Dakota Father

Dakota Father
Linda Ford

Indulge your fantasies of delicious Regency Rakes, fierce Viking warriors and rugged Highlanders. Be swept away into a world of intense passion, lavish settings and romance that burns brightly through the centuriesLinda Ford grew up devouring books and making up stories in her head often late at night when she couldn't sleep. But she hadn't planned to write. Instead, she dreamed of running an orphanage. In a way, that dream came true. She married, had four homemade children, adopted ten and lived (at times, endured) the dream. During one of those times when the dream seemed more like a nightmare, when several of the kids were teens and acting out in weird and awful ways, she discovered the wonderfully controllable world of writing.Writing first took her to non-fiction human-interest articles for newspapers and eventually a non-fiction book about tuberculosis set in the 1930s and 1940s (Touched By The White Plague). But romance had always been her first love and she turned to writing love stories. She is multi-published in the CBA market.She lives on a small ranch in Alberta where she can see the mountains every day. She and her husband continue to enjoy their children and grandchildren. Linda also provides care for a paraplegic, double-amputee man. She still finds a great deal of enjoyment and satisfaction in creating imaginary worlds, only now she does it on paper or rather, at the computer.

“Miss Archibald, I will say it again.

This is no place for a woman.”

Before he could escape, Jenny spoke. “I’ll leave when I deem it’s appropriate, but I won’t be run off. I won’t be scared off. So don’t even try.”

He turned slowly. “Don’t flatter yourself that I’d bother. You’ll find plenty of challenges without my interference.”

What on earth did he mean? Was there some sort of danger she should be aware of?

But he was gone before she could ask.

She heard the sound of horse hooves and looked out the window in time to see Burke riding away, leaning forward as if anxious to be away from this place. She shivered. Should she be afraid of him?

He turned, saw her at the window. His gaze drilled into her, dark, powerful, full of—

She jerked back and pressed her palm to her throat.

Promise? Hope? Or was it a warning?

LINDA FORD

shares her life with her rancher husband, a grown son, a live-in client she provides care for and a yappy parrot. She and her husband raised a family of fourteen children, ten adopted, providing her with plenty of opportunity to experience God’s love and faithfulness. They had their share of adventures, as well. Taking twelve kids in a motor home on a three-thousand-mile road trip would be high on the list. They live in Alberta, Canada, close enough to the Rockies to admire them every day. She enjoys writing stories that reveal God’s wondrous love through the lives of her characters.

Linda enjoys hearing from readers. Contact her at linda@lindaford.org or check out her website at www.lindaford.org, where you can also catch her blog, which often carries glimpses of both her writing activities and family life.

Linda Ford

Dakota Father

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

—Psalm 139:14

To my grandparents and great-grandparents, who faced challenges in moving to a new land.

I am in awe of the hardships they endured and conquered. We owe them, and the pioneers like them, a debt of gratitude.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Epilogue

Letter to Reader

Questions for Discussion

Chapter One

Buffalo Hollow, Dakota Territory, 1884

Nineteen-year-old Jenny Archibald spared a moment to dab at her forehead. If only she could escape the heat sucking at her pores and driving two-year-old Meggie to fretfulness. Jenny sensed the annoyance of those who shared the passenger rail car, cooped up in the same hot box as she and Meggie and having to endure the fitful cries of a child.

She pulled a clean cloth from the valise at her feet and spread it over the leather seat across from her. “Meggie, lie down and I’ll fan you.” They’d both be considerably cooler if Meggie didn’t clutch at her neck and struggle in her arms.

Meggie whined a protest but allowed Jenny to put her down and, as she promised, Jenny waved over the child the book she had hoped to read on the trip. She’d naively thought Meggie would sleep the entire way from Center City, Ohio, or be happy to stare out the window at the passing scenery.

After a few minutes of fussing, Meg stuck two fingers in her mouth and her eyelids lowered. Jenny let out a sigh of relief. And hid a smile as the other occupants let out echoing sighs.

She glanced about the car. Apart from a withered old lady mumbling in the far seat, Jenny was the only woman aboard. Across the aisle sat two men who seemed to be business associates. They had persevered in wearing their suit coats for the first hour of the trip but now had shed them and waved paper before their faces trying to cool themselves.

Further along, a cowboy hunched over, his legs stretched out beside the seat in front of him. He spared her a sharp look then pulled his hat low and let his chin fall to his chest.

Jenny told herself she would not look at the man who sat across from the old lady. She’d been aware of him since he joined them several stops back—dressed in black, with black hair, and black eyes that seemed to see everything.

Pa was right when he said to her, “Pepper, you must learn to restrain your impulses. Think before you leap.”