A Baby of Her Own
Maude Harkey is resigned to a loveless life until a baby is bornâand orphanedâat her boardinghouse home. Sheâll never be a wifeâ¦but she can still be a mother. Yet a boardinghouse is no place for a newborn. Enter Jonas MacLarenâa handsome, exasperating rancher with an offer too good to refuse.
Jonas can handle running a ranchâbut handling his cantankerous mother is another matter. Maude matches his motherâs stubbornness so sheâll be a perfect live-in companion. But sheâs there for his mother, not for him. Heâll just have to keep his wounded heart closed to her beauty, her humor, her warmth and strengthâand her irresistibly adorable baby.
Brides of Simpson Creek: Small-town Texas spinsters find love with mail-order grooms!
This is the Lordâs doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
âPsalms 118:23
âMr. MacLarenââ Maude began.
âDo you think you might call me Jonas?â he dared to ask. âAt least when âtis just us?â
Her eyes bore a guarded glint now. âIâll call you Jonas if you wish,â she said, in that delicious Texas drawl that made everything she said land pleasantly on his earsâeven what she said afterward. âBut, Jonas, what do I know about you, really? Youâre a man of secretsâyou keep more than you give up. How am I to trust you?â
He saw it as she must see itâhe was asking her to trust him without any basis in truth, without any transparency on his part.
âTrust doesnât come easily for a MacLaren,â he said. âNot after what weâve been through.â
âWithout trust there can be no honest caring,â she told him then. âIf you donât trust me enough to show me your true self, how can I know who Iâm caring for in return?â
The idea that some part of her, at least, wanted to care in return gladdened his heart, if only for a moment. But how could he bare his soul to her, knowing that if she knew everything, sheâd whirl away from him in horror and disgust?
LAURIE KINGERY is a Texas-transplant-to-Ohio who writes romance set in postâCivil War Texas. She was nominated for a Carol Award for her second Love Inspired Historical novel, The Outlawâs Lady, and is currently writing a series about mail-order grooms in a small town in the Texas Hill Country.
To Danielle, my daughter, who as a doula is dedicated to helping women achieve a good birth, and as always, to Tom, my real-life hero
Chapter One
Simpson Creek, Texas, November 1869 Gilmore House
At the ripe old age of twenty-five, Maude Harkey had begun to resign herself to being an old maid. So it didnât bother her, that November afternoon at the Spinstersâ Club Fall Barbecue and Social, that none of the male guests particularly singled her out for attention.
As president of the Spinstersâ Club, all that mattered to her was that plenty of eligible bachelors had come from the ranches outside Simpson Creek and from nearby counties to meet the others in the club. No one was misbehavingâeither from having stopped at the town saloon before arriving at the party or becoming overfamiliar with any of her ladies. Everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves.
Her friend Ella Justiss, who was due to be married next Saturday, was having a particularly good time, radiant with the joy of new love. Nate Bohannan, the devoted groom-to-be, couldnât have been more attentive, fetching her punch and barbecued chicken, seemingly unwilling to be anywhere but by her side. By the time one of them decided it was time to have a party again, Ella would be happily serving refreshments at the party, as the Spinster âgraduatesâ usually did, and possibly already expecting their first child.
Maude was happy for them. It wouldnât have occurred to her to be jealous of her friendâs good fortune. And, indeed, with all the challenges that Ella had faced in her life, she richly deserved the happiness she was blessed with now. Though Maude had to wonder from time to time why she, the daughter of the late town doctor, was still unwed while so many others in the club had found their matches. And she did wonder how she was going to be able to stand continuing to live at Mrs. Meyerâs boardinghouse without her good friend Ella.
After Maudeâs fatherâs death, it had been difficult to leave her house behind and move into a rented room. The home sheâd shared with her father had been quiet and peaceful, with Maude fully in control of all household matters. The boardinghouse was noisy and chaotic, and sheâd struggled to settle in. Losing the comfort of her routines and the security of her position as mistress in her home had been heavy blows to a heart already burdened by the loss of her dear father.