Mail-Order Christmas Brides: Her Christmas Family / Christmas Stars for Dry Creek
Her Christmas Family by Jillian Hart"Please be my ma for Christmas." Felicity Sawyer can't resist little Gertie's heartfelt letter. Tate Winters seeks a bride for Gertie's sake, not his own. But as his reserve thaws before Felicity's sunny optimism, this new family learns that togetherness is the best way to celebrate the season.Christmas Stars for Dry Creek by Janet TronstadEleanor McBride's outgrown her dreams of romance—but not her wishes for motherhood. Wedding Sergeant Adam Martin will give her a daughter to cherish. Yet it's not just shy, sweet Hannah who's captured her affections. And Eleanor's arrival in Dry Creek could be the start of a journey to true love…
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A family for Christmas—and for always...
Her Christmas Family by Jillian Hart
“Please be my ma for Christmas.” Felicity Sawyer can’t resist little Gertie’s heartfelt letter. Tate Winters seeks a bride for Gertie’s sake, not his own. But as his reserve thaws before Felicity’s sunny optimism, this new family learns that togetherness is the best way to celebrate the season.
Christmas Stars for Dry Creek by Janet Tronstad
Eleanor McBride’s outgrown her dreams of romance—but not her wishes for motherhood. Wedding Sergeant Adam Martin will give her a daughter to cherish. Yet it’s not just shy, sweet Hannah who’s captured her affections. And Eleanor’s arrival in Dry Creek could be the start of a journey to true love.…
Praise for Jillian Hart
“Jillian Hart’s High Country Bride is a sweet, tender and highly emotional love story that will stay with readers for a long time.”
—RT Book Reviews
“Hart’s tender love story has strong characters who stay true to themselves and what they believe is the right thing to do.”
—RT Book Reviews on Gingham Bride
“Jillian Hart’s Homespun Bride is a sweet book with lovable characters that have problems to overcome with the help of faith and the power of true love.”
—RT Book Reviews
Praise for Janet Tronstad
“An emotionally vibrant and totally satisfying read.”
—RT Book Reviews on Snowbound in Dry Creek
“Janet Tronstad pens a warm, comforting story.”
—RT Book Reviews on Shepherds Abiding in Dry Creek
“Ms. Tronstad creates a very enjoyable story about learning to believe and love again.”
—RT Book Reviews on An Angel for Dry Creek
JILLIAN HART
grew up on her family’s homestead, where she helped raise cattle, rode horses and scribbled stories in her spare time. After earning her English degree from Whitman College, she worked in travel and advertising before selling her first novel. When Jillian isn’t working on her next story, she can be found puttering in her rose garden, curled up with a good book or spending quiet evenings at home with her family.
JANET TRONSTAD
grew up on a farm in central Montana, spending many winter days reading books. None of those books were as eagerly consumed as the ones about Christmas though. Stars. Sleighs. The story of the Christ Child being born. She loved them all. That’s why, almost every year since she started writing the Dry Creek series, there’s a new Christmas book. Janet lives in Pasadena, California, where she is a full-time writer.
Her Christmas Family
Jillian Hart
That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love.
—Colossians 2:2
Contents
Chapter One
Montana Territory, December 1884
Tate Winters tipped the brim of his Stetson to cut the glare of the sun, watching as the westbound train squealed to a noisy stop along the depot’s platform. The great metal beast spewed steam, smoke and uniformed men who ran to set brakes, open doors and toss out luggage. He braced his shoulders, preparing for the worst.
Who knew what sort of woman was going to step off that train? She could be homely, she could be desperate, she could be so bitter and sharp-tongued that no man who’d ever met her would have her. The way he saw it, he had to be ready for just about any type of horror a woman could bring a man.
“Pa, do you see her?” Gertie clutched his hand, her fingers so small and slight within his own. “Do you see my new ma?”
“Hard to say, since I don’t know what she looks like.” He didn’t care how ugly the woman was. He’d promised to marry her and he would. His life might be in shambles and there wasn’t a thing of his heart left, but he hadn’t been able to say no to his daughter’s wish. Gertie, eight years old, wanted a mother. After everything she had lost, everything his mistakes had cost her, he could not deny her the one thing she wanted most. Regardless of how disagreeable, quarrelsome or shrewish Miss Felicity Sawyer was, as long as she would devote herself to his little girl, he would put a ring on her finger.
“Ooh, look at the pretty lady.” Gertie breathed the words in awe and jabbed one finger. “Is that her?”
Tate took in the cheerful woman in a bright yellow dress with a daisy—yes, a daisy—mounted on her bonnet. What kind of woman wore a hat like that in winter? Slender, graceful, lovely. No way would such a beauty need to resort to answering a marriage advertisement in the territorial newspaper. No way would that woman be desperate enough to marry a stranger.
“She’s like a princess.” Gertie looked captivated, blue eyes wide, button face hopeful. “Like some of the stories in my books, Pa.”
“She isn’t for us. Let’s find the woman who is.” He leaned heavily on his cane and took a careful step. The pain wasn’t as bad these days but it was still enough to make him grit down on his molars when he transferred weight onto his left leg. He ignored the glance of disdain a few townswomen threw his way as they bustled by. He’d gotten used to that pain, too.
