Free Hannah Saves Samuel (Wanted: Wives In The West 1) by Trinity Ford Page A

while he was paying me,” her Pa would say. “Sometimes, Hannah, people are going through tough times but they don’t want anyone to know. Romans 15:2 says, Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. I like to do something good for those I see in trouble.”
     
    And he did. Later that day, Pa had Ma deliver a basket of homemade goods to that man’s house. Turned out his wife was gravely ill, and the time he’d spent by her side caring for her and his kids had caused him to fall short on his money. Pa wound up helping the man get back on his feet. That’s just the kind of man he was. The kind of man Hannah wanted for herself – loving, Godly, and neighborly.
     
    Oh how she missed her pa. He had passed away a year ago from dysentery, catching them all off guard. Because of his kind generosity in the community, the townsfolk had rallied around and kept her ma afloat by repaying their debt to the family. But it wasn’t going to last forever. Hannah had to find a way to start a life on her own, one where she could possibly help her family out in the process. It would take more than what she was making at the Patricks’.
     
    “Sorry I’m late!” Hannah yelled to her ma as she ran into the house and started cooking dinner. Jenny was playing by the hearth with her doll, but Ma was nowhere to be found. She must be out back doing the wash, or lying down for a nap. “Jenny, I got you something,” Hannah said with a sly grin. Jenny raced into the kitchen, closed her eyes tight and held out her hand. Hannah laid the magnolia in it. “This is a beautiful flower from the tree Pa planted for Ma when they were younger. Where is Ma?”
     
    “She’s crying in her room,” Jenny said, with a matter of fact tone as if this happened all the time.
     
    “Crying?” Hannah asked. “Why is she crying?” Just then Ma emerged from the bedroom, apparently having overheard voices in the kitchen. Her eyes were red and swollen and she held a piece of paper in her hand, placing it down in front of Hannah as she went to sit in the chair, dabbing her handkerchief at her eyes and sniffling.
     
    Hannah dried her hands and picked up the paper. Regret to inform you … seizing the property … six weeks to vacate . The family was being kicked off their land! “Hannah,” Ma said softly. “Jenny and I will be going to live with my sister Agnes in Savannah. She doesn’t have room for you, but I’ve asked some friends if they’ll consider taking you in until you marry. I’m so sorry I’ve let you down.”
     
    Hannah hugged her mother with a smile on her face, but deep down, she felt such shame. Not only was she unable to find a suitable husband in her home town, but she wasn’t sure who would be willing to take her in now. And what if no proper suitor was ever found and she remained a spinster till the end? No. This was the sign from God she’d been waiting for. This was the push she needed to fulfill her own destiny and find her forever home.
     
    …
     
    Pastor Stanley Littlejohn was ecstatic when the replies started coming in. “Look, Mabel, another one!” he exclaimed to his wife as he sat at the breakfast table. Letters had flooded into the post office ever since he made the bold and controversial decision to act as matchmaker for his flock.
     
    Just four weeks before, he had looked out over the pulpit and seen more empty pews than ever before. The numbers were dwindling as more of the single settlers got enticed by Hell’s Half Acre on the south side of Fort Worth. It was the first thing they saw when they entered town, and though many made it through to the church and respectable businesses, the majority got caught up in gambling halls, saloons and other places of ill repute.
     
    Fort Worth was rapidly growing, and the townspeople were torn between needing the businesses that were lacking in morals to help the town grow and profit, and wanting them gone so that the town would gain a respectable