Broken Angel (Unconventional Series #2)
By Verna Clay
4.5/5
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About this ebook
Luke Samson is a successful writer at the youthful age of twenty-five. His life is proceeding as planned and he has no desire to marry for at least a few years. While dining at a Dallas restaurant, he overhears an intriguing conversation and receives his first look at Angel St. Clair, a woman who will forever change his carefully laid plans. Although she has been blessed with angelic beauty, her heart is shattered. Can Luke not only mend, but completely restore this broken woman?
Angel St. Clair's sole desire is to hire a suitable husband to escort her safely to the bakery she purchased in San Francisco. To that end, she places a classified advertisement for a mail order husband. Her life savings has gone into acquiring her business and she hopes to find, if not happiness, at least contentment after suffering a life of tragedy and heartache.
Verna Clay
"2020 Finalist - Readers' Favorite International Contest (Paranormal Romance) for SOMEWHERE by the Sea.""2014 Gold Medal Winner - Readers' Favorite International Contest (Historical Romance) for Abby: Mail Order Bride."My perfect day: coffee shop; laptop; latte; characters demanding their stories be told; a plot that comes together; and hours to live in an alternate reality.Seriously, I have always loved reading, and now I love writing. As a preteen, I devoured Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Mysteries. When I reached my teen years, the romance genre became my favorite and that has never changed. After years of procrastinating, I tried my hand at writing and I've been doing so with a passion ever since. I have written over thirty romance novels and novellas in the genres of contemporary, contemporary western, historical western, fantasy, and paranormal. Because I hate saying goodbye to characters who have lived with me for months, I usually create a series so they can be revisited from book to book. I have also written a Young Adult novella titled "Fragile Hearts" using the pen name of Colleen Clay.
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Broken Angel (Unconventional Series #2) - Verna Clay
Broken Angel
Unconventional Series
Verna Clay
Dedicated to those who have suffered at the hands of others.
Broken Angel
Unconventional Series
Copyright © 2012 by Verna Clay
Smashwords Edition
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
For information contact:
VernaClay@VernaClay.com
Website: www.VernaClay.com
Published by:
Verna Clay
Cover Design: Verna Clay
Picture: Dreamstime
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Order of Unconventional Series:
Abby: Mail Order Bride
Broken Angel
Ryder's Salvation
Joy's Return
Preface
The character of Angel St. Clair is dear to my heart. She is truly a broken angel having suffered so much. And yet, there is a part of her that continues to dream of finding—if not happiness—at least contentment. She believes she will finally realize her goal in the business she has purchased in San Francisco. Of course, I love the way fate intervenes with a different plan in the form of a young man named Luke Samson. If you've read book one in this series, you know that Luke went through his own suffering after the death of his mother. However, that experience molded him into the man he has become. The unwavering love of his father and stepmother changed him from a sullen, heartbroken boy into the perfect man for a broken angel.
Verna Clay
Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter One: Angel in Need
Chapter Two: Observation
Chapter Three: Reply
Chapter Four: Response
Chapter Five: Wine and Dine
Chapter Six: Purdy Filly
Chapter Seven: The Best Laid Plans…
Chapter Eight: Vows
Chapter Nine: Next Installment, Please
Chapter Ten: Meet the Parents
Chapter Eleven: Luke's Pride and Joy
Chapter Twelve: Family Tradition
Chapter Thirteen: Identity Crisis
Chapter Fourteen: Finding the Cookie Jar
Chapter Fifteen: Family, Friends, Feast and Festivity
Chapter Sixteen: History Lesson
Epilogue
Author's Note
Ryder's Salvation (excerpt)
Unconventional Series
Novels and Novellas by Verna Clay
Chapter One: Angel in Need
Luke Samson followed the waiter in the expensive restaurant to a tiny table for one. After a month's visit with his family in Two Rivers, a small town south of Dallas, he was ready to kick back and enjoy a steak dinner with all the trimmings. Although his stepmother had fed him well, no one prepared steaks like Porter's Steak and Ale. Every time he was in Dallas he ate at the popular restaurant.
Dimly lit by gas lamps, a certain mysterious charm hovered over the tables and patrons. Making himself comfortable at his corner table, he stretched his long frame, thinking about the next installment of the series he was writing. His stories were in demand and he grinned, remembering how his beloved stepmother had asked him at the age of fourteen to enter a writing contest sponsored by the Philadelphia Inquirer. He had balked at her request but his father had insisted he enter. To his amazement, he had won the contest and shortly thereafter been asked to write serializations. Over the years, popularity for his adventure tales had increased and his stories were widely circulated. Generally, he wrote a twenty-part series that was eventually published in book collections of five stories each. Now, at the youthful age of twenty-five, he had amassed a small fortune.
His waiter returned with a mug of ale and he placed his order: steak—rare, baked potato and hot bread, both dripping with butter, green beans, salad, and a large slice of his favorite dessert, apple pie.
Settling back again, he closed his eyes and smiled, reminiscing his visit with his family. His father, as strong and active as ever, still behaved like a lovesick schoolboy around Abby, his stepmother for over ten years now. His brothers, nine year old James and seven year old Rusty, had him chuckling aloud. Had he, himself, been that mischievous?
The only person he hadn't seen during his visit was his sister, Jenny. Now twenty-one, she had refused to marry any of the suitors who had come courting, instead choosing to travel to New York to study art at a respected academy. When his father had shown him Jenny's latest paintings, he had stood riveted by her portrayals of country scenes that always made him feel as if he could step into them.
Taking another sip of ale, he switched his thoughts to a classified advertisement he had read that morning in the Dallas Morning News and shook his head. Never had he read anything so blatant.
Mrs. Angel St. Clair, a widow, is seeking a husband to accompany her to California. Said husband will be paid handsomely for the escort and then released from matrimony after safely depositing Mrs. St. Clair at her destination.
Luke shook his head. The woman must be desperate to have to advertise for a husband, and the fact that it would end in divorce, simply boggled his mind. The posting made no sense.
Absentmindedly, he heard chairs scraping and patrons being seated behind him. He paid little attention until he heard a gentleman say, Now, Mrs. St. Clair, may I call you Angel?
A woman with a voice as smooth as aged brandy said, Mr. Pinkle, I do not seek to offend you, but I would prefer being called Mrs. St. Clair, for the time being, at least.
The gentleman sounded slightly offended when he responded in his nasally voice. Of course, as you wish.
He continued, Now as I was saying at our previous dinner engagement, I believe I am the perfect husband to protect you on your journey to California. I have traveled there before and I am aware of the perils that could befall a woman traveling alone. I would protect you with my life.
Luke listened to the exchange in fascination and finally, not caring that it would appear rude, turned to look at the woman who had become infamous in his mind. At the same time a waiter stepped between their tables.
Damn!
Rather than turn back around, he waited for the attendant to set water glasses down and leave. For reasons unknown, his heart pounded. Finally, the waiter stepped aside.
And then he saw her.
Chapter Two: Observation
Angel St. Clair appraised Harvey Pinkle and wanted to groan. She should have known better than to dine with him a second time. The offensive little man with lecherous eyes was mentally crossed off her list. There was no way she would allow him to escort her across country. So, now her list consisted of…no one.
Glancing beyond Mr. Pinkle's big ears, she thanked the waiter for setting waters on their table and then noticed the waiter's own blatant appreciation of her. Sighing, she looked past him. Another patron, sitting alone, had turned to look at her. She watched his gaze slide to Mr. Pinkle and then back to her. His expression, although admiring of a beautiful woman—something she had been garnering since the age of thirteen—also held a look of censor.
Coolly, she met his eyes. His mouth quirked and he turned back around. Angel returned her attention to Mr. Pinkle, forcing herself to appear engaged in his conversation. She reached for her water glass and sipped, allowing her gaze to travel back to the impolite cowboy with broad shoulders and hair as black as her own. Dressed in a worn suit, he had a scraggly look about him, and rugged features for someone so young. Although not handsome in the classical sense, he had a magnetism that she knew would draw women like flies. He's probably just come off the range and saved enough money to buy one expensive meal.
Being an observer of people, a necessity forced on Angel after years of abuse, both physically and mentally by men who wanted to possess her because of her beauty, something she neither wanted nor went out of her way to enhance, she considered the cowboy. Wrinkling her forehead, she was surprised by her inability to read him.
Have I said something to offend you, Mrs. St. Clair?
Harvey Pinkle reached his hand to cover hers.
Cringing inwardly, Angel gently removed her hand and placed it in her lap. Not at all, Mr. Pinkle. Please go on telling me about yourself.
The odious man grinned widely and continued his dissertation of all of his accomplishments, as if they would protect her on her journey to California. For the next half hour she listened to Mr. Pinkle's boastings while the cowboy remained with his back to her, although she did have the feeling he was listening to their conversation.
Finally, the dark haired young man pushed back his chair and stood, picked up his tab, laid down a generous tip, and turned around, his eyes engaging hers in a steady stare. Instead of sliding her eyes shyly sideways, as rules of decorum would dictate, she returned his gaze and watched his lips quirk, as if he were holding back laughter. When he passed her table, Angel was struck by the blueness of his eyes and the amusement in them. She took offense and gave him her most censorious look. At the last moment, he smiled widely, and then he was gone.
A strange sense of loneliness flooded Angel and she tried to shake it off. He was very young, very insolent, and she wouldn't think about him. She turned her attention back to Mr. Pinkle and sighed.
Chapter Three: Reply
Luke exited Porter's Steak and Ale with his heart pounding. Mrs. St. Clair was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. At a glance, her name, Angel, befit her appearance. However, upon closer inspection, there was a sadness one would not associate with an angel. Chronologically, he guessed her to be in her late twenties or early thirties; emotionally, her eyes revealed disillusionment for one so young. They also revealed that she often dealt with admirers, but there had been no flirtiness in her emerald gaze.
Returning to his hotel, Luke stopped by the bar and ordered a brandy before entering his room to write the next installment of his latest adventure. He had a deadline to meet, but he had set writing obligations aside while visiting his family, preferring to enjoy every minute with them.
After a page, he set his ink quill down because persistent images of Angel St. Clair kept interfering with his thought processes. Why was she seeking a husband for protection? Why was she traveling to San Francisco? How long had she been a widow?
Luke shuffled papers around on the desk looking for the newspaper and then located the classified section, rereading the ad. Pursing his lips, he made a decision within the span of a heartbeat. His inquisitive nature would not allow him to do otherwise until he discovered the answers to those questions. Reaching for an envelope, he addressed it to the post office box in the advertisement and then selected his