The Redemption 0f A Hunted Bride (Historical Western Romance) Read online

  The Redemption of a Hunted Bride

  A Western Historical Romance

  Clarice Mayfield

  Edited by

  Robin Spencer

  Contents

  A Thank You Gift

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  Extended Epilogue

  Caught Between Love and Duty

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Also by Clarice Mayfield

  About the Author

  A Thank You Gift

  Thank you so very much for purchasing my book. It really means a lot to me, because this is the best way to show me your love.

  As a Thank You gift I have written a full length novel for you called The Cowboy’s Quest for Love. It’s only available to people who have downloaded one of my books and you can get your free copy by tapping this link here.

  Again, thank you ever so much for your continuous love and support!

  Clarice Mayfield

  About the Book

  He showed her that even in the darkest of nights, the stars will still shine...

  Refusing to marry a complete stranger, Hope Trousdale flees to Nevada after responding to a Mail-Order Bride ad. Hoping to meet her best friend there, what she finds shocks her to the core: the latter has mysteriously gone missing.

  While investigating a series of troubling missing girl cases, sheriff Owen Rundel meets the latest victim's best friend. From the moment he sees her, he knows he has to protect those eyes no matter what.

  But while searching together for the missing girl, Owen’s worst fear becomes real: Hope suddenly goes missing as well…

  With a dangerous criminal of unknown motives lurking in the shadows, Owen must quickly find Hope before it’s too late, but also save the town from its worst nightmare.

  1

  Hope knocked on her father’s study door. He was always in his office when home, so she knew where to find him once she returned. It did not matter to him that it was Sunday, a day of rest. Something like that did not exist in his mind. The business world doesn’t stop for anything, was his favorite saying.

  “Come in,” he called out and Hope opened the door and entered.

  “Hello, Father,” she greeted him, walking the short distance to stand in front of his desk.

  “Hope,” he greeted her back, not lifting his eyes from the papers that were scattered in front of him. No doubt those were billing receipts, all kinds of contracts, requirements, lists, etc.

  Hope found his work rather boring, not that she would ever utter such a thing to his face. He loved it, and that was all that mattered. Besides, she was grateful for all the abundance she was living in, thanks to it. The Trousdale family empire would always be run by her father, and one day, in the far, far future, by her husband. She was her mother’s daughter, after all, she inherited no affinity for such a dull business.

  “You wanted to see me,” she prompted.

  “There’s a matter I want to discuss with you,” he replied, frowning over some contract. She did not want to keep him away from his work since he was clearly far too busy.

  “I already know what it is,” she replied, trying to make this visit short for his sake. In any case, she couldn’t contain herself, the excitement started to rise inside of her once more. Her twenty-first birthday was nearing and she really needed to start preparing for it. Suddenly, six months did not appear to be enough time for everything she wanted to do.

  Oh Lord, I wish it to be perfect, she prayed with all her might.

  “You do?” He asked in surprise, finally lifting his head to look at her.

  “Oh, yes,” she said with a smile.

  “How? I barely made all the arrangements myself.”

  “I guessed it.”

  He chuckled, leaning against his seat. “You were always my clever girl. So you have no objections?” He wanted to know.

  “Of course not. Oh, Daddy, it is going to be grand. I cannot wait.”

  He smacked himself against his knee, clearly pleased. “Honestly, my dear, you take me by surprise with your attitude. I am very happy by this turn of events. Very happy, indeed.”

  Hope was happy he was happy. This birthday was truly going to be the best. She was very fortunate to have such a loving father.

  “We shall announce the engagement on your birthday, then. That will give us plenty of time to prepare everything.”

  “Yes, Father—” and then she registered his actual words. The engagement? “I do not understand,” Hope said, sitting down in one of the chairs opposite his desk.

  “What is the matter, my dear?” He asked with concern. “You do not want to wait until your birthday? You young girls can be very impatient,” he chuckled at his own words.

  “What engagement? I thought we were discussing my birthday party.”

  Now it was his turn to look perplexed. “Why would I bother with the party? That is your mother’s affair. I took care of your future.”

  “My future?” Hope exclaimed.

  “Yes, you are to be wed by the year’s end,” he announced.

  “I will not marry that old man, Mr. Hewitt,” she declared.

  Her father looked shocked. “Of course not.” Her relief was short-lived. “You are to wed Mr. Hewitt’s son.”

  His son? Hope believed Mr. Hewitt had a toddler, not a grown man of a son.

  “He is a fine lad that I have heard many great things about, and even more importantly, he is an heir to the Hewitt’s wealth. You will be very well taken care of,” her father looked rather pleased with himself saying that. “And will continue to live in a fashion you are accustomed to.”

  Hope’s ears were ringing from all the thoughts inside her head. One particular word stood out from all the other noise.

  No, she screamed inside her head. Nononononononono.

  “I do not know Mr. Hewitt’s son,” Hope replied weakly. Mr. Hewitt was one of her father’s most recently acquired acquaintances.

  Hope wasn’t trying to be cynical, it was just that her father met a lot of people regularly, all to maintain his status as one of the most successful and powerful businessmen in the state. Lately, there could not be a dinner party thrown or some other social event held that Mr. Hewitt was not invited to, as well.

  Hope had nothing against that man, she heard he was a widower with just one son, so she assumed her father felt sorry for him since they were new in town and wanted them to feel welcome. Robert Trousdale clearly did not solely accept them out of the goodness of his heart. There was some kind of a business plan in there as well, she was sure of it. Hope did not have the opportunity to meet Mr. Hewitt’s son. As a matter of fact, no one did. That was not uncommon if the son was a small boy.

  Hope heard that Mr. Hewitt was a rather rich man and owned cotton plantations in the south. Her father was simply trying to find
a way to capitalize on Mr. Hewitt’s connections and wealth because that was what he did.

  There was just one thing, though. Hope did not care for the way Mr. Hewitt looked at her. It gave her the chills, having his eyes always trained on her. She felt observed, measured, judged and she did not appreciate the sentiment one bit.

  “There will be plenty of time for that until the wedding,” he said with a wave of his hand. Hope knew her father was trying to be reassuring but wasn’t.

  No, every part of her body rebelled against that idea. She did not want to get married, especially not to a complete stranger.

  “Daddy, I do not wish to marry someone like this. What if I don’t like him?” She tried to voice her concerns.

  “What is there not to like?” He countered rhetorically. “I already told you everything you need to know.”

  Hardly. “But—”

  “It is already settled, Hope. Mr. Hewitt and I are to open ten more factories together. And there is nothing better in fortifying our partnership than joining our two houses together.”

  So this is nothing more than a business transaction to him, Hope realized, instantly getting mad. She should have known, she fumed. There was always an angle with her father, and apparently, no one was spared from his business maneuvers.

  “They are going to be glorious, Hope. The most modern factories ever seen,” he mused, looking into the distance.

  Hope saw red. She stood up and smacked her hands against his old oak desk, forcing him to focus on her one more time.

  “I will not marry Mr. Hewitt’s son or anyone else for that matter, simply so you can collect some business points in the process, and you cannot make me.”

  2

  Hope was so enraged she felt like tearing and breaking everything in front of her and having the biggest tantrum in her life. She did not care if she spoke out of turn or about the fact that she raised her voice. Her mother would snap and chastise her for showing such un-lady-like traits, but her mother was not there.

  At the moment she was enraged and hurt that her father decided to use her in such a manner. Because that was exactly what he did, use her. There was no other word she could use to describe it.

  “What did you say to me?” Hope’s father snapped back, matching her level of irritation.

  Hope knew her father had a bad temper that could easily flare up whenever he was displeased at something or someone. He was rarely like that with his family. Beware if he did not get his way business-wise. However intimidating her father looked in these moments, Hope did not back down. She inherited her temper and sense of self-worth and pride from him, after all.

  “You heard me,” she replied like a spoiled, stubborn brat. A part of her knew she had to calm down a bit and speak with her father in a more rational way. Unfortunately, her mouth and her brain did not communicate well at this time. “I will not be sold off to some random man simply so you can get a better business deal.”

  His eyes narrowed, staring at her. “This is hardly being sold off,” he smirked. “You will be settled for life, and your children as well.”

  “I do not wish to be settled!” she threw those words back at him. Hope did not want to get married in the first place. She loved her life in her parents’ house. She loved her lessons, and all the hobbies, not to mention all the social events she attended throughout the year. And did not want to change that.

  “And what do you want, to live like a pauper? Have to work every day for life?” Hope’s father asked yet did not give her a chance to respond. “Hope, it is time for you to grow up and abandon all these foolish notions! You will be twenty-one years old soon. And it is time you accept the world as it is, a hard and difficult place where you can’t get everything you want.”

  You did. Her father had gotten everything he wanted. Hope wanted to throw those words back in his face, but something stopped her.

  Despite the fact that Hope’s family was one of the wealthiest in the state, her father was always looking for ways to generate even more money. That is his raison d’être.

  “You can never be too rich or too powerful, Hope, remember that,” he liked to say to her.

  “There are times when you have to compromise. Marriage is nothing more than a business transaction.”

  How very romantic of you, Father.

  He sighed. “Maybe this is all my fault. I shielded you from everything, wanted you to grow up in abundance. Now I see the error of my ways.”

  Hope recoiled as if he slapped her. He thought she did not know how the world worked? If she was grateful for one thing to her father, it was for the education he provided her with. The best tutors available that money could buy were always at her disposal and they not only taught her how to read, write, and play instruments, some of them, the few great ones, taught her how to think as well. She was capable of observing the world as it was and seeing all its flaws. It hurt her feelings that her own father thought of her as fickle. Just because she chose to see the best this world had to offer did not mean she was blind to everything else.

  Hope planned on saying something else to her father but reconsidered after his little speech. She took a deep breath, trying to sound as calm as was possible, under the circumstances.

  “I understand what you just said perfectly, and it is just as important you understand me. I refuse.” Hope remained determined.

  The only indicator her father was deeply displeased was the tightness of his jaw. He, too, was trying not to lose his temper. They even thought in the same way. We are the same. “Do not make this difficult, Hope.” His warning was very subtle, yet it was there.

  Oh, she planned on being even more difficult if needed. Still, she decided to make one last effort and plead with her father to reconsider. Hope sat back down. “Please, Father, I beg of you. Do not try to force me to marry someone I’ve never met. I want to love my future husband,” she confessed. The second those last words left her mouth she knew she had made a mistake.

  He snorted as if she said the most ridiculous thing he ever heard. “Love, Hope? Honestly.”

  That made her anger spike back up. “Don’t you want me to be happy? Do you even care?”

  After hearing his comment on love, she wanted to ask if he even loved her, but stopped herself at the last moment. There were some things she was not prepared to hear.

  “You will be happy,” he replied sternly, “with the choice I made for you.”

  No, I refuse, Father.

  “One day you will realize that and be grateful.”

  Never.

  “As you said yourself, Father, it is your choice, not mine. And it will never be mine,” she vowed. She could not say where all this courage to speak to him in such a manner came from but it was too late to surrender now.

  Hope’s father looked at her for a couple of heartbeats, then straightened up in his seat and grabbed hold the first document that lay in front of him. Or at least it looked that way to her.

  “We will discuss all the details when you are less emotional,” he said dismissively. He was already reading and making notes as he went, which infuriated Hope even more.

  “I will not be dismissed like that, Father, and I will most certainly not calm down. This is not going to pass so we will discuss it now.”

  Or you could simply accept the fact that I am not going to be married.

  “Where is Mother?” Hope realized her mother should be a part of this conversation. She was certain her mother would defend her right to choose for herself. Mother wouldn’t allow me to be married off as a part of a business deal. Or would she? Hope wavered for a moment. She banished that thought instantly.

  Blissfully, her mother chose that moment to enter the study. She was bringing tea for Hope’s father. Georgia Trousdale was known for her organizational talents. Hope’s father sometimes joked that if that was a paying job, her mother would build another empire simply because she was that good. It was not easy choreographing everything and at times her mother really
looked like she was at the end of her rope. The rewards were vast, on the other hand, and it was apparent her mother really enjoyed doing it. The fact that it helped her husband was a bonus.

  “Mother,” Hope exclaimed, jumping back to her feet to rush by her mother’s side. “Please reason with Father,” Hope begged, grabbing her by the hand.