Today is release day for
Gambled Pride
by Sandra E Sinclair
Book 12 and her third book in the series
SWEETHEARTS OF JUBILEE SPRINGS
About Gambled Pride:
He's
running from his past, she's chasing her future.
Lied
to by her father, abandoned by her mother, and determined to keep her promise
to a dying sister.
Rachel
Stanley, feels lost and afraid after saying a final farewell to her beloved
sister. She is truly alone in the world,
and must travel west disguised as her sister, to marry one of two men, she's
never met.
Rachel
knows who's to blame for her miserable and empty life. She wants revenge. Not
only for herself, but for the loss of her beautiful sister. What she needs to
make it happen, she can't do alone. She needs help and hopes to find it in the
man she’ll be marrying in Jubilee Springs.
Tired
of living in the company’s bunkhouse with the other miners. Beg Wilson decides
to take his bosses up on their generous offer of finding wives for their
workers, and take advantage of the provided lodgings that came with it, by puts
his name down to receive a mail order bride.
He's
never really had a home and is determined to shake the ghost of his past,
hoping to find a future with the woman whose letters move him, and make him
think a good life is possible. He'll finally be able to plant roots and have a
normal family life.
The
only trouble is, his bride is not who she says she is.
Rachel
and Beg are on a collision course, where his past and her future will merge
into one. What Rachel's running away from, is what Beg is trying to forget.
Destiny demands has fated they do it together, bringing with it bittersweet
memories, hurt feelings, peace of mind and new beginnings.
Can
two lost soul heal each other and find happiness?
Gambled Pride will be offered at the New Release sale price of $.99 for one day before it will be available at its usual price.
Now, for an excerpt:
Chapter 1
The air was still, the night had a nip in
its tail as it pinched at Rachel Stanley’s skin, leaving kiss bumps in its
trail. Rachel shivered and wrapped the thin shawl tightly around her. Steam
from her breath wafted through the air as she raced along the lonely streets,
keeping close to the shadows cast by the moonlight. She had to get to her
sister Marybeth. She’d know what to do. Their father had gone too far this
time.
Her tears rolled unabated as she cried,
cold and wet on her cheeks. What should
she do? Panic gripped her soul as she relived what her father had told her,
so matter-of-fact, as if her feelings counted for nothing.
She picked up speed with every
nerve-shattering sound that reached her ears, breaking through the noise of her
pumping heart, which echoed, thumping against her eardrums. Her eyes shifted
this way, then that, making sure she wasn’t seen, in case Red Adams decided to
claim his prize earlier than the date stated.
Their father’s gambling had already
sealed Marybeth’s fate. She wasn’t going to let him ruin her life and
reputation in the same way. Maybe things wouldn’t have gotten so bad if
Marybeth hadn’t become sick. Without her money coming in too, what she made
from cleaning other people’s houses, taking in their mending and laundry wasn’t
enough to sustain their father’s addiction. So now he wanted her to work for
Red too.
She
wouldn’t do it.
Marybeth had only been a dancing girl but
her chances of finding a good man to marry were over. No decent man was going
to marry her sister, knowing she’d let strange men paw her and swirl her around
the saloon night after night.
Rachel quickened her stride. Marybeth had
told her, if ever the day came when their pa decided to make her work for Red,
Rachel should run—run and never look back.
That day had come.
But how could she leave with Marybeth
being sick up at the hospital? Her big sister was all she had in the world, and
she’d never leave her; never. Marybeth was more than a sister, she was her
friend, her mother, and her protector from a drunken, brutish father who showed
them no love after their mother ran out on him; leaving the girls behind.
Rachel had only been little when their
mother left, but Marybeth had told her stories to remind her of how loving
their mother was and how much she loved them. But she couldn’t take them with
her, or their father would never stop looking for her. And when he found her,
he’d kill her. The law would do nothing about it, because he’d make sure they
never found her body.
She told Rachel how their mother had
cried the day she left, wishing she could take them with her. She was heading
farther west, to marry a man she’d never met, who had two boys, leaving her
sister with instructions to do the same when she became of age and to take
Rachel with her.
“Ma left us so she could live. So, you
have to be good, Rachel, you have to do all he says so he doesn’t hurt us the
way he used to hurt Ma,” Marybeth had said.
“When is she coming back for us?” she’d
asked with the innocence of her childhood.
“She won’t be coming back. She’s gone to
have a new life, a better life, and when we get old enough we’re going to do
the same. So, you’ve got to stay out of Pa’s way until then. We do as he says,
and we’ll be all right.”
But it hadn’t been all right. Although
Rachel guessed if Marybeth had been an only child, maybe her life with Pa would
have been different.
Then again, Marybeth had been seven years
older, and at the age of twelve she knew how to be the way their father wanted
her to be. A naive five-year-old hadn’t known.
She’d gotten herself into all manner of
mishaps, and Marybeth took her punishment. She’d tried so hard to be good and
didn’t get it until she was a lot older. By then Marybeth bore the scars that
were meant for her.
Rachel loved her sister and curbed her
tomboy, troublesome ways to save Marybeth from any more of her father’s abuse.
It had taken time, but she couldn’t watch her sister suffer any longer.
Her cooking and cleaning skills improved
with age. She stopped burning their meals and ruining the clothes they took in
for laundry. Her needlework was good enough for Marybeth to leave her alone to
get on with the jobs they took into their home. It meant she could work outside
to bring in extra income for their father to gamble away.
Before she became sick, Marybeth had told
her they would both be free soon. She’d promised Rachel they were going to live
far away from their father, someplace he’d never find them. She had plans.
Those plans were quashed by her illness, though.
The entrance to the clinic was in sight.
She’d see Marybeth and tell her what their father had planned for her and ask
her sister’s advice. She didn’t know where to go without money, or a place safe
from their father’s reach.
Perhaps with things being what they were,
Marybeth would share her plans with her and they’d leave together tonight—after
all, her father said Marybeth’s health had improved.
She was desperate. Marybeth had told her
working for Red was hell on earth, and every Sunday at church, her sister
prayed for a different and better life. Her prayers were answered from
something someone had left behind on the pew. Marybeth had picked it up and
chuckled.
“Oh, Ma, it’s been so long, I’d
forgotten. I know what to do now. Thank you, Lord.”
Rachel had been confused as to whom
Marybeth had been speaking to, she understood her thanking the Lord, but aside
from the preacher, they had been the only other people left in church.
Reaching the clinic, she slipped in
through the door out of the encroaching cold.
“Ah, Miss Stanley, you got my message. I
believe your sister is hanging on for you.”
“Hanging on?” Fear gripped her heart.
“What do you mean, hanging on?”
“Didn’t your father tell you? After you
left here yesterday, your sister took a turn for the worse. We told him to send
you back, as she was asking for you. We thought she’d go in the night but she’s
struggling to stay alive. I can only think her stubborn grasp on life is so she
can see you before she goes.”
Rage flew throughout her being. Her
father had come home and lied to her. He’d told her, her sister’s condition had
much improved and she should be coming home soon. He’d even tried to keep her
from visiting Marybeth today, saying there was no need if her sister was coming
home. He’d given her a million and one chores to do in preparation for
Marybeth’s return.
The only reason she’d disobeyed him was
because he’d said with Marybeth unable to work at the saloon anymore, she’d
have to take her place until her sister recovered. When he’d added, Marybeth
had arranged it with Red, Rachel knew he’d lied. Marybeth had always told her
to run if he even suggested she work there.
She’d challenged him, saying Marybeth
would never do such a thing, and he’d laughed.
“Okay, you got me. I lost you in a game
of cards. Red’s given me two days to prepare you, and then you have to go take
your sister’s place.”
The man was despicable, she hadn’t
thought him capable of lying about Marybeth’s condition. Now the doctors said
her sister was dying.
If Marybeth died, she might as well die
too.
~oOo~
