Conveniently Wed
Forced to wed to protect their reputations after being trapped overnight in a mine, Emma Jane and Jasper Jacksonâs marriage is one in name only. Resenting the choices taken from him, Jasperâs determined not to lose his heart. But itâs not so easy to stay distanced from his new bride when a gang of bandits abducts them both.
Other young women might be ecstatic to land Leadvilleâs wealthiest bachelor. But Emma Jane would rather have Jasperâs love than his familyâs money. A true bond with her handsome husband seems impossibleâ¦until their ordeal leaves Emma Jane caring for an orphaned baby. In reach now is the one thing neither expectedâthe chance to turn a convenient marriage into a forever family.
âWhy donât I get you something to eat, and when I get back, you can tell me something you think I should know about you.â
Could Jasper see that she was offering him an olive branch? A chance to begin their marriage as it should have been? Asking him to love her was too much, Emma Jane knew that. But surely peaceful coexistence wasnât so far out of their reach.
After what seemed like ages, Jasperâs lips turned upward into the smile that was rumored to melt every womanâs heart this side of the Divide. Emma Jane had never been one of the girls to giggle and swoon over Jasperâs famed good looks, but if he gave her many smiles like that, she could easily find herself wanting to.
âAll right. Donât put any pickles on my sandwich. Mother seems to think theyâre my favorite, but I really canât stand her pickles.â He gave her a wink, then settled back into the chair.
No pickles. The simple request seemed to be the beginning of a friendship.
DANICA FAVORITE loves the adventure of living a creative life. She loves to explore the depths of human nature and follow people on the journey to happily-ever-after. Though the journey is often bumpy, those bumps refine imperfect characters as they live the life God created them for. Oops, that just spoiled the ending of Danicaâs stories. Then again, getting there is all the fun. Find her at danicafavorite.com.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
â1 Corinthians 13:4â7
For Camy Tang and Cheryl Wyatt, thanks for being such great friends, coconspirators (not that we admit to anything, of course!), and for walking this road called life with me, and all its ups and downs. I love you guys!
Chapter One
Leadville, CO, 1881
âDid you hear he spent their wedding night in a brothel...â The whispers came from one of the pews to Emma Jane Logan Jacksonâs left. But as she looked in the direction of the sound, all she saw were pious young women seemingly engrossed in their Bibles.
Jasper reached over and patted her hand. âIgnore them,â he said quietly, clasping the fingers that rested in the crook of his arm and giving them a gentle squeeze. Odd to be receiving this small amount of comfort from the virtual stranger sheâd just recently married. Heâd barely talked to her, let alone touched her, since their wedding two weeks ago.
Ignoring the gossip was easy enough for him to say. He was Jasper Jackson, son of the richest man in Leadville. But Emma Jane? Sheâd spent her whole life the laughingstock of town.
Smoothing the delicate fabric of the pale blue silk dress her mother-in-law had purchased for her, Emma Jane remembered all the times sheâd wished for finer clothes to wear to church. Sheâd been wrong in thinking a new dress would keep the other women from talking about her. Whether it had been the poorly mended hand-me-downs, her fatherâs drinking, her motherâs antics in trying to make their family more respectable and even Emma Janeâs own awkwardness, people always found a way to make fun of her.
All sheâd ever wanted was to find respectability in the townâs eyes, but even with marriage to Leadvilleâs most eligible bachelor, it eluded her.
âI thought getting married was supposed to stop all the talk,â Emma Jane whispered back.
Jasper squeezed her hand again. âIt will be all right. Eventually some other scandal will hit town, and theyâll forget all about the circumstances of our nuptials. Soon enough, theyâll be begging to be invited to tea because they canât resist the Jackson fortune.â
His emphasis on the words the Jackson fortune made Emma Jane stop and look at him. Her strikingly handsome husband, with his dark good looks, seemed almost bitter, like he resented having so much wealth. Surely being well-to-do was a good thing. With her fatherâs rising and falling fortunes, she knew both what it was like to be in plenty and in want, and frankly, sheâd much rather have the plenty.