money. She had always said if men didn’t provide stability, what were they there for?

Cole could provide stability for certain; it wasn’t that, but he didn’t want that to be the only reason he was there. 

Christopher seemed to notice that Cole was quiet for a long time and said, “Take some time to think about it. But, while I don’t have any sons now, I could soon. And there are a lot of things I may want to leave my son.”
Cole realized that this was a way to get the shop. He didn’t want to marry someone for it, but if he had to marry someone, was that such a bad idea? “I’ll think about it,” Cole agreed.

“You know,” Christopher said, “blue is also her color.”
Cole leaned down to look at the necklace and found himself paling. Something about this didn’t feel right. He wanted the chance to have the blacksmithing shop, so he really would have to consider it.

After he worked on the necklace till just about dark, it was time to go home. He didn’t want to; he wanted to work deep into the night, but he would have an early morning with the ranch. He was running himself ragged between the two jobs, and he hoped there would be more time to enjoy his life soon, not only work. 

When he walked out of the store, he was left to ponder what Christopher said, but he didn’t have long before he had to start the ride home.

There only a few people on his walk back, but he stopped when he saw someone that looked vaguely familiar. It was probably nothing, yet he couldn’t stop himself from trying to look again. 

Chapter Three

Belle

Belle knew, logically, that if it had been this long, Aunt Martha probably didn’t have what her parents had, and she also had Eli. Obviously, Eli couldn’t magically fix her aunt, but he could afford the best medical help, which no one had been able to do for her parents. 

“I’m going to go ahead and listen to your lungs,” the doctor said, setting his stethoscope to her chest. Then he put it on her back. “Deep breath,” he commanded. “Okay, another one.”

Then he pulled back. “Listen,” he said, “I know this is very scary after what happened with your parents, but I’m not hearing any noise that worries me. Most likely, she breathed some bad air. I’d like to check on her every day until she feels better though, with the family history. Are you two staying here or are you stopping on a journey?”

“We’re not leaving until she’s healthy,” Belle answered.

“I’m glad to hear it. Just be careful along the road, okay? There are all sorts of robbers. Is it just the two of you?”

“My fiancé is coming with us,” Belle said. “He’ll protect us.” And even with everything going on, Belle did think he would protect them. He may not be the perfect man to marry, but he was a good man. Belle had to do that in order to be okay with marrying him.

“I’m glad to hear that. You two rest, and I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”
When the doctor left, Aunt Martha looked at Belle, stifling a cough. “I worry about him.”

“The doctor?”
“You know I don’t mean the doctor,” Aunt Martha accused.

“He will protect us,” Belle said.

“You mean on the road. That’s not the same as making a good home for you.”

“Luckily, it’s the woman’s job to make a good home.”

“I know you really do want to believe him,” Aunt Martha’s voice was gentle, “but didn’t you notice how impatient he was about this? We’re family now.”

“Let me remind you that he is our only choice. Besides, he’s treating me well so far. He’s waiting for you, which proves he’s not that impatient.”

“I do hope you’re right,” she answered, but Belle knew she wasn’t feeling much better.

There was a knock on the door, and then the door was opened without waiting for an answer. It was Eli. “I saw the doctor leave. What did he say?”

“She seems fine for now,” Belle said. “But after she had such close contact with my parents, he wants be able to monitor for a little bit.”

“Well, if that’s all, then can monitor her out West,” Eli said, and Belle saw Aunt Martha shooting her a knowing look.

“If he wants to monitor, I think we should let him,” Belle pointed out. 

“We can stop in some towns on the way.”

Belle considered for a moment, but then Aunt Martha coughed again, and Belle knew she couldn’t do it. “We have to stay,” she said softly.

“Fine,” he huffed. “Why don’t you get ready, and I’ll take us to a nice dinner.”

“Aunt Martha too?” Belle asked.

“It seems like it would be better for her to get some rest.”

“That’s fine,” Aunt Martha said. “I really could use some rest, and it’s important for you two to keep getting to know each other.”

Belle saw the way Eli looked at her lips but hoped he wouldn’t kiss her yet. 

“I’ll get ready,” Belle answered.

He nodded and walked out, and she opened up her trunk, trying not to think about the fact that it all was dirty. Maybe he just wanted to show her off to everyone. Having a beautiful woman was a status symbol after all. She just wasn’t sure, with so little time, if she could be beautiful. 

She pulled a few items out of her trunk and found a simple pink and cream dress. Eli had promised to buy more elaborate ones once they were settled, but Belle didn’t need elaborate dresses. She thought she looked just fine on this, and when she turned to Aunt Martha, all warm under the covers, Aunt Martha said, “You look beautiful.”

“I can’t take a full bath.” Belle was nervous, but she didn’t know how to go about feeling just a bit less self-conscious. 

“We’ll get that set up before tomorrow. For now, go enjoy dinner.”

Eli knocked on the door again, so Belle called out, “Come in!” wanting to stop him before he opened the door unbidden. 

He came through and said, “You really are beautiful.”

“Thank you.” She could feel the beginning of a blush on her cheeks.

“We make a handsome pair.” He offered her his arm. “I thought we could go somewhere a bit more private.”

“Where do you mean?” she asked, not sure about that.

He looked her over and teased, “I suppose you wouldn’t want to go to my room alone with me.” When he saw her nerves, he amended, “I mean here there are walls between the food. It gives a private experience without us having to do anything untoward.” 

“Perfect,” she said. She really did want to get to know him better, and she hoped that if she kept trying, it would make her like him more.

So, he led her to a table and held out her seat for her. “Let me grab us something to drink and eat.” He stepped out, and she found herself righting her dress, a bit more nerves. Still, there were people around, so they weren’t doing anything wrong.

 

He came back with meat and potatoes and immediately took a bite. “Aren’t we going to pray?” she asked softly.

“What? Oh, yes, of course we’re going to pray.” He folded his hands and closed his eyes, so she did the same. “God, thank you for my perfect woman, the one who is going to be my wife. Please bless her with a fertile womb and everything it will take to serve both you and me. Please heal her Aunt Martha, and please help us to get back on the road quickly. I want to see the land you set apart for us. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

She sent up a silent prayer herself when he was done. God, please help me to learn to be a good wife. I’m feeling so conflicted, and I know I should trust you. I do believe you led us to this town, to protect Aunt Martha or something else I don’t understand, but I know that I am not ready to submit to him. I am ready to submit to you; I always am, but it is different with him. I know that Aunt Martha has some bad feelings about him, and I do want to trust her. But I don’t think you gave me any other option today. I do trust you, but I want to tell you that I’m still figuring this out. Please help me figure it out. In Jesus’ name, amen.
When she opened her eyes and unfolded her hands, Eli was looking at her. “What were you praying about?”
She paused, wondering how to explain it. “Oh, you know, that’s private.”

“We’re getting married,” he said, putting a hand over hers. “We don’t need to have anything private.”

Everything was overwhelming. Finally, she settled on, “I was praying to be a good wife to you. I am a bit afraid I won’t be good at it.”
“I’m sure Aunt Martha can teach you. Of course, she’s never raised any children.” 

Belle felt a pit deep in her stomach. “That’s not something we talk about this way,” she said.

“I don’t mean it to insult her,” he explained. 

“You might not have meant it, but it is what you said.” Eli sighed, and Belle felt a bit bad for making him feel guilty. “Let’s just enjoy dinner.”

Still, Belle found herself eating quicker than she needed to. Eli noticed and said, “Everything good?”

“I want to be able to bathe.”

“That will be nice, won’t it?”
Belle wasn’t sure if he meant specifically for her to shower or for everyone to get clean, so she didn’t ask. 

He asked, “Did the doctor give any sort of thought about how long this will be?”

“Just till she feels better.”

“Well, that’s kind of vague, don’t you think?”

“Do you remember my parents?” Belle asked, changing the subject.

“Just bits and pieces. Being new to town and everything, I didn’t realize how important their daughter would be to me. And you do know you’re important to me, don’t you?”
“I know,” she said. “You’re only getting married once.”

“Of course,” he answered, and once again he looked at her lips like he wanted to kiss her but was holding back. “Listen,” he said when she finished her food in record time, “I know you want to bathe, so I’ll go ahead and give you some space. Help your Aunt Martha bathe too, I think it’ll make us all feel a bit cleaner.”

So, he got up and left, and Belle wondered how she was going to manage this in the future. Still, she knew plenty of people didn’t feel love at the beginning of their marriage. Love could grow. She watched Eli walk outside and wished she could leave without him. 

---

“Wranglers of the Western Hearts” is an Amazon Best-Selling novel, check it out here!

In the rugged heart of Colorado, desperate times had forced Belle into an arranged marriage with the mysterious Eli. Yet, as the looming wedding day approaches, a longing for true love and doubt creeps into her heart. Struggling against a life of limited choices, a chance encounter with Cole, a mysterious blacksmith, challenges everything she thought she knew about love and destiny and sets her on a new, uncertain path.

Will she have the courage to follow her heart’s true desire?

In the quaint town of Silver Valley, Cole has longed for more in his life beyond being a blacksmith. Crafting dreams along with jewelry, he yearns for a life filled with love and purpose. When he meets Belle, her beauty captivates him, and the secrets carried by her and Eli pique his curiosity. Unaware that the mysterious ring Eli wears holds the key to a buried truth that will alter the course of their lives forever, Cole’s quest for justice becomes intertwined with his fascination for Belle.

Is he willing to risk it all to uncover the secrets hidden beneath the surface?

In the shadow of a delayed wedding, a tangled web of secrets unravels. Belle finds herself torn between duty and longing, between the life she’s been promised and the love she yearns for. When Eli’s dark past resurfaces, the peaceful town of Silver Valley becomes a battleground of truth and lies. Will their love withstand the relentless tests of fate that await on the horizon? Or will it be lost forever in time and adversity?

“Wranglers of the Western Hearts” 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!