The Path To Her Heart

The Path To Her Heart
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 centuriesBut a widowed father struggling during the Depression doesn't have much faith in either–until he meets Emma Spencer in the South Dakota boardinghouse they share.She's a dedicated nurse who could love his boy heal his own heart. But how can Boothe trust a profession he blames for his greatest loss? Emma understs Boothe Powers's pain. She has her own secret anguish believes her dreams of a husb child are beyond reach.Still, she can pretend when he asks her to play his temporary fiancée to protect his son. if God would grant her one miracle, He knows exactly what her heart is yearning for. . . .

“I’m going to lose Jessie,” Boothe said. “My brother and sister-in-law want to adopt him.”

Emma couldn’t let that happen. But how could she prevent it?

Emma considered his offer of marriage, the impossibility of accepting him. And yet…To think of being Boothe’s wife. A chance to be loved and cherished…But his proposal had nothing to do with love. He only wanted a mother for Jessie.

“I fear I’m going to lose my son.” Boothe’s words were dark with despair. “I’m begging you, Emma, marry me. Help me keep my son.”

“I can’t. I wish I could.”

“Unless…perhaps we can pretend to be engaged until after the court date. If the judge thinks I’m to marry, he might rule in my favor. Then we can go our separate ways.”

Emma stared at him in shock. “A pretend engagement?”

“Sure. You think we could pretend to be in love for a few weeks?”

If only he guessed how easy it would be for her….

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 motorhome 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 Web site 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

The Path To Her Heart

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

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

—Hebrews 13:8

To my friend, Alma, who has always been such a

faithful encourager in my faith walk.

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

Chapter Fifteen

Epilogue

Questions for Discussion

Chapter One

Favor, South Dakota

1934

They represented all she wanted.

They were everything she could never have.

The pair caught twenty-four-year-old Emma Spencer’s attention as she made her way home. The way the tall man bent to the sweet little boy at his side, the tenderness in his gesture as he adjusted the child’s hat and straightened his tweed coat brought a sting of unexpected tears to her eyes.

The child said something, and the man squatted to eye level, took the boy’s chin between long fingers and smiled as he answered. Even from where she stood, Emma could see strong and assuring depths in his dark eyes. Then he straightened, his expression determined, and stared across the street.

Emma ducked, afraid he’d notice her interest and think her unduly curious. But she couldn’t resist a guarded look at the pair.

The boy took the man’s hand. The man picked up a battered suitcase and they continued on.

Emma’s throat closed so tightly that she struggled to breathe. An ache as wide as the Dakota prairies sucked at her thoughts. Just a few steps away, across the wind-swept, dusty street, stood the embodiment of all she longed for—a strong, caring man and a dear little child. She mentally shook herself. Although it was not to be, she had no reason to begrudge the fact. She loved being a nurse. She loved helping people. Most of all, she had a responsibility to her parents and brother, struggling to survive the drought and Depression on the farm back home. They depended on the money she sent from her wages each month. She thought of her brother, Sid, and drew in a steadying breath to stop a shiver of guilt. She waited for her lungs to ease and let her usually buried dreams subside into wispy clouds she knew would drift across her thoughts from time to time, like the straw-colored autumn leaves skittering past her feet.

The pair turned in at Ada Adams’s boardinghouse and stopped at the front door, side-by-side, tall and straight as two soldiers. She smiled at the way the boy glanced at the man to see if he imitated the stance correctly.