More about Escape with the Prodigal
Only a Christmas miracle will save an unwed mother and the lumberjack protecting her.
Wisconsin, 1930—Since her late fiancé was killed in a supposed logging accident, Meredith Hughes knows her only safe choice is to keep her unexpected pregnancy hidden, especially from her father. But Supervisor Emyr Hughes, demands his daughter remain at the logging camp with him through the winter, leaving Meri at his mercy.
Patrick Martins has no interest in responsibility and going up to the lumber camp is a chance to get away from Crow’s Nest and his hovering grandmother, nosy great-uncle, and drunk of a father. If only his older brother wasn’t at the camp, too.
Though Patrick doesn’t expect to be taken with his boss’s daughter, when Meri’s volatile father learns of her pregnancy, Patrick refuses to let harm come to Meri and her unborn child, even if he has to sacrifice his life and that of his brother in order to save her.
Welcome to Crow’s Nest, where danger and romance meet at the water’s edge.
Read the Opening Scene
Northern Wisconsin Thursday, December 18, 1930
Still a week until Christmas and Patrick Martins’s gloved fingers were nearly frozen. He flexed them on the handle of the crosscut saw he shared with his sister’s friend, Kyle Docherty. Kyle’s stocking cap hid his shaggy strawberry-blond hair but not his wind-burned ears.
They’d already notched one side of the hardwood tree to control the direction of its descent. Now they bit the teeth of the saw into the tree’s opposite side. Back and forth they drew the saw. Sweat gathered on Patrick’s back. His arm muscles burned, the pain the only feeling that reminded him he was alive.
“Timber!” The voice of his brother, David, had Patrick and Kyle pausing their work.
The tall tree Patrick’s brother had cut with his lumber partner teetered before cleanly crashing to the ground. Kyle tugged their saw to get it moving again, but while they worked, Patrick watched as a handful of men attacked the felled tree. They would trim the branches until only the trunk was left. Then they’d drag it over to the sled wagon where a pulley system lifted the log to the top of the horse-drawn sleigh that would take the towering load down the icy road to the rail line.
Their foreman, Emyr Hughes, directed the loading. He owned the team of four draft horses that pulled the sleigh. Stories told how he and the owner of the Alaric Lumber Company, Arthur Alaric, grew up together. While Alaric founded the lumber company, Hughes kept it running. He swore like a taskmaster, drank like Patrick’s father, and had a beautiful daughter Patrick—and every other lumberman, except saintly David—had a difficult time keeping his eyes off of.
“Put yer mind back on the tree, Martins,” Kyle grouched, his Scottish brogue accentuated by his grumpiness. “You’re going to get us killed.”
Patrick rolled his eyes. Yes, lumbering was dangerous. Yes, a lumberman needed to keep focused so he didn’t get hurt. But, frankly, Patrick liked the danger, the thrill. It reached past the numbness that had calloused his heart since his mother died when he was a kid.
“I aim to get home to Sam,” Kyle muttered. Usually, he had an easy smile on that freckled face of his, but not today.
“What was that?” Patrick shoved the saw back at Kyle, causing him to oomph.
Kyle sent the saw back just as hard. “You know how I feel about her.”
Just now, Patrick didn’t care. He wasn’t about to let another man destroy his sister’s life, as their father continued to do. “You stay away from her, you understand? Samantha deserves better than you.”
The man was a fisherman, working in the lumber camps to earn a living during the offseason. Like David. But Patrick didn’t need the money, not really. He had no needs. Only a quest to stay occupied. However, Kyle and David, risking life and limb out here, showed how a girl could turn a man’s head.
Women made a man do things he regretted. Not to mention the responsibility they required. Patrick shivered. Never would he tie himself to someone who needed that of him. No duty meant no reason to fail. As his father did. Because he would never be like his father.
“Martins!”
A crack brought Patrick’s head around faster than Kyle’s shout. When had they cut through the trunk?
“Timber!” Kyle yanked the saw from Patrick’s hands and they dodged the falling tree.
The tall giant of the forest tipped, tipped, caught. Its wide-reaching branches tangled with those around it. Then it snapped, dropping the trunk to the ground and leaving the large crown caught in the treetops. A widowmaker.
Karene de Carpentier –
Hello Danielle, I really like your newsletters and your writing.
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Warm regards, Karene
Danielle Grandinetti (verified owner) –
Hi Karene, Thank you! I’m so glad you’re enjoying my stories. Thank you for filling out the survey. Coupon codes can be applied in the designated area at checkout. Also, some of my books are available through the library. Thank you, again, for reading my stories!
maxine ihrig –
Looking forward to reading your next book.
Danielle Grandinetti (verified owner) –
Thank you!