“I guess I do.” Aundy looked with interest at the fluffy clouds drifting across the azure sky overhead and the fields that surrounded both sides of the road. If the land had been flat, she was sure she could have seen for miles. Instead, the gently rolling hills provided their own unique perspective to the landscape. Unfamiliar with wide-open spaces and such clean air, Aundy breathed as deeply as she dared and soaked up the sunshine.
“How old are you?” Erik asked, breaking into her thoughts.
“Twenty-one, although people often mistake me for someone older.” Aundy laughed as a memory surfaced. “Someone once asked if Ilsa, my sister, was my daughter. I didn’t know whether to be insulted or pleased.”
Erik chuckled. “Pleased, I would think. People can’t help but see the way you carry yourself with confidence and strength. That’s a good thing.”
“It is?” Aundy liked the sound of Erik’s laugh. Although she’d only just met the man, it wasn’t hard for her to imagine spending her future with him. Since stepping off the train, what she'd seen and experienced led her to believe Erik was gentle and mannerly. He might not be handsome or young, he might not make her heart pound or butterflies take flight in her stomach, but she thought he would treat her with respect and care. If they were fortunate, they might even come to love one another someday.
“Certainly, it is. I wouldn’t want some flighty young thing, so wrapped up in herself that she wouldn’t take proper care of a home or her husband. It’s easy to see that you’ll be a good wife, Aundy. You’re a sensible girl and I appreciate that.” Erik looked at his new bride with a teasing smile. “I also appreciate your fine figure, beautiful eyes, and that sweet smile.”
Her cheeks turned pink and felt exceedingly warm from Erik’s words of praise. Aundy lifted her gaze across the fields, dotted with a few skiffs of melting snow.
She heard Erik chuckle again before she felt his fingers on her chin. He gently turned her face toward his.
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you, but I want you to know I think this marriage is going to work out just fine.” Erik leaned over and pressed another quick kiss to her lips.
Aundy closed her eyes and waited to feel something, anything. Instead, Erik pulled back and she opened her eyes to find him studying the road ahead.
“Do you think… if it isn’t… what I…” Aundy stammered, trying to figure out a way to ask if she could take a bath when they reached his farm.
“What is it? Go ahead, Aundy. Don’t be afraid to ask me anything.”
“May I please have a bath? I feel like I’m wearing dust from way back in Wyoming and half a train car of soot.”
“Yes, you may,” Erik said, bringing his gaze back to his bride with an indulgent smile. “You can do that while I take care of the evening chores, after I show you around the farm. How does that sound?”
“Wonderful,” Aundy said, excited at the prospect of being clean. “As soon as I’m finished, I can fix the evening meal.”
“No need. One of the neighbors said she’d have a basket waiting on the table for a cold supper so you wouldn’t have to cook on your wedding day.”
“How thoughtful.” Aundy decided Erik must have nice neighbors. “I’ll have to thank her later for her kindness.”
“It’s Mrs. Nash. She and her husband and son live on the farm to the south of us. They’re good folks. Ol’ Marvin Tooley lives on the farm to the west but he’s cantankerous on a good day, so stay away from him if you can.”
Aundy nodded her head, wondering what made Mr. Tooley crotchety.
When they passed a lane that turned off the road, Erik inclined his head that direction while the horses continued onward. “That’s the Nash place. Been here for many years. Raise mostly cattle and wheat. Good folks and good friends as well as our closest neighbors.”
Aundy again nodded her head and gazed up the lane, catching a view of the top of the barn over a rise in the road. Pole fences ran along a pasture down to the road and she could see dozens of cattle grazing lazily in the sun.
“Are those…” A sharp crack resonated around them, spooking the team. The horses lunged forward and the wagon began flying down the muddy road.
“Whoa, boys! Whoa!” Erik called, pulling back on the reins, frantic to get the team under control.
Aundy clung to the side and back of the seat, praying for the runaway horses to stop.
“Get down, Aundy,” Erik yelled, motioning for her to climb beneath the wagon’s seat. She followed his orders, wedging herself into the space as she listened to the thundering of the horse’s hooves and Erik’s shouts for them to stop.
The wagon veered sideways then slid back before hitting the side of the ditch bank and flipping over, sliding in the mud.
Aundy’s screams mingled with Erik’s shouts before everything went black.
Available on Amazon
Hearts of the War Series, Book 1
Can forbidden love blossom amid the constraints of war?
The moment the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, life shifted for Miko Nishimura. Desperate to reach the Portland Assembly Center for Japanese Americans, she’s kicked off the bus miles from town. Every tick of the clock pushes her closer to becoming a fugitive in the land of her birth. Exhausted, she stumbles to her grandparents’ abandoned farm only to find a dying soldier sprawled across the step. Unable to leave him, she forsakes all else to keep him alive.
After crashing his plane in the Battle of the Atlantic, the doctors condemn Captain Rock Laroux to die. Determined to meet his maker beneath a blue sky at his family home, he sneaks out of the hospital. Weary and half out of his mind, he makes it as far as a produce stand he remembers from his youth. Rather than surrender to death, Rock fights a battle of the heart as he falls in love with the beautiful Japanese woman who saves his life.
A poignant, sweet romance, Garden of Her Heart proves love can bloom in unlikely places even under the most challenging circumstances.
Available on Amazon
Books by Shanna Hatfield
FICTION
HISTORICAL
Baker City Brides
Tad’s Treasure
Crumpets and Cowpies
Thimbles and Thistles
Corsets and Cuffs
Bobbins and Boots
Pendleton Petticoats
Dacey
Aundy
Caterina
Ilsa
Marnie
Lacy
Bertie
Millie
Dally
Hearts of the War
Garden of Her Heart
Home of Her Heart
Hardman Holidays
The Christmas Token
The Christmas Calamity
The Christmas Vow
The Christmas Quandary
CONTEMPORARY
Stand-Alone Stories
Learnin’ The Ropes
Love at the 20-Yard Line
QR Code Killer
Rose
Taste of Tara
Grass Valley Cowboys
The Cowboy’s Christmas Plan
The Cowboy’s Spring Romance
The Cowboy’s Summer Love
The Cowboy’s Autumn Fall
The Cowboy’s New Heart
The Cowboy’s Last Goodbye
Holiday Brides
Valentine Bride
Rodeo Romance
The Christmas Cowboy
Wrestlin’ Christmas
Capturing Christmas
Barreling Through Christmas
Silverton Sweethearts
The Coffee Girl
The Christmas Crusade
Untangling Christmas
The Women of Tenacity
A Prelude (Short Story)
Heart of Clay
Country Boy vs. City Girl
Not His Type
NONFICTION
Farm Girl
Fifty Dates with Captain Cavedweller
&n
bsp; Recipes of Love
Savvy Entertaining
Savvy Autumn Entertaining
Savvy Holiday Entertaining
Savvy Spring Entertaining
Savvy Summer Entertaining
Hopeless romantic Shanna Hatfield spent ten years as a newspaper journalist before moving into the field of marketing and public relations. Sharing the romantic stories she dreams up in her head is a perfect outlet for her love of writing, reading, and creativity. She and her husband, lovingly referred to as Captain Cavedweller, reside in the Pacific Northwest.
Shanna loves to hear from readers. Connect with her online:
Blog: shannahatfield.com
Facebook: Shanna Hatfield’s Page
Shanna Hatfield’s Hopeless Romantics Group
Pinterest: Shanna Hatfield
Email: shanna@shannahatfield.com
To see images that provided visual inspiration for the story, please visit the Home of Her Heart board on Pinterest.