A Business Arrangement
When the railroad pushes to buy her land, orphaned Cameron Sims will do anything to keep the only home she and her sisters have ever known. Even if she must marry a stranger. But sheâs determined her agreement with the mysterious, dashing manâwhoâs unlike anything the Kansas railroad town has ever seenâwill remain simply business.
Duncan Murray doesnât want a wife. He wants Sims Creek, a sanctuary that can help him forget a troubled childhood. But his reluctant, and captivating, bride-to-be is key to making his dreams a reality. And despite their business arrangement, Camy and Duncan might be signing on the dotted line for true love...
âGet your stuff and get off my land.â
âYour land?â
âThatâs right, mister.â Camy rooted her feet in place.
He swayed toward her, one corner of his mouth curving upward as if he knew something she didnât, then held out his hand. âDuncan Murray.â
The earthy scent emanating from him assaulted her senses, catching her off guard. The name suited his towering height and brawny muscles. If she pulled on her memories she could hear tales spun by her mother and could almost imagine him brandishing a sword in the plaid buried at the bottom of her motherâs trunk. His name was strong and true to his heritage.
âI dinnae care who you are, Mr. Murray.â She allowed her own accent, faded through the years, to thicken as she straightened her spine and propped the butt of the rifle against her shoulder. âI do not want to shoot you, but I will if I must.â
âI have no wish to be shot.â
Born and raised in Kansas, where she currently lives with her husband and children, CHRISTINA RICH loves to read stories with happily-ever-afters, research, take photos, visit the ocean, write stories with happily-ever-afters and talk about her family and Jesus.
Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, âOf a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.â
âActs 10:34â35
Mom and Dad, thank you for being some of my biggest fans. Thank you for believing in me.
Love, Chris
Chapter One
Rusa Valley, Kansas
Spring 1867
âHold it right there!â Camy Sims drew a bead on the man lying down at the bank of the creek, his feet dipped in the water. She eased the bucket to the ground. How dare anyone trespass on their land? Her land, given that Uncle Hamish disappeared with the wind and her sisters Ellie and Mara seemed to have other things in mind like carriage rides and frilly dresses. Not Camy. She didnât have aspirations for anything other than staying right here on Simâs Creek and enjoying the solitude of country life. A solitude sorely interrupted by a man who refused to acknowledge her presence. âI said, donât move.â
He didnât. Not a single muscle. Tilting her head away from the rifle resting against her shoulder, Camy squinted through the dappling of grey morning light filtering through the thick canopy of leaves until the man came into focus. His bare feet ebbed and flowed with the current of the river. Perhaps heâd fallen asleep. She couldnât blame him for succumbing to the beauty here. Wisps of smoke rose from the charred firewood, telling her heâd camped the night in her favorite place of solitude, a place away from Maraâs continuous chatter of prospective husbands and Ellieâs melancholy, a state sheâd been in since she returned home last August after months with a distant cousin. Anger sparked and burned through her veins at the intrusion.
After all the railroadâs attempts at acquiring their land before the winter, Camy should have known theyâd come creeping through the woods once the weather warmed. She only wished she knew why they wanted the Simsesâ land. It was far from ideal, at least to her way of thinking. There were places closer to town where the land lay flat and the banks were more even, places where the river wouldnât wash the railroadâs bridge downstream. If only this man were a simple passerby who had been lured by the languorous song of the water trickling over the rocks and the serenade of the birds. Given that a wayward stranger hadnât passed by here since she could remember, his presence meant one thing: he was trying to gain access to her land. And that just wouldnât do. Did he come expecting their gratefulness at a measly offer, or did he come ready to make threats and burn their home down?
She intended to find out even though her sisters would complain at her dallying too long as Mara, no doubt, would be anxious to complete morning chores so they could go to town. Camyâs younger sister loved the social blur of town life, whereas Ellie and Camy only wanted to discreetly discover details about any strangers who might be a threat to them. The latest gossip from Mrs. Smith, Rusa Valleyâs socialite, was about a man. Tall, handsome and more important, according to Mara, richer than King Solomon. As if those things were all that mattered in a prospective husband.