He left her...Now he's back...But not for long
Blurb:
Matilda Barton’s broken heart may never heal.
The love of her life, Sterling Thoroughgood, has been gone three years with no
word. Is he dead or alive? Why should it matter to her? She’s spent the past
three years trying to save her father, her ranch, and her dignity—but her heart
has taken the worst battering of all. Now that her father has died, the
livestock has been sold off, and the ranch is in disrepair, her life is empty.
When Sterling Thoroughgood rides up to her house on Christmas Eve, is it any
wonder she greets him with a shotgun instead of a kiss?
Sterling Throughgood has worked hard to build a
ranch in Hazard, Wyoming. Admittedly, it took longer than he thought, but he
had to have a good start for Matilda, the woman he’s always loved. Arriving at
her house on Christmas Eve, he discovers a lot has changed in three years. Her
father, his mentor, has passed away—and Matilda has become bitter because of
what she felt were empty promises Sterling made in the past. But Sterling is
not a quitter, and he will pit his determination against Matilda’s iron-clad
will any day of the week—even on Christmas Eve.
He hopes that the puzzle box he made for her
with his special gift inside will prove to her his ever-constant love, but is
it too late for that? Can Matilda understand his three-year absence amidst all
the loss she’s gone through? Is their love lost forever, or does the peculiar
puzzle box hold the key to happiness for both of them? Can Sterling be more
than just A CHRISTMAS VISITOR…
Excerpt:
“Don’t
you even think about stepping up on this porch, Sterling Alexander
Thoroughgood, or I’ll shoot a hole in you big enough for a team of horses to
jump through.” The woman wearing a faded blue calico dress aimed the shotgun
straight at his heart…and sometimes his liver since she wasn’t holding the
shotgun all that steady.
Sterling
raised his hands in the air. His bare hands were practically numb from the
cold. He glanced up at the slate gray sky. Snow’s
comin’. Then he grinned at the woman holding the shotgun. “Merry Christmas
to you, too, Matilda.”
She
dipped the shotgun for just a moment, but raised it again as if on a second
thought. “What do you want here after being gone for three years? Did you break
some hearts up in Wyoming? Maybe you have some fathers and brothers gunning for
you and you thought you’d come running back here to hide.”
Well,
there it was. He’d hurt her when he left and she wasn’t about to let him forget
it. “I came to see Allister. I told him I’d be coming back soon as I got my
place up and running. We had an agreement about him selling me some cattle and
maybe a bull to get a good, diverse herd started of my own.” He reached out his
hand to press down on the barrel of her shotgun pointing it toward the broken
down boards of the porch. “So, if you could see yourself clear to let me speak
to your daddy, I’d be obliged.”
Matilda
placed a hand on her hip while the other held tight to that shotgun. “Seems
you’re a little too late, Mr. Thoroughgood. Pa died last year from pneumonia.
He’d been sick a while and I had to sell off all of the livestock except for
the mule and a few chickens to pay for the doctor and his medicine. I guess
you’ll be leaving here empty handed.”
“Tilly,
darlin’, I’m so sorry to hear the news that Allister has passed away. He was a
good man and a good friend to me.” He stretched out a hand to touch her arm,
but she stepped back just out of reach.
“Don’t
you dare call me sweet names or my nickname, you snake. You’ve been gone three
years and not a single word from you in all that time. All that sweet talk
means nothing to me now.” She opened the door and stepped back to wave him into
the house.
“I
need to get my horses settled in the barn first, but I’d be obliged if I could
come in for some coffee after that. It’s been a long trip from Wyoming.” He
tipped his hat and turned to step off the porch. Once he had hold of the reigns
of both horses, he glanced back up at Matilda who still stood with her hand on
the door wearing a strange expression on her face.
“Don’t
be surprised at the condition of the barn. Part of the roof has a hole in it. You
might want to put the horses in the stalls on the left to keep ‘em warm and
dry. There’s a little hay in the loft still.” Her voice seemed less determined
and ornery. Sterling liked it better when she cussed him than when she
pretended to be obliging.
“Thank
you, Matilda. I brought some feed with me. Do you have some stock you need me
to feed or have anything I need to bring in for you?”
Her
throat worked for a moment and her eyes took a watery sheen. Please don’t cry, darlin’. His heart
hurt for her. Things must have been tough for her over the past year. Finally,
she managed to speak and her voice had its defiant edge to it again. “Hector, the
mule, could use some hay and there are a few chickens needing to be fed some
dried corn, if you don’t mind a little work.”
Sterling
chuckled relieved she had regained her starch. “No trouble at all. I’ll see to
things in the barn. You best get on in the house out of the cold. You reckon we
could have a cup of coffee and talk when I get back from the barn? I’ve been
riding for days in the cold to get here and could use something hot to get me
percolating again.”
“Ran
out of coffee three days ago. Hot water might have to do.”
“I
brought provisions with me and some things I thought Allister and you might
need. I need to see to my horse first, so I’ll just get on out and get those
chores done. You take it easy for a while and I’ll fix us up a fine pot of
coffee as soon as I get back from the barn.”
Matilda
nodded her head as an answer, took up her shotgun and walked into the house
shutting the door with a decided bang behind her.
Buy Link: A
Christmas Visitor
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