Read Her Heart's Desire Online
Authors: Ruth Ann Nordin
Tags: #AmerFrntr/Western/Cowboy, #Historical
Her Heart's Desire
Her
Heart’s Desire
Ruth Ann Nordin
Her Heart’s Desire
- Smashwords Edition
Published by Ruth Ann Nordin at
Smashwords
Copyright © 2012 by Ruth Ann
Nordin
All rights reserved. No part of this
book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the copyright owner.
This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places and incidents are either the product of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance
to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is
entirely coincidental.
Smashwords Edition, License
Notes:
This ebook is licensed for your
personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. If you
would like to share this book with another person, please do. Thank
you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Cover Photo images Dreamstime.
www.dreamstime.com All rights reserved – used with
permission.
Cover made by Dara England:
http://mycoverart.wordpress.com/
Ruth Ann Nordin Books
Dedicated to my husband, Tony. You are
still my heart’s desire after twelve years of marriage.
Table of
Contents
List of Ruth Ann Nordin’s
Books
Mitch’s Win (Includes Chapter
One)
Other Books by Ruth Ann Nordin
Regency
Collection
The Earl’s Inconvenient
Wife
Her Counterfeit Husband (coming
soon)
Nebraska Romance
Collection
Wagon Trail Bride (coming
soon)
Her Heart’s Desire
A Bride for Tom (novella)
A Husband for Margaret
(novella)
Eye of the Beholder
The Wrong Husband
Shotgun Groom
His Redeeming Bride
Isaac’s Decision
South Dakota
Collection
Loving Eliza
Bid for a Bride
Bride of Second Chances
Virginia Brides Series
(Historical)
An Unlikely Place for Love
The Cold Wife
An Inconvenient Marriage
Romancing Adrienne
Native American Romance
Series (Historical)
Restoring Hope
Brave Beginnings
Bound by Honor, Bound by Love (coming
soon)
A Chance In Time (novella)
Other Historical
Romances
Falling In Love With Her
Husband
Meant To Be (time travel: from present
to past)
Contemporary
Romances
With This Ring, I Thee
Dread
What Nathan Wants
Suddenly a Bride
Christian Sci-Fi
Thriller
Return of the Aliens
Chapter One
Omaha, Nebraska
April 1867
As soon as Sally Larson saw him enter
her friend’s house, she fell in love. Rick Johnson. That was his
name, and she decided right then and there that she’d one day be
Mrs. Sally Johnson. How she was going to make this happen, she
didn’t know. At the moment, Rick was hoping to court her good
friend, Ethel Mae Jordan. But Ethel Mae confided in her that she
did not return his affections. So, there was nothing stopping Sally
from pursuing Rick. All she needed to do was convince him that he’d
be happier with her than with Ethel Mae.
Ethel Mae motioned for Rick to sit in
the chair which was across from the couch where Sally rested. “I
hope you don’t mind that my friend, Sally, is here,” Ethel Mae told
him as she poured him a cup of tea. “Here. I’ll take your
hat.”
Rick handed her the hat and smiled.
“No, I don’t mind. It’s nice to meet you, Sally.”
He said her name! Sally thought she
might swoon. She loved the sound of his voice, especially when he
spoke her name. The word seemed to roll so easily off his tongue,
almost like he’d spent his whole life saying it. And he was
gorgeous. In fact, she was certain that in all of her nineteen
years, she’d never seen a better looking man. Dark brown wavy hair
parted neatly on the right side, brown eyes, and the hint of a
dimple on his cheeks when he smiled. He wore a nicely pressed brown
suit that fit just right on his broad shoulders and tall, slender
frame. She’d love nothing more than for him to pick her up and
carry her right over the threshold to their new home.
“
Do you want more tea,
Sally?” Ethel Mae asked her.
Blinking away the images of their
future wedding day, Sally forced her gaze off of Rick. “Yes,
please.” She lifted her cup while her friend poured the hot liquid
into it.
“
Before you came, I was
telling Sally you recently moved to town,” Ethel Mae
said.
“
Oh?” Rick
asked.
Ethel Mae put the teapot down on the
tray which rested on the table between the couch and chair. She sat
by Sally and picked up her cup. “Yes. I was saying you came from
Vermont.”
Sally turned her attention to him.
“You didn’t come out west because of the Homestead Act, did
you?”
“
No.” He shook his head. “I
wouldn’t know the first thing about raising crops.”
Ethel Mae laughed a little too loudly,
a nervous habit Sally recognized. “Farming can be tricky, I
suppose, but Sally’s parents maintain a farm just north of
here.”
“
My family came out here
two years ago from New York,” Sally explained. “My father found out
about the Homestead Act and decided to try his hand at farming. We
didn’t know anything about it until we got here.”
He took a sip from his cup and said,
“Then your father is a braver man than I am.”
“
Oh, I don’t know if he was
brave,” Sally began, holding the cup in her lap. “He was sick of
being in a crowded area. We had neighbors on either side of our
house, and the street we were on was a busy one with horses and
people passing by all the time.” She shrugged. “It was the land
that appealed to him. Still does, in fact. He prefers to wake up in
the morning, step outside, and see nothing but open land and the
endless sky. He says it’s the best decision he ever
made.”
Realizing she was rambling, Sally
stopped and retrieved a cookie so she’d have something to put in
her mouth. She didn’t want to lose his interest because she said
too much. Her brothers often chided her for talking too much,
especially her brother Tom who said he couldn’t imagine any man who
wanted to sit and listen to a woman gab all day. And Sally could
talk all day long.
Ethel Mae patted Sally’s hand. “I’m
glad your family came out here. We wouldn’t have met
otherwise.”
As Sally chewed the cookie, she nodded
her agreement and tucked a stray strand of her blond hair behind
her ear. Her gaze kept going to Rick. How could her friend resist
someone as attractive as him?
After Rick took a drink from his cup,
he set it down on the table. “My true love is the United States
Constitution. I’m afraid nothing will ever pull me away from it,
though I have all the respect in the world for farmers. They have
to face harsh weather and bugs.”
Sally shuddered. “Like a swarm of
locusts devouring crops.”
“
Exactly,” he replied.
“That’s not for me.”
After a moment of silence fell between
them, Ethel Mae told Sally, “Rick is the new judge at the
courthouse.”
“
Oh, I heard we got a new
judge,” Sally said, wondering why Ethel Mae didn’t mention that
Rick was the one who took Judge Williams’ place after his untimely
death. “Is that why you moved to Omaha, Rick?”
“
Yes,” he replied, setting
his elbows on the arms of the chair and clasping his hands in front
of him. “Also, it didn’t hurt that Judge Townsend is an old friend
of the family. There were no positions open where I lived, so I
came out here.”
“
What do you think of
Omaha?” Sally asked.
“
It’s fine. I certainly
can’t complain about the people I’ve met.”
His gaze went to Ethel Mae, and
Sally’s smile faltered for a moment—but just for a moment. He’d
only met her. Surely, she had to give him more time to get used to
the idea that he was going to marry her instead of her
friend.
“
Well, Sally is one of the
nicest people you’ll ever meet,” her friend said.
“
I’m sure she is. She
wouldn’t be your friend if she wasn’t,” he replied.
Ethel Mae offered Rick a nervous laugh
as her gaze darted in Sally’s direction. Her eyes met Sally’s, and
Sally recognized the silent plea she was sending her. Ethel Mae was
trying to divert Rick’s attention off of her but didn’t know how,
and as Sally sat there, she didn’t know how to do that either.
Well, at least not without boring him with talk of her family, the
farm, or the weather. But he was a judge, so maybe she should
pursue that angle.
Clearing her throat, Sally directed
her gaze to Rick and asked, “What made you decide to be a
judge?”
Granted, his answer was bound to bore
her and Ethel Mae to no end, but it was far better for them to be
bored than for him to be. If he was bored, then he might never want
to talk to her again, something she desperately wanted to
avoid.
“
It was something I was
always interested in,” Rick said with a shrug. “I don’t recall the
exact moment I knew I’d be a judge, but when I was a child, I made
it a point to memorize the Constitution.”
“
You did?” Sally asked,
surprised someone would want to do that.
“
I did that and read
letters our Founding Fathers wrote.”
She was amazed at his dedication. A
man who could pursue his career with such vigor would be a most
excellent husband. While the three of them continued to make idle
chitchat, it became apparent how much Rick wanted to court Ethel
Mae. He’d lean forward in interest if she said something and gave
her a wide smile each time he talked to her. Granted, he was kind
and polite to her, but Sally didn’t want the formal friendliness he
extended to her. She wanted him to respond to her with the same
enthusiasm he showed Ethel Mae.
Rick checked his pocket watch and
sighed. “I’m afraid I have to go back to work.” He swallowed the
rest of his tea and stood up.
A plan formed in Sally’s mind, and she
jumped up. “Thank you for the lovely visit, Ethel Mae. I must be
going as well.”