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  A Dream for Harper

  Willow Wood Brides:

  Book 3

  by

  Teresa Slack

  Copyright © 2020 by Teresa Slack

  Published by: Grace Arbor Press

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying or recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system is forbidden without written permission of the editorial staff at GraceArbor Press.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, incidents, and places are products of the author’s imagination, and are not to be construed as real. While the author was inspired in part by actual events, none of the characters in the work is based on an actual person. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental and unintentional.

  Also by Teresa Slack

  Willow Wood Brides Series:

  A Promise for Josie

  A Lawman for Lisette

  A Love Letter for Jessa

  A Wedding for Felicity:

  Now Available for Preorder

  A Hero for Ellie: August 2020

  A Cowboy for Meggan: TBA

  Jenna’s Creek Series:

  Streams of Mercy

  Redemption’s Song

  Evidence of Grace

  A Jenna’s Creek Wedding: A Christmas Novella

  Legacy of Faith

  Tender Blessings Series:

  Love Begins

  A Little Goodbye

  The Ultimate Guide to Darcy Carter

  Runaway Heart

  Joy Redefined

  Reader Bonus

  for Newsletter Subscribers:

  A Promise for Josie:

  A Willow Wood Prequel

  After a broken promise and a broken heart, is love worth the risk?

  Left at the altar on her wedding day, Josie Segal doubts she’ll ever find true love. When a tall stranger on his way south to build his own ranch rides into Josie’s life, her dreams of love and adventure are reawakened. Can she move beyond the pain and fear of broken promises to trust Owen Dutton, and her own heart?

  Sign up for my newsletter and receive a link to download A Promise for Josie—A Willow Wood Brides Prequel. Stay up to date on upcoming releases in the exciting Willow Wood Brides series, among other books and series in the works. You’ll also be among the first to learn of promos, giveaways, and contests.

  What readers are saying about Willow Wood Brides

  “From stagecoaches and sheriffs to outlaws and saloons, your cowboy loving heart will be satisfied. Add a new lady doctor in town (when lady docs weren't exactly the norm --that's an understatement) and a romance, and you've got a great cozy read to hunker down with.” –Linore Rose Burkard, award winning romance author, Forever Lately

  “Meet another Willow Wood lady who learns about love, unrequited at times. All this and more in a Christian inspirational novel. Teresa Slack hits one out of the ballpark again.” –Leone Bihl, Editor, Greenfield Times

  “I was pulling for Jessa from the start! Truth and honesty won out in the end. This is a story of a faithful friend who puts her own happiness aside and always tries to see the best in her friend! Looking forward to more stories in this series!!” –Dottie Koehler, Library Editor

  “…Wonderful characters. Lisette is spunky, independent, and determined which drew me to her right away. Grayson's strength and willingness to help his father on the ranch and then want to protect Lisette was heartwarming. …Suspense, intense action and tender moments to warm your heart.” –Reader review

  “…Loved this book by Teresa Slack. Her characters are both interesting and real. This book hooked me with in 4 pages. I could not put it down until I had finished it. I can hardly wait until the 2nd book comes out.” –Reader review

  “…Suspense, intense action, and tender moments to warm your heart. A Lawman for Lisette is very well written…and the ending wrapped everything up nicely. I highly recommend reading it.” –Reader review

  “A good balance of action, life in the West, danger and romance. The characters were well developed, and the settings described so well that the reader feels right there.” –Reader review

  “Another wonderful read… [A Love Letter for Jessa} These kinds of stories keep you intrigued, wondering how the love story is going to pan out.” –Reader review

  “Once I started reading [A Lawman for Lisette], I had such a hard time putting it down! It’s one of those books that makes you feel good while you’re reading it, and after you’re through with it! BUT I really didn’t want it to end!! I’m so ready for the next one in this series!” –Reader review

  “A great Christian read with a clean Old West setting! It has great characters and a great setting! You won’t be disappointed! Teresa is a one click author for me!!” –Reader review

  “I will be rating this book a 5. …Teresa’s work never fails to keep me on my toes from beginning to end. I would love to read the next book in the series, or even one of the author’s previous series. I am never disappointed with any of her work.” –Reader review

  “I loved this book! I’m amazed by Teresa Slack’s talent! I can’t wait to go back to Willow Wood in the next book.” –Reader review

  “Love this new book by Teresa! I love the descriptive writing and the fact that it is so different from her other books! I hope she will have more installments of this one.” –Reader review

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Next in the Series:

  About the Author

  Dedication

  In memory of my sweet friend and sister in Christ, Unia Faye Williams. You impacted so many people while you were with us. We miss you every day.

  Chapter One

  Kentucky, April, 1891

  HARPER DIXON’S HEART SANK the instant she saw the look on Ma’s face. Something was wrong. She straightened her spine as if she hadn’t noticed and crossed the faded kitchen floor to the sideboard to deposit the basket of collard greens she’d gathered from the edge of the garden.

  Ma tucked a dishtowel into the sash of her apron and turned her full attention to Harper. “Sit down a minute, love. I got something to talk with you about.”

  Just as she thought. Whatever was on Ma’s mind wouldn’t likely work out well for Harper. She dumped the greens into the sink. “I should wash these first and put them on—”

  “They can wait a few minutes.” Ma went to the scarred pine table and patted the spot next to her.

  Harper glanced at the greens. Through the open window above the sink she heard her three younger sisters and little brother talking and teasing each other as they worked in the garden, scraping shallow rows in the rocky soil. It wouldn’t be long before their grumbling bellies reminded them they’d been working all morning and lunch was overdue.

  The inopportune time of the conversation, along with the look on Ma’s face, made a lump of dread settle in Harper’s stomach.

  Regardless, it didn’t occur to her to disobey or question Ma’s request. She pulled out the chair Ma indicated. As soon as she was seated, Ma covered her hand with her own.

  Someone was dead. Or nearly so. Or a train had derailed on the other side of the mountain and ran into the family’s church. Or a famine somewhere in the world had orphaned a town’s children and Ma wanted to take some of them in.

  No inconsequential matter explained the grave expression in Ma’s typically peaceful deep blue eyes that reflected Harper’s own.

  “There’s no future for you here, Harper. You deserve better than to spend your life in this house waiting for something that’ll likely never happen.”

  Harper’s eyebrows slid together. What did that have to do with someone dying?

  “Ma?”

  Ma looked toward the door, either to make sure the younger children couldn’t hear or to escape through it herself. She sighed and turned tired her eyes back to Harper. “The only respectable young men around here have either found a wife already or taken off in search of something better. Those that haven’t spend their time brewing corn whiskey or looking for a less than honorable way to make a living. I don’t want you to waste your time hoping to change one of them into a proper husband.”

  “I’m not looking to change anybody into a husband. Not now, anyway.”

  Ma went on as if she hadn’t spoken. “You’re twenty years old, Harper. You’ve always been my dreamer. Your dreams will never come true here.”

  Why was Ma telling her this? Yes, she was a dreamer. Her
sisters often teased her for having her nose in a book or her head in the clouds. But she never thought of leaving the Kentucky hills like some of her friends had. Some stopped going to school as soon as they were old enough to marry a hill man and start their own families. Others headed north to find work and hopefully a better life. Not Harper. She also imagined a future home and family with a faceless man God had waiting for her. But she never dreamed that future would happen anywhere but right here.

  Tears glistened in Ma’s eyes. “I want to give you a better life than what I had. If not better, at least…different.”

  “What? I don’t understand. This is my life, Ma. I don’t need a better one, or a different one.”

  “But you deserve it. And whether you want it or not, I’m going to do whatever I must to give it to you.”

  The knot of dread in Harper’s stomach doubled in size. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying you were born for something greater. You’re smart. And strong. The other children are too. All my children are a notch above the rest. Not a lazy one in the bunch. But you...” She bit her lower lip. Her expression turned urgent. “I see myself in you the most, Harper. Maybe that’s why it matters so much that you have the opportunities I didn’t.”

  Harper shook her head to clear the cobwebs. “I’m sorry, Ma, but I still don’t understand. Have I done something wrong? Are you putting me out?”

  Ma’s gaze softened. She looked deep into Harper’s eyes. She clutched Harper’s hands and pulled them toward her. “We don’t got no money.”

  Harper didn’t need Ma to tell her that. It was obvious from the worn handmade rag rugs on the floor to the newspapers on the walls to muffle the drafts all the way up to the water-stained ceilings.

  Ma’s gaze swept the kitchen. “Times are hard. We got more mouths that want fed than we got food to put in them.”

  She released Harper’s hands and dug at a broken fingernail. Harper’s heart pounded. Even with Joan married, Patrick living on his own, and Davy and Billy working at the sawmill, the family still had a hard time making ends meet. Harper remembered plenty of nights—some not so long ago—she’d gone to bed hungry because there hadn’t been enough food on the supper table. But her parents never turned away someone in need, especially a member of the family. Was that what was happening now? With no money and no sign the situation would improve, they had decided she, as the oldest one not bringing in money, would have to go.

  Ma gently shook her head. “Harper, you’re more special than what you’ll ever amount to around here. Your dreams are bigger than these hills. You gotta fly, little bird.”

  Harper had always shared a kinship with her mother the other children didn’t. Like Ma, she was thoughtful and creative. Out of the five Dixon sisters, she looked the most like Ma, too, with her wavy blond hair and twinkling deep blue eyes, though she hadn’t seen much of a twinkle in Ma’s eyes in more years than she could count.

  Ma went to the oven and opened the door to slide in a pan of cornbread. She turned back to Harper but stayed by the stove. “I don’t want you to marry the first boy who asks just to help your Pa and me out. I don’t want you having babies and trying to dig food out of these hills to feed them.” She squared her shoulders. “I’m going to save you from this life.”

  “Save me?”

  Ma reached into her apron pocket and drew out a folded sheet of heavy paper. She unfolded it and carried it to the table. “This came last week. It’s from my cousin Hugh. He lives in a town out west in Idaho.”

  Idaho? That was clean on the other side of the country. Harper had barely heard of it and wasn’t sure she could find it on a map.

  “You’ve never met him,” Ma said. “None of you children have. I haven’t seen him in years myself. Not since he left the hills…”

  When Ma’s gaze drifted to the window, Harper broke in. “What does he want? Why did he write after all this time?” She feared she already knew the answer.

  Ma sank into the chair she had vacated. Her eyes lit up with something akin to eagerness for the first time since the conversation began. “He needs our help. He has a daughter. She’s a few years older than you. The girl…she has…problems.”

  “Is she sick?”

  “Not in a way you think. Hugh thinks it would do her good to have someone move into the house to stay with her. A companion. She doesn’t have a ma. Hugh’s wife passed away when the girl was young. Hugh wrote she had her cap set on marrying a young man. Then he up and left the way restless fellas sometimes do, and the poor girl never recovered.”

  Harper was immediately intrigued by her Idaho cousin. The hills around her home were filled with Dixon cousins of every variety. But she’d never heard of one on the other side of the country. And to think the poor girl was all alone with no ma to help her through, grieving and mourning a young man who’d left her practically at the altar.

  Indignation rose inside her. When someone shamed a Dixon, he shamed the whole clan. Why, she had half a mind to head out to Idaho to assure her cousin she was better off without the shiftless snake. Life just wasn’t fair, especially to women. Men had means and opportunity to do whatever they wanted while the women left behind had to pick up the pieces and face their shame all alone.

  “Hugh says she suffers from melancholy,” Ma continued, “and he’s right worried about her. Anyway, he asked…”

  Harper’s breath caught in her throat. Was Ma about to suggest what she’d just been thinking of doing? She hadn’t meant it, of course. She couldn’t go to Idaho or anywhere else to convince a cousin she didn’t know that no good-time Charlie was worth shedding one single tear. She couldn’t convince a dog to howl at the moon.

  “He asked if I’d send you.”

  Now that the words were out, Ma hurried on. “It’s a wonderful opportunity, Harper. An adventure. You’ll meet all sorts of new people, see new things. You might even meet a young man of your own. You’ll live at Hugh’s house. He said he’d pay you a small stipend. It would be nice to have your own money for once, wouldn’t it?”

  Harper stared at her mother’s mouth moving, but she could scarcely believe the words coming out of it. Ma was talking like it had already happened. Like Harper had agreed to go. She supposed she would if Ma and Pa wanted her to. She’d not been raised to refuse them anything. But she wasn’t qualified to help a woman who’d been jilted. What did she know about matters of the heart? She’d never been in love.

  “I don’t know anything about taking care of someone who’s…sick.”

  “She’s not sick. She’s sad.”

  “That’s even worse. How does Hugh know about me? What if he doesn’t like me? Will I be stuck out there with no way home? Will they treat me like a servant? What if the daughter doesn’t want me there? What’s her name anyway?”

  Mama scanned through the closely written lines. “Ellie,” she answered, ignoring the other questions. “Hugh says she’s very intelligent. She was always the top of her class. Her mother was artistic and Ellie shows the same talent. I’m sure the two of you will have a lot in common.”

  “How? I’m not accomplished at anything. I’m certainly not educated.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short, Harper. You’re very bright. You’re a quick study.”

  Harper took a deep breath as tears threatened. “If I go, Ma, I’ll probably never come back.”

  Ma’s lips pulled into a frown. Harper regretted her words, but part of her wanted Ma to hurt too.

  “It breaks my heart that I have to consider sending you so far away. Your pa and I won’t force you to go, but it’ll break my heart more to have you stay. I don’t want you to give your life to these hills. I want you to be somebody. I want you to have what your brothers and sisters will probably never have.”

  “What about Pa? What about Doris May and Sophie and Lottie? Who’ll help you take care of Little Walt?”