Gift of Grace

by Shanna Hatfield

  Gifts of Christmas Book 1

  A Sweet Historical Romance

  by

  USA TODAY Bestselling Author

  SHANNA HATFIELD

  Gift of Grace

  Gifts of Christmas Series Book 1

  Copyright © 2019 by Shanna Hatfield

  All rights reserved. By purchasing this publication through an authorized outlet, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook in a digital format. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, transmitted, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, now known or hereafter invented, without the written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. Please purchase only authorized editions.

  For permission requests, please contact the author, with a subject line of “permission request” at the e-mail address below or through her website.

  Shanna Hatfield

  shanna@shannahatfield.com

  shannahatfield.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover Design by Shanna Hatfield

  To those who extend the precious gift of grace…

  Prologue

  April 1870

  Pendleton, Oregon

  Excitement coiled around Nora Nash until she felt like a tightly wound spring. Eager to explore her surroundings, she glanced from left to right, taking in the landscape of northeastern Oregon.

  “What do you think, apple cheeks? Can we make a home here?” her husband asked from his seat beside her.

  “Oh, yes, J.B. I’m sure we can,” she said, wrapping both hands around the thick muscle of his upper arm and giving it a squeeze. Even though they’d been married for four years, just a look or touch from the handsome man she’d wed could make her knees as weak as watery pudding. Tall and strong, J.B. had an honest face with a straight, classic nose, a rugged jawline, and a luscious lower lip that made her long for his kisses.

  When she had a spare moment to read, she could easily picture him as a hero in a story—a dashing duke or intriguing prince.

  However, there would be time enough later to dwell on how attractive she found James Benjamin Nash. Right now, she wanted to remember every detail of her first view of what would be their new home.

  “Are we almost there?” Nora asked, lifting a hand to shade her eyes against the bright afternoon sun.

  “Yep, at least I think so.” J.B. smiled, flashing white teeth against his tanned skin. “Let’s have a look at that map Mr. Bruce gave us at the land office.”

  Nora lifted the sheet of paper with the simple map the man had drawn for them to show where the land they’d just purchased was located, north of the young town of Pendleton.

  J.B. tapped the paper with his finger. “It appears we’re heading in the right direction.” He pointed to a large cottonwood tree to the side of the trail they followed. “There’s the tree he said was about a mile from our land.”

  “I can’t believe we made it.” Nora squeezed J.B.’s arm again and sighed contentedly when he kissed her cheek. They’d left their ranch in Omaha in the middle of February and it was now early April. The journey had seemed long, at some points never ending, but they’d made it.

  “Believe it, darlin’. We’re here and before you know it, this will feel like home.” He tugged on the lines, guiding their team of mules around a hole that looked like an animal attempted to dig a burrow.

  Nora glanced over her shoulder, glad to see their two workhorses docilely plodding along behind their wagon. She’d hated to sell off their stock, but knew they must. The one thing she couldn’t bear the thought of was parting with the team she’d helped her father raise from the day they were born. The twin horses had never been separated and J.B. had understood her need to keep them as a final connection to her father.

  “Billy and Buster still back there?” her husband asked with a feigned expression of concern.

  “They are, but they said they’re anxious to be at our new home, too.” She shot J.B. a sassy smile which earned her another kiss, this time on her lips. He snapped the lines and the four mules picked up their pace as they pulled the heavy wagon along the trail.

  Nora couldn’t quite bring herself to call it a road, since two tracks through wispy, greening grass was all that marked their route. Perhaps someday it would be a real road with neighbors living on both sides. She could almost picture pastures filled with animals and friends waving from front porches. Oh, she hoped it would be so.

  For now, though, she was happy they’d been able to purchase two sections of land and have enough money left over to buy cattle and the supplies needed for a house and barn.

  She turned slightly on the seat and stared at the man beside her. “J.B.?”

  “Yes,” he answered in the familiar husky rumble that caused a delighted shiver to slide down the length of her spine.

  “Remind me what Mr. Bruce said about our closest neighbors.”

  J.B. leaned against the back of the wagon’s seat and nudged the brim of his hat upward with his left index finger. “Well, let’s see. I think he mentioned something about a coven of witches. Or maybe it was a gang of outlaws.”

  She swatted his arm, drawing out his laughter. “I know that is not what Mr. Bruce said.”

  “Is that so?” J.B. lifted his right eyebrow in a mock question. “Since you were so antsy to sign the paperwork and get on our way, I thought you didn’t pay a bit of attention to a word the man uttered.”

  Nora tossed her husband a disparaging look. “I heard most of your discussion.”

  “So, you weren’t completely enthralled watching people pass by the land office window? If it was summertime, you would have caught a mouth full of flies from the way you stared at those Indians walking down the street.”

  Nora scoffed at him. “Well, it just surprised me to see them. That’s all.”

  “I reckon you better get used to the idea of seeing them in Pendleton since the reservation runs right up to the edge of town.” J.B. pointed to a coyote as it loped through the grass in the distance. His gaze swung back to her and he gave her a long hungry look then grinned again. “Have I mentioned how pretty you look, Mrs. Nash?”

  “Hmm,” Nora said, tapping a finger to her chin, pretending to be searching through her memory. “I don’t believe I’ve heard a single word of what might be construed as a compliment. Please, sir, tell me your thoughts on the subject.”

  His grin widened into a teasing smile. “I’m not sure I should.”

  She fussed with the white leather gloves she’d tugged on that morning. Much to her delight, J.B. had hauled water up from the river they’d camped near last night and helped her heat it so she could take a bath and wash her hair. After almost a month on the Oregon Trail, and time spent on a train before that, it felt incredible to wash away all the grime and dirt and be completely clean.

  While J.B. bathed, Nora had dried her dark brown hair by the fire. She spent far longer than she should have fashioning it into a high chignon, leaving several tendrils to curl around her face. She’d dug through a trunk and found one of her favorite spring dresses. With an iron heated over the fire and the back of the wagon serving as an ironing board, she did her best to press the wrinkles from it. In spite of his fussing that they were
wasting time, she noted the look of admiration in J.B.’s blue eyes when she pinned on a hat that matched her gown and tugged on the pristine gloves. She’d even snagged a lacy parasol from the trunk before J.B. insisted it was time for them to get going.

  Dressed in their Sunday best, they’d driven the few miles into Pendleton where they’d gone directly to the land office, looked at the land available, and made their choice for two sections north of town. Nora had taken great pleasure in walking along the one street in town and looking in the shop windows as she and J.B. made their way to the hotel where they enjoyed a meal in the dining room. With a promise to return tomorrow for supplies, J.B. had helped her onto the wagon’s high seat after they’d eaten. After one last glance around Pendleton, they headed to the edge of town and began following Mr. Bruce’s map.

  Now, though, as they neared their newly-purchased land, Nora scowled at her husband in mock annoyance. In truth, J.B. had mentioned several times since that morning how much he liked seeing her in a “frilly dress,” as he called it. She didn’t think it would hurt anything if he wanted to tell her again, though.

  At her glower, he chuckled and shifted the lines to the team into one hand then settled an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his side. “You look like a vision of springtime in that dress, Nora. I’m glad you talked me into letting you bring that extra trunk of clothes. You could sure do better than this ol’ trail-weary cowpoke.”

  Nora glanced down at the cream-colored gown dotted with lavender flowers, trimmed in purple velvet ribbons and creamy lace. She’d purchased the gown from the best dressmaker in Omaha last spring. Tired of being in mourning for what seemed like years on end, she’d been so glad to wear something cheerful.

  Thoughts of her deceased loved ones threatened to put a damper on what was a splendid day. Determined to focus on the happiness bubbling inside her, she shifted her thoughts back to her husband.

  “You look quite handsome yourself, J.B.” She brushed a hand over the leg of his wool trousers and glanced at the fine cut of his suit coat. Although he’d worn a tie while they met with Mr. Bruce at the land office and at lunch, he’d yanked it off as soon as they were on the outskirts of Pendleton.

  “It’s getting warm out, isn’t it?” J.B. asked as he shrugged out of his suit coat and tossed it into the wagon which still had the canvas cover over the top of it.

  Although J.B. had offered to take a room in the hotel in town until he could get a house built for her, Nora told him she could continue sleeping in the wagon. She’d rather save their money. Besides, after traveling in the wagon for weeks on end, she could make do in it a while longer.

  “It’s such a pleasant day,” she said, looking around again. “The weather is as beautiful as the land.” Nora glanced at the rolling hills dotted in sagebrush. With her head cocked slightly to the side, she listened to birds tweeting in the trees, adding a sweet melody to the jangle of the mules’ harness and the creak of the wagon as they continued on the bumpy trail.

  Nora closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath. She smelled warm earth and springtime, a little dust kicked up from the mules and the wagon wheels, sweat from the animals, and the spicy fragrance of J.B.’s shaving soap. That scent made her scoot a little closer to him and savor another long breath.

  “I’m proud of you, darlin’,” J.B. said, giving her a pleased glance when she opened her eyes. “I couldn’t have asked for a better traveling partner than you, and I sure couldn’t have found a better wife. I’m still not certain what I did to deserve you.”

  “You had sense enough to fall in love with me and ask me to marry you,” Nora teased, removing her bonnet and carefully setting it on a box behind the seat. She turned back to J.B. and leaned her head against his shoulder. “I knew the first time I set eyes on you I’d found the man I would marry.”

  “Then you chased me down and refused to let me get away. Wasn’t there a rope involved? I’m pretty sure I was hog-tied and dragged to the altar at the church.”

  Nora raised her head and glared at him. “I don’t recall it happening that way. It was a warm, lovely spring day, quite like this one, when you rode onto our ranch, looking for work. Papa and I were out in the corral with Billy and Buster. I could tell you were tired and a little broken when you rode over to the fence and sat there on the back of Ned, looking defeated, yet hopeful. You were the most handsome man I’d ever seen.”

  “And you were the cutest little thing I’d ever set my eyes on,” J.B. said, cupping her chin in his hand and giving her a tender kiss. “Still are.”

  Gratified and in high spirits, Nora released a soft sigh. A few minutes of silence ticked by before she turned to her husband, seeking reassurance. “Did we do the right thing, J.B.? Selling the ranch?”

  Without a second of hesitation, he nodded. “We did. There were too many sad memories there and it would have been stupid to refuse Mr. Gillam’s generous offer. The timing seemed right since we’d just gotten a letter from my cousin, Jess, about Pendleton becoming the county seat and looking like a good place to settle. I’ve heard that some of the farmers have found wheat does well here and I know we can raise cattle.”

  “You and your cattle. If it wasn’t for you, Papa would never have bought that bull that gave us such good calves.”

  J.B. shrugged, yet Nora knew he was pleased. She’d learned to read her husband’s thoughts and actions, even when he remained quiet. J.B. had been almost sullen when she’d first met him five years ago. The war between the states had just ended and he’d seen his share of fighting as a Union soldier. He’d returned home after the war to find nothing but a burned-out shell where a home had once stood and his family deceased. His desire to get away from the death and destruction had driven him west.

  He’d stopped in Omaha, looking for work, and made his way to the ranch where Nora had grown up with three older brothers and her father. Her indomitable grandmother paid frequent visits from her house across the Missouri River in nearby Council Bluffs. How she would miss her grandmother, and her home there.

  Even if she would think of the ranch with both sadness and fondness, J.B. was right when he said it held too many sad memories. Joy awaited them in the future, in their new home.

  Nora began to hum one of her favorite hymns as J.B. guided the mules off the trail and up an incline to the left.

  “We’re officially on our land now,” J.B. said, watching her as she sat up and leaned forward, impatient to see what awaited them on the other side of the hill. His arm shot in front of her and he gently pushed her back. “You falling out of the wagon won’t be a good way to begin our future here.”

  “I won’t fall out, I’m just…” Nora’s mouth dropped open as they topped the knoll and she stared at the land before them. In the distance, trees grew along the creek and there appeared to be plenty of grass while acres and acres covered in sagebrush surrounded them. She could picture a big barn, lush pastures full of cattle, and golden stalks of wheat rustling in a summer breeze.

  “Oh, J.B.,” she whispered, clasping his arm again. “It’s wonderful.”

  “It will be.” He pulled the mules to a stop, set the brake, and hopped down. With a wide grin, he held up his arms to Nora. She stood and leaned toward him, experiencing a thrill when his hands settled on her waist. Although she expected him to set her down, he instead held her close in his arms then kissed her long and deep before he buried his face against her neck. “We did it, apple cheeks. We made it.”

  “Yes, we did.” Nora took his hat and tossed it on the wagon seat, then ran her hands through his thick brown hair. “We’re home, James Benjamin Nash. Home.”

  “No matter where we’re at, I’m always home when you’re beside me, Nora.”

  Her hands wrapped around the back of his neck as her mouth moved toward his. “You do say the nicest things.”

  J.B. kissed her until they both were breathless, then he set her down and took her hand in his. Together, they walked away from the wagon and st
ood looking around them.

  “What do you think of building the house there?” he asked, pointing to a flat spot several yards away. One straggly tree that leaned to the side would offer a bit of shade on a hot day, at least until they could plant new trees.

  “I think it’s a grand idea,” she said, then turned and motioned to another flat spot of ground. “We could put the barn there, with corrals next to it, and pasture running down to the road.”

  “And we’ll build a shed for the farm equipment, and a smokehouse. We can put a springhouse down by the creek and…” J.B. swept her into his arms and spun her around. He whooped and Nora laughed. “It’s going to be grand, Nora, girl. And it will be all ours. Ours and this baby’s.”

  J.B. set her on her feet again then bent down and kissed the slight mound of her belly. Although Nora knew she was expecting before they left Omaha, she waited to tell J.B. until they’d ridden the train from there to the Utah territory where they traveled a week by wagon to the north to connect with the Oregon Trail. She figured by then it was far too late for him to change his mind about beginning anew in Pendleton, especially with a new life growing inside her.

  They’d waited what seemed like forever to have a baby and Nora knew the child she carried would be loved beyond reason. She could hardly wait for it to arrive at the end of the summer. By then, they would have a house and she’d do her best to turn it into a home before the baby came.

  “I love you, J.B.” Nora placed her hands on either side of his head and drew him to her for another kiss.

  “And I love you, Nora.” He kissed her once more then settled his arm over her shoulders and looked out at their land. “Sing that hymn you were humming earlier.”

  My Jesus, I love Thee

  I know Thou art mine;

  For Thee all the follies of sin I resign…

  J.B. turned to her with a warm glow in his eyes. “What do you think of calling our place Nash’s Folly? It will serve as a reminder that we are resigning all the mistakes and trials of our past and accepting God’s leading for our future.”