For Love of Liberty (Silver Lining Ranch Series Book 1) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

  Acclaim for Julie Lessman

  Cast of Characters

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  A Note to My Readers

  A Sneak Peek at Love’s Silver Lining

  Author Bio

  Other Books by Julie Lessman

  Table of Contents

  Acclaim for Julie Lessman

  Cast of Characters

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  A Note to My Readers

  A Sneak Peek at Love’s Silver Lining

  Author Bio

  Other Books by Julie Lessman

  Acclaim for Julie Lessman

  “In Isle of Hope Lessman tells a poignant tale of first loves reunited and families reconciled. Both emotionally captivating and spiritually challenging, this sweet southern love story deals with issues of forgiveness and restoration. Fans of Lessman will be absolutely delighted with this riveting tale!” —Denise Hunter, bestselling author of Falling Like Snowflakes

  “In Isle of Hope, award-winning author Julie Lessman weaves a story of how past choices collide with future consequences. Lessman’s novel has it all: lush details, dynamic characters, and a storyline that keeps you turning the pages. The characters Lessman created in Isle of Hope confront their (in)ability to forgive – and as you fall in love with these characters, be prepared to question your beliefs about forgiveness.” —Beth K. Vogt, author of Crazy Little Thing Called Love, and a 2015 RITA® Finalist and a 2015 and 2014 Carol Award finalist

  "Fans of Julie Lessman’s historical romances will love this modern day love story! Isle of Hope is a heartwarming and inspirational novel about forgiveness sought and restoration found. I’m enamored with the large and wonderful O’Bryen family and I thoroughly enjoyed the romances Julie skillfully crafted for both Jack O'Bryen and his mom Tess. A delight!” —Becky Wade, award-winning author of My Stubborn Heart and The Porter Family series including A Love Like Ours

  “Truly masterful plot twists ...” —Romantic Times Book Reviews

  “Readers who like heartwarming novels, such as those written by Debbie Macomber, are sure to enjoy this book.” —Booklist Online

  “Julie is one of the best there is today at writing intensely passionate romance novels. Her ability to thread romance and longing, deception and forgiveness, and lots of humor are unparalleled by anyone else in the Christian market today.” —Rachel McRae of LifeWay Stores

  “Julie Lessman's prose and character development is masterful.” —Church Libraries Magazine

  “With memorable characters and an effervescent plot that's as buoyant as it is entertaining, Dare to Love Again is Julie Lessman at her zestful best.” —Tamera Alexander, bestselling author of A Lasting Impression and To Whisper Her Name

  “In a powerful and skillfully written novel, Lessman exposes raw human emotions, proving once again that it's through our greatest pain that God can lead us to our true heart, revealed and restored. Thoroughly enthralling!” —Maggie Brendan, author of the Heart of the West and The Blue Willow Brides series

  “Julie Lessman brings all her passion for romance rooted in her passion for God to A Heart Revealed. Emma Malloy is her finest heroine yet. These characters, with their own personal struggles and the ignited flame of an impossible love, fill the pages of this powerful, passionate, fast-paced romance.” —Mary Connealy, bestselling author of the Lassoed in Texas, Montana Marriages, Trouble in Texas, and Wild at Heart series

  “What an interesting mix of characters. Rather than a single boy-meets-girl romance, Julie Lessman's latest novel takes readers on an emotional roller coaster with several couples—some married, some yearning to be married—as they seek to embrace love, honor the Lord, and uncover a dark truth that's been hidden for a decade. Readers who long for passion in their love stories will find it in abundance here!” —Liz Curtis Higgs, bestselling author of Thorn in My Heart

  “Readers will not be able to part with these characters come 'The End.” —Laura Frantz, award-winning author of Love's Reckoning

  “With an artist's brushstroke, Julie Lessman creates another masterpiece filled with family and love and passion. Love at Any Cost will not only soothe your soul, but it will make you laugh, stir your heart, and release a sigh of satisfaction when you turn the last page.” —MaryLu Tyndall, bestselling author of Veil of Pearls

  Silver Lining Ranch Series

  Cast of Characters in

  For Love of Liberty

  The Hero:

  Griffin Alexander McShane: Director of the V&T Railroad in Virginia City, Nevada

  and the heroine’s childhood nemesis.

  The Heroine:

  Liberty (Libby) Margaret O’Shea: Newly graduated from Vassar, suffragette, and

  journalist at the Territorial Enterprise newspaper in Virginia City.

  The Rest of the Cast:

  Milo Parks: Finn McShane’s best friend.

  Pastor Poppy: Minister who took Finn under his wing after Finn’s father deserted the family.

  Mrs. Poppy: Pastor Poppy’s wife, town matriarch, and matchmaker.

  Maeve O’Shea: Liberty’s mother.

  Aiden O’Shea: Liberty’s father and banker in Virginia City.

  Kitty Faye Jones: Liberty’s best friend.

  Martha Artyomenko: Liberty’s other best friend.

  Jo Beth Templeton: The girl Finn is seeing and daughter of banker George Templeton.

  Miss (Wilhelmina) Willoughby: Finn’s & Liberty’s teacher in school.

  Bettie Boswell: Jo Beth’s best friend.

  Gertie: The O’Shea’s cook and maid.

  Dedication

  To Marlene Dickerson, Julie Graves, Wendi

  Kitsteiner, Bonnie Roof, Virginia Rush, Sherida

  Stewart, and Kate Voss—whose kind hearts and

  keen eyes (on this book or others) have blessed

  me more than I can say. Thank you

  for your precious friendships!

  It is for liberty that Christ has set us free.

  —Galatians 5:1

  PROLOGUE

  Virginia City, 1860

  “Abominable.”

  Miss Willoughby’s voice rang clear and concise from the back of the schoolroom, spelling primer in hand as she offered fourteen-year-old Liberty “Libby” O’Shea an encouraging smile. “Since everyone has been eliminated from the spelling bee except you and Mr. McSha
ne, Miss O’Shea, we’ll need both the definition and usage of the word in a sentence in addition to the spelling, all right?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Libby’s smile tightened, the presence of seventeen-year-old Griffin McShane a few feet away girding her with the resolve to put the cocky know-it-all in his place. “Abominable,” she repeated in a loud voice, her mind immediately tracking to the most appropriate definition: Griffin McVain.

  She cleared her throat. “A-b-o-m-i-n-a-b-l-e. Definition: something unpleasant, disagreeable, repulsive, disgusting, loathsome, nauseating, insufferable, despicable, and horrible. Sentence usage …” She bit back the squirm of a smile. Griffin McShane is an abominable rogue. Shoulders square, she notched her chin up. “Spilling ink on a classmate’s term paper is an abominable thing to do.”

  Snickers filtered throughout the room, and Libby hoped he was as embarrassed as she always was when he taunted her, but she doubted it. He seemed to thrive on attention, good or bad, and trying to upstage Libby whenever he could. Ever since she’d moved here from New York a year ago, he’d been the proverbial thorn in her side—taunting her, pranking her, challenging her.

  Back in New York, she’d always been the top student with little or no effort, the teacher’s favorite and a shining star in every school she’d ever attended. Until her father was transferred to Virginia City to open a bank on the heels of the gold rush and the subsequent Comstock Lode, the first major silver discovery in the United States. Overnight, Libby found herself playing second fiddle to the most obnoxious boy in town, dirt poor in both wealth and manners.

  But filthy rich in pride.

  And, unfortunately, good looks, which only riled Libby all the more.

  “Correct,” Miss Willoughby said with approval, the twinkle in her eyes the only indication she understood the pointed meaning of Libby’s sentence. With a perfunctory clear of her throat, the teacher averted her attention to the “abominable” class rake who excelled in everything from academics to emotional harassment. “Mr. McShane, your word is ‘irascibility.’”

  “Irascibility.” The baritone voice that always carried a hint of a smile rang through the classroom with that same annoying confidence that managed to charm the socks off every female within a 5-mile radius. Whether teacher, parent, or child, it didn’t matter. If Griffin McShane smiled at them, there seemed to be a collective sigh of approval, especially from the teen-aged girls in town. Libby’s lids narrowed as she chanced a peek out of the corner of her eye.

  All except the smart ones …

  “I-r-a-s-c-i-b-i-l-i-t-y,” he said with a leisurely slack of his hip, thumbs nonchalantly tucked into the faded suspenders of patched and dusty trousers. His manner was casual, almost like he was chewing the fat with friends rather than competing for the honor of Virginia City’s scholar of the year. “Definition: behavior that is short-tempered, testy, touchy, petulant, waspish, prickly, or snippy.”

  Libby’s lips compressed as she studied his sculpted face shadowed with stubble way too pronounced for seventeen years. His carefree manner never failed to unnerve her, as if everything came so easily for him—the grades, the athletic skills, the popularity. It just wasn’t fair, especially since the only effort he seemed to put forth was in goading her. Easily one of the tallest boys in town, he filled out the worn linsey-woolsey shirt with a brawn that defied his age, honed from afternoons working at the lumber mill, no doubt. Which irked Libby all the more since she attended school full-time to his mere mornings, yet still struggled to best him in class.

  “Sentence usage,” he continued with that trademark trace of tease, “The mare’s irascibility confirmed that what she lacked in patience, she made up for in temper.”

  Titters circled the class as Libby’s cheeks bloomed bright red, well aware that Griffin McPain intended to win the war of words as well as the spelling bee.

  Miss Willoughby’s smile crooked. “Correct, Mr. McShane, although I’m sure the mare would disagree.” Her gaze flicked back to Libby, the encouraging sparkle in her eyes lending support. “Miss O’Shea, your word is supersede.”

  Adrenaline pulsed through Libby’s veins, the thrill of victory surging along with it. “Supersede,” she said with certainty, “s-u-p-e-r-c-e-d-e. Definition: replace, take the place of, succeed, supplant, displace, oust, overthrow, remove, or unseat.” Like I am going to do to you, Mr. McShame. “Sentence usage: The brightest and best will always supersede those who think they are.” Unable to resist a satisfied glance in McShane’s direction, Libby returned her attention to Miss Willoughby.

  Right before her body went stone cold.

  The sympathetic crimp of Miss Willoughby’s brows confirmed Libby’s greatest fear. “I’m sorry, Miss O’Shea, but your spelling is incorrect,” the teacher said with a compassionate smile before she turned her attention to Griffin. “Mr. McShane, please spell supersede.”

  “With pleasure, Miss Willoughby,” Griffin’s answer came, the air of self-assurance in his voice infusing Libby’s pale cheeks with an embarrassing whoosh of heat. “Supersede. S-u-p-e-r-s-e-d-e.”

  Silence hung thick in the air as Libby’s lungs refused to work, stomach contracting at the slow nod of Miss Willoughby’s head. “Absolutely correct, Mr. McShane. It’s been a tight race between you and Miss O’Shea, but you have emerged as Virginia City’s Scholar of the Year, young man, so congratulations!”

  “Yay, Griff!” his buddies shouted around the room, vaulting up with whoops and hollers while his best friend, Milo Parks, hoisted him in the air, the two of them carrying on like they were eight instead of almost eighteen.

  Libby’s best friends, Kitty Jones and Martha Artyomenko, surrounded her with sympathetic hugs that matched the kind understanding in Miss Willoughby’s eyes. “Excellent job as well, Miss O’Shea,” her teacher said with a soft smile, “and there’s always next year, young lady.”

  Yes, next year. Libby offered her teacher a grateful smile. When Griffin McBlame would be graduated and long gone. Her frustration drifted out on a gentle sigh of resignation as she squeezed her best friends’ hands. Perhaps it was just as well that he won Scholar of the Year. After all, as the sole support of his mother and younger siblings, she supposed he needed all the success he could get, no matter how awful he was to her.

  Gulping in a deep draw of air, she turned to offer him a stiff handshake, her smile bright if somewhat forced. “Congratulations, Griffin. You are a formidable foe.”

  His hand swallowed hers, and it galled her to no end that her stomach fluttered when he gave her that slow, easy grin. “Why, thank you, Liberty Bell,” he said, drawling out that annoying nickname he always used just to get on her nerves. “I may have gotten the spelling right, but don’t forget that you got a lot right too.”

  She blinked, not used to compliments from her nemesis. “Why … thank you, Griffin,” she said with a wide expanse of eyes, cheeks heating when his firm grasp lingered, his smile as warm as the hand holding hers.

  “You bet.” His thumb gently grazed the top of her wrist, sending shivers all the way up her arm. “After all, Miss Bell,” he said in a soft voice that belied the twinkle in his eye, “you’re right on the mark more than you know, especially today.” Flashing his trademark smile, he turned and strolled away, tossing the final word over his shoulder along with a saucy wink. “‘The brightest and best will always supersede those who think they are.’”

  CHAPTER ONE

  Virginia City, Nevada, May 1868

  Okay, just breathe … in, out, in, out. Twenty-two-year-old Liberty O’Shea swallowed hard, her throat as dry as the clouds of dust whirling behind her from wagon wheels on F Street at noon. Sucking in a shallow breath ripe with the smell of horse manure and tobacco, she gripped the brass doorknob of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad office, knuckles pinched whiter than the lacey gloves on her hand. “I can do this,” she whispered.

  If I don’t throw up first.

  Shoulders back, she pushed the door open, determined to conquer the task
at hand—a newspaper interview with the V&T director about a 21-mile railroad line from Virginia City to Carson City. An interview that could very well secure a spot on one of Virginia City’s most prestigious newspapers where Mark Twain himself was once an editor—the Territorial Enterprise. Libby reminded herself to exhale. Or at least that’s what Milo Parks had promised when he’d given her this trial assignment. Her mouth veered sideways as she quietly closed the door. That is, if one can trust a boy who’d once bolted her in the school outhouse.

  With a skunk.

  “Can I help you, miss?” A young woman glanced up from a battered oak desk, her faded maroon silk dress so tight, she could have been waiting tables at the Brass Rail Saloon. In reflex, Libby glanced down at her own expensive House of Worth walking suit. Its butternut silk was the perfect complement to her flaming auburn hair, which now peeked out beneath the latest feathered straw hat from Paris. For one brief moment, she felt horribly extravagant next to this poor working woman attired in no more than a shabby barroom dress. Summoning a smile, she quickly shook it off, reminding herself that in a man’s world, she needed to be at her very best in order to further the cause of women everywhere, including the poor soul before her.

  “Yes, thank you.” Libby hugged a pad of paper to her ruffled white bodice, gaze flicking to the wood-slatted wall behind the young woman, its knotted pine emblazoned with a map of Nevada. Her lips instinctively pursed over the dotted line that connected Virginia City with Carson City, reminding her of her disdain for railroads. Tucking her reticule behind the pad, she worked hard to convey her most confident smile. “Mr. Milo Parks suggested I interview Director Finn for a feature article in the Territorial Enterprise. Is he in?”

  A ghost of a smile flickered across the woman’s rouged lips as she shuffled papers into a neat stack and laid them aside. “Yes, Director Finn is in today, but I’m afraid he just stepped out for lunch and a few errands, so I’m not exactly sure when he’ll be back.”