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    A Cowboy’s Love: Four Historical Romance Novellas
    A Cowboy’s Love: Four Historical Romance Novellas
    A Cowboy’s Love: Four Historical Romance Novellas
    Ebook182 pages2 hours

    A Cowboy’s Love: Four Historical Romance Novellas

    By Doreen Milstead

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    About this ebook

    Going To The Loving Tall Farmer In Nebraska - A woman longs to be married and form a family with a Christian man and be his helpmate for life, but there’s simply no available men where she lives, so she decides to reply to a mail order bride wanted ad. One reply, and it’s the only one that’s sent, jumps out at her and she takes a leap of faith, into the Wild West and the loving arms of the handsome rancher and farmer. There’s a big roadblock down the road but she is more than willing to try to overcome it.

    Her Unexpected Cowboy - An overweight and older woman goes to Texas, expecting to be the wife of a cowboy whose picture she has never seen; and is shocked when she sees him, as he is a bitter reminder of a family tragedy.

    And He Took The Children Into His Arms - A destitute woman in New York gives birth to a tiny baby and the orphanage there is unsure of the newborn’s survival. After feeling that it’s the baby’s only chance for a good life, a friend of the orphanage takes the baby out to Indiana for adoption by a childless couple. This is the story of that little one and how she made her way through life and how she affected the couple that adopted her, with the help of the Lord.

    Loretta's Orphanage Of Love, is about a pastor and his wife setting up an orphanage, and just as the first children are about to arrive on the train, a tragic event occurs which will change the pastor’s life forever.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSusan Hart
    Release dateMar 17, 2017
    ISBN9781370758166
    A Cowboy’s Love: Four Historical Romance Novellas

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      Book preview

      A Cowboy’s Love - Doreen Milstead

      A Cowboy’s Love: Four Historical Romance Novellas

      By

      Doreen Milstead

      Copyright 2017 Susan Hart

      Going To The Loving Tall Farmer In Nebraska

      Her Unexpected Cowboy

      And He Took The Children Into His Arms

      Loretta’s Orphanage Of Love

      Going To The Loving Tall Farmer In Nebraska

      Synopsis: Going To The Loving Tall Farmer In Nebraska - A woman longs to be married and form a family with a Christian man and be his helpmate for life, but there’s simply no available men where she lives, so she decides to reply to a mail order bride wanted ad. One reply, and it’s the only one that’s sent, jumps out at her and she takes a leap of faith, into the Wild West and the loving arms of the handsome rancher and farmer. There’s a big roadblock down the road but she is more than willing to try to overcome it.

      Amanda Lahey was growing older by the day. Every time she was in town or at a church social, she noticed the number of single girls her age dwindling and the number of the newly married and expectant mothers growing by the day. The latest just was too much to bear. Amanda’s best friend, Anna May, was the last straw. The two had been friends since they met at a church function as toddlers in 1863.

      Amanda huffed, There’s nobody left. Anna May and Benjamin just tied the knot. He was the last eligible bachelor in our Sunday School class. She was talking to herself more or less.

      There was no one else around while she did the wash.

      Amanda walked back inside and plopped down in the rocking chair in her bedroom. She saw the Matrimonial News lying on the dresser. She picked it up and thumbed through it. She had purchased the newspaper on Monday afternoon. She had been through enough ridicule as the only bridesmaid at her best friend’s wedding. If she heard the saying ‘always a bridesmaid but never the bride’ one more time, she had heard it a thousand times on Saturday, and she was going to make sure that she was a bride if it was the last thing she ever did!

      Paging through the ads, this one in particular caught her eye:

      Wanted: Lady to Be My Wife – Must Be Sweet-Tempered, age 18 to 24, a Christian, and Willing to Move West to make a home for a gentleman of 25 years, 6’2", a farmer with lots of love to give. My name is Jacob Magrew -- Nebraska Territory.

      Amanda bit her lip as she read and reread the ad that had thoroughly snagged her attention. A loving tall farmer, she thought again. I could love a tall loving farmer. She sighed. Leaving behind her life near St. Joseph would be hard.

      She sighed, Anything is better than being a spinster.

      Amanda rummaged through her desk for writing paper and a pencil. She hadn’t used such things lately and she was certainly rusty at writing. But, she drew in a fortifying breath as she realized quickly that her heart’s desire was to be wanted. She nodded, I want him, the loving tall farmer, to want to marry me.

      She set out to write a perfect letter describing her as perfect farm wife material. She wasn’t exaggerating her qualifications; after all she grew up on a farm watching her mother be the best wife anyone could ever hope to be. Her mother was the Proverbs 31 woman in action. Her father said so regularly.

      Amanda wrote and wrote, erased, and rewrote her letter to Jacob, the Loving Tall Farmer. After she reread her letter, she wasn’t completely satisfied but decided that enough was enough, and it was the best that she could do. She would send it on its way in the morning.

      In the plains of Nebraska, Jacob waited patiently for his bride’s response. He knew he should have used more flowery language when he was fishing for a wife, but he was a simple man. Jacob grew up in Georgia and after the Civil War wiped out his plantation home, he headed West looking to get rid of the loneliness of home.

      His mother died of heartbreak after his father was killed in the War and his older brother was killed at the Battle of Bull Run. The plantation house was burned and nothing was left for him in Georgia. And, as Nebraskan as he tried to be, he was still just a mild-mannered Southern Georgia boy with a big heart and as he had written in his ad, he was living lonely with lots of love to give.

      There was nothing more in the world that he wanted than to be a husband and father. He missed his own pa so much, and he missed the laughter of a good woman. Although his mother had had help in the kitchen and the caring of household tasks, it was her liveliness and love that kept the Magrew household running like a well-oiled machine.

      Jacob had tried to run far from the sadness that filled his soul, but even in Nebraska with no reminders of the home he still found the loneliness creeping in. He had made friends and was happy with his life, but he felt that something was missing. He was sure that particular something was a bride.

      Not a single one of his married friends discouraged his plan for seeking a Mail Order Bride. Rather, the opposite. He found himself being encouraged by them all. There’s nothing worse than a happily married man as a matchmaker. They all were in agreement that married life was better than they ever dreamed, and Jacob was just dragging his feet like an old mule by not placing an ad sooner.

      Jacob finished his chores every Thursday so that he could go into town to check the mail every Friday. It was his reward for getting all of his chores done in four days, and the anticipation that there just might be a letter from his bride to be made him work that much harder. Fridays and Fridays went by, and Jacob didn’t find a letter…. Until today!

      The postmaster handed Jacob a letter that smelled of vanilla. Jacob had never received a scented letter before. The postmaster grinned as Jacob sniffed the envelope and deeply inhaled the aroma. He turned and walked away with pep in his step. Jacob strode down the boardwalk to the whittler’s bench in the shade of the restaurant. He sat down and carefully opened the letter.

      He read:

      Dear Jacob,

      I am Amanda, and I would like to be your bride. I am a Christian lady, age 21. My friends are all married, and there are no men for me to marry here. I read your ad and believe we would be a satisfactory match.

      I was raised on a farm near St. Joseph, Missouri and my mother was a good teacher of the household arts. I am ready, willing, and able to set up housekeeping for you as your wife. The West sounds like a good place to grow old with a loving husband such as yourself. I have heard that the Frontier farm life is hard, but I’m not a bit afraid of hard work. I feel it would be a labor of love.

      I am not sure how romance and courtship works in a long distance relationship such as this, but I am willing to give it a go. I already feel that I know you and am a bit infatuated with you already.

      I will describe myself to you. I have mud brown hair and brown eyes. I don’t cut my hair. I wear it in a braid. I have been told that I am pretty, but I do not believe it myself; after all, I am a spinster. However, I know that I am pretty on the inside because my Bible tells me so.

      My favorite Bible Scripture is Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;

      And lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,

      And he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6).

      I have been praying about getting married and I saw your ad. I didn’t look any further after I read yours. I believe that we could find happiness together since we are both of like minds. There is nothing I would like more than to be bride on the Frontier. I feel that I am wasting away here on the farm near St. Joseph, Missouri.

      Mama already has my trousseau ready and is just waiting for the day that I move out into my own home. I am willing to get on the next stagecoach headed to Nebraska. Just let me know what I should do. Thank you for placing that ad, and I will be praying for you.

      Love and Prayers,

      Amanda Lahey

      Jacob turned the letter over and over in his hands. How could a woman that he had never met tug at his heart strings so fast? He knew that there was no way that she could know that his favorite scripture was Proverbs 3:5 and 6. God had given him a sign that she was the woman for him. He could feel it in his heart. Amanda. He tried out the name. Mandy. I will call her Mandy, and I will love her with all my heart.

      He stood and made it back to the hitching post where he had left his horse tied earlier. He wasn’t in the mood to share his happy news just yet. He wanted to write back to his new bride Mandy and invite her to Willow Springs to live as his wife. He had been saving up to pay for the stage fare for his mate. He had the money tucked away for safekeeping. It was time to dig the money out and pay Mandy’s fare to come home to him. He was already counting the days until he could feast his eyes on his brown-haired, brown-eyed Mandy.

      Jacob made the trip home in record time. He groomed his horse and put him away in the stall with a bucket of grain. Nothing could make him happier than he was right now; at least not until he could look upon the face of his bride getting off that stagecoach from St. Joseph.

      He settled down at the table with writing paper and pen and the money stash. He was certainly glad that his mother had taken time to teach her boys the importance of being able to write, and write well. It wasn’t often that he used his fine education because he was out on the farm alone a lot of the time, but today, he was making use of his flowery language and the poetry his mother made him memorize.

      Jacob wrote and wrote. He stopped and read over it once again. He folded the paper and placed it in the envelope. There was plenty of time to go back to the post office and mail away the letter. He stood, gathered his hat and the letter, and trotted to the stall to retrieve his second favorite horse for the trip back into town.

      He raced to town and went first to the stage office. He paid the fare for Amanda Lahey in St. Joseph. The stage operator sent a telegraph message to the St. Joseph office that the fare had been paid in Brownville. After a series of clacks and clatters, the message was successfully sent.

      William Cowper’s poem God Moves In A Mysterious Way was one of Jacob’s favorites. His mother used to quote it frequently and often. As he rode back from town to Willow Springs, the first few lines of the poem rolled through his soul. "God moves in a mysterious way

      His wonders to perform;

      He plants His footsteps in the sea,

      And rides upon the storm." He had quoted the poem in his letter to Mandy. He had already given her the pet name and used it in his letter to her, and he could not think of her in any other way. He could not plainly see the features of her face yet, but he knew that somehow he would know her when she stepped off that stage.

      The days dragged as Amanda waited for a response from Jacob, her Loving Tall Farmer. She moped as she did her chores. She figured that he had already chosen another woman who had answered his letters. She sighed. Wasting the vanilla toilet water was a foolish thing to do. It obviously had been wasted on a man who would choose to love another.

      Amanda was down in the mouth because she had no one to share her anxiety with. Her friends were blissfully happy and had left her behind. She knew that they didn’t mean to do that, but she could understand the giddiness of being a newlywed. She had seen too much of it not to understand it, and she desperately wanted that feeling to treasure herself.

      She finished hanging out the wash and hauled the water into the kitchen where her mother was standing. Amanda, girl, what is wrong? Her mother’s words sounded harsh but they were tempered with kindness.

      Nothing, Mama. I’m fine, Amanda replied and tried to pick her chin up off the floor.

      Amanda’s mother, June Lahey never was one to beat around the bush. You haven’t been the same since Anna May announced her engagement. Tell me what is in that head of yours. June pointed at a chair and pulled one out for herself. Snap beans were on the table, and with her apron in place, she began to work as she waited for her daughter to begin to share. Working with the hands was the best time for soul talking heart to hearts between mother and daughter.

      Amanda tugged at her share of the beans, raking them to her side of the table and adjusted her apron to match her mother’s and began to work in earnest in snapping the beans. Green bean in hand, she studied her mother’s features. She would have to come clean and tell her if she were to get a favorable reply from Jacob so she might as well speak her peace now.

      Mother, I fear I’ve done something foolish.

      "What could you possibly have done my

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