Love's Silver Lining Read online

  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

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Epilogue

  A Note to My Readers

  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

  CAST OF CHARACTERS IN LOVE’S SILVER LINING

  The Heroine:

  Margaret Rose “Maggie” Mullaney: Twenty-two-year-old newly graduated nurse from New York, suffragette, goddaughter and niece of secondary heroine, Libby O’Shea.

  The Secondary Heroine:

  Liberty “Libby” Margaret O’Shea: Thirty-nine-year-old Vassar teacher, suffragette, daughter of Maeve and Aiden O’Shea, godmother and “aunt” to heroine, Maggie Mullaney, and heroine from series prequel novel, For Love of Liberty.

  The Hero:

  Brendan Zachery “Blaze” Donovan: Twenty-nine-year-old nephew of Finn McShane, older brother to Dash, Sheridan, and Shaylee, and foreman of Silver Lining Ranch.

  The Secondary Hero:

  Griffin Alexander “Finn” McShane: Forty-two-year-old owner of the Silver Lining Ranch and Silver Mine, uncle to the hero, Blaze Donovan, and Sheridan, Shaylee, and Dash Donovan, and hero from series prequel novel, For Love of Liberty.

  The Rest of the Cast:

  Dashiell “Dash” Donovan: Twenty-seven-year-old brother to Blaze, Sheridan, and Shaylee, nephew of Finn McShane.

  Sheridan Marie Donovan: Seventeen-year-old sister of Blaze, Dash, and Shaylee, niece of Finn McShane.

  Shaylee Ann Donovan: Thirteen-year-old sister of Blaze, Dash, and Sheridan, niece of Finn McShane.

  Jake (Sully) Sullivan: Blaze Donovan’s best friend, close friend of the family, and cowhand.

  Mrs. Poppy: A pastor’s widow and mentor to Finn McShane and Libby O’Shea.

  Maeve O’Shea: Libby’s mother.

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

  Rachel Dixon: Blaze Donovan’s girlfriend and saloon girl at the Ponderosa Saloon.

  Chanel Monroe: Saloon girl at the Ponderosa Saloon.

  Jo Beth Templeton: Finn’s f
ormer girlfriend and daughter of Finn’s political opponent, George Templeton.

  Abigail Grace Mitchell: Nurse at St. Mary Louise Hospital and heroine’s friend.

  Andrea Jo Stephens: Nurse at St. Mary Louise Hospital and heroine’s friend.

  Gert: The O’Shea’s cook and maid.

  Angus: Finn’s cowhand cook.

  Connie Michele Edwards: Friend of hero’s sister, Sheridan Donovan.

  Milo Parks: Finn McShane’s best friend.

  John Piper: Finn McShane’s friend and political advocate, owner of Piper’s Opera House.

  Sister “Fred” Frederica: Administrator of St. Mary Louise Hospital.

  Donald Raymond Turley, Sr.: Manager of The Gold Hill Hotel.

  DEDICATION

  To my dear friend and author extraordinaire, Mary Connealy—whose “Romantic

  Comedy with Cowboys” Historical romance inspired me in this Western series.

  Thanks, Mary, for always putting a smile on my face and a sigh on my lips.

  And

  To two of my dearest reader friends for whom I’ve named characters in my books—

  Gabriella Dawn Smith and Casey Miranda Herringshaw—I am rejoicing that our God has blessed you both with Godly heroes of your own!

  A threefold cord is not quickly broken.

  —Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

  CHAPTER ONE

  Virginia City, Nevada, May 1885

  Sweet chorus of angels—pinch me! Palms to the windowsill, twenty-two-year-old Maggie Mullaney leaned out the back window of St. Mary Louise Hospital’s hallway, drinking in the heady scent of freedom and pine. For the first time since she’d fled New York with Aunt Libby—and the sham marriage arranged by her stepfather—Maggie felt her ribcage expand in a sense of relief as wide and welcoming as the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

  Breathing in the crisp, clean air of the mountains that towered over Virginia City, she felt almost giddy, a sense of anticipation bubbling through her like the brook that gurgled below. Imagine—to practice nursing in one of the most renowned medical facilities in the country! Unleashing a contented sigh, she scanned the cloud-dappled sky with a heart of thanksgiving and a truly grateful smile. Thank you, Lord, that I’ll be serving the needs of mankind—her smile crooked off-center—instead of the needs of one man!

  “Psst … ma’am … uh, I could sure use your help.”

  A gasp caught in Maggie’s throat as she lurched back inside the window, almost bumping her head at the sight of a bandaged cowboy peeking out of the stairwell. Her jaw dropped.

  And not just any cowboy.

  A near-naked, bandaged cowboy.

  She swallowed hard, eyes circled in shock as she scanned from a well-worn Stetson down a bare, sculpted torso partially swathed in gauze.

  A very muscular, handsome, near-naked cowboy.

  Too stunned to avert her gaze, she was mortified to discover that her eyes had a mind of their own. Before she could look away, they scanned down a sheet awkwardly wrapped around slim hips, past bunched material to powerful legs attached to mammoth bare feet. Near faint, she jerked her gaze back up to a crooked smile that literally stuttered her pulse.

  Cheeks pulsing with heat, she immediately slapped a hand to her eyes, quite certain that none of the patients she’d treated at the Bellvue School of Nursing ever looked like the specimen before her.

  “Uh, I realize this is a shock, ma’am …,” his low voice began, the barest hint of a smile lending a husky tease to his tone.

  Shock? Maggie plastered another hand to her face, unable to dispel the image of brawn now branded in her brain. For the love of Florence Nightingale, this went well beyond shock to downright indecent!

  “… but I’d be much obliged if you’d retrieve my clothes, boots, and holster from the nurses’ station, so I can go home, ma’am, avoiding scaring anymore unsuspecting young ladies such as yourself.”

  Maggie squeezed her eyelids shut behind her hands, pretty sure one “unsuspecting young lady” was already scarred for life.

  “Uh … miss?”

  Swallowing the lump in her throat, Maggie inched a finger up to peek through her hand, mentally berating herself for allowing this man to unnerve her. For pity’s sake, he was a patient and this was a hospital, and for the love of all that was compassionate and kind, she was a nurse. Or would be as soon as Sister Frederica finished her meeting with the staff and called her in for an interview.

  He gave a sharp nod toward the nurses’ station down the hall, and the action tumbled several sun-streaked curls onto his forehead while two deep dimples perfectly framed a little-boy grin. “Sister Fred tucked my things under the counter for safekeeping, but as I’m sure you can understand, I’m a mite embarrassed to parade down the hall like this …”

  Sapphire-blue eyes held her captive, their playful twinkle all but sapping the strength from her limbs. His easy smile coaxed, joining forces with a husky whisper that seemed to slide over her like melted butter. “So, if you wouldn’t mind, pretty lady, I’d be forever in your debt …”

  Maggie froze. Pretty lady? A shiver skated her spine while warning bells pealed wildly in her head, the sound of those two words severing the spell of the man before her faster than a physician’s scalpel. The last person who had called her that had been David, her so-called fiancé, a society playboy with an insatiable eye for the ladies. A rogue she couldn’t trust. Her eyes narrowed.

  Not unlike the half-naked, bandaged cowboy smiling at her now.

  With a forced square of shoulders, Maggie lifted her chin to focus only on the man’s face, which was difficult enough given a perfectly chiseled jaw that sported a dangerous shadow of bristle. Quivering hands clasped at her waist, she managed a strained smile. “Why, I’ll be happy to fetch your things, Mr. …?”

  “Donovan—Blaze Donovan, ma’am,” he said with a flash of beautiful teeth that nearly buckled her at the knees. The blue eyes sheathed halfway to leisurely study her, lingering on her lips long enough to parch any moisture in her throat. “And you are …?”

  “M-Maggie … uh, Mullaney,” she stuttered, desperate to get this man clothed and as far away from her as he could possibly get. She struggled to project a professional air, head tipped in assessment. “I assume you are a patient, Mr. Donovan, who has yet to be discharged?”

  “No, I’ve been discharged,” he said quickly, a flare of panic in those deadly blue eyes that caused her lips to twitch in a near smile. “Sister Fred said I could go home, but she has most of the nurses in a meeting right now, so I guess they plum forgot to bring me my things.”

  “I see.” Nodding slowly, she pivoted to make her way down the hall. “Well, I believe I saw an elderly sister at the desk, so I’ll be happy to check …”

  “No!”

  She screeched to a stop, her suspicions confirmed. With a slow turn of her head, she peered over her shoulder, the sheepish smile he gave her downright shameless. “I mean, no need to bother her, Miss Maggie,” he said with a casual shrug of sturdy shoulders, rugged hands pinched as white as the sheet at his waist. “If you’ll just discreetly snatch my clothes, boots, and gun, I’ll be on my way.”

  She spun on her heel to face him with an arch of her brow. “You haven’t been discharged yet, Mr. Donovan, have you?”

  “Why, of course I have, ma’am,” he said with an easy drawl she’d wager would have gotten him far more than his clothes from every nurse on the floor. “And I’d be fully clothed and walking out of here right now if the nurses were around, you have my word.”

  A smile twitched at the edge of her lips. Oh, no doubt about that!

  Offering an almost shy duck of his head, he cuffed the back of his neck with a bulge of a bicep that slackened her mouth, masculinity oozing out of every pore of the man’s half-naked body. “So, if you don’t mind, ma’am, I surely would appreciate my clothes.”

  Maggie stared, in absolute awe of the raw magnetism he seemed to possess, a draw obviously detrimental to all women given the wild ra
cing of her own pulse. Shaking off the pull, she expelled a quiet sigh, peering up with a sympathy she truly felt in her heart. “As much as I’d like to, Mr. Donovan, I’m concerned for your well-being, so I really think it’s best if you wait to talk to Sister Frederica.”

  The roguish air vanished in the hard clamp of his jaw. “Look, lady, I’ve been pushed and prodded in this sick-man’s jail for over a week now, and I’m going home whether you give me my things or not. So, I’m asking you to save us both a whole lot of humiliation and just give me my dad-burned clothes.”

  Maggie bit hard on her lip, desperate to thwart the grin that just ached to break free. But the sight of a near-naked, bandaged rogue with a tic in his temple was too good to resist, and with a sweep of her hand toward the end of the hall, she gave him a mischievous smile. “I assure you, Mr. Donovan, the humiliation will be all yours.”

  The blue eyes narrowed to slits of sapphire, and with a hard jerk of the sheet at his waist, he bolted past her, luring a giggle from her mouth when he and his bunched bedclothes whooshed by in a growl. “Thanks a lot, lady,” he muttered, bare feet slapping against the wooden hallway.