Dear Lady by Robin Lee Hatcher

From the Publisher

Dear Mary,

New Prospects, Montana, is nothing like England—so terrifying and beautiful at the same time, and much larger than I dared imagine when you and I first embarked on our adventures in the New World.

I have had the good fortune of becoming the town’s schoolmistress. Young Janie Steele is as precious as I imagined from her letters. As for her father, Garret Steele . . .

Oh, I feel like such a fool! I’ve run halfway around the world to escape a man I loathed, only to discover I’m losing my heart to a man still in love with the wife he buried.

The mayor, kind man, has been most attentive. But I wish he were someone else. I wish he were Garret.

With affection,
Your friend Beth Wellington

In the big-sky country of Montana, the past doesn’t always stay buried. Circumstances have a way of forcing secrets into the open, sometimes bringing hearts together in unlikely ways, and sometimes tearing them apart.

Dear Lady is Book One in the Coming to America series about women who come to America to start new lives. Set in the late 1800s and early 1900s, these novels by best-selling author Robin Lee Hatcher craft intense chemistry and conflict between the characters, lit by a glowing faith and humanity that will win your heart. Look for other books in the series at your favorite Christian bookstore.

Romantic Times

Tenderness and passion and Ms. Hatcher's hallmarks.

Affaire de Coeur

Ms. Hatcher is a magnificent writer whose stories crackle with energy and vitality.

Library Journal

In this rewrite of a previously released 1996 secular romance of the same name, Hatcher (The Shepherd's Voice) reaffirms her calling to the Christian market. In 1897 Lady Elizabeth "Beth" Wellington flees an arranged marriage in England to become a school teacher in New Prospects, MT, the home of her young pen pal Janie Steele. Janie's father, Garrett, expects that Lady Beth will want to be waited on hand and foot, but Beth surprises him by moving into a tumbledown cabin. As Beth settles into her new life, her feelings for Garrett grow while she fends off the mayor's hot pursuit. With more emphasis on the role of the church in the developing West and deeper religious introspection for the main characters, Hatcher easily shifts to a new market with a title that will appeal to Tracie Peterson's fans. For all collections.

Internet Book Watch

With Dear Lady, Robin Hatcher debuts her new "Coming to America" series of entertaining novels showcasing three different women who came to America to start new lives for themselves. Dear Lady is set in the big-sky country of Montana in the 1800s. Beth Wellington finds that the past she sought to flee, isn't easy to escape, even in a brand new country. Circumstances force secrets into the open, sometimes brining hearts together in unlikely ways, and sometimes tearing them apart. A very highly recommended historical romance, Dear Lady is wonderfully entertaining from first page to last and will leave the reader eagerly looking forward to the next book in this thrilling new series.

Product Details

• ISBN: 0310230837
  
• ISBN-13: 9780310230830
• Format: Paperback, 304pp
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Pub. Date: November 2000
• Sales Rank: 216,282
• Series: Coming to America Book Series

• Table of Contents
• Read an Excerpt
• Read a Sample Chapter

Table of Contents

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

Garret Steele gripped the saddle with his thighs and held on to the horn with his left hand as the buckskin gelding beneath him set its front legs, then darted in the opposite direction in pursuit of the wily calf. The heifer was as range wild as any Garret had seen, but he and old Buck had been herding cows together for many years. They weren't about to be outsmarted by beef on the hoof.

Ten minutes later he had the calf roped, hog-tied, and ready for branding.

While Jake Whitaker, his hired hand, brought the hot iron from the fire, Garret removed his hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Then he reached for his canteen. Tipping back his head, he took a long swallow, washing down the dust.

Man alive, it was hot for May. He hoped they weren't in for a long, dry summer. The cattle had wintered well, and Garret was looking forward to turning a nice profit come fall. But a drought could quickly change the face of things.

"Always somethin'," he muttered as he screwed the cap back on the canteen.

The stench of singed hair and flesh reached his nostrils, reminding him of the work still to be done before sundown. Tugging his hat low on his forehead with one hand, he stepped into the saddle. As soon as Jake freed the newly branded calf_--still bleating its complaint--Garret dragged his lariat into a large coil against his thigh, then turned Buck toward the herd.

A sense of satisfaction swelled in Garret's chest as his gaze swept the range. Satisfaction was what he always felt when he looked at what he'd accomplished in the past eighteen years. He'd been nothing but a scrawny kid, still wet behind the ears, when he'd come to Montana, when he'd first laid eyes on this stretch of land and known he wanted to call it home.

He'd seen plenty of hard times while he'd built his herd from a few head to its present size. And he'd seen plenty of changes come to Montana, too. The railroad crawling across the plains and through the mountain passes. The coming of barbed wire. The town of New Prospects, popping up ten miles to the south of the Steele ranch, seemingly overnight.

Yeah, things were different, but this was where he belonged. It was his home.

"Pa! Pa!"

He reined in, twisting in the saddle to watch the approach of his daughter. Janie's wild strawberry blond hair waved behind her like a banner, and her dress was bunched up around her thighs as she raced her pony toward him.

Wouldn't Muriel have a fit if she could see Janie now?

His teeth clenched as he shoved away thoughts of his dead wife.

Sliding her small bay mare to a halt, Janie said, "I finished the dishes and my lessons, Pa. Can I help now?"

He grinned even as he shook his head. "You know how I feel about you bein' out here while we're branding. This is no place for a little girl."

"I'm not so little I can't help."

He recognized the stubborn set of her jaw. And what she said was true. Janie had taken care of many of the household chores since long before her mother passed away. She'd even learned to cook, at least well enough to keep the two of them from starving. But that didn't mean she belonged in the middle of a herd of cattle at branding time. It was too dangerous, and Garret would never risk harm to his daughter. Not ever.

"Sorry, Janie. You know the rules."

"But, Pa--"

"Janie ..."

She scowled, her bottom lip protruding in an artful pout. "It's not fair."

He was unmoved by her theatrics. "Things rarely are."

"Can't I just--"

"Nope." He jerked his head toward the ranch house. "You get on back. I'll be finished in about an hour."

Janie hesitated only a moment, then, with a deep sigh of the oppressed, turned her pony toward the house and rode slowly away. His daughter would probably never know how hard it was for Garret to refuse anything she asked. He'd try to rope her the moon if she wanted it.

With a shake of his head, he nudged Buck with his heels and set off to rope the last of the calves instead.

Two hours later father and daughter sat down at the rough-hewn table in the log house they called home. Janie said the blessing over the steaks that had been fried with onions and potatoes, and Garret added his own "Amen" to hers when she was finished.

"I got another letter from England today," Janie said as she cut her meat, "but it took longer'n usual getting here. Lady Elizabeth must already be married to Lord Altberry by now. I hope she'll write again soon and tell me about the wedding and the house where she's living."

Garret listened to the excitement in her voice, while feeling residual anger stirring to life. He hated it when Janie talked about England and the Wellingtons. He hated the way she fantasized about traveling abroad someday, and he blamed his deceased wife for putting the notion in Janie's head to begin with. It was Muriel who had encouraged their daughter--only six years old at the time--to write to the earl, an old friend of Garret's father-in-law. It was Muriel who had encouraged the continuing correspondence between Janie and the earl's daughter, and Muriel who had suggested Janie might one day go to England to visit Lady Elizabeth, perhaps to become her companion. It was Muriel who had dreamed of Janie marrying an English lord, like those eastern society women they'd read about in the newspaper.

Read a Sample Chapter

Coming To America: Dear Lady
Chapter One
Garret Steele gripped the saddle with his thighs and held on to the horn with his left hand as the buckskin gelding beneath him set its front legs, then darted in the opposite direction in pursuit of the wily calf. The heifer was as range wild as any Garret had seen, but he and old Buck had been herding cows together for many years. They weren’t about to be outsmarted by beef on the hoof.
Ten minutes later he had the calf roped, hog-tied, and ready for branding.
While Jake Whitaker, his hired hand, brought the hot iron from the fire, Garret removed his hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Then he reached for his canteen. Tipping back his head, he took a long swallow, washing down the dust.
Man alive, it was hot for May. He hoped they weren’t in for a long, dry summer. The cattle had wintered well, and Garret was looking forward to turning a nice profit come fall. But a drought could quickly change the face of things.
“Always somethin’,” he muttered as he screwed the cap back on the canteen.
The stench of singed hair and flesh reached his nostrils, reminding him of the work still to be done before sundown. Tugging his hat low on his forehead with one hand, he stepped into the saddle. As soon as Jake freed the newly branded calf_--still bleating its complaint--Garret dragged his lariat into a large coil against his thigh, then turned Buck toward the herd.
A sense of satisfaction swelled in Garret’s chest as his gaze swept the range. Satisfaction was what he always felt when he looked at what he’d accomplished in the past eighteen years. He’d been nothingbut a scrawny kid, still wet behind the ears, when he’d come to Montana, when he’d first laid eyes on this stretch of land and known he wanted to call it home.
He’d seen plenty of hard times while he’d built his herd from a few head to its present size. And he’d seen plenty of changes come to Montana, too. The railroad crawling across the plains and through the mountain passes. The coming of barbed wire. The town of New Prospects, popping up ten miles to the south of the Steele ranch, seemingly overnight.
Yeah, things were different, but this was where he belonged. It was his home.
“Pa! Pa!”
He reined in, twisting in the saddle to watch the approach of his daughter. Janie’s wild strawberry blond hair waved behind her like a banner, and her dress was bunched up around her thighs as she raced her pony toward him.
Wouldn’t Muriel have a fit if she could see Janie now?
His teeth clenched as he shoved away thoughts of his dead wife.
Sliding her small bay mare to a halt, Janie said, “I finished the dishes and my lessons, Pa. Can I help now?”
He grinned even as he shook his head. “You know how I feel about you bein’ out here while we’re branding. This is no place for a little girl.”
“I’m not so little I can’t help.”
He recognized the stubborn set of her jaw. And what she said was true. Janie had taken care of many of the household chores since long before her mother passed away. She’d even learned to cook, at least well enough to keep the two of them from starving. But that didn’t mean she belonged in the middle of a herd of cattle at branding time. It was too dangerous, and Garret would never risk harm to his daughter. Not ever.
“Sorry, Janie. You know the rules.”
“But, Pa--”
“Janie …”
She scowled, her bottom lip protruding in an artful pout. “It’s not fair.”
He was unmoved by her theatrics. “Things rarely are.”
“Can’t I just--”
“Nope.” He jerked his head toward the ranch house. “You get on back. I’ll be finished in about an hour.”
Janie hesitated only a moment, then, with a deep sigh of the oppressed, turned her pony toward the house and rode slowly away. His daughter would probably never know how hard it was for Garret to refuse anything she asked. He’d try to rope her the moon if she wanted it.
With a shake of his head, he nudged Buck with his heels and set off to rope the last of the calves instead.
Two hours later father and daughter sat down at the rough-hewn table in the log house they called home. Janie said the blessing over the steaks that had been fried with onions and potatoes, and Garret added his own “Amen” to hers when she was finished.
“I got another letter from England today,” Janie said as she cut her meat, “but it took longer’n usual getting here. Lady Elizabeth must already be married to Lord Altberry by now. I hope she’ll write again soon and tell me about the wedding and the house where she’s living.”
Garret listened to the excitement in her voice, while feeling residual anger stirring to life. He hated it when Janie talked about England and the Wellingtons. He hated the way she fantasized about traveling abroad someday, and he blamed his deceased wife for putting the notion in Janie’s head to begin with. It was Muriel who had encouraged their daughter--only six years old at the time--to write to the earl, an old friend of Garret’s father-in-law. It was Muriel who had encouraged the continuing correspondence between Janie and the earl’s daughter, and Muriel who had suggested Janie might one day go to England to visit Lady Elizabeth, perhaps to become her companion. It was Muriel who had dreamed of Janie marrying an English lord, like those eastern society women they’d read about in the newspaper.