Chapter 1
San Antonio, Texas
Grace Ervin missed everything about home, especially during the rough patches when the train swayed and chugged, and her stomach roiled.
There was something so sturdy about living up in the mountains.
The ground never lurched. It was solid beneath a person’s feet, and that was what things should be like.
Not swaying dangerously from side to side like a ship caught in a swell.
She thought she would rather have taken one of her brothers’ horses and ridden all the way to Texas. Yes, it would have been a longer trip, but she certainly wouldn’t have thrown up just about every meal. Thankfully, her journey was almost at its end.
Stepping out of the little cubicle that served as an outhouse on the train, she washed her hands in the sink, the water filtering into the faucet from a drum in the ceiling, and splashed a little on her face.
Then she stepped out of the way of a gentleman who looked rather desperate for the facilities.
Maybe she wasn’t the only one with an upset stomach.
Back in the ladies’ sleeping car, where she had a bed, not that she spent much time in it since lying down was just about the worst thing she could do, Grace made sure to sit in a front-facing chair. If she sat in one of the others, she would be pounding on that privy door again in no time.
“I take it the tea you bought at the last station didn’t work?” Mrs. Chamberlain asked.
She was a lady in her forties going to California to visit her youngest son and his wife.
“Not really, Mrs. Chamberlain,” Grace said.
“It’s a pity. I was hoping it would give you some relief,” Mrs. Chamberlain said, looking back down at the book she seemed to have been reading the whole trip.
The mere thought of the written word swimming all over the page made Grace quite woozy again and she turned away from the lady to look out of the window. Looking out of the window somehow made the flying scenery and the crazy speed of it all make sense to her stomach and gave her a little peace.
“How much farther for you, dear?” Mrs. Chamberlain asked, coming to sit in front of Grace.
“Oh, just to Texas,” Grace said. “I should be arriving in San Antonio tomorrow.”
“And not a moment too soon,” Mrs. Chamberlain said with a kind smile and a nod. “Is your fellow going to come and collect you?”
“I certainly hope he will,” Grace said. “That was the arrangement we made before I left Coalsville.”
“And where is that again?” Mrs. Chamberlain asked.
“The Appalachian Mountains,” Grace said. “My family owns a mill and a bakery there.”
“Oh? Both? You must be well off,” Mrs. Chamberlain said.
“My brothers sure are,” Grace said. “But there are four of them, and then me, so there’s not much left for the girl in the family if you follow my meaning.”
“I certainly do,” Mrs. Chamberlain said, nodding.
“When I was a young lady like yourself, I also had more brothers than a body could find use for,” she said with a chuckle.
“Mine divided the farm up between them when our father died. That was a family squabble of note and no mistake. I think two of my brothers are still refusing to talk to each other.” She laughed, a light, good-natured sound.
Grace longed for some of the tea she’d been drinking throughout the trip to try and soothe her stomach. However, the fact that it could resurface in a less-than-appetizing manner made her feel less eager for it.
“Will you be living in San Antonio?” Mrs. Chamberlain asked. She seemed to have decided that keeping Grace distracted and talking was the way to help her get over her affliction.
“No, my fiancé Hunter wrote that San Antonio is the closest train station to the town he and his friends have founded. He’s a copper miner,” she added. She couldn’t recall if she had mentioned that part before.
“Copper?” Mrs. Chamberlain said with a frown. “Well, now. I take it Coalsville is a coal mining town?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Grace said with a smile. “Everything gets a layer of coal dust on it if you let the cleaning pile up.”
“I’ll bet it does,” Mrs. Chamberlain said with a laugh. “I should imagine copper is less messy.”
“I should imagine so too,” Grace said. “It will be great to start up a bakery there. I worked in the family business, and I can make all the loaves and rolls and cakes that my father and mother ever made and a few more. It should be a grand success.”
“I’ll bet it will be,” Mrs. Chamberlain said kindly. “Does this town you’re headed to have a name?”
Grace thought a moment and then shook her head and instantly regretted it as the world spun for a moment. She clutched the armrests and stared fixedly out of the window. How odd that she didn’t remember the town’s name. Surely Hunter had mentioned it?
The train pulled into the San Antonio station the next day at around midday. Grace had been packed and ready to go since early that morning. She was getting off this train and never getting back on one again in her life. That was her vow to herself.
The only thing she was sad about was leaving Mrs. Chamberlain behind. Of all the ladies in the car, she had been the friendliest and the kindest.
She and Mrs. Chamberlain embraced, and the woman gave her the address in California where her son and his family lived.
“Write to me, will you? I would love to know how this all turns out,” Mrs. Chamberlain said.
“I certainly will,” Grace said, and they parted.
Standing on the platform in the station, Grace looked around. Hunter had said he would have a brown broad-brimmed hat on and a dark blue shirt. He also described himself as a little rough around the edges, which she didn’t mind. She rather liked a man who looked like he’d put in a hard day’s work.
Grace was wearing a white silk flower tucked behind her ear so he would know her. With her long blonde hair in a braid down her back, also the style they had agreed on in their letters, she hoped he would quickly recognize her.
The problem was that a lot of the men on the platform wore brown broad-brimmed hats, a variety of blue shirts, and were shaggy-looking.
The Texas heat, something one of the other ladies on the train had told her about, hit Grace in the face like an anvil. It wasn’t just hot; it was humid as well, and she instantly felt sweat begin to trickle into the small of her back and down the sides of her face.
It was like stepping in front of a bread oven that was ready to bake. Grace wished she had decided not to wear the wool skirt and jacket, but they were the nicest clothes she owned.
Looking around the station platform, she realized that with so many people milling about, it would be difficult for a person to find someone they knew, never mind a stranger they had never seen before. How was she going to find Hunter Marks among all these people?
One man kept looking at her. His eyes would slide over to her, hover a moment as though trying to place her, and then would move on again only to return. It was odd, to say the least, and Grace’s heart leaped.
Was that him? Was that Hunter? If it was, she might be saved this ridiculous, uncomfortable scenario where she didn’t know what to do or where to go.
Grace hated that. She liked things to be set out properly like they were in a recipe.
That left nothing to chance. Everything was stipulated, and if the instructions were followed properly, all would be well with the dish one was making.
It was really that simple, and life should be too, she often thought.
Squaring her shoulders and whispering a prayer for guidance, Grace walked up to the man who had been looking at her and smiled. She was quite worried that her smile had turned out more like a grimace.
“Good afternoon,” she said. “I’m Grace Ervin. I’m sure you’ve been looking for me.”
The man looked at her blankly. “Excuse me?” he asked.
“I’m Grace,” she said and frowned. Obviously, he’d been looking for her, or why had he been staring?
She felt terribly hot under her woolen jacket, and she longed to take it off.
It might look good, but it certainly wasn’t suited to this heat.
She stuck a finger in the collar and pulled.
“Look, let’s not make this harder. I’m Grace.
I answered your advertisement in the paper.
You told me to get on a train and come all the way out here.
Don’t say you forgot in the couple of weeks that I’ve been aboard that dreadful contraption. ”
“Lady, I’m not who you think I am,” the man said, holding his hands out. “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.”
“What do you mean? I’ve been writing to you for the last four or five months!
Do not tell me I’ve come all this way for nothing!
” Grace cried, her voice becoming a lot louder than she had intended.
Panic and fear filled her from head to toe.
Had it all been some elaborate ruse? But to what end?
To lure a young woman out here? And then what?
She bit her lip, considering her options.
“You can’t do this to decent women, you know?
You can’t write to them and arrange to meet and then act as though you don’t know what they’re talking about.
” A terrible idea came to her. “It’s because I’m not pretty, isn’t it?
” she demanded, taking a step closer to Hunter.
“It’s because I’m short and a little plump, isn’t it?
” She shook her head angrily, stepping closer again, trundling her trunk behind her.
“Look, lady, I don’t know you! You’ve got the wrong man!” he cried, backing away from her.
Grace was positively livid. After all the discomfort, the constant vomiting and the lack of privacy on that dratted train, she was going to have to buy a ticket and head straight home. Oh, wouldn’t her brothers just love that? They would never stop teasing her about it.
“You’re a foul! Vile! Horrible man!” she said, jabbing a finger in his chest with each word she spoke.
Suddenly she became aware of a presence behind her.
Someone was trying to get her attention.
It was no doubt just some station employee trying to stop her from making a scene.
Heaven forbid that there be a drama at the station.
Goodness, what a scandal. Well, Grace didn’t care about any of that.
She had had quite enough and was out to exact some justice.
It was wrong to lure someone all the way across the country only to then pretend not to know her.
She was justified in her outrage, and everyone would know it.
“Excuse me,” the person said behind her.
“And furthermore,” Grace said, ignoring him. “I think it’s disgraceful that you should pretend not to have sent for me just because I’m not?—”
The individual behind her cut her off.
“You’re yelling at the wrong man,” he said simply. There was no anger in his voice, only a kind of barely suppressed humor.
Slowly, Grace turned.
The man now standing in front of her was tall with broad shoulders, bright green eyes sparkling with laughter, and a big smile.
His cheeks were stubbly, but he didn’t have a full beard, and his hair hung about his face in unkempt curls.
He looked like he spent a lot of time smiling, which was the impression she had gotten from his letters.
Her mouth made an O as she turned back to the man she had been yelling at and even prodding in the chest. He was certainly shabby, but he looked as though he spent his time being grumpy. No smile at all on his face … not that you’d expect one after Grace’s attack on him.
Oh dear.
“If you need some proof, I have your letters right here, Grace,” the man who was most likely Hunter said. He pulled a stack of very familiar envelopes from the satchel he wore across his body.
“Oh dear,” she said, her cheeks heating up as though someone had placed lit coals in them. She turned back to the man she had so rudely harangued. “I am so sorry. I had no idea. Please forgive my rudeness.”
The man nodded at her in a curt, disapproving way and then spoke to Hunter. “You’d better keep her on a leash. She’s rabid!”
“It was an honest misunderstanding,” Hunter said. “I’m sure she’s very sorry for the scene.”
And it was a scene. Everyone in the station was watching them. That only made things infinitely worse. Grace wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole. That would negate the need for her to walk through all these staring people to the door.
“Yes, well, you’ll certainly have your hands full with that one,” the man said nastily, and after glaring at her a little more, he walked off.
“I’m really so sorry,” Grace said, frowning. There was nothing she could do about her burning face, so she tried to hide it by looking down.
Hunter smiled at her. “Oh, don’t worry,” he said. “These things happen.”
Grace was quite certain they didn’t—not to her, at any rate! But she didn’t have time to stew in her dismay because he was still talking.
“Now, my friend Jeff is waiting with a cart full of copper outside the station, and I’d rather not leave him alone for too long.” He took her trunk’s handle from her and began to trundle it along the station platform as though nothing had happened.
“Copper?” Grace asked, walking quickly to keep up. “From the mine?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Hunter said with a nod. “We have to go to the broker. Don’t worry, Jeff will take care of business. While he’s busy, we can go to the general store. If you need something, that will be the place to buy it. We don’t have a similar store yet in the town.”
“What is the town’s name?” she asked, remembering her odd lapse of memory on the train.
Hunter smiled. “It doesn’t have one yet. I’m partial to calling it Hope or Perseverance, but those two don’t seem popular.”
“I like both,” Grace said.
He grinned.
They walked to the steps leading off the platform, and Grace was about to step down when Hunter suddenly grabbed her around the waist. He picked her up bodily, dragging her to the side.
There was a flash of movement, a strange rattling sound, and then Hunter put her down as quickly as he’d picked her up.
“Good heavens! What was that for?” Grace demanded, as affronted as she was taken aback by the sensations tumbling through her.
Her heart was pounding. Her breath was shallow.
Her cheeks were red for reasons that had nothing to do with the heat …
For heaven’s sake, this couldn’t be right.
They had just met! “If you’re going to be handsy before we’re even?—”
“There was a rattler,” Hunter cut in. “You were about to step on it.” He pointed to the ground.
Grace looked, and her heart leaped into her throat as she watched the last of a long snake slither under the train platform. She had come that close to being bitten. It was all too much. The train. The heat. The misunderstanding with the other man. Now, this …
She clutched her aching head, and the world went black as her knees buckled under her.