Orphan Train Romance Series: Five Books in One! (Clean Western Historical Romances)

by Zoe Matthews

  Katrina knew Luke would never leave this land. Didn’t his wife know that the land was in his blood? That he would never willingly give it up?

  “After she gave birth to Sage, I hoped she would settle down and learn to be happy here, but she never did. When Sage was three years old, she got very sick with what the doctor said was a burst appendix. She died of it.”

  Katrina grasped his large hands with her own. “I am so sorry, Luke.”

  Luke clenched and then unclenched his jaw. “A few months later, I decided to go through her things. I wanted to set some of her belongings aside for Sage to have when she is older. I was planning on sending some of them back to Pamela’s family. I found some letters. I learned she had been writing an old beau for quite a while and was planning on secretly leaving me and going back to her family and this man. She was going to take Sage with her.”

  Katrina could not believe what she was hearing. Didn’t his wife realize how lucky, how blessed she was? She had a family. A man who loved her and a sweet daughter. Why would she want to give it all up?

  “I guess I just lost it when I learned about her plans,” Luke continued his story. “I don’t remember much after that. I do know I built a fire in the yard to burn the letters and ended up burning all of her belongings. I…I just wanted to get rid of everything that reminded me of her. I regret doing that now. Pamela was Sage’s mother. Sage has nothing of her mother’s that I can give to her when she is older.”

  ****

  Luke stopped talking when he realized that for the first time, he had been able to talk about his wife without feeling the intense anger he usually felt. Maybe he was finally able to get past everything that had happened. He looked at their clasped hands and then into Katrina’s sky blue eyes.

  Luke stood and then pulled Katrina up next to him. He intended to give her a friendly hug, but his feelings instantly turned into something more than friendship. Suprisingly, he no longer wanted to fight his feelings that had been growing inside him for her over the last few weeks. He more than cared about her. He loved her. He lifted her chin and lightly touched his mouth with hers. He then gathered her in his arms again and silently thanked God that he was being given a second chance. They talked for another hour until Anna came looking for them.

  “There you two are,” she announced when she entered the barn. “We were wondering what happened to you.” Anna said her words as if she was disgusted with them, but there was twinkle in her eyes letting them know she was very happy to see them together.

  “Luke was telling me about Pamela and what happened to her,” Katrina explained almost shyly.

  “Including about burning all of her things.” Luke again felt a deep regret at some of his actions over the past few years.

  “Not everything burned,” Anna told him. He looked at her wondering what she meant. Even though he left before the fire was put out, it had grown very large. His brothers arrived and expressed concerned about keeping the fire under control, but he was too mad to care.

  “Alex told me that after you left, he and Paul immediately put the fire out. There was a shawl of Pamela’s that had not burned. Alex saved it to give to Sage someday.”

  Luke swept Anna in a brotherly hug. He felt so relieved at her words. Alex had salvaged something of Pamela’s for Sage. His daughter had started to ask questions about her mother which Luke had been reluctant to answer. Now, he had something to at least give her.

  ****

  On Thanksgiving Day, Katrina woke up early, along with Anna and Serena, so they could make sure the large meal would be done in time. Anna put a turkey into the oven. Serena and Katrina peeled a large pile of potatoes, sweet and white. A number of apple and pumpkin pies had been made the day before, along with many loaves of bread. After the potatoes were peeled and cut, Katrina taught Sage how to peel and cut some carrots.

  It was great to be able to spend the entire day with the people she loved and cared about. She couldn’t help comparing this Thanksgiving Day to the ones she had shared with the Porters. She had never helped with the meal. The cooks had always prepared it. Most of the time, it was only Mr. and Mrs. Porter, along with herself, who ate the meal. Meal times in the Porter household were quiet and the Thanksgiving meal was no exception. She remembered one time when they had had guests, but she had eaten by herself since she had still been considered a child and, therefore, not allowed at the table.

  The day ended early since the men could tell a large snowstorm was coming, and the hired hands and their families were sent home before it became too bad. Katrina had heard about how bad snowstorms could be in Montana. Sometimes they were so bad, there were white-out conditions where you couldn’t even see a few feet in front of you. The men had strung thick ropes between the main house and the barns. They also had strung a rope between each cabin that led to the main ranch house. Anna had explained to her that sometimes it was the only way to get around safely during a storm. People still needed to eat and the animals still needed to be cared for, even during a storm.

  Everyone retired early that evening. Anna and Alex had quickly left with their baby first, with Serena and Paul following soon after. Sage had fallen asleep on one of the sofas in the main ranch house from the excitement of the day.

  “Why don’t you leave her here tonight,” Katrina suggested to Luke when it looked like he was getting ready to leave. “She seems comfortable there. I will be here if she needs anything.”

  At first, Luke looked like he was going to argue, but then he nodded. He watched Katrina carefully as she walked over and gently covered his daughter with a couple of thick quilts. She then brushed some strands of hair from her face. He could tell that Katrina cared for his daughter very much. For the first time, he realized he had moved on from the horrors of his first marriage. He studied Katrina as she moved around the room straightening things that really did not need to be straightened. He could tell she felt a little nervous. Seeing her with Sage made him realize that he had fallen in love with her. He wanted to marry her. He knew she would be a good wife to him and a wonderful mother to Sage.

  He walked over to where Katrina was restacking some books on a shelf and grabbed her hand. He turned her towards him and tilted her chin so she was looking at him.

  “I would like you to consider something,” he paused and closed his eyes. What if she turned his proposal down? After all, she had just recently left her hometown because of a bad relationship. Maybe she wasn’t ready yet for a new one.

  “Yes?” Katrina asked, looking puzzled when Luke did not continue talking.

  “I have come to care for you very much. In fact, I love you. Will you marry me and be a mother to Sage?”

  Katrina now hesitated, not sure she heard him correctly.

  “You don’t have to answer now. You can think about it,” Luke stammered, afraid she was going to immediately turn him down, but his heart lifted when he saw her smile at him.

  “I don’t have to think about it. I would be honored to marry you and be a mother to Sage,” Katrina said, accepting his proposal.

  Luke breathed a sigh of relief and swept her into his arms. “I love you so much. You have brought so much to my life since you arrived. The smartest thing I ever did was bring you here to teach.”

  “Can I continue to teach?” Katrina asked. “I would like to finish the year out, at least.”

  “How about we marry at Christmas time?” Luke suggested. “You can keep teaching as long as you want.”

  “I think I would like to just finish the school year out. I know of a woman I went to college with, when I got my teaching certificate. She is not happy with her current job and would probably like to come here and teach.”

  “That sounds like a good plan to me,” Luke agreed. He cupped her face with his calloused hands and brushed a lock of stray hair from her face. He then leaned down and placed his mouth on hers. In his kiss, he let her know that his heart had chosen hers. The feelings and the love he had for her was as powerful as he
had ever felt for anyone.

  EPILOGUE

  1 Year Later

  It was the evening of Thanksgiving Day and all the ranch hands and their families had left for the evening, thanking the Bridgers for the wonderful meal that had been prepared. Katrina sat down on a sofa in the great room and sighed with relief. It had been great to be with everyone, but she was exhausted from being on her feet all day. Anna and Serena had tried to get her to slow down since she had just given birth to a baby a few weeks ago, but Katrina had insisted she needed to do her part.

  She looked around the room at her family. Luke was standing by the fireplace talking to Alex. Of course, they were talking about ranch news. Luke had their new daughter, Emma, tucked in the corner of his arm. Sage had received her new sister. He looked at her and gave her a smile meant just for her, letting her know of his love for her. Sage laid down on the sofa and placed her head in Katrina’s lap. She brushed some hair away from the girl’s face and then started to rub her back in comfort.

  Anna came in the room carrying her son, Matthew. He was over a year old and was walking all over the place. Katrina knew that Anna spent much of her time chasing after him. Alex had already given his son his first horseback ride, teaching him the importance of horses and the ranch.

  Serena was sitting on the other sofa next to Paul. Their baby boy had been born at the beginning of summer. They had named him Benjamin after the boy they had found and cared for on the cattle drive right after their marriage.

  Things hadn’t been perfect, of course. Life wasn’t meant to be that way. Right after their wedding in December, one of the hired hands had lost his life in a blizzard that had lasted almost five days. The snow from this blizzard almost buried them in the main ranch house. They had lost a lot of cattle because the winter had been so bad. But the men had worked hard during the spring and summer, and even though they hadn’t totally recouped the money that they lost from the cattle that had died, they recovered enough to make it through this winter.

  Her friend from school, Valerie, had come to teach in the Big Spring Ranch School. Katrina had insisted the cabin that had been meant for her to use be repaired so Valerie would have her own home, although she was spending the night with them because of the Thanksgiving holiday. She was a great teacher and the children loved her. She had brought a little brother with her because their parents were dead and Valerie was raising him. The little cabin was perfect for both of them.

  Katrina’s thoughts strayed to her wedding day with Luke. It had been held right after Christmas and was the best day of her life. It had been held in this room they were sitting in right now. Only the family and a few friends had been present. Luckily, the weather had been mild and the preacher from town was able to come out with his wife to perform the ceremony.

  That evening, Sage spent the night with Serena and Paul in their cabin so Katrina and Luke could have some time to themselves.

  “I have something to give you,” Luke said to Katrina. She saw that he was holding a small box.

  “What’s this?” She asked as she accepted the gift.

  “A tradition,” Luke replied. Katrina felt a little confused at his answer. “Open it and then I will explain.”

  She lifted the lid off of the small white box. Inside was the most beautiful piece of jewelry that she had ever seen, and she had seen quite a bit with the jewelry Mrs. Porter had always worn. It was a cameo set in a light green stone. There was white-laced stone around its edges. It hung on a beautiful fine gold chain.

  “It’s beautiful,” Katrina breathed as she lifted it out of its box. “Can you help me put it on?”

  She lifted her mass of hair out of the way while Luke clumsily clasped the necklace around her neck. “I will treasure this always, thank you.”

  Katrina gave her new husband a hug and he gently kissed her. They had gotten quite close to each other in the few weeks after Thanksgiving. A closeness had developed between them that she had never dared hope she would ever have with someone.

  “Why is this a tradition?” She was finally able to ask after the kiss Luke gave her.

  “My father gave my mother a cameo when they were married. It was something she wore whenever there was something important happening. Alex gave Anna one on their wedding night and Paul gave Serena one a few weeks after their wedding. For some reason I never gave Pamela one. It just never crossed my mind, I guess. But now, I am just keeping tradition,” Luke smiled at her. “I want to give this to you as a symbol of my love for you.”

  Katrina smiled to herself as she remembered that night. To her, it was the most perfect night as they started their lives together. She glanced at Luke again and noticed that he was looking at her with a certain expression on his face which she saw often. He would look at her intently, but with a tender expression, as if he wanted her to know everything that was inside of him, but didn’t know how to say it. But she knew what he wanted to say, because she felt the same way for him.

  THE END

  Get Zoe Matthews’ Starter Library FOR FREE

  If you sign up to my mailing list, I will send you:

  1. A copy of my bestseller “An Unexpected Family,” the first book to the “orphan Train Romance Series.”

  2. A copy of “Colorado Dreams,” the first book to “Majestic Mountain Ranch Series.”

  3. A copy of “Southern Belle,” a prequel to my new series, “Mail-Order Brides of America Series.”

  You can get these books FOR FREE by signing up at http://signup.zoematthewsromances.com/

  If you enjoyed this book----

  I would love it if you would go to AMAZON and leave an honest review.

  Reviews help other readers decide to try my books.

  More readers also means more stories, more quickly.

  Sneak Peek to “Colorado Dreams”

  Sierra Collingsworth Newby sat in her family attorney’s office with four of her siblings. They were waiting for their youngest brother to arrive. It was the day after their father’s funeral and Mr. Anderson had requested that they all meet with him for the reading of the will. It had been a very stressful week since the small plane accident that had killed their father, Richard Collingsworth.

  She looked around Mr. Anderson’s office. Sheridan, her eldest brother, was standing by the window, tapping his foot with impatience. Sierra knew he was irritated because Spencer was late for the meeting. Spencer was always late to everything. Sierra had learned to just accept that trait in her brother, but for some reason Sheridan took it personally when Spencer didn’t do whatever Sheridan thought he should.

  Sierra felt a hand grasp her own and turned to her sister who was sitting next to her. Stephanie was about 16 months younger than her own 30 years, and the only sister she was close to. Stephanie looked sad and, given the circumstances, Sierra would have thought the tears in her sister’s eyes were from the death of their father, but she knew that something else was going on to cause some of the sadness. Sierra squeezed her hand in response and then looked at her two other sisters.

  Sadie and Stella were sitting together, but their bodies were turned away from each other. Sierra shook her head slightly at the sight, knowing that Sadie had never got along with Stella. Sadie had always been reserved and was not close to anyone in the family. She was also tapping her fingers on her leg, showing some of the same impatience Sheridan was displaying.

  Stella and Spencer were twins and the youngest in the family. Stella had come from Los Angeles for the funeral. She was an assistant to a sous chef at a five star restaurant. Spencer lived in New York and had just started a new job at an advertising company, his third job change in the last two years.

  Sierra closed her eyes, wishing this meeting was over. She did not understand why the attorney could not have just met with Sheridan alone. He was likely the one who would inherit the Majestic Mountain Ranch anyway. Even though Sierra lived on the family ranch with her twin daughters and helped wherever she was needed, she had always known that Sherida
n would inherit the ranch since he was the oldest son. The other siblings would not get anything other than a small amount of money.

  She heard some sounds outside the office and Spencer burst into the room in his usual style. She smiled at him as he greeted everyone in his cheerful way, ignoring the fact that he was late, and disregarding the somber reason they were all gathered together.

  “Now that you are all here, we can get started,” Mr. Anderson said as Spencer took a seat on the other side of Sierra. The attorney shuffled some papers as if looking for something specific. When he found what he wanted, he continued. “I am sure you all know why you are here…”

  “I don’t,” Sadie interrupted Mr. Anderson. “I am sure everything is going to Sheridan. I don’t think we all needed to be here to hear that.”