Follow Your Heart. Rosanne BittnerЧитать онлайн книгу.
Critical Praise for Rosanne Bittner
“Bittner’s characters spring to life…extraordinary for the depth of emotion with which they are portrayed.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Rosanne Bittner retains her title as a premier romance writer…Poignant and startling.”
—Romantic Times
“True-to-life characters who stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page!”
—Los Angeles Daily News
And for WALK BY FAITH
“This standout novel is truly in a class of its own.”
—Romantic Times
“A tale that will touch the heart and engage the emotions on many levels.”
—Romance Reviews Today
“Bittner shines with this new inspirational historical.”
—Library Journal
And for WHERE HEAVEN BEGINS
“Rosanne has written a truly inspiring high adventure that will invigorate your senses and reaffirm your faith in God’s wisdom.”
—Affaire de Coeur
“Bittner bring to life the dangerous and beautiful Alaskan wilderness of the gold rush days. Clint is a hero who’ll pull at your heartstrings.”
—Romantic Times
Follow Your Heart
Rosanne Bittner
The rich and poor have this in common:
The Lord is the Maker of them all.
—Proverbs 22:2
This book is for all those who believe that Love can conquer all…
Acknowledgment
A special thank-you to the “friend of a friend,” Karin Bernica, who is from Sweden and who helped me learn a few Swedish words and customs. Karin is neighbors with my friend and fellow writer Janet Wiist from Las Vegas, Nevada.
I also want to thank Terry and Jody Fanning, Indiana grain farmers who are related to my very good friend Sue Dahlquist. This Michigan author, who knows a good deal about fruit farming, knew nothing about corn and grain farming, so I had to find someone who could help me out. Terry and Jody were wonderful.
Contents
Chapter One
Late April, 1873
“The Union Pacific could go bankrupt if we don’t do this, Jude.”
Jude Kingman eyed his father closely, very aware that the mishandling of railroad stocks and shady investments by greedy investors were the real reasons for the railroad’s money troubles. The man now sitting behind the huge oak desk in the Chicago offices of Kingman Investments was no less guilty than the rest of the opportunists covertly making their fortunes off the general public, while openly crying bankruptcy.
Jude walked over to a window and stared out at the heavy traffic in the street below. Two men whose buggy wheels had accidentally locked together were arguing and shaking their fists at each other. “We both know the real reason behind these money woes,” he said, turning to face his father again.
“Don’t tell me you’re thinking we should play the role of martyrs here,” Jude’s brother chided.
Jude shifted his gaze to his younger sibling. He and Mark were Yale educated, both in charge of various factions of the Kingman empire; but Mark looked so much more like their father—in his short, stocky build, chin line and smile, in his light brown hair and pale gray eyes that turned a deeper, cold blue-gray color when it came to business dealings, like right now. Anyone who didn’t know them would not believe he and Mark were brothers.