The Wrong Woman
by Christina Cole

Blurb:Abigail Rose made a big mistake. She fell in love with a fast-talking scoundrel who stole her money and her virginity before disappearing. Now, she hopes to hide her secret shames and make a new start as a schoolteacher in St. Paul. She boards the train in Kansas City, ready to put the past behind her and move on, but during a stop-over in Des Moines, Iowa, a man with a gun steals her away.
Will Loudon has made his share of mistakes, too. He’s got a bad marriage behind him, foreclosure of his farm is looming on the horizon, and his own brother has cheated him out of his inheritance. Will plans to settle the score and get what’s rightfully his by abducting Honey Branson, his brother’s intended bride…but he takes Abigail by mistake.
How could he steal the wrong woman? And what will he do with her now?

Teaser:
Will could not remember ever hearing a sigh quite like the one Abigail emitted. Long, weary, tremulous, and somehow filled with a range of emotion that made him want to pull the confusing woman into his arms and promise her the sun, the moon, the stars, or whatever else it would take to make her stop hurting. Knowing that he was the cause of her despair only made matters worse. He would do whatever he must, he vowed to himself. Somehow he would find a way to fix the mess he’d made of her life.
He watched as she schlumped across the room—there was no other word for it. Her shoulders sagged beneath some unseen burden, her feet shuffled slowly across the hardwood floor, and the woebegone look upon her face would have made him laugh if he weren’t so damned worried about her.
She mumbled something as she stared down at her hands, neatly folded in her lap. Her voice was barely audible, her words unrecognizable.

“How’s that again?” he asked. He yearned to go into the room, to sit on the bed beside her, and to offer what comfort he could. When he started to take a step toward her, warning alarms went off in his head. No way could he handle such a dangerously tempting situation. He forced himself to remain at the doorway.

“I said, I suppose I might as well be honest with you.” This time, Abigail looked up as she spoke. Her voice wavered, but her words came out loud and clear. “I don’t have any money. If you take me back to Des Moines, I’ll be stranded there with no place to go.”

Will scratched his jaw, the day’s growth of beard irritating him. He’d have to shave later, he thought, suddenly wondering if he’d remembered to sharpen his razor, and had he bought shaving soap on his last trip into town? And had he—

“Did you hear what I said?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, but then he nodded. “Yeah, I heard you. I’m just wishing I hadn’t.”

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About the Author

Christina Cole fell in love with words at a very young age. She’ll always be grateful to her grandfather and his patience as he taught her the joys of reading. Throughout her childhood she loved telling tales. She begged and pleaded for her mother to type them, but soon — with her grandfather’s guidance — learned to type for herself on his old Underwood.

Things have changed now. Her grandfather is gone, and so is the old typewriter, but Christina’s love for story-telling has remained strong. She now does her typing on a computer in a cozy little writing room filled with books, treasures, and a much-cherished photograph of her grandfather.
She is married, lives in the midwest, loves history, hates winter, and is happily at work on her next historical romance.

Twitter: @Kcchristinacole
Facebook: Christina Cole’s Love Notes
Blog: Seasons of Love
Email: KCChristinaCole@yahoo.com