Robin Lee Hatcher
Authors: Wagered Heart
Critical Acclaim for Robin Lee Hatcher’s
Historical Romances
Catching Katie
, named a “Best Book of 2004”
in Christian fiction by Library Journal
“[In
Catching Katie
,] Robin Lee Hatcher delivers a delightful, thought-provoking romp with characters readers are sure to adore.”
Romantic Times Book Review Magazine
“Robin Lee Hatcher is not afraid to challenge us with thought-provoking issues and valid spiritual insights. A truly enjoyable read!”
Cindy Swanson, host of the Weekend Rockford radio show
Patterns of Love
, winner of the
RITA Award for Best Inspirational
“This heart-warming prairie romance [
Patterns of Love
] promises to establish Hatcher as a noteworthy Christian romance author.”
CBA Marketplace
The Victory Club
, winner of the
2006 Award of Excellence
“[In
The Victory Club
,] veteran Christian fiction author Hatcher weaves epistolary elements with third-person omniscient narration in this moving novel about a year in the life of four Idaho women working at a Boise airfield during WWII . . . Three of them are Christians, and rather than making them cardboard saints, Hatcher depicts each one struggling with and giving in to sin . . . Hatcher includes V-mail and news clippings to good effect, making this novel’s wartime setting believable without resorting to cliché . . . This novel embraces complexity rather than eschewing it. A well-paced and genuinely suspenseful plot plus Hatcher’s pleasingly smooth prose make this novel a delight.”
Publishers Weekly
The Shepherd’s Voice
, winner of the
RITA Award for Best Inspirational
“Capturing the essence of the early 1930s, author Robin Lee Hatcher crafts an endearing story about a young shepherdess who rescues a wayward soul in her latest work,
The Shepherd’s Voice . . .
Hatcher has a real warmth in her writing style and the relationship between the characters comes across as natural and honest, rather than contrived and superficial. There is an authentic luster to the story, which gives the reader a genuine feeling, together with a plot that is suspenseful enough to keep the pages turning until the very end.”
Christian Retailing
WAGERED HEART
OTHER BOOKS BY ROBIN LEE
HATCHER
The Perfect Life
Return to Me
A Carol for Christmas
Loving Libby
The Victory Club
Beyond the Shadows
Catching Katie
Speak to Me of Love
Firstborn
Ribbon of Years
Promised to Me
In His Arms
Patterns of Love
Dear Lady
The Shepherd’s Voice
WAGERED HEART
A NOVEL
In God have I put my trust:
I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.
Psalm 56:11
ZONDERVAN
Wagered Heart
Copyright © 2008 by RobinSong, Inc.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.
ePub Edition January 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-54306-0
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan,
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hatcher, Robin Lee.
Wagered heart / Robin Lee Hatcher.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-25926-8
1. Young women — Fiction 2. — Fiction. 3. Montana — Fiction. I. Title.
BV2082.A9 M485 — 2001
266'.0092 — dc21
2001017679
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other — except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
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Contents
WAGERED HEART
Bethany Silverton swept her lime green and white striped gown out of the way and closed the picket gate of her family’s new home. Then with gloved fingers, she opened a matching striped silk parasol and rested it against her shoulder. From down the street, the sounds of laughter mixed with the brassy tinkle of piano keys spilled from the nearest saloon and into the main street of Sweet-water, Montana.
Bethany’s friend, Ingrid Johnson, shook her head. “It is shameful that those men drink so early in the day.” The words rolled off her tongue in a soft Swedish accent. “I do not know why the good reverend wanted to build his church here. He could have settled in a more civilized place long before this.”
Bethany hid her amusement behind her parasol. She couldn’t admit to Ingrid how much she liked this raw frontier town. After all, she had complained without ceasing when her father announced they were leaving Philadelphia to go west. She had declared to both of her parents she would never forgive her father for withdrawing her from Miss Henderson’s School for Young Ladies, for making her leave all of her friends behind, for removing her from the glittering society of which her wealthy grandmother — and by extension, Bethany herself — was a part. She had pouted when they traveled, and she’d pouted whenever they stopped along the way, waiting for her father to hear from the Lord if they had reached the place God meant for them to call home.
Now, two years after bidding Philadelphia farewell, she could admit to herself how much she loved the rolling plains and majestic mountains that surrounded her, how much she admired the men, women, and children who had left everything in hopes of making a better life for themselves in the West.
Even more, she loved her newfound freedoms. Her grandmother — the venerable Eustace Vanderhoff Silverton — would be horrified to know Bethany sometimes went riding without a chaperone or spoke to complete strangers without a proper introduction. Such things were not done by young ladies in her grandmother’s world.
Bethany shifted the parasol to her other shoulder and looked at Ingrid. “There were saloons in every town we passed through. You simply must ignore them.” She turned and began walking, Ingrid hurrying to keep up.
Sweetwater, Montana, was in its youth, a town flowering to life in ser vice of the ranchers who laid claim to the vast grasslands. Its main street was lined with false-fronted buildings, including a mercantile store, two saloons, a small restaurant, a bakery, a livery, an apothecary and doctor’s office, and the sheriff ’s office and jail. When the Silverton family arrived less than a week ago, the reverend had purchased a two-story home on the edge of town from a widow who was returning to Missouri.
This, he’d said, was where the good Lord would have them stay.
The first business the two young women reached was the apothecary. A small bell jingled overhead as Bethany opened the door and she and Ingrid entered.
A green-visored man looked up from his paper-strewn desk. His weathered face cracked into a grin. “How do, ladies. Can I help you?”
She stepped forward. “I’m Miss Silverton. My father is Reverend Silverton.” She motioned toward Ingrid. “This is my friend, Miss Johnson.”
“I heard we’d got us a preacher. Glad to meet you, Miss Silver-ton. You too, Miss Johnson. My name’s Wilton. John Wilton. My brother’s the doc here in Sweetwater.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. Miss Johnson and I don’t want to take up your time, but we wanted you to know that my father will be holding a church ser vice this Sunday morning in a field tent behind our home. The ser vice will start at ten.”
“Me and the missus will be there. My Sarah’s been praying for a pastor to come through these parts ever since we settled here. She’d want me to tell you she’s been eager to come calling on you and your mother, but she’s been feeling a might poorly. We’ve got us a new baby coming real soon now.”
“How wonderful, Mr. Wilton. Children are a gift from God. Please tell your wife I look forward to meeting her too.”
“That I’ll do. And good day to you, miss.”
The next business was the livery stable, where Bethany tacked up a notice of the church ser vice near the main doors. Then they crossed the street to Mrs. Jenkins’s Restaurant. Once inside, Bethany introduced herself to the proprietress while Ingrid — ever shy around strangers — waited in the background. Again they received a warm welcome. The same was true in the mercantile and the bakery.
