Elizabeth (Widows of Blessings Valley Book 1) Read online

  WIDOWS OF BLESSINGS VALLEY: ELIZABETH

  MAXINE DOUGLAS

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  About the Book

  Copyright

  Also by Maxine Douglas

  NOTE FROM MAXINE DOUGLAS

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

  DEDICATION

  PROLOGUE

  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

  EPILOGUE

  BONUS EXCERPT

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  About the Book

  Late morning mining accident casts a gloom over the town of Blessings Valley. Over twenty souls were lost in an excavating explosion that has left several widows, friends, and townspeople mourning. The explosion occurred as the miners were coming out for lunch. A rescue force was sent out immediately to recover the bodies. Services are currently being arranged. Pray for these lost souls and their families.

  —Blessings Valley Chronicle

  Elizabeth Hamilton is a mess – her husband was killed in a mining accident, and she’s been left nearly penniless as she struggles through the grief and betrayal to her husband’s memory.

  Augustine Raines believes there is no woman who will truly love him after a freak riding accident has left him scarred, and that his only attraction is a healthy bank account.

  Copyright

  Widows of Blessings Valley: Elizabeth

  by Maxine Douglas

  Copyright 2019 © D.H. Fritter

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover Layout © EDH Graphics

  Edited by Maria Connor, My Author Concierge

  eBook Layout by My Author Concierge

  First eBook Edition: July 2019

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Author.

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Also by Maxine Douglas

  Men of the Double K Series

  Red River Crossing

  Brides Along the Chisholm Trail Series

  The Reluctant Bride

  The Marshal’s Bride

  The Cattleman’s Bride

  Black Horse Canyon Series

  Simply to Die For

  Leanna’s Light (Book 12, Alphabet Mail-Order Brides)

  Rings of Paradise

  Nashville Rising Star

  Nashville by Morning

  Knight to Remember

  Blood Ties

  Road Angel

  The Queen

  For information on where you can purchase

  Maxine’s Romance Books

  click the “Romance Bookshelf” tab at:

  http://maxinedouglasauthor.blogspot.com/

  Behind Closed Doors Erotic Romance (18+)

  Eternally Yours

  Blue Moon Magic

  Gabby’s Second Chance

  For information on where you can purchase

  Maxine’s Erotic Romance Books

  click the “Hot Sexy Stories -- 18+” bookshelf tab at:

  http://maxinedouglasauthor.blogspot.com/

  NOTE FROM MAXINE DOUGLAS

  Elizabeth is the first in the Widows of Blessings Valley series. While it is always a thrill for an author to start a new series, it was with a heavy heart that I was compelled to write this one. I became a widow in April 2018 after a brief battle with cancer took my love from me to be with our Lord. During those agonizing first few months, so many questions flitted into my mind, along with the anger, grief, loneliness, and finally, acceptance that my beloved was really gone from this realm. It was some of those questions that inspired this series. I hope that it will let other widows, and widowers, know that they are not alone with the crazy questions that come to mind. That as they wonder what is or isn’t appropriate—should they remove their ring(s), when, if at all, should they start dating, are they still married or now considered single, what is the proper mourning period in our modern times, when will the anger go away, and the list goes on and on—others are experiencing similar emotions and questions. While I don’t expect this series to be the answer to the grieving of the reader, I do hope that I have somehow eased that feeling of being alone…for you are not.

  Here start the stories of Elizabeth, Vera, Stella, Fannie, Vivian, Charlotte, Violet, and Willa herself—they are the Widows of Blessings Valley.

  Elizabeth

  Vera

  Stella

  Fannie

  Vivian

  Charlotte

  Violet

  Willa

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

  Thank you to Pastor David Thompson of the First Lutheran Church in Chickasha, Oklahoma, for his assistance in helping me choose the bible passages for this series.

  The church and the congregation have become my extended family.

  I’d be lost spiritually without all of you.

  DEDICATION

  To all those who have grieved the passing of a loved one.

  To my friends Callie and Maria who supported and encouraged me during the writing of this first book in this series after the loss of my husband.

  Without you both this book may never have been written.

  In loving memory of my soulmate, the love I waited a lifetime for.

  We’ll find each other again~we always do.

  A TIME FOR EVERYTHING

  “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven;

  a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

  a time to mourn, and a time to dance;”

  Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4

  PROLOGUE

  Late morning mining accident casts a gloom over the town of Blessings Valley. Over twenty souls were lost in an excavating explosion that has left several widows, friends, and townspeople mourning. The explosion occurred as the miners were coming out for lunch. A rescue force was sent out immediately to recover the bodies. Services are currently being arranged. Pray for these lost souls and their families.

  —Blessings Valley Chronicle

  On a gray, chilling morning in the spring of 1892, seven women, all dressed in black, widows before their time, mourn with the people of Blessings Valley as the preacher begins the funerals of their husbands lost in a coal mining explosion. Sorrow etched on each of the ashen faces. All hope gone from their eyes.

  Wilhelmina Alexander knows firsthand those feelings creeping into their minds and hearts. The anger. The grief. The questions of what to do next. The wondering of how they will ever survive. The betrayal if they ever find love again.

  As the preacher concludes the last of his sermon, Willa promises those seven souls she’ll look after their wives. Help them learn to live again.

  CHAPTER 1

  Early Summer 1892

  Elizabeth Hamilton stood in the middle of her small living room, twisting the wedding band on her left ring finger. She sucked in her bottom lip, hoping to stop the pain that ne
ver ceased to overwhelm her.

  This had been their home—her and Steven’s. The place where they’d made plans to one day raise a family.

  That dream was gone.

  Steven was gone.

  She wrapped her arms tightly around her trembling body. The suppressed anger in her from the past several months had reached its boiling point. The tears she’d fought so hard to hold back burst forth like a raging river after a storm.

  With an agonized scream, she clenched her hands tightly into fists and dropped to her knees. “You promised, Steven Hamilton! You promised to never leave me. You promised we’d be together forever. You promised, you promised, damn you, you promised…” Elizabeth’s body gave in to the sorrow, pain, and loss she’d held back since the explosion at the mine.

  She was tired. Tired of being strong. Tired of going on as if nothing had happened. Tired of everything.

  Sucking in the last of the sobs, Elizabeth drew herself upright, smoothed back her hair, and straightened her back. One slow step at a time, she walked through her home. Everywhere she looked, reminders of Steven and their life together brought more tears.

  “Steven, what am I to do?” she asked, picking up the framed wedding picture. “The money from the mining company has only gone so far. What is left may not be enough to sustain our home for long.”

  Tracing the face of her husband’s image with a trembling fingertip, Elizabeth swallowed a trembling sigh. There was only one thing she could do to keep their home—her home.

  Surely someone in Blessings Valley would have clothing in need of mending. She’d go back to being a seamstress and do what she must to survive.

  “Yes, that’s what I shall do. It may not be much, but if I’m frugal, I may not have to give up our home.” Elizabeth set the picture back on the mantel, a small smile on her face that didn’t reach her heart.

  Gathering a black shawl around her shoulders, Elizabeth stepped out of her home and onto the road leading to the heart of Blessings Valley. This was the first day in weeks since they’d put Steven in the ground that she’d left the sanctuary of her home. She’d only gone to get supplies, avoiding as many people as possible.

  The warmth of the day did little to her warm her cold and broken soul. The late morning was as quiet as new fallen snow, much like her spirit.

  Placing one foot in front of the other, Elizabeth strolled slowly along the path. She paused for a moment in front of the small church she and Steven attended often. Her gaze travelled up to the cross hanging above the door, and she closed her eyes.

  How could a God she worshipped take her husband and those of her friends? One day she may find enough forgiveness to walk through those doors again, but she’d never forget. She’d never forget the pain the loss of her precious love caused.

  Turning her back on the church door, Elizabeth continued on her way to Smith’s Dry Goods. She would need to purchase thread in several colors and needles of different sizes if she was to return to work as a seamstress. She’d once been very handy with a needle and thread—before Steven had swept her off her feet, married her, and brought her to Blessings Valley where they started to build their life together. That was five years ago when the mine first opened.

  Those days were long gone, and that life a ghost of her past. The reality of being alone was a bitterness she now was learning to live with, like it or not.

  “Elizabeth!” Willa Alexander called from her front porch, a broom in her hand.

  Why can’t I just go to town without seeing anyone? Elizabeth put on her well-practiced brave smile and waved. “Willa, how are you?”

  “I am fine.” Willa leaned the broom against the railing then took one step down the planked stairs. “Please, do come in for some coffee. I could use the company today. The last of the boarders is gone, and the house is overwhelmingly quiet.”

  “I am on my way to Smith’s,” Elizabeth answered, then saw the crestfallen look sweep into her friend’s eyes. “But it can wait until after a cup of coffee.”

  “Please, do come in!” Willa chanted, opening the door to her boardinghouse. “I think I may even have a muffin or two left from breakfast.”

  Elizabeth lifted the front of her skirt, slowly walked up the several wooden steps onto the porch, then followed Willa into the boardinghouse’s front parlor.

  “I’ll be back in a moment. Please do sit and make yourself comfortable,” Willa said, sweeping her hand toward the seating arrangement in the parlor then scurrying to the kitchen.

  The room was simple and rich with dark red wood. Books overflowed the shelves of three bookcases. A large grandfather clock ticked away the minutes of the hour in a corner.

  The parlor, while masculine, held the touch of a woman in its fine yet simple cream French shawl drapes and lace doilies on each table. The wallpaper was a French gray, giving the room a welcoming warmth.

  The ornate fireplace was void of a fire, its hearth free of soot. Perched on the mantel along with other knick-knacks was a picture of Willa on her wedding day.

  Elizabeth’s heart stuttered with the new knowledge that she too would survive Steven’s death, just as Willa had survived her husband’s passing years ago.

  For a brief moment, hope warred with despair. Part of her wanted to go on as she knew Steven would want her to. Yet, how could she when the love of her heart was no longer with her to share life with?

  How was she to live a fulfilling life without her husband to share it with her? She didn’t even have a child, their child, to love that would have been a part of Steven.

  She was virtually all alone. That’s what her heart had been saying for near a month now.

  “Well, we are in luck!” Willa chirped, carrying a tray of two cups, a steaming pot, and a plate of muffins into the parlor. “There was even some honey left for the muffins.”

  Elizabeth smiled then took a seat next to Willa on the settee. “This is very generous of you, Willa.”

  “I wasn’t sure when you’d last eaten,” Willa said, pouring coffee for the two of them. “I wanted to visit you, but you have saved me the walk.”

  “I was going to Smith’s to replenish my sewing box.” Elizabeth took a sip of her coffee when all she wanted to do was tell her friend not to worry about her. That she’d be fine and didn’t need her well-intended sympathies.

  “I thought maybe I could earn some extra money doing mending for people.” Elizabeth put her cup down and stared at the muffins, wondering why she’d just revealed her situation to Willa. Oh well, the entire town would find out soon enough anyway.

  “Do you mind if I come with you? I noticed that I am in need of a bag of cornmeal,” Willa asked, her eyes full of a hope Elizabeth didn’t have the heart to squash, no matter how sad she herself was.

  “Of course! I am grateful for the company.” Elizabeth lied cheerfully, wanting nothing more than to be left to herself.

  Willa draped her shawl over her shoulders as she walked through the doorway with Elizabeth. She’d made a promise months ago to seven souls, and Willa was going to keep that promise one way or another. It was time she kept that vow, and she was going to start with Elizabeth Hamilton.

  Although the widows needed a bit of time to themselves, she knew what these poor young women had been going through. She also knew it wasn’t preventable; they’d have to go through it all in order to come out the other side of grief a different person.

  When Charlie died, Willa wouldn’t accept help from her friends or her family. She only wanted to hide away from the outside, believing her world had come to an end. And in many ways, it had, only to open a new one. In time, Elizabeth would accept help and find her way to a new world. Until then, Willa would give a gentle push to that path.

  Willa and Elizabeth walked into Smith’s side by side. The cowbell loudly clanked their arrival, and Mr. Smith popped up from behind the counter.

  “Good morning, Mrs. Alexander, Mrs. Hamilton.” Mr. Smith nodded, dusting his hands off. “I trust you ladies are doin
g well.”

  “Good morning, Mr. Smith,” Willa answered, going straight to the back where the bags of cornmeal were shelved. “It is a beautiful morning! Don’t you agree, Elizabeth?”

  “Oh, yes. Yes, it is,” Elizabeth mumbled, her hands already buried among the spools of thread.

  Willa smiled at Mr. Smith, placing a five-pound bag of meal on the counter. “Please charge this to my account, Mr. Smith. Thank you.”

  “Of course,” Mr. Smith said in a hushed voice, watching Elizabeth as she rummaged through the once neat rows of thread. “Is she—”

  “Yes, and thank you, Mr. Smith,” Willa answered in a low, discreet voice, then strolled over to Elizabeth.

  “I think your idea is a splendid one,” Willa said in a quiet voice.

  Elizabeth looked at Willa through squinted eyes then returned to the task her fingers were performing. “You do? I thought you’d be the first one to try and discourage me.”

  “No need to look at me like I’m a bug you need to squash!” Willa laughed as Elizabeth continued to shuffle spools of thread from the table to her basket and back to the table again. “I’m sure there must be lots of mending needed at Nana’s Laundry. That would be a good place to offer your services.”

  “I would think they have someone to do the mending; it is a laundry after all,” Elizabeth commented, placing another spool and package of needles into the basket.

  “Maybe, but I cannot imagine they would have anyone as skilled as you are,” Willa said, taking Elizabeth by the elbow. “Let me help you, Elizabeth, please. You can post something at the boardinghouse if you’d like.”