Click on image to enlarge.

List Price:	$5.00
You Pay:	$3.50
You Save:	30%

Category: Historical Fiction/Romance
Description: Her past has put the only man she loves in danger. Tessa Jurgen knows all too well that prejudice and hatred do not vanish overnight. Because of her past, the man she loves has been falsely arrested and thrown in jail. Because of her past, she cannot forgive herself or her adversaries, and she cannot begin to share her burdens with the Lord. Yet her happy memories keep resurfacing. When Gaven MacIntyre asked her to marry him, Tessa felt secure and cherished for the first time in her life. Now those memories leave only a bitter aftertaste. There's turmoil in Tulsa and in the brave heart of one woman. Will Tessa be yet another victim of an unforgiving world--or a victor lifted high by the only force greater than hate? [Cover art by Dirk A. Wolf]
eBook Publisher: Hard Shell Word Factory, 2006 2006
Hard Shell Word Factory Release Date: November 2006

1 Reader Ratings:

Great	Good	OK	Poor

Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: eReader (PDB) [175 KB], ePub (EPUB) [200 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [145 KB], Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [573 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [161 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [175 KB], Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [197 KB], hiebook (KML) [387 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [243 KB], iSilo (PDB) [133 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [165 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [216 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [225 KB]
Words: 49071
Reading time: 140-196 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED

This book is probably better than the others; I say "probably" because I get so involved with each one that I cannot actually determine the best. I do know that, so far, this is one of the best series I have ever read! Kudos to Ms. Lutz! 5 hearts ~ Holly, The Romance Studio

TESSA JURGEN PULLED her hankie from the pocket of her green-striped Halliburton-Abbott smock and patted the perspiration from her forehead. The ceiling fans above her turned lazily, seemingly a joke as they gave no relief from the sweltering heat. Normally, she enjoyed the aromas of crisp new fabrics from the bolts of cloth on the shelves, but in the dead, hot August air, the musty odor was overpowering.

The customer on the other side of the counter, Mrs. Drake, was one Tessa preferred not to wait on. The woman was hopelessly indecisive. Her simple housedress hung on her limply and the artificial flowers in her brimless toque hat looked as lifeless as Tessa felt. Mrs. Drake hadn't even bothered to arrange the veil.

At her customer's request, Tessa reached up to pull down a large bolt of pink tissue gingham, which was nearly as big as she was. As the bolt hit the wooden counter with a slam, Mrs. Drake was already shaking her head.

"Oh no, no, Miss Jurgen." Rubbing the cloth between her fingers, she said, "This will never do. Too thin. Much too thin. My Sue Lynn likes fabric with more substance for her school dresses." She scanned the rows of bolts lining the shelves behind Tessa. "Let me see the printed voile. There, the one with the pink flowers against the green background."

"Yes, ma'am. Printed voile coming up." Again she strained to pull down the bolt without dropping it from sheer weight. A sharp pain stabbed through her arm reminding her of the bullet wound she'd received during the Tulsa riot three months ago.

Gaven had told her she shouldn't be lifting so much weight, but she had to work somewhere. She might be engaged to Gaven MacIntyre, but he wasn't supporting her yet.

Again Mrs. Drake tested the fabric by rubbing it between her fingers. "Mmm. Better. Both the same price?"

"Both are forty-nine cents a yard, Mrs. Drake." Tessa shifted from one foot to the other, her feet feeling hot and sweaty in the heavy oxfords. Absently she fingered the strand of pearls at her neck.

Mrs. Drake pulled a McCall's dress pattern from her shopping bag. Pausing a minute, she used the pattern envelope as a fan. "Goodness. This frightful heat. I'll be thankful to see fall get here." After giving a couple more waves, she studied the back of the pattern. "Figure number two with the gathered skirt calls for about four yards."

Out of the corner of her eye, Tessa saw her black friend, Chloe Franklin, walk slowly into the dry goods department staying well out of the way of all the white customers. Tessa gave her a smile, and Chloe and smiled back.

"Well, Miss Jurgen? Are you going to measure my fabric or not? I said four yards."

"Oh, yes ma'am. Four yards." Tessa deftly unrolled the bolt, measuring each yard against the brass ruler fastened to the edge of the wooden counter. "Will you need thread?" Tessa asked as she cut the piece of fabric and folded it neatly.

"Let me think." Mrs. Drake resumed her fanning with the pattern. "I can't remember whether I have any spools of green."

The floor superintendent, Ila Taylor, came strolling through the department, keys jingling from the belt of her dark high-throated dress. Tessa watched as she stepped up to Chloe to tell her to move over out of the way. Chloe picked up her heavy shopping bag and moved further back. Tessa clenched her teeth to keep from speaking out. Grabbing the sales pad she quickly figured the price of the fabric and scribbled the numbers.

"Do you need thread?" Tessa asked again absently, her mind still on Chloe. Before the race riot destroyed most of the black business district of Greenwood a few months ago, Chloe and her friends would never have shopped at the Halliburton-Abbott department store. But now their own stores were gone. Burned.

"You just asked me about the thread, Miss Jurgen. Is the heat getting to you?"

Tessa pulled out her hankie again to touch her face. "Perhaps it is, Mrs. Drake. What did you say about the thread?"

"I said I can't remember if I have green thread at home or not."

Tessa lifted the glass top on the Coats and Clark thread case and selected a spool which matched the fabric and set it on the folded cloth. "Here, Mrs. Drake. As much as you sew for your daughter, you can't have too many spools of green thread, now can you?"

Mrs. Drake chuckled. "I suppose you're right, Miss Jurgen. What a good little sales girl you are. And now let's look at trim. Shall I use lace or rick rack?" She browsed the case of trim continuing to fan with the pattern package.

Copyright © 2006 Norma Jean Lutz.