A sneak peek at my new release, plus a free ebook and audiobook for everyone!

 

 

Hello everyone! This month, I wanted to share the first chapter of my brand new release! Stick around because at the end, I’m sharing the links for the prequel which is free, and it’s on ebook and audio, whichever you’d like. (Or both!) You ready? Gosh, I’m sooo excited for you to meet Eli and Hannah.

The Gunslingers

Chapter 1

1870s Oregon

 

“Shoot first, ask questions later.”

“Now, Gus,” Hannah Carson sighed. “Don’t say that. Especially around Meg.” She glanced over at her four-year-old daughter, who was wrapping her rag doll in a blanket. While her daughter hadn’t seemed to notice the old ranch hand’s comment, she didn’t want her repeating such things.

“I’m telling you, that’s what you do with men like that,” old Gus retorted. “I’m not leaving you while he’s here.” He folded his tanned, thin arms, heavily corded with veins, and leaned against the wall. “If I were a young man again,” he muttered, and then mumbled something so low Hannah couldn’t hear him.

Laying a hand on his arm and giving a gentle squeeze, Hannah nodded. She appreciated the gesture more than he likely knew, and tried to steel herself as Wallace Carson, her former brother-in-law, rode closer onto the property, approaching the house on his black mare.

“I’m going outside to talk with him,” she said, her voice quiet. If it quivered a little, Gus pretended not to notice.

“Not alone, you ain’t,” he said.

“Please, Gus. Look after Meg. Keep her inside.”

Gus frowned, the wrinkles in his weathered face growing deeper as he looked between Hannah and her daughter. Through the kitchen window, they could see Wallace dismount. “Fine,” he said. “But I’m staying near the window to hear. You scream, I’ll come a running. Won’t let him keep bothering you.”

With a short nod, Hannah stepped through the kitchen door and into the yard. She left her apron on, not wanting Wallace to think he was welcome or worth looking nice for. She left the door cracked so Gus could hear better. “Wallace,” she greeted, her voice neutral.

“Hannah. Came to see if you’d made up your mind,” he greeted, stepping close.

For a man with such an important question to ask, he sure didn’t look like he cared at all about how his appearance, she thought. He looked like he’d been out working in the fields all day, even though he never lifted a finger unless it was to boss someone else around.

Under his cowboy hat she knew sat a curly head full of graying brown hair filled with grease. His shirt was stained, with wet splotches under the arms and across his chest. The hem of his pants and the bottoms of his boots were mucky. She knew it wasn’t mud. They’d not had rain for well over a week now, though she wished it would pour, just so he’d leave.

That wasn’t to be, though. The sun shone brightly, the sky was a perfect-colored blue, and it was all in stark contrast to the gloom the man brought with him. Hannah steeled herself and shook her head. “I’m not marrying you, Wallace. I’ve told you that.”

As if he didn’t hear her, Wallace walked a few paces to the left and stared out at the field where a few dozen cattle grazed. He let his gaze roam over them, then turned, taking in the large garden and the barn, where inside four horses resided. A chicken wandered in the yard, pecking her way past, a chick following close behind. It was a feisty hen, and for a moment, Hannah let herself wish it would peck at her unwanted visitor.

Wallace looked back at her. “You can’t run this place on your own,” he told her. “It’s too much for you.”

“I’m not on my own. I have Gus,” Hannah said calmly.

“That’s not what I meant.” Wallace gave her a hard look. “You don’t have a husband. You don’t have a son. The land defaults back to my family, now that Jim’s gone.”

Hannah knew that. She’d always known that. Jim had told her before they were married, his fifty acres and all he had belonged to the family. The only way to keep it was for him to have a son. Then, it would rightfully pass to him. If something were to happen to him, it went back to his brother and his brother’s sons. Right now, Wallace had two, both in their twenties. Jim had been the youngest of six, so he was twelve years younger than his brother, and the only other boy.

At the time, she hadn’t worried about it at all. Jim was strong, healthy. So it was unexpected when, one day, he was attacked by a bear in the barn. Jim had shot it, but not before he’d been clawed badly. The wounds had gotten infected, and the doctor couldn’t help him. He’d died a few short weeks later, and his brother had been by several times since.

Each visit made during the last six months since Jim’s death had been the same. Asking her to marry him, and then threatening her when she said no. She half wondered if he was as tired of this as she was. Still, he didn’t give up in his persistence, and neither would she give in.

“You’ve no other option,” Wallace said. “Where would you go? You can’t stay here. This isn’t your land anymore.” He smirked. “There’s a nice spot waiting for you in my bed. Just say yes.”

With a shudder running down her spine, Hannah threw back her shoulders. From the day she’d first met Wallace, she couldn’t stand him. It might have been the way he leered at her, and every other woman he saw. It might have been the fact he’d always been jealous of his hard-working brother, who was their father’s favorite. It could even be that she just didn’t like him. She never could tell, but there was no way Hannah was marrying him. He’d worked his first wife into her grave. Everyone knew it. The woman had near wasted away. He treated her as little more than a slave. Hannah had met her once, just before she married Jim. The woman hadn’t spoken once. She was bone-thin, paler than a cup of milk, and had hollow eyes. Hannah didn’t want that to be her.

“I’m out of patience,” Wallace snarled. “Marry me, today. Or leave.”

“I can’t,” Hannah said, her voice firm. She was pleased it wasn’t shaking. Her shoulders back, she fixed him with a cool stare. “I’ve every right to be here. I’ve spoken with the lawyer.”

“No, you don’t,” he argued. His voice grew loud, and behind her, Hannah could hear Gus at the window moving closer. Without even turning around, she knew the old man was glaring at the man who he loathed as much as she did. She just hoped, for his sake and hers, he wouldn’t do anything foolish.

“I do,” she answered calmly. “You see, I don’t know yet that I don’t have a son.” She placed her hand gently on her stomach, her eyes fixed onto Wallace’s. “I have until my child is born before I either need to leave, or he claims the land.”

Wallace’s mouth opened and closed for a moment before he snarled, “That’s what you think.” He climbed back on his horse and turned it sharply.

As he rode out, the cloud of dust rising behind him, Hannah watched. She couldn’t feel triumphant. She didn’t dare. While she hoped for a son to give him his father’s inheritance, she knew that wasn’t something she had control of.

A shadow fell, and she looked over at Gus next to her.

“His face when you told him that,” he chuckled.

Hannah didn’t answer. She hadn’t cared about Wallace’s shocked expression. No, what concerned her was the hard look in his eyes, and the anger laced in his words. “That’s what you think,” he’d said.

Was that a threat? To her or to her unborn child? What kind of a man would do that?

But Hannah didn’t even have to ask herself that. She knew. Wallace would. The man was as evil as they came, and he’d always been envious that this land, Jim’s land, was better than his own. But he was right about one thing. She really didn’t have any options. If her child wasn’t male, there was nothing else she could do, because Hannah refused to marry Wallace Carson.

But would she be safe until then? Hannah glanced at Gus. She was sure worry was written on her face. It was hard not to be concerned. His single headshake, also showing his concern, didn’t make her feel one bit better.

“He’ll be back,” Gus sighed, and turned back toward the barn. He muttered as he walked, “Men like him don’t never give up.”

Hannah wrapped her arms tightly around herself. “And I don’t know how to stop him,” she whispered.

Keep reading here…

 

 

And, get the prequel where you first get to meet the gunslinger, and his friends!

 

 

Free audiobook here

Free ebook here

Now, before I go, I have a question for you all! What’s your favorite kind of hero to read about? Do you like a lawman? A cowboy? Someone who has a trade? What’s your favorite kind of guy to read about? I’d love to know!