The Preacher's Unexpected Bride: Prairie Brides

By Catherine Kennedy

She's unmarried and pregnant, he's the preacher who's building his cabin right next door to her! Can Hannah & Luke make peace with their differences to find their happy ever after?

Hannah Fairchild ran away from her abusive guardians with her sister. Together they've settled in a fledgling community in the middle of the Kansas prairie. The isolation suited Hannah just fine...until a preacher moved in next door.

Being a preacher isn't just a vocation to Luke Johnson - it's who he is. He's determined to restore Hannah's faith...if only he could persuade her not to walk off every time she sees him!

When circumstances contrive to throw them together, can Luke heal the pain of Hannah's past and claim the heart of His Unexpected Bride?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: May 7, 2024
• ISBN: 9781915126306

Book preview

The Preacher's Unexpected Bride

Walton Valley Book 2

Catherine Kennedy

Inspired Press Limited

Copyright © 2021 by Catherine Kennedy

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance of fictional characters to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in critical articles or a book review.

Editor: Sara Miller/Arnetta Jackson

Cover Design: Hannah Linder Designs

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

Epilogue

About the author

Also by

The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

—Psalms 34:18

Chapter One

August 1868 – Walton Valley, Kansas

What do you think you’re doing? Hannah Fairchild demanded.

Luke Johnson swept his hat from his head and put down the mallet he was using to hammer a stake into the Kansas prairie. Staking my claim.

It was a silly question. She could see for herself what he was doing. The question was: why? Or, more precisely: why there, on the land next to her home? Here?

He met her hostile glare unflinchingly. Yes, ma’am.

Hannah swept a hand in front of her, encompassing the land as far as she could see in every direction. There’s available land all over the west.

He raised an eyebrow at her tone, then smiled. I like Walton Valley.

She swallowed down the childish retort that sat on the tip of her tongue, begging to be spoken out loud. Walton Valley doesn’t like you. Of course, that was a complete lie. Everyone in the tiny settlement loved the traveling preacher.

Staking a land claim seemed contrary to Luke’s self-professed vocation. Hannah tried again. How can you farm your land if you’re always away preaching God’s word?

I want a home of my own, Luke responded evenly. I don’t know if I’ll farm yet. As you say, I travel frequently.

He still hadn’t actually answered the question she’d asked in three different ways. Hannah racked her brain to find a different way to ask it—one that might lead him to be honest about why he was moving in next door.

The strange feeling she’d been experiencing over the last few days came over her, and she gasped. Hannah rested a hand on her growing belly. It wasn’t a painful sensation, just unusual. She had spoken to George about it, and the other woman had patted her hand and assured her it was quite normal. The fluttering was her baby moving inside her.

Luke stepped forward. Miss Fairchild, are you alright?

Hannah stared at him, anger at her situation boiling over. I’m having a baby. Of course I’m not alright.

The preacher’s cheeks reddened. No. I’m sorry.

She immediately felt contrite. It wasn’t his fault she was angry at what had happened to her, and he had done nothing wrong. He was simply showing her concern. There are no prayers you can share that will make this go away.

You wish your child away? he asked, shock replacing embarrassment on his handsome face.

Hannah lifted a shoulder. I love my baby.

But not the conception or the predicament it has placed you in, he said in quiet understanding.

She lifted her chin. No one has yet sought to judge me.

And no one should, Luke agreed. What happened to you was an abomination.

Hannah blinked at the vehemence in his tone. There had been a time when she first arrived at Walton Valley and met the preacher, that she was aware of a certain light in his eyes when he looked her way. She wasn’t so innocent, even before her uncle assaulted her, that she did not know what that meant.

Back then he had been sweet on her. Now he knew the truth. She was the object of his pity. Her stomach told its own story of the sin committed against her. Whether it was her fault did not matter. She was the one who would bear the shame.

It meant that good men, ones like Luke, would not give her a second glance. Frustration at the injustice did not stop Hannah from directing her resentment at him.

Yet I am the one who will pay for the rest of my life.

He shook his head. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Yes, it does. Hannah looked away. Whether more people come to settle here in Walton Valley, or I meet someone elsewhere, I will either have to lie about my past or tell the truth and risk both myself and my child being rejected.

No one should judge you harshly . . .

You’ve already said that, she said hotly. We both know how people are. They will question my morals and my child will be treated differently because of the circumstances around its birth.

It’s so unfair. Luke twirled his hat in his hands. The Bible doesn’t teach such harsh judgments, especially toward innocents.

Yes, your Jesus loved everyone, didn’t he? she asked, her voice low and mocking. Even my uncle.

Luke opened his mouth as though to answer and then closed it again. "The Bible is clear on God’s stance on criminals. In Romans we are told ‘avenge not yourselves, but rather give place to wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.’"

Hannah tilted her head to one side. I can’t take revenge on my uncle, even if I wanted to. He is in prison.

For another offense, Luke said. Even if he never receives just punishment in this life, God will see that he is judged for his sins in the next.

And therein lay her problem. She didn’t want her Uncle Phillip to wait until his death to receive a penalty for his actions—she wanted him to suffer for his crime now. That made her a poor Christian and nothing Luke said to her would make her believe differently. The book of Matthew encouraged a person to turn the other cheek, but that wasn’t something she could do. Not when the pit of her stomach burned with the injustice of her uncle’s actions.

At first it had devastated her beyond words, but that was compounded when she realized she was to bear a child. As her misery had faded, it was replaced with a white-hot fury that she could not extinguish.

I don’t know that I believe in a God who allows such wickedness in His world, Hannah said, the words tumbling out of her mouth.

I can understand why you would think that way. Luke gazed at her, and Hannah tried not to notice how his dark eyelashes curled upwards and framed his blue eyes. All I can tell you is that He gave every person the ability to choose his or her actions. God will not control an individual’s behavior.

It was an argument her sister, Eliza, had used several times. It didn’t change how she felt. He wasn’t there when I needed Him.

Hannah, do you think God let you down?

"I know He let me down, she retorted. He should’ve done something to stop Uncle Phillip."

I don’t believe He could do anything to stop what happened, Luke said softly, looking at the ruts cut into the earth by countless wagon wheels as if they held the answers to every question in the universe. But He sent your sister, and Thomas, to help you.

Hannah could sense his discomfort, but, to his credit, he wasn’t avoiding the incredibly difficult subject. His sympathy didn’t change a thing. She was still ruined for all decent men.

***

Glad you took my advice! Noah called as he approached them.

Luke glanced at Hannah. Her initial anger at seeing him driving stakes into the ground marking out the borders of his land had abated. He wished he could be more eloquent and help her see that blaming God for the terrible event that had shaped her life wasn’t the answer.

He knew that because he had done the same thing himself. When his own life had imploded and an outlaw shot his best friend dead, the only person Luke hated more than God was himself.

When I heard Thomas would be away for a couple of months, I felt as though God was calling me to Walton Valley. I will farm his land while he’s away and in return, he said he will help me plow and plant my crops in the spring, should I choose to farm.

I suppose Eliza was aware of your plans? Hannah asked sharply.

You will need to speak to your sister about that, Luke said, though he already knew the answer.

He wished he knew what it was about him that Hannah disliked so much. She didn’t look at Noah with such open hostility. In fact, she seemed very fond of the Prescott brothers, but particularly Noah.

There had been a time when he first met Hannah that he had entertained thoughts of courting her. The knowledge she was to have a child following her uncle’s abominable behavior was not the reason he had shelved his romantic contemplations. Hannah’s attitude towards him made it appear she could see right into his soul, and she’d found it severely lacking.

Luke struggled enough with the shame of his past without spending any more time than was necessary with someone who had already judged him lacking. Wanting to restore Hannah’s faith in the Lord was his vocation.

Why would you buy land and not farm it? Hannah wondered. It makes no sense.

I want a home of my own, Luke said, trying to keep his voice even.

Farming had been Silas’s dream, not his. When he learned Thomas was to travel back to Independence for the trial of Eliza and Hannah’s uncle, Luke had felt a sharp nudge to not only help Thomas but honor his old friend. Silas had been a good man. Luke had not.

Hannah looked pointedly into the distance. Like I said earlier, there are acres of free land.

Noah’s eyebrows rose in surprise at Hannah’s tone. He slapped Luke on the back. "Well, I’m glad you’re here."

Heat bloomed in Hannah’s cheeks at Noah’s gentle rebuke, but she did not apologize for her rudeness. Who will care for your flock while you’re here playing at pioneer and farmer?

Council Grove has several preachers. One of the others will continue the traveling route while I decide my future.

How fortunate for you to have choices and opportunities. There was no disguising the bitterness in Hannah’s voice, and she didn’t even try. How does a preacher afford to stake a claim anyhow?

Luke blinked at her ability to make ‘preacher’ sound like a curse word. He wished he could tell her the truth about where his money had come from, but he couldn’t. She already hated him enough.

I intend to be a good neighbor and help this community prosper, he said instead.

Hannah shook her head and stalked back toward the cabin she shared with her sister Eliza and her husband, Thomas.

She’s not usually like that, Noah apologized. Usually she’s very pleasant.

Perhaps the heat is making her uncomfortable, Luke suggested. She acted a little oddly earlier.

That was probably the baby moving. Noah kicked at the dirt. Eli told her it was normal at this stage of her . . . um . . . condition.

How are you so knowledgeable? Luke asked, wishing the question was completely innocent and not because he felt jealous the younger man knew so much. Though why he should care about Noah’s closeness to Hannah when she seemed to detest him, he couldn’t fathom.

Everyone here talks about things quite openly at dinner. Noah shrugged. It doesn’t bother me. Except talking about Hannah’s baby reminds me of what happened to her.

Hopefully Hannah’s uncle will receive a just punishment at his trial later this month.

That won’t change the situation though, will it? Dust flew up as Noah took out his frustration on the earth.

No, it won’t, Luke agreed. I wish I had a better solution for Hannah.

His words about God judging Hannah’s uncle