Strong and Stubborn
Read Strong and Stubborn Online
Authors: Kelly Eileen Hake
© 2012 by Kelly Eileen Hake
Print ISBN 978-1-60260-762-0
eBook Editions:
Adobe Digital Edition (.epub) 978-1-62029-562-5
Kindle and MobiPocket Edition (.prc) 978-1-62029-561-8
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without written permission of the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, and/or events is purely coincidental.
For more information about Kelly Eileen Hake, please access the author's website at the following Internet address:
www.kellyeileenhake.com
Cover design: Brand Navigation
Published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 719, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683,
www.barbourbooks.com
Our mission is to publish and distribute inspirational products offering exceptional value and biblical encouragement to the masses
.
Printed in the United States of America.
D
EDICATION
First and foremost, this is dedicated to the Lord. Without His strength, no story would fill these pages. It's a simple truth but sometimes not simple at all to live with. When I alone try to wrestle the words into submission, they fight back!
Second, this novel is dedicated to my amazing husband, who encouraged me when I faltered, prayed with me when I struggled, and celebrated each chapter. I am so incredibly blessed to have found my partner in life, and I thank God for you every day
.
Finally, this story is for the readers, without whom books would not be published. Use your power wisely, well, and often!
H
OPE
F
ALLS
H
EROINES:
Naomi Higgins:
Cousin to Lacey and Braden Lyman. Ex-fiancée of Harry Blinman.
Coraline “Cora” Thompson:
Ex-fiancée of Braden Lyman. Sister of Evie Thompson. Best friend of Lacey Lyman.
Lacey Lyman:
Cousin to Naomi Higgins. Fiancée of Chase Dunstan. Sister of Braden Lyman. Originator of Husbands for Hire advertisement and idea to turn the town into a sawmill.
Evelyn “Evie” Thompson:
Fiancée of Jake Granger. Sister of Cora. Owner of Hope Falls Café.
M
ISCELLANEOUS
L
ADIES:
Charlotte Blinman:
Estranged sister of Naomi Higgins. Wife of Harry Blinman.
Althea Bainbridge:
Mother of Leticia Bainbridge. Mother-in-law of Mike Strode. Grandmother of Luke Strode.
Leticia Bainbridge-Strode:
Deceased wife of Mike Strode. Mother of Luke Strode. Daughter of Althea Bainbridge.
Arla Nash:
Widowed sister of Mr. Lawson, the sawmill engineer.
Dorothy Nash:
Newborn daughter of Arla Nash.
Martha McCreedy:
Wife of sawmill worker. Friend to Arla Nash. Helper in Evie's kitchen.
H
OPE
F
ALLS
H
EROES:
Michael Strode:
Widower. Carpenter. Father of Luke Strode.
Luke Strode:
Mike's sonâthough not biologically. Ten years old. Target of kidnap attempts by his maternal grandparents, the Bainbridges.
Braden Lyman:
Brother of Lacey Lyman. Original owner of Hope Falls mine, caught and injured in the initial mine collapse. Ex-fiancé of Cora Thompson.
Chase Dunstan:
Fiancé of Lacey Lyman. Hunter, tracker, wilderness guide. Originally helped Braden Lyman survey Hope Falls area. Came back to investigate suspicious mine collapse.
Decoy:
Chase's silver-gray Irish wolfhound. Almost four feet tall and six feet long.
Jacob Granger:
Fiancé to Evie Thompson. Family owns successful chain of sawmills. Originally came to Hope Falls under alias of Jake Creed to find his brother's murderer.
H
OPE
F
ALLS
L
OGGERS:
Volker “Clump” Klumpf:
Good-natured German farmer turned logger, distinctive for heavy boots.
Rory “Bear” Riordan:
Gentle giant of a Scots-Irish logger.
Gent:
Oldest logger in Hope Falls with a penchant for top hats.
Bobsley:
Youngest worker in Hope Falls.
Craig Williams:
Arrogant logger who's tried to court every single woman.
Mr. Lawson:
Mild-mannered engineer. Brother to Arla Nash and uncle to Dorothy.
H
OPE
F
ALLS
M
INE
I
NVESTORS:
Mr. Draxley:
Telegraph operator. Involved in mine sabotage, although not the mastermind. Attempted murderer of Lacey Lyman and Chase Dunstan.
Mr. Owens:
Business partner of Braden Lyman and original owner of Hope Falls mine. Initially survived the collapse but died of injuries later. Discovered to have been part of mine sabotage.
Harold “Harry” Blinman:
Ex-suitor of Naomi Higgins. Husband to her sister, Charlotte. Original investor in Hope Falls mine.
“Cautious” Clyde Corning:
Original investor in Hope Falls mine. Interested in Cora.
Baltimore, Maryland, 1881
I
t should have been me.
Guilt crept around the edges of the thought, but Naomi Higgins brushed it away with the first of her tearsâthe first of an inevitable deluge. She'd held them at bay for far too long, and when the ever-present pinch behind her nose blossomed to a sharp tingling pain, Naomi sought solace in her favorite refuge. The books surrounding her showed more spine than she, who had abandoned her only sister's wedding reception.
It
should
have been Naomi, not Charlotte, who celebrated. It almost had been. After all, Harold Blinman became familiar with the Higgins household when he began courting
Naomi
a scant year before.
He'd wooed her just long enough to steal a place in Naomi's heart. Her advanced age of more than twenty-one years, though well beyond most ladies' first courtship, offered no protection against a handsome smile, a hand at the small of her back, and a whirlwind of dances.
Her advanced age did, however, offer Harry a reason to transfer his affections to her nineteen-year-old sister. The two looked astoundingly alikeâso alike, in fact, that polite society recognized the switch slowlyâfashionable hats and bonnets hiding their one clear difference. Charlotte dressed to impress and generally succeeded. She'd flounced home from her beloved French boarding school, only to flounce right back out the door with her sister's beau.
With their mother's blessing.
In fact, Charlotte's “success” led to endless edicts that Naomi abandon her love of books and take up her sister's ruthless study of fashion plates and scandal sheets. Delilah Higgins had long denounced her eldest daughter as “overly bookish,” which somehow made her far too “adversarial and masculine” to attract a decent match. When Harry chose Charlotte, he as good as announced to the entire world that he felt the same way.
“Naomi Glorianna Higgins!” Her mother's hiss snaked through the room. “Whatever are you about, closeting yourself in here? Hasn't your reputation as a bluestocking cost you enough?”
Her tears halted as suddenly as if her mother stoppered their source. Showing emotion, Naomi learned long ago, issued an invitation for condescension, correction, or outright criticism. Speaking one's mind brought a more vehement version of the same.
For once, Naomi didn't care.
“If Harry spurned me for my intelligent conversation, my only loss is a miserable marriage.”
Though that miserable marriage would have given me a honeymoon in Paris and moved me out of this household,
Naomi silently added. Saying anything more would prove disastrousâshe'd never been a good liar.
Harry's defection still hurt. She'd believed he wanted her, been lured into wanting him, only to be told in no uncertain terms she wasn't woman enough to keep him. And while she didn't want a thing to do with the Harold Blinman who'd stood today in front of everyone and declared he would love her sister until death, a corner of Naomi's heart grieved for the Harry she'd thought cared for her.
“Harold.” Her mother cracked the word like a whip, satisfaction in her smile. “Although he is now a bona fide member of the family, and thus you may claim the familiarity of his given name, you will never again use his pet name. Do I make myself clear?”
“As you please, Mother.” Naomi shrugged, trying to dislodge her dismay at the way a single word betrayed her.
“Do not shrug. It's vulgar.” Delilah Higgins made a moue of disapproval. “And you've ruined our hard work styling your hair!”
Glad for an excuse to turn from her mother, Naomi moved toward the massive mirror above the fireplace. She peered at the image of a tall woman, shown to advantage in an utterly inappropriate shade of crimsonâher sister insisted that her maid of honor be clad in the Blinman colors in homage of her new husbandâher hair loosely gathered into an intricate series of knots. The coiffure, meant to be sophisticated but not overwrought, was achieved by dint of dozens of hairpins
still
stabbing into her scalp.
But aside from a sadness lurking in her eyes, Naomi saw nothing amiss. In fact, the jewel tone suited her far better than the pastels typically deemed appropriate for any unmarried miss.
So I wear spinsterhood well.
The notion garnered a rueful grin.