Sample Saturday - Book 4

In Spinster's Folly, Book 4 of The Owen Family Saga, Marie Owen is fearful of becoming an old maid (aka spinster), due to the lack of suitable men in her new neighborhood, She has convinced her father that he should make a match for her with someone, and he has decided to do it.
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The night before Pa trailed his beef cows to the Cuchara, Marie tossed and turned. Jule elbowed her once, then went back into slumberland, but Marie’s mind seemed to bubble with imaginings like a pot boiling over on a too-hot stove. It wouldn’t allow her the relief of sleep.

She wondered whether she dreaded or anticipated the next few days. If Pa liked Tom’s prospects and proposed to add him to the family, the young man’s reaction would play a big part in Marie’s future. He might have given up thinking about Ellen by now. He might accept Pa’s suggestion with enthusiasm. He might jump into making and carrying out plans for a wedding and a life together. On the other hand, he might have no notion of marrying her, and his disinclination could doom her to spinsterhood.

Who else was there for her to marry? She lay very still, searching every nook and cranny of her brain for prospects. She’d seen the Dominguez brothers several times when they stopped by to water their horses on their way to Pueblo Town or back. Patricio and Enrique Dominguez cut blazingly romantic figures, with their wide-brimmed hats and differently-styled clothes, their teeth-flashing smiles and flirtatious comments. She thought the pair of them was tremendously exciting. Given the chance, which one would she choose to wed?

After thinking on the exotic brothers for a time, she sighed and discarded the wild idea of being courted by such a man, knowing Pa was dead set against any marriage in that direction. That left her with a suitor pool made up of Tom Morgan, grubby freighters from Pueblo Town, hard rock miners from the north and the west, or her father’s cowhands.

Tom had his distinctions. Despite being a farmer, he washed his hands before eating and wore fresh clothing to social events. He kept his medium brown hair trimmed above his collar, and it was never greasy. He had his moments of merriment, but he’d always treated her with respect. Or maybe it was diffidence.

Marie turned on her side, and let her mind examine that topic. Tom had never sought her out as an object of courtship, although she now suspected his pa and her own had intended for some years for them to marry one day. She and Tom, though, had never discussed marrying. Never once.
~~~

Is the law of unintended consequences in play? Will Marie regret pressuring Pa to act? To find out, read Spinster's Folly.

Spinster's Folly: Book 4 - in print and ebook formats
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You may purchase an autographed print copy at this site.