A Forbidden Fondness of The Heart (Preview)

Chapter One

Clara

Clara Wilson sat at her desk in her bedroom, a book opened in front of her. She tried to focus on one of her favorite stories, Little Women . After reading the same page three times, she finally set it aside.  She brushed a blonde lock of hair away from her eyes and sighed with boredom. Her eyes darted around her room, noting the colorful handmade quilt her mother had made for her when she turned eight, the curtains Clara had made to match the quilt, and the oval braided rug that covered the wooden floor she had also made with leftover fabric.

Getting to her feet, she walked to her bedroom window and looked out over the yard. She frowned as she noticed that the flower beds needed to be weeded. This chore was something her sister, Emma, usually took care of, although Clara was very aware of the reason why Emma had been distracted over the last few weeks. She had gotten engaged to a very well-known rancher in their area of Kansas, Frank Johnson, just last month. Of course, Emma’s mind would be on her coming marriage, and not on the multiple chores that needed to be done around the house. She tried not to feel resentment towards her sister and the fact that she was leaving all of the jobs to her.

Hearing footsteps in the hallway, she turned and saw Emma walk into the bedroom that was across from her own, and then shut the door firmly behind her. Curiosity made Clara leave her room and knock on her sister’s door, since Emma rarely spent time in her room with the door shut.

“Come in.” Emma called out and Clara stepped inside. Maybe she could offer to help Emma with the garden the next morning? Even though she hated weeding, she knew that they needed to stay on top of the garden or it would grow worse.  Deciding she could worry about the garden later, she turned her attention to her sister.

Emma stood in front of a large mirror that sat on the top of her dresser. She held a light brown dress in front of her, as if she was trying to decide if she should put it on.

“Are you going out with Frank tonight?” Clara asked, all thoughts about the garden forgotten.

She should have remembered that Emma was going to be spending the evening with her fiancé. It was Wednesday evening, after all. Frank always took Emma out every Wednesday, come rain or shine. He also spent a few hours every Sunday after church in their home. He ate lunch with them and then he and Emma would go on a walk, if the weather was nice enough. If it wasn’t, they spent a few hours in the parlor reading out loud to each other or playing checkers. When four o’clock came around, Frank would return to his ranch that was located just outside of town and Emma wouldn’t see him until the following Wednesday. This was the schedule Frank had always kept with Emma while he had been courting her over the last year, and it seemed like it was going to continue now that they were engaged.

Clara knew that if Frank was her fiancé, she would insist that they spend more time together than just twice a week. She would want to be with him as much as she could. But Emma didn’t seem to mind the set schedule. In fact, sometimes Clara wondered if she was relieved when Frank finally left. Clara would also want to do something else besides go out to dinner and take meandering walks around Maplewood or play endless games of checkers. But Clara knew that she and Emma were nothing alike. Their interests and approach to life were very different. This fact used to bother Clara when she was younger, but as she matured, she recognized that they each had their own strengths. She was grateful that they were very close, regardless of the differences between them.

Emma nodded slowly to Clara’s question. “I’m not sure what dress to wear though. He has seen me in this dress so many times already.”

Clara looked the dress over critically and tried not to show her thoughts.  In her opinion, all of Emma’s dresses were plain and dull. For some reason, her sister always chose fabrics that were in various colors of brown, gray, or black. She rarely chose a different color. It was Clara’s job to make the clothing for the two of them. Whenever Emma needed a new dress, Clara always tried to encourage her sister to pick out more colorful fabric, but Emma always insisted on plain clothes. She also never let Clara add any embellishments, like fancy buttons or lace. Clara could never understand why Emma didn’t like to wear more colorful dresses.

“Why don’t you wear the new dress that I made you?” Clara asked as she walked to Emma’s wardrobe and pulled out an ivory-colored dress. It was still a very plain dress, but it was much better than the brown dress Emma was holding. She had added a simple lacy collar without Emma’s permission and had stitched some small embroidery designs on the sleeves.

Emma shrugged. “Frank probably doesn’t care what I wear. Besides, I want to keep that dress for  special occasions only.”

Clara frowned at her sister, but Emma didn’t notice as she began to unbutton the gray dress that she had on.

Wasn’t going out with Frank supposed to be a special occasion?

Clara slowly put the ivory dress back in the wardrobe before walking to Emma’s side.  She began to help Emma with the buttons that lined her back. “Where is Frank taking you this evening?”

“We will probably go to the restaurant that Frank takes me to almost every week.” Emma responded with an almost flat voice as she stepped out of the gray dress and hung it up carefully on a peg.

Clara noticed that Emma didn’t sound too excited about the fact. Just as Emma began to put the brown dress on, Clara touched her arm.

“Why don’t you borrow one of my dresses?” she suggested eagerly. “You can wear my blue flowered one that matches your eyes.”

Emma hesitated before shaking her head. “This dress is fine.”

Clara felt a little disappointed that Emma hadn’t taken her up on her offer, but she also wasn’t a bit surprised. Instead of arguing with her, she helped Emma pulled the brown dress over her shoulders. She just couldn’t understand why Emma wouldn’t want to dress up more for her fiancé. At least Emma put on a gold necklace that their mother had given her when she had turned sixteen.

“Even though Frank is taking you to the same restaurant that he always does, I think you might have more fun if you wear some color,” she finally said, deciding to speak her mind. Emma needed to hear it from someone.

Emma didn’t answer but started to button up the dress. When she was finished, she took some pins out of her hair and began to brush her long brown strands. Clara sat down on Emma’s bed and watched as her sister continued to get ready for her evening with Frank. Emma began to talk about the preparations she needed to do for her Sunday school lesson where she taught a group of five-year-old children. Clara listened with half an ear, but inside she was deeply troubled.

She wouldn’t dare admit this to anyone else, but she was very confused as to why Emma was even engaged to Frank. She definitely was not acting like a woman in love. Clara thought of her best friend Penny, who had gotten engaged just last year. Penny was so in love with Greg that she had been constantly giddy about it. Every time Clara had talked with Penny, all her friend could do was chatter about her fiancé  and their coming marriage. Even after their marriage, Clara could still see that Penny was deeply in love with her new husband. When she would see them at church, Penny sat close beside Greg and he would either be holding her hand or would drape his arm around her. Clara was very pleased for her friend and that she had found love and happiness, although she did wish she could spend more time with Penny. Ever since her marriage to Greg, Clara rarely saw her or even spoke to her except for a few minutes on Sundays.

Emma didn’t act like Penny had at all, and Clara wondered why. She was aware that Emma’s personality was very different from Penny’s and she couldn’t expect her to act exactly like her friend did. Her sister had a calm personality and was quiet, rarely offering her opinion unless she was asked.

Clara could remember many times in their childhood where something exciting would happen, and she would be so happy about the event that she wouldn’t be able to sit still or stop talking about it. Emma, on the other hand, would calmly accept anything that was happening, only showing her excitement or happiness with a gentle smile. But now, Clara rarely saw Emma smile in happiness about her engagement.

“Do you think Frank might take you somewhere else after dinner?” Clara decided to ask, interrupting Emma’s plans about her Sunday school lesson.

Emma looked at Clara with a bit of surprise before shaking her head. “I doubt it, but I won’t mind. I want to go to bed on time, anyway. I am supposed to go help the Andersons in the morning with their children. And I might be able to finish the lesson plans for my Sunday School class if I get home early enough.”

Clara decided it was time to speak her mind. “I have to say that it seems to me that you don’t like Frank very much. Is that true?”

Emma again looked at her in surprise.

“Because if that’s the case, you really shouldn’t be marrying him.” Clara quickly finished her thoughts.

Emma looked appalled at Clara’s words. “Of course I like Frank. I wouldn’t have accepted his offer of marriage if I didn’t.”

Clara still felt very confused. “Emma, I have to ask…Why are you marrying him?”

“Because he is kind and thoughtful. He is a hard worker. He likes to read the same books I do. He attends church every Sunday. You know that his ranch is one of the largest in the area. He is very successful.”

In Clara’s opinion, those are good qualities that Frank had but, to her, he seemed a bit boring. Even though Emma had mentioned the fact that Frank was a successful rancher, she knew her sister well enough to know that she wasn’t marrying him because of his money. Money just wasn’t important to her. So what was the real reason she had agreed to marry him?

I guess it’s a good thing that it’s not me that Frank wants to marry , Clara thought.

“Besides, Father likes him,” Emma continued.

This last comment silenced Clara, but she knew the reason why her sister had mentioned it. Ever since their mother died five years previously, their father had been very concerned that neither of his daughters would be able to find good men to marry, and he liked Frank. When he began to show interest in Emma, Father had done everything he could to encourage Emma to spend time with him.

Just then their father walked by the open bedroom door. It was obvious that he had just heard Emma’s last words about Frank because he beamed at Emma.

“I am very pleased about your coming marriage to Frank,” he said with a wide smile. “He is a good hardworking man. He will treat you well and you won’t ever need to worry about money.”

Emma smiled at their father, but she didn’t answer. Clara noticed that there was a bit of sadness in her eyes. Didn’t Father also see that?

“Frank comes from a very good family you know,” her father continued as he took out a white handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his brow. “Even though he grew up on a farm in Oklahoma, and I’ve never met them, I have heard many good things about his family. When Frank moved to this area, he took a ranch that wasn’t doing well and turned it around to a profitable cattle business. He is hardworking and smart. You couldn’t do better than Frank.”

Emma exchanged glances with Clara as she opened her mouth to respond, but just then there was a loud knock on their front door.

“I’ll get it!” a voice said.

Clara chuckled to herself as she heard her eight-year-old brother, William, run to the door. A few seconds later, she could hear the door being opened with her brother’s usual exuberance. Emma was still brushing her hair, so Clara moved towards the hallway.

“I’ll go and let Frank  that you’ll be down in a few minutes,” she offered.

“Thank you,” Emma responded as she began to rebraid her hair. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

Clara quickly went down the stairs to the main level of their home. She could hear Frank before she saw him. He had a loud deep voice that seemed to fit with his tall frame.  He wore a cowboy hat that shaded his face. Even though Clara felt Frank was boring, she had to admit that he was very good with her brother. William was talking to him, eager for another man’s attention, and Frank never acted like the younger boy ever bothered him.

“It sounds like you had a great time,” Frank was saying to William.

When Clara turned the corner after the last step, she could see Frank as he gave William his undivided attention. Her brother had a few colorful rocks in his hand.

“I found this one in the creek and this gray one on the side of our house,” William said as he showed Frank his treasures.

Frank looked up as Clara reached their side before turning his attention to William again. “I used to collect rocks when I was your age. You’ll have to come out to my ranch and see some of the ones I saved sometime.”

“Really?” William’s eyes lit up.

“Sure. The next time I take Emma to the ranch, you can come with us and I’ll show you all of my rocks.”

Clara’s heart melted even more at Frank’s words. Maybe she was judging him too harshly.

Frank must have sensed that she had approached, for he stood and immediately took off his cowboy hat.

“Good evening, Miss Clara,” he greeted her.

“Emma will be down shortly,” Clara said when Frank’s attention turned to her.

Frank nodded easily, not seeming the least put out that he would need to wait for her sister.

“You can wait for her in the parlor.” Clara said, stammering her words a bit as she pointed to the nearby room.

Frank nodded again and followed her inside the room as William ran off, suddenly bored with the adult conversation.

He stood in front of a painting of a landscape and studied it for a moment before standing beside one of the mauve sofas. Clara stood at the open doorway of the parlor, not sure if she should leave him to wait alone or join him. When she noticed that he hadn’t sat down yet, she realized that he was waiting for her to also sit, so she settled in a stuffed chair that sat near the doorway.

“How was your day?” Frank asked her as he sat down.

“I sewed most of the day,” Clara responded almost by rote. Sewing was something she did every day of the week, except for Sundays, of course.

Frank began to ask her questions about what project she was working on and seemed very interested in the work she was doing.

“I was sewing on some curtains, but I had to stop sewing earlier than I wanted to because I pierced my hand with a needle,” Clara told him wryly.

Frank’s eyes laughed at her. “You seem to do that a lot. You need to be careful or you are going to be a walking pincushion,” he teased.

Clara looked at him, surprised that he had made a joke, but then laughed with him. “It was so deep, I had to stop sewing or I would have ruined the pillow I was working on.”  It had taken almost an hour for the bleeding to stop, but she didn’t inform Frank of that fact. She had needed to keep a cloth bandage wrapped around her hand for awhile.

She heard Emma’s soft footsteps on the stairs before she saw her sister. Usually, Clara was already off doing something else when Frank arrived to spend time with Emma, but this time she stayed where she was. She wanted to see Frank’s expression when Emma entered the room. She wanted to see proof that he loved her sister. If she could see that Frank loved Emma, maybe she could stop worrying so much about their coming marriage.

When Emma came into the parlor, Frank stood to his feet, still holding his cowboy hat. Clara noted that his facial expression didn’t change a bit, although he did greet Emma with a formal smile. Emma stayed a good two feet away from Frank than Clara felt she really needed to, even for social standards. Frank didn’t try to touch her. In Clara’s opinion, neither of them looked at all very excited or even happy to see each other. She listened as Frank asked Emma about her day and if she was ready to leave for dinner. To her, it was almost like a brother and a sister were talking to each other. This entire situation just puzzled her.

She continued to watch silently as Frank helped Emma with her wrap and they left a few minutes later. The moment the door shut behind them, William ran up to her.

“Can I have a snack? I’m hungry,” he said as he pulled on her arm towards the kitchen.

Clara turned her attention to her brother. She forced her attention to helping him and away from the confusing relationship of her sister.

“You just ate dinner. Are you still hungry?”

William nodded vigorously. “Can I have another biscuit?”

“Sure,” Clara laughed as they entered the kitchen. She quickly sliced open a biscuit and added a dollop of strawberry jam before giving it to him.

“Thanks!” William said as he took a bite before running out the door and into the backyard.

Clara smiled to herself as the screen door slammed behind him. She loved his energy and the enjoyment of life that William showed. She still could remember the day he’d been born. Her mother had lost two children before William’s birth and the entire family had been ecstatic. His birth had added an immense joy to the family. After she put the jam away in the pantry, she looked carefully at the small wound on her hand. It looked like it had healed enough that she could sew for a few more hours that evening.

Chapter 2

Frank

Frank offered his arm to Emma as they stepped off the porch to her house. He helped her into his buggy before climbing in himself. Emma sat next to him, her back straight and tall. He wished that she would relax around him more. He was very aware that there were certain things that society dictated that women must do when they were out in public. Emma seemed to obey every rule that was ever written, at least around him. She was a very proper woman and it was one of the first things that had made him want to get to know her better.

His mother had been the same way and he knew that one of the reasons he had decided to start courting Emma was because she reminded him so much of his mother who had been gone for over ten years now. He couldn’t remember a time when his mother had lost her temper even once while he was growing up. She had been kind to everyone around her and willingly helped anyone who needed it.

But as he got to know Emma, he had started to realize that was where the formal similarities between her and his mother ended. She was much quieter than his mother had been, and she so rarely showed emotion that Frank often wondered if she had any. He wasn’t big on expecting others to act only the way he expected them to. It was important to him that he accept people for the way God made them, and this included Emma.

He had courted Emma for almost a year before finally asking her to marry him a month ago. He knew that her father, Edward, was thrilled with the match. Frank didn’t regret courting Emma, and he had eventually grown very fond of her. He also enjoyed being around her family. Her younger sister, Clara, was energetic and fun to talk to. William, her little brother, reminded him of himself when he’d been a young boy. Frank wasn’t sure he could say that he actually loved Emma, but then who knew what love really was? Because of his mother’s formal personality, he rarely had seen love or affection between her and his father. He figured that they had loved each other, after all, they had gotten married. But if someone had asked him how he knew that, he wouldn’t have been able to tell them.

“Are you warm enough?” Frank asked, breaking the silence between them.

Emma nodded after giving him a quick glance.

“You look very nice this evening,” Frank added.

“Thank you,” she responded simply with a small smile as she smoothed a hand over the brown fabric.

Frank hid a sigh. He did wish that she would talk a bit more to him. He couldn’t help but compare Emma with her sister, Clara. All he needed to do was ask her a question and she would talk about it, giving him the information he’d asked for and some that he hadn’t. He couldn’t help but chuckle as he thought over the conversation he’d just had with Clara. She looked chagrined as she talked about sticking herself with a sharp needle, which made it so she couldn’t keep sewing on her project until the wound healed a bit. She had shown him her hand and Frank had noticed other pricks that were in various stages of healing. Even now, he smiled to himself at the sight.

He could always tell when Clara enjoyed something because her blue eyes lit up with joy and delight. No one around her would ever need to guess what Clara was thinking about. She had so much energy that it sometimes made Frank a bit tired, but deep down he also had to admit that he admired her.

But I shouldn’t compare Emma with Clara , he thought, with a tinge of remorse.

Just because Emma was quiet didn’t mean that she wasn’t a good woman. There were many wonderful qualities about her. He admired how well she worked with children.  She was a Sunday school teacher and her students loved being around her. He knew that she will be a wonderful mother. She spent at least a few days a week helping neighbors with their children. When he visited Emma after church on Sundays, sometimes they walked around Maplewood. On almost every walk they went on, at least a few children approached Emma, eager for her attention. Frank often wondered if she sometimes wished she could have gotten more schooling so that she could teach, although she had never stated that wish to him. She would have been a good teacher if she had been able to have that opportunity. It was obvious that she loved teaching her class on Sundays.

“Clara wanted me to wear a more colorful dress, but I like this one,” Emma suddenly spoke, and Frank looked at her with confusion for a moment before remembering he had just complimented her on her dress.

Emma’s comment made him think of her sister and the colorful dresses she always wore. She always wore blues, pinks, or even bright reds. All of her dresses had some type of design in them and if they didn’t, she added fancy stitching on them. He instantly pictured in his mind the dress Clara had worn that evening, a bright green and blue dress that matched her eyes. Since he didn’t have an opinion on whether Emma should have worn her sister’s dress or not, he kept silent.

“How are things going on your ranch?” Emma asked.

Frank could have predicted this question if he had thought about it since it was one she asked every time they were together. They always talked about the same things; his ranch, her teaching on Sundays, how his cattle were doing, what children she helped take care of were doing during the week. He now realized that they rarely talked about anything new.

“Everything is going well,” Frank answered. “I moved about fifty head of cattle from that field near the house to another one further north. There is more grass in that field.”

As he talked, he noticed that she looked at him as if she was listening intently, but there was a part of him that wondered if she really was. He continued to talk anyway. It only took a few minutes for them to arrive in front of the informal restaurant he took her to every week.

Maplewood was larger than most towns in this part of Kansas. There were two different places where the townspeople could eat in their town. The one that Frank usually took Emma to was located in the boardinghouse. The other restaurant was located in the hotel, but the food was much more expensive. After parking the buggy in the designated spot, he helped Emma down and kept her hand in the crook of his arm. They walked into the restaurant and the owner, Susanne Fisher, greeted them. They were soon seated at the same table they always used.

“What can I get you?” Mrs. Fisher asked.

Frank wanted to laugh because she asked that question every week and Emma always asked for the same meal: roast beef, mashed potatoes, whatever vegetable was in season, and fluffy rolls. The only change Emma made with her order was dessert. Sometimes she wanted to eat apple pie and other times she wanted yellow cake.

While they ate, she continued to ask about his ranch. He, in turn, asked questions about her family. He was starting to realize that they never talked about each other. He did find it odd that they were now engaged, but they never talked about their future. He sometimes felt like he was having a conversation with an acquaintance in church rather on a date with the woman he was planning to marry. He knew something needed to change between them, but he just wasn’t sure what.

Just as their dessert was served, the mayor of Maplewood, Mr. Rodney Smith, and his adult son, Harry, came into the restaurant and were seated at the table next to theirs. Frank nodded his head in greeting to the two men, but he didn’t try to start a conversation with them. Mr. Smith wasn’t his favorite person in the world, although he was doing an adequate job as mayor. His son Harry, however, was another matter. As far as Frank knew, Harry didn’t have a steady job even though he was a few years older than Emma. In fact, Emma had once mentioned to Frank that she had gone to school with Harry and had made some of her years miserable. The young man seemed to be almost constantly in trouble of some sort that Mayor Smith did his best to fix. This usually meant using his money or position as mayor.

Emma had been telling him about the lesson she was working on for her Sunday class when she saw the Smiths and she stared at them for a long minute before turning her head away. But she also had stopped eating as if she was no longer hungry.

“Are you ready to go?” Frank finally asked when she set her fork aside and didn’t take another bite of her cake.

Emma seemed to look relieved at his suggestion and nodded. He quickly asked Mrs. Fisher for the check and paid for their meal. As they left the restaurant, he didn’t see Emma turning her head and looking at the mayor and his son. He also didn’t see Harry give Emma a short nod.

“Would you like to go for a walk?” Frank asked Emma after he helped her back into the buggy. “We can walk along the creek once we reach your house. Now that it is spring, I think it is warm enough.”

Emma shook her head. “I really should get home. I have so much to do.”

Frank was a bit disappointed that she didn’t seem to want to spend more time with him, but he also didn’t argue. Emma might be quiet, but she also knew her own mind. Once she had made a decision, she rarely changed it. Frank clicked his tongue to urge the horse down the street.

“I was thinking that maybe next week, we could eat at the new cafe down the street,” Frank said, suddenly remembering that his foreman, Joe, had told him that a new family had just moved to Maplewood. They purchased a small building on main street with plans to open a small cafe and bakery. “Would you like that?”

Emma didn’t answer.

“Emma?” Frank said, trying to get her attention.

“What? Oh, you asked about the cafe. We can eat there if you’d like,” Emma answered with a shrug.

Frank suddenly felt a bit frustrated at her and her lack of enthusiasm. He was starting to get the idea that she really didn’t want to be with him.

No, that can’t be right , he thought. She agreed to marry me, after all. Maybe she is just having an off-day.

With those thoughts, he urged the horse into a trot, and they arrived in front of her house a few minutes later. After he walked Emma to her door, he headed towards his ranch. It was located about a thirty-minute drive from Maplewood, although it took half that time when he rode horseback. He began to relax as he left the town behind. It was then he realized how tense he had been all evening. He knew that something needed to change with his relationship with Emma, but he wasn’t sure what he could do.

He still remembered the day when he realized that he needed to make some changes in his life. It was almost a year ago. His ranch was doing the best it ever had. He decided that it was time to replace the rundown cabin he’d been living in with a nicer and larger home. Once that process was started, he had begun to think about all the single women in Maplewood and Emma Wilson kept coming to his mind. He wanted to find a woman to marry and start a family with, and Emma seemed to be the best one available in his area. He had no desire to look farther than Maplewood. After a few conversations with her, he had gone to Edward for permission to court his daughter and instantly received his blessing. His new home was now finished, and he was eager to add a family to his life.

Even though he was almost thirty, he didn’t know what it was like to get married and he certainly hadn’t ever been in love before. He did like and respect Emma and felt like she would be a fine wife. He knew that they would have a good life together, but he also knew that it wouldn’t be a very exciting one. But did that really matter?

***

After Frank walked Emma to her door, she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when he didn’t try to insist that he come inside and extend the visit. She had only been gone a little over two hours and was glad that the usual weekly dinner was over. She thought about Frank’s suggestion that they try out the new cafe next week. She didn’t mind that idea, but she did wish that they could do something else instead of always going out for dinner. She wondered if he knew that she never expected him to always spend money on her like this. She also felt guilty if she did say anything to Frank. She didn’t want to come across as a complaining old nag.

But she was almost twenty-four years old, basically an old maid, at least in her father’s eyes. He had been putting quite a bit of pressure on her for the last year that she needed to start thinking about settling down.

“When your mother died, it had happened very fast,” he had said to her one day. “I’m very afraid that something is going to happen to me and neither you nor Clara will be married. One of you would have to take care of William until he is grown. I just want to see both of you settled down before God takes me from this earth.”

“Are you sick?” Emma had asked a bit frantically. She still remembered the fear that had spread through her when he had begun to talk about dying.

“No,” he’d answered, reassuring her. “But you never know what could happen.”

Emma knew what he was talking about. Her mother had woken up and had gone throughout her day like usual, but that evening had suddenly begun to complain of chest pains. She was gone a few hours later. But just because her mother had died so suddenly didn’t mean the same thing would happen to her father.  He was still very active and vibrant, after all.

He had been so pleased when Frank had begun to court her. Emma hadn’t been too excited. Frank had seemed so old to her, although she had found out later that he was only twenty-nine. He was already starting to gray prematurely and had a small bald spot on the top of his head. But she had gone ahead and allowed Frank to come around. At first, he had come to visit her on Sundays. He only stayed a few hours and she had found that she liked having a man pay attention to her. She liked Frank, but also had to wonder, should there be more between them than there was? She desperately wished that she had someone she could talk to about her concerns.

“I wish Mama was here,” she whispered to herself. “She’d know what to tell me.”

Once she was in her bedroom, she closed the door and then locked it. She didn’t want her sister to burst in on her like she did quite often. She loved Clara, but she didn’t want her exuberant sister around right then. She was actually a bit angry at her sister. She hadn’t even thought about that there could be something wrong with her relationship with Frank until Clara began to ask her questions. Emma wondered if she was supposed to be acting differently around Frank. Was there something wrong with her?

She took off her dress and hung it carefully in her wardrobe before slipping on her nightgown, even though it was still early in the evening. She sat down at her desk and opened her Bible. She wanted to get her lesson for her Sunday school class prepared because she knew she would be very busy over the next few days. Mrs. Anderson who lived just down the street had just had her fifth baby and Emma was planning on helping her this entire week while the older woman recovered from the birth. Even though she loved taking care of the Anderson children, they were a handful and she knew she would be too tired to work on her lesson if she waited.

---

“A Forbidden Fondness of The Heart” is an Amazon Best-Selling novel, check it out here!

Clara is a free-spirited young girl who has no desire to settle. When her older sister, Emma decides to marry Frank, a local rancher, Clara is suspicious of her intentions. After getting a job at Frank’s ranch she will form a special friendship with him, but everything will change dramatically when her sister confesses her sincere feelings for another man. Even though Clara is determined to do everything in her power to help her sister out of this perplexed situation, her overwhelming feelings will consume her… Will she manage to deal with all the hurdles her family is going through without giving up on the one thing she really wants?

Frank is a successful rancher who has always dreamt of having a family. When his aunt introduces him to Emma, he thinks of her as the perfect wife even though sparks don’t fly between them. While a proposal takes place without further ado, fate has other plans for him, as he will quickly realise that Emma is not the one he should spend his life with. After peacefully breaking off their engagement, Frank will discover that his soulmate was in front of him all along… Will he find a way to follow his heart without hurting anyone in the process?

An almost magical relationship will make Frank and Clara dream of a future together. Dealing with a father who wants to manage everyone’s lives around him and a sister who creates a rift in her family, the two of them will have to struggle for the sake of their beautiful connection. Will they successfully manage to let love grow between them?

“A Forbidden Fondness of The Heart” is a historical western romance novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

Get your copy from Amazon!