Hannah’s Hardship
Westward Home & Hearts Mail-Order Bride Series
By Marie Higgins
Copyright © 2020 by Marie Higgins
Cover Art by V McKevitt
Edited by Teresa Pearson & Veronica Mesa
Edition License Notes
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Hannah's Hardship (Westward Home and Hearts Mail-Order Brides Series, #11)
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
Other published stories by Marie Higgins
Author’s Bio
Hannah Ross wants only one thing – to leave her rotten hometown where the gossipmongers won’t stop spreading rumors, and to start a new life. Becoming a mail-order bride is the only way. Of course, she must not let her new husband know she’s pregnant. There’s no way to explain why a baby is growing in her belly. Instead, she must put her disastrous past behind her and move forward... even if that means she’ll never find a man to love.
ONE
Montana, 1889
Hannah Ross had finally hit rock bottom. There was only one way to go from here. Up. And she was determined not to let life drop her again.
She stepped off the stagecoach and took in her new surroundings. Stumptown appeared to be a friendly small town. Then again, looks could be deceiving. Hopefully, she’d left behind her ruined reputation in Colorado, never to see anyone from that area again. Her mother understood and gave her blessing.
“Here’s your trunk, ma’am.”
Hannah glanced at the stagecoach driver, who unloaded the passenger’s trunks. She moved to hers and grasped the handle, and then collected her satchel. Since she had traveled quite often over the past five years, she knew how to pack light.
Taking a deep breath for courage, she moved out of the street and to the boardwalk. From the conversations in the stagecoach as the four passengers neared the logging town, there weren’t many women who took up residence in Stumptown. If Hannah had known that, she might not have answered the newspaper ad for a mail-order bride.
Since she was sixteen years of age, men had been attracted to her. At first, Hannah had been innocent to their charm and lies, but it wasn’t until she had turned twenty-five before she learned a hard lesson. She placed her hand on her belly and frowned. She would soon have a child because she had believed that a man actually loved and wanted to take care of her.
Of course, it had all been a lie.
When she discovered she was pregnant, she confronted the man who had once professed his undying love to her. The next day, he skipped town. Two days later, rumors were already circling through the social-mills, and people were gossiping behind her back. Hannah couldn’t walk down the street without people throwing her glares. Some mothers even turned their children away from Hannah when she greeted them with a smile.
Hannah blinked back the tears. She wasn’t a terrible person, so why did everyone judge her so harshly?
That’s when she decided to get out of Colorado. Being a mail-order bride was the only way she knew how to survive. However, she needed to consummate the marriage quickly in order for her soon-to-be husband to think the child was his.
Hannah glanced up and down the street and at the handful of lumberjacks who had come into town. So far, she only saw one woman, and the lady looked old enough to be Hannah’s grandmother.
Perhaps she should not have answered the first newspaper ad she read. Or, she should have asked around about the odd little place of Stumptown, before agreeing to this mail-order marriage. Being in close spaces with so many men made her nervous.
She sighed impatiently and looked up the street again. Perhaps her groom wasn’t going to meet her, after all. Hannah might have to ask around to see who knew Mr. Easton. She’d come this far, and she was determined to find a husband today.
“Pardon me, miss.”
She turned and rested her gaze on the middle-aged man behind her. He squinted through his spectacles at her as if not seeing her very well. The man was overly plump and didn’t have a lot of hair on the top of his head. Instead, the hair covered the sides and hung low, nearly to his shoulders.
“Yes?” she replied.
“Are you lost?”
She nearly spit out a laugh. Thankfully, she was in control and held it in. “Actually, sir, I’m not lost, but I am looking for someone.”
“Eh?” He leaned closer, turning his left ear toward her.
Apparently, this man had both sight and hearing problems. “I’m looking for Mr. Easton.”
“Which one? There are three Easton brothers.”
Oh, dear. Three brothers? “Um, I’m not sure.”
“The brothers are Maverick, Bryan, and Joel.”
She tried to remember if during her brief correspondence via telegram with Mr. Easton if he had ever used his first name. Sadly, she couldn’t recall. But none of those names were familiar.
“She’s with me, Cooper.”
When another man came up behind her from out of nowhere, she nearly jumped out of her skin. Why couldn’t men just greet her naturally? Did it make them feel powerful to scare her?
The rugged cowboy grinned as he slid an arm around her waist and pulled her against his body. His hat rode low on his forehead, shadowing his eyes. The whiskers on his face appeared that he and razors were not very good friends. However, it was the stench of alcohol that made her blood turn cold with fear. She knew firsthand how drunkards acted around her, and she wanted to get far away from this one.
“Please, sir,” she said in a steady voice that didn’t match her quaky nerves, “leave me alone.” When he didn’t do as she asked, she turned
