Read Clean Inspirational Romance: Escape to Paradise (Inspirational Happy Sweet First Love Second Chance Romance) (Contemporary New Adult Love Inspired Holiday Short Stories) for Free Online Page B

newspaper and hitched his horse, Mack, to a post outside. Stomping the dust from his boots and chaps, Kale opened the door. “Morning Bill, Dale.” Both men looked up and smiled at Kale. He returned the smile and tipped his hat.
    “Morning Kale,” Bill said first. “How’s the ranch treatin’ ya?”
    He nodded and replied, “Just fine. It’s a mite lonely out there, but other than that I’m doing well.”
    Bill removed his spectacles and made eye contact. “That’s always good to hear. What can we do for you today?”
    Kale was nervous. He didn’t want these men knowing his business but there was no way around it. He would make it fast, and no more small talk. “I came to inquire about placing an ad in newspapers back east.”
    “Back east ya say? Well, it depends on the type of ad, how long you want it to run and how many newspapers you want to put it in.”
    “Well, I’d like it to go into papers in New York, New Jersey, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, if it’s doable.”
    “Oh, it’s doable alright, for a pretty penny.”
    “I’ve got a few pretty pennies to go around,” Kale chuckled. “If I write out what I want, can you make sure it gets where it needs to go?”
    “Sure can,” Dale said, coming to stand by his brother.
    Kale put his words on paper, paid the fee, avoided the brother’s eyes and quickly stepped out into the sunshine of another hot summer day in Texas.
    ***
    Mercy Thompson wiped off another table as her day dragged on. She dodged young children as she took dirty plates, cups and utensils to the kitchen wash basin and then she stuck her hands in the sudsy water. After washing, rinsing and drying every plate, every cup and ever spoon and fork; Mercy was whipped. Cleaning up after fifty people was insane most of the time. She was thankful, however, that she always had a bed to sleep in, despite sharing her “bedroom” with forty-nine other people, mostly women and children.
    Tonight she despaired that she’d live here forever, imprisoned by her poverty and chained to this shelter for eternity. She called for lights out at nine-thirty and climbed into bed, too tired to care about the crying baby three cots over. She fell asleep with hope in her heart that tomorrow would bring some sort of relief. Three more days passed before Mercy had a day off. It wasn’t a whole day, but she was able to take the morning for herself, something she never took for granted.
    Climbing out of bed, she wrapped a worn out shawl over her shoulders and stepped out into the warm sunshine. Despite the bright beating of the sun and the humidity in the air, Mercy never left her shawl on her cot, afraid it wouldn’t be there when she got back. Not to mention it was the only reminder she had of her father. He’d died suddenly a year ago and her stepmother, Melissa Black Thompson, had kicked her out of her home almost immediately. She’d robbed her of her inheritance, claiming that she didn’t deserve money just for being born. Ever since that day, Mercy had worked at the shelter relentlessly to ensure she always had a place to stay.
    She walked down to the library and greeted Frannie when she entered the building. The young librarian always wore a smile on her face but this morning her smile was beaming. “You should check out this morning’s paper.”
    “Yeah?” Mercy replied. “Anything good?”
    “There’s a man advertising for a bride, if you can believe that. Apparently everything’s bigger in Texas, except their rate of available women.” Frannie giggled.  Mercy took the paper, went to a quiet corner and looked up the ad, her hands shaking the entire time. Finding the ad she read:
    Dear Prospective Woman:
    My name is Kale Preston. I am a cattle rancher in the great state of Texas. Unfortunately, that has left me without much of a choice on being single. As there are nearly twenty men to every available woman, the odds of finding a good, strong match are less than nil. I am