RR05 - Tender Mercies

Tender Mercies

Books by

Lauraine Snelling

Golden Filly Collection One
*
Golden Filly Collection Two
*

High Hurdles Collection One
*
High Hurdles Collection Two
*

A Secret Refuge
(3 in 1)

D
AKOTAH
T
REASURES
Ruby • Pearl
Opal • Amethyst

D
AUGHTERS OF
B
LESSING
A Promise for Ellie • Sophie’s Dilemma
A Touch of Grace • Rebecca’s Reward

H
OME TO
B
LESSING
A Measure of Mercy • No Distance Too Far
A Heart for Home

R
ED
R
IVER OF THE
N
ORTH
An Untamed Land • A New Day Rising
A Land to Call Home • The Reaper’s Song
Tender Mercies • Blessing in Disguise

R
ETURN TO
R
ED
R
IVER
A Dream to Follow • Believing the Dream
More Than a Dream

*
5 books in each volume

TENDER
MERCIES

RED RIVER OF THE NORTH, BOOK 5

Lauraine Snelling

Tender Mercies
Copyright © 1999
Lauraine Snelling

Cover design by Jennifer Parker

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55438

Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 978-0-7642-0195-0

The Library of Congress has cataloged the original edition as follows:

Snelling Lauraine.
    Tender mercies / by Lauraine Snelling.
       p. cm. — (Red river of the north ; 5)
    ISBN 0-7642-2089-6
    1. Norwegian Americans—Dakota Territory Fiction. I. Title. II. Series: Snelling,
Lauraine. Red River of the north ; bk. 5.
PS3569.N39 T46      1999
813’.54—dc21                                                                                                                          99-6410
                                                                                                                                                          CIP

To all my teachers,
those unsung heroes in a person’s life,
but especially Jen Southworth and Damon Peeler,
who pushed me toward excellence.
What gifts you were and are to me.

LAURAINE SNELLING is an award-winning author of over 60 books, fiction and nonfiction for adults and young adults. Her books have sold over two million copies. Besides writing books and articles, she teaches at writers’ conferences across the country. She and her husband, Wayne, have two grown sons, a bassett named Chewy, and a cockatiel watch bird named Bidley. They make their home in California.

Contents

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 1

September 1887
Blessing, Dakota Territory

“Good riddance.”

Pastor John Solberg stroked an impatient hand across sandy hair that no longer covered an ever broadening forehead. He watched one of his parishioners twitch her way out the door of the schoolhouse, where she’d trapped him. Good thing she hadn’t heard him.

“Why, Lord, why? Is it written somewhere that the local pastor is fair game for every woman with a marriageable daughter? You know I’m not the only single man around here.” Talking out loud with the Lord had become the norm for him in his solitary life. After all, when he knew Jesus was right beside him, why not carry on a conversation with Him out loud?

Between getting ready to teach twenty-seven students from the ages of five to fourteen in a one-room shoddy all day and his pastoral duties, lonely wasn’t a word in his vocabulary.

Usually.

He eyed the loaf of fresh bread that waited for him on the side of the desk. That was one good thing, those marriage-seeking mamas almost always brought a gift, and most often it was food of some sort. As did his neighbors. Yesterday he’d found an apple pie on his kitchen table. The accompanying note had invited him to supper on Sunday at the Knutsons’.

Now if there were more women around like Kaaren Knutson—not only lovely like a cream-colored rose but with a sweet spirit to match and wisdom far beyond her years.

Like Katy
.

He closed his eyes, the better to see her on the backs of his eyelids. Katy Bjorklund, with laughing blue eyes, an endearing Norwegian accent since she’d only come to America last year, and a heart always ready to help anyone in need. He’d thought her the perfect candidate for a pastor’s wife.

Katy thought of him only as a friend.

On May 27, 1887, he’d officiated at the marriage of Katy Bjorklund to Zeb MacCallister.

Weddings were usually such a happy time for him, but not that one. From the time Zeb MacCallister rode into Blessing, Katy had eyes only for the stranger. Pastor Solberg had learned a valuable lesson from all that. If you don’t want to get burned, stay away from the stove.

“Lord, forgive me,” he murmured into his cupped hands. “Must I be so base as to think of her still? You know I have given her up. Why do the memories yet haunt me?” He pushed himself upright. “If you have a wife for me—now I’m beginning to wonder—let her be a gentle Norwegian girl who will fit right in with these dear people of mine.”

He almost smiled at the thought of referring to the bread-bearing mama as “dear.”

The jingle of harness caught his attention. He glanced around the schoolroom, knowing that all was in readiness for his pupils who would start in the next week. But it never hurt to check.

“Whoa there.” The clomp of horse hooves ended at the same time the harness stopped jingling.

He would know that laugh anywhere. His heart felt as if a giant hand had squeezed it once and then again.

Katy
.

Why hadn’t they put two doors in this building? With no way of escape, he pushed himself upright and pasted a smile on his face.

“John? Are you here?”

“Y—.” He cleared his throat. He could hear the slow drawl of her husband answer some question. Was there a third person out there? “Yes, I’m here. Come on in.”

He flipped open a book and stared down the pages. The print danced before his eyes.

The door burst open, and Katy Bjorklund MacCallister entered, laughing at something Zeb had said. Spring rushed in with her.

“John, we have someone for you to meet.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Come on, Mary Martha. You must meet one of our best friends.”

Solberg groaned inside.
Have I acted so convincingly that she has no idea?

“Good afternoon, Pastor.” Zeb MacCallister removed his widebrimmed hat as he came through the low door. If he hadn’t, the doorframe would have done it for him. “Sorry to bother you, but my Katy insisted.”