A Long Way to Love: A Historical Western Romance Book Read online

  A Long Way to Love

  A WESTERN ROMANCE NOVEL

  LORELEI BROGAN

  Copyright © 2021 by Lorelei Brogan

  All Rights Reserved.

  This book may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the publisher.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher.

  Table of Contents

  A Long Way to Love

  Table of Contents

  A Long Way to Love

  Introduction

  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

  Taking A Leap of Faith

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

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  A Long Way to Love

  Introduction

  Elise Herrin has been raised by her loving father ever since she lost her mother tragically as a baby. After his unexpected death, she is left all alone in the world with no one but an aunt she barely knows in California. To honor one of her father’s last wishes, she decides to travel out west to live with her aunt. However, everything is about to change forever when an old friend shows up out of nowhere offering to travel with her for protection. Soon, painful memories and powerful feelings that she has been trying to repress for a long time will begin to resurface, with him back in her life. Will she be able to get past her anger and even give him a chance to win her heart?

  Ronan Haldeman enjoys working as a bounty hunter, having dreamed of bringing justice to the world since forever. In the back of his mind, though, he has always regretted how he left the home of the man who took him in when he had nowhere else to go. He never meant to hurt Mr. Herrin or his daughter when he vanished into the night with no explanation. The moment he runs into Elise at her father’s funeral, he knows he needs to keep her safe on her journey to California...he owes her father that much. The only problem is, Elise wants nothing to do with him and Ronan doesn’t know if he can even claim a second chance. As they travel together and old feelings are reawakened, will he be able to earn back her trust?

  After a series of unfortunate events that place them in unexpected peril, Ronan is more determined than ever to protect Elise. When a criminal from his past gets entwined in their journey and further endangers Elise, he becomes more desperate than ever. Will Ronan be able to save the woman who has come to mean everything to him? Will their history push them even further apart or could their growing feelings turn into true love at last?

  Chapter 1

  Elise Herrin pushed through the door of the cabin, carrying the basket of things she had bought in town.

  “Pa? Are you in here?” she called out.

  She hated working in town, knowing that her father was home all alone with no one to care for him.

  She left in the morning, before the sun came up, and came home an hour before lunchtime, more or less. It was the best schedule she could get working at the general store.

  The owner, Mr. Watson didn’t mind that she arrived so early to help him clean the place from top to bottom. Every day she would sweep and mop everything, help organize the shelves, stock new items that had come in, and then she would take care of the morning customers.

  When she got home, she was already tired, and only half the day was gone, but she always made sure that she maintained her energy for her father.

  “I’m in here, Elise. How was your day?” her father called from the parlor.

  “It was fine. It’s not half over yet.” Elise set her basket down and walked over the hardwood floors to her father.

  Their parlor was simple but comfortable. It had four chairs that her father had made himself, a fireplace that was currently empty because it wasn’t too cold, and it was a waste of wood to burn when it wasn’t necessary.

  “Sit with me for a bit.” Her father patted the arm of the chair next to him.

  Elise sat down, grateful for the moment of rest before the rest of the day.

  “Pa, you look pale. Are you all right?” Her father had been more and more sickly over the last couple of months. Elise had noticed that he was declining, and despite her best efforts, he didn’t seem to be improving. She didn’t like to see him in this state.

  She remembered the strong man who had cared for her over the years, giving her a loving, safe home after her mother died. Elise’s heart ached slightly when she thought of her mother and imagined the days when they could have been all together.

  She blamed herself for her mother dying. Dying in childbirth was something that could happen to anyone. But the thought that she had caused her mother’s death still haunted her.

  “I’m fine. I’m just feeling a little under the weather today.” Her father reached out and took her hand.

  His hand was frail and weak. It made Elise think of something fragile that she didn’t want to break.

  “You don’t look fine. Pa …” Elise trailed off. She didn’t want to say what they were both thinking.

  “Don’t worry, Elise. I know what is happening. I am not worried about me. I am just worried about you.”

  Elise’s throat constricted. “I don’t want to lose you, Pa.”

  “I know, but it is the way of life. If I had cared better for myself when I was young or had you when I was younger …” he trailed off, sadness etched in his features.

  Elise’s father was quite a bit older than her. Even though she was only twenty, he was more than sixty, and on top of that, his health had declined so quickly over the last year, it had taken them both by surprise.

  “You still have time left, Pa. I am not giving up on you.” Elise forced a smile.

  “You’d be the only one. You know, sometimes I still wonder what happened to Ronan.” Her father shook his head slightly, and Elise’s stomach turned.

  Every time her father brought up Ronan, and it was often, she felt anger coursing through her.

  The young man had put hope into her father’s heart. Her father had given Ronan a place to live, and in exchange, he had left in the middle of the night, never returning even to say thank you to her father for his hospitality.

>   “You shouldn’t worry about Ronan. I hope that wherever he is, he feels bad for what he did.”

  “You shouldn’t be so harsh with him. We never know why people do what they do, and more than that, what they are going through that might cause them to do something. He may have had his reasons for leaving.”

  Elise shook her head. “I think he deserves a thrashing. You are too kind, Pa.”

  “Maybe so, but in this life, that is necessary. How can you expect to make connections if you aren’t kind and give people the benefit of the doubt?”

  Elise stood with a smile and patted her father’s arm kindly. “I am going to get you something to eat, and then we can talk more, all right? Do you have a preference of what you would like to eat?”

  “No. Anything you make is lovely.” Her father grinned, and Elise laughed. Her cooking was edible, but it certainly wasn’t spectacular, in her opinion.

  She had learned to cook from her father, who didn’t know how to cook well himself. Everything she cooked was rather debatable when it came to how delicious it was.

  She headed to the kitchen and went about making her father a meal. Eating was important to keep his health up, even though most of the time, he refused to eat much.

  When she finished preparing the food, she took it to her father, carefully setting it on the small table beside him.

  “Thank you. Aren’t you going to eat with me?”

  “Sure. I’ll go get my food now.”

  Elise went and got herself something and then returned. The two of them sat in the parlor, talking and eating, sharing precious time with one another.

  Elise knew that her time with her father was coming to an end, and she wanted to enjoy every minute she had left with him before it was too late.

  ***

  The rest of the day passed quite uneventfully, and by the time evening was nearing, Elise had taken her father for a walk, washed the clothes, cleaned the house, and made something for supper.

  She was surprised when her father didn’t move to get into bed once the sun started to set.

  “Do you want help getting to your room? I am about to go and do the milking.”

  Her father shook his head softly. “You do too much for me.”

  “That’s not true. I enjoy doing things for you.”

  “I know that you enjoy it, but you are managing everything, the animals, the farm, the cooking … goodness, I can’t even think of everything that you do.”

  “It’s okay, Pa. I really don’t mind.”

  “Elise, I need to ask you something. What are you going to do when I die?”

  “I don’t want to think about that, Pa. It’s not necessary.”

  “It is necessary. I really don’t know how long I have left, and I hate the idea of you being left behind all alone.”

  “I will figure it out.”

  “I have a sister in California. Remember when you were little we went and visited her once? Your aunt, Lena?”

  “I kind of remember. I don’t really remember a lot, though. I was pretty young when we went.”

  “You’re right, but still, I would feel better if you had a plan. I don’t want you living here all alone.”

  “I’ll think about it. But California is so far away.”

  “I know. But you would be happier in the long run not being alone.” Her father’s eyes burned with concern.

  “We can talk about it later, all right? I don’t plan on losing you any time soon. I want to think about getting you better and having years together.”

  “I know you do, child, and I do too. But we need to think about things logically. I know my body. I know how I feel. I am running out of time, and what I want before I go is to make sure you will manage alone.”

  “Pa, I will manage. I may not like it, but I do know that it is a possibility.”

  Her father shook his head. “I need to know that you will be all right.”

  Elise forced a smile and leaned down, giving her father a half-hug. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  “Take your time.” Her father’s smile was tired. Elise was starting to doubt whether she could nurse her father back to health. She was starting to feel as if things would never be back to normal. She was just as terrified of being alone as her father was of her being alone.

  But she didn’t want him to feel badly or for him to think that she was expecting him to die. She planned on working on his health as long as she could, then she would accept defeat when there was no other option.

  Elise lit a lamp and walked across the yard to the small barn that her father had built years before. She opened the rough wooden door and slipped into the barn, taking her milking stool and pail from their places by the wall.

  She hung the lantern on a nail outside the stall, filled a ration of feed, and put it in front of the cow, who lowed softly and put her head into the stanchion obediently. Elise hummed softly as she sat next to the warm cow and began to milk. It was comforting to hear the sounds of the milk streams in the pail and the munching cow.

  By the time she had finished with the milking and the other chores in the barn, she headed back to the house, exhausted and ready to rest for the night. She hummed a tune while she worked as her mind worked through the things she had spoken about with her father.

  She was going to figure things out with her father the next day. She knew that her father was worried, but she was more worried. If only their time together could extend a little longer.

  Chapter 2

  Ronan Haldeman leaned against the counter of the saloon. He hated saloons. They were loud, full of smoke and strong smells. He didn’t understand how some of the men practically lived in this place. They spent their days smoking and drinking.

  He, on the other hand, had a half-full glass of whiskey he hadn’t touched yet, and he was more interested in the conversation going on around him than dimming his consciousness with the powerful brew.

  Bounty hunting wasn’t an easy job. In fact, it wasn’t even a real job, not a recognized one anyway. Anyone could technically catch a criminal on a wanted poster and turn them in for the bounty.

  The offices that sent out the notices would pay for the bounty, and it could line one’s pockets if they were good enough at it.

  Ronan was lucky that he had been good at bounty hunting since he was only seventeen years old.

  He still remembered his first bounty and how good it felt to take that criminal into town and receive his reward. It was a small reward, granted, but it was his first real money, and that made it special.

  “You can’t just show up here and ask questions,” the man behind the counter said. “People don’t react well to that sort of thing.”

  “Come on; I just need a little information.” Ronan tried his best to look convincing, but it was clear that the man wasn’t interested, even when Ronan hinted that he was willing to pay for whatever information he found.

  “I have real customers to serve, so I suggest that you take your drink and finish it or get out.” The man narrowed his eyes.

  “What was your name? Andrew? I’ll be back soon; maybe then I will find someone who wants to help me out.”

  Andrew shrugged. “You can try, but no guarantees. People aren’t keen on your type here, Mister.”

  Ronan smirked and shoved his half-empty glass over towards the edge of the counter before turning to go. One of the reasons it was necessary to stay in a town for several days was because it took time to get to know people. It took time to gain their trust.

  Faircrag, Texas, was a town that Ronan visited often, and he knew a good number of people there. But the man who tended the saloon had changed. Andrew was someone new that he had never met before. He didn’t know how to convince him to give him the information he needed, but Ronan was certain he would find a way. He always did.