Laura sat. She lifted Angelina onto her lap.
“You’ve seen this handbill, haven’t you?” he asked, holding up the paper announcing the arrival of the orphans from the Children’s Aid Society of New York.
“I saw the announcement at the post office.”
“Then you are aware there are restrictions as to whom these New York orphans can be placed with. I’m afraid Angelina Sanchez cannot be placed with you.”
Laura gave him a disbelieving look. “You’re mistaken. If you have restrictions, they don’t apply to Angelina and me. They would apply only to those orphans who come here without having made arrangements ahead of time with the Children’s Aid Society.”
He shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. “I’m afraid what’s contained in this bill,” he said, waving the paper in his hand, “applies to all orphans arriving on the train. It states very clearly in black and white, ‘Persons taking these children must be recommended by the local committee.’ You, Miss Windsor, would never be recommended by our committee.”
“I beg your pardon?” Had he just insulted her? She resisted the urge to spring to her feet and let her clenched fist meet Gavin Maitland’s jaw.
“Communities have the discretion to qualify and disqualify people from taking orphaned children into their homes. In Heart Junction, we, the city council and the mayor, have decided the children we take into the community should be placed only with married couples. Therefore, since you have no husband, the committee could never recommend Angelina be placed with you.”
A sick feeling stirred inside her stomach. “But that is ridiculous. In Iowa several single women and even a few single men took in orphans from the Children’s Aid Society while I lived there.”
“As I said, each community can make its own rules of acceptance regarding these displaced children. What is all right in Iowa is not acceptable to the people of this community. Here we can recommend no one but married couples for the placement of these children.”
Laura set her seven-year-old daughter down and bolted to her feet. “This is outrageous! I have worked for five years to save enough money to rescue a forsaken child. Angelina needs me, and I need her. You can’t take her away from me.”
Mr. Maitland looked past Laura. “Folks,” he said to the line of people behind her as he stood, “if you’ll excuse me for a minute, I will return shortly to sign your contracts.” He came around the table to her and took her arm--
Read more excerpts at: https://sites.google.com/site/lauraslostlove
~ * ~
STEPHANIE’S SURPRISE, Book Two of the Heart Junction Series
Available in e-book and paperback
1913, Heart Junction, South Dakota: Dr. Aaron Wesley has been trying to court school teacher Stephanie Porter, but she keeps refusing his invitations. When Aaron is appointed to the school board they must work together. Personal mysteries are unraveled and an attraction between them builds. Stephanie begins to realize Aaron may not be the ogre she thought him to be. Or is he?
Excerpts, reviews, more at: https://sites.google.com/site/stephaniessurprise
The Opening…
Stephanie could not possibly have heard what she just heard.
“What do you say, Dr. Wesley?” Antigone Verseth said, smiling at Heart Junction’s young physician. “Will you honor us by taking the position on the school board left vacant by Mr. Maitland?”
She said it again! Aaron Wesley absolutely had to refuse the offer the mayor’s wife had just extended to him. Stephanie could never in a million years stand to work with Dr. Wesley. He was the most frustrating, arrogant man she’d ever met.
Dr. Wesley rose and nodded toward the dozen people gathered around the table in the meeting room of City Hall. “I’m flattered the other members of the school board, Mayor Verseth and you, Mrs. Verseth, have invited me to join this illustrious group, but--”
“Ah, but we don’t want to hear any buts, Dr. Wesley,” Mrs. Verseth said, giving the doctor another of her clumsy smiles. “We want only to hear your acceptance.”
Stephanie bolted to her feet. “Maybe he doesn’t want the job, Antigone.” Her face began to burn, and Stephanie knew everyone in the room was watching her turn ten shades of red. She brushed her hands over her dark blue skirt and straightened her short matching jacket. “Uh, I mean, Dr. Wesley is a very busy man. Perhaps you should listen to him before interrupting. We must be fair to him, after all.”
“Quite right,” Herbert Verseth said, wagging his shaggy brows. “Dr. Wesley is somewhat new to our town, having been here less than a year. Perhaps he feels he needs more time to settle into his home and organize his practice before he takes on more responsibility.”
Stephanie forced a smile when she looked at the mayor and silently thanked him for giving Dr. Wesley an out if he didn’t want to accept the position. As she seated herself again, she prayed a silent prayer, hoping the doctor would mind his own business and stick to the practice of medicine. She neither needed nor wanted him interfering in her teaching affairs, which is exactly what he’d be doing if he were appointed to the school board.
“Well,” Jim Schaeffer said, “what do you say, Dr. Wesley? We’re busy men. Some of us have to get back to our farms and finish our chores. Do you wish to join the school board or should we find someone else for the job?” Jim was about as patient as a starving dog hunting down its next meal.
Dr. Wesley, who’d remained on his feet, let his gaze drift from one person to the next as his focus moved about the table. When he looked at Stephanie, his gaze lingered, making her quite uncomfortable. “I am indeed a busy man,” he said, staring directly at Stephanie.
Her hopes began to soar, and her fervent prayers increased. Please let him refuse the job, she prayed as she forced herself to look away from his captivating gaze.
“Seeing my patients often takes me out of town for more than a day or two as I make my rounds in the country. My time, therefore, is quite limited.”
Stephanie prayed harder for his refusal.
“I love my job, and I like the people of Heart Junction very much. You’ve made me feel quite welcome.”
Will you just turn down the job? Stephanie silently urged as she kept her gaze from meeting his.
“Whenever I miss my hometown in New Jersey, all I have to do is look at the lovely people around me to know I have a new hometown right here in Heart Junction.”
Stephanie had to look at him. Maybe she could get a reading from his expression which would help her determine which direction his answer was going to take. She had no idea from his words or their tone whether he was going to refuse the job or not.
Big mistake. The instant she looked at him, he shifted his gaze from the mayor to her. He gave her the same peculiar look he’d given her the last three times he’d invited her to a social. The look he had before she’d each time quickly refused his attentions.
“Yes,” Dr. Wesley said thoughtfully, “a hometown, family right here in Heart Junction.” He slid his fingers through his dark blond hair. His gaze upon Stephanie became intense. “I wonder,” he said softly.
“I beg your pardon?” Mrs. Verseth said, moving her jaw in the peculiar way she had. “What did you say, Dr. Wesley? I couldn’t quite hear you.”
He stared a moment longer at Stephanie before he quickly shifted his attention to the mayor. “Herbert,” he said, decidedly, “Jim, Mrs. Verseth, and everyone else here, I want you all to know I would be honored to accept the position left vacant by Gavin Maitland. I hope I can make a good many contributions to this growing community.” He reached toward the mayor and shook his hand.
“Welcome aboard, son,” Herbert Verseth said, his dull brown eyes hinting at a rare smile. He drew back his hand and tried to smooth his always-unruly hair. “You’ll be a fine asset to Heart Junction as a member of the school board.”
“It’s the least I can do,” Dr. Wesley said. He tucked his thumb into the watch pocket in his waistcoat and moved his
gaze back to Stephanie. “I look forward to working with you.”
Stephanie thought her heart would stop beating and she’d drop dead right there in front of everyone. Was he speaking directly to her--
Read more excerpts at: https://sites.google.com/site/stephaniessurprise
~ * ~
MARI’S MIRACLE, Book Three of the Heart Junction Series
Available in e-book and paperback
1914. Marigold Mahoney’s father exiles her from his palatial city home to rural Heart Junction. Worse yet he hires a disagreeable farmer to be her driver. If Grit Truman had known Mari would be the spoiled spitfire she is, he may have turned down the driver’s job. Then again, she is the most attractive woman he’s ever met. Will Grit tame this little lady before she conquers him?
Excerpts, reviews, more at: https://sites.google.com/site/franshaffsmarismiracle
The Opening…
Marigold Mahoney waited in the train depot, fidgeting and fretting. She did not want to be in Heart Junction, South Dakota. She wanted to be in Minneapolis where she belonged.
Mari shook her head as she glanced at the five bags of belongings setting next to her. How would she survive in this tiny town with only a few of her personal things?
She wrung her hands. She should have brought her blue silk frock, her oak vanity and her dress form. Without her dress form, how could she keep her clothes from wrinkling? And without a maid, who would press her clothes?
Blast her father for exiling her to this dreadful, tiny town! It would have been better if he’d have disguised her as a boy and enlisted her in the military service. Her brothers were far better off in the military than she was in Heart Junction. At least they were able to travel to exciting places around the world.
She’d been only to New York, Chicago and New Orleans. She’d like to see Paris, Rome, London and Athens as well as her Irish homeland. Father had spoken often of his homeland.
“I beg your pardon,” a deep voice called behind her.
Mari turned round and looked up into the most intriguing, deep brown eyes she’d ever seen. “Are you speaking to me, sir?”
“Yes, miss. Are you Miss Marigold Mahoney?”
Mari’s fascination with the handsome gentleman nearly stole her voice. “Yes, sir, I am.”
He nodded toward her. “Good day, miss. I’m Grit Truman. Your father hired me to be your driver.”
She lifted her chin. “Charmed to meet you, I’m sure, but, Mr. Truman, you are late. I don’t appreciate tardiness in my servants.”
“Your servants?” he said, raising his brows. “Miss, I am no one’s servant. I am your automobile mechanic. While it is true I will be chauffeuring you since you, like most women, are unable to drive an automobile, you may not now nor ever refer to me as your servant,” he said firmly.
“Like most women? And just how many men do you know who have had experience driving an automobile, Mr. Truman? I’d wager from the meager representation of the horseless carriage which I have seen in this town there are few people of either gender who have even ridden in an automobile let alone driven one.”
He chuckled lightly. “Touché, Miss Mahoney.”
“Touché? Parlez vous francais, monsieur?”
Grit shook his head. “I may slip a foreign word into a sentence once in a while, miss, but I don’t speak any language but good old American English.”
She nodded and quelled her disappointment. Servant or not, she’d hoped for a moment this man with the deep, brown eyes and ruggedly handsome features might be an amiable companion she could converse with in more than one language.
“English is fine, sir, as long as you understand the language well.”
He gave her a crooked nod and a peculiar look. “I do, of course.”
She lifted an arrogant brow. “In that case, I presume you understood my father when he instructed you to meet me at precisely eleven-fifteen this morning?”
“Yes, miss, I did. Unfortunately, my horse didn’t wish to accommodate my schedule or yours. She decided she’d drop her foal at ten. I couldn’t abandon her. An animal deserves to be taken care of properly, and I can’t afford to lose a good mare. As a farmer I depend on my animals to help me with my work.”
“You’re a farmer? A man of property?”
Grit rubbed his finger over his upper lip. “I am a farmer, yes, but I am not yet a man of property. I rent my buildings, and I sharecrop the land.”
“You’re a sharecropper?” Her tone was far too condescending, and she immediately regretted using it.
“Yes, miss. Is there anything wrong with that?”
“I don’t suppose so. It’s just, as a woman of means I’m not used to dealing with…” She stopped herself before she made matters worse by insulting him further.
“You have means, Miss Mahoney, or your father has means?”
“It’s all the same, Mr. Truman.”
He shrugged casually and gave her an unexpected smile. “Whatever you say, miss. If you say you have money, I believe you. I shall not hold your state of wealth against you. I enjoy the company of rich people as much as I enjoy the company of the poor.”
“Whether or not you enjoy my company is up to you. Your job is to take me wherever I want to go, even if you strongly dislike being with me.”
“Miss Mahoney,” he said, giving her a look she could not define, “I assure you, I could never dislike being in the company of a woman as beautiful as you.”
His surprising show of charm left her speechless. Worse yet, his totally improper compliment sent her heart into palpitations. Her strange reaction to him confused her. Why should her body betray her by responding as though she were attracted to this common farmer? Marigold quickly looked away so he wouldn’t see the roses she could feel blooming in her cheeks.
“Miss Mahoney?”
“Yes?” she replied without looking at him.
“If you’re ready to go, I’ll take your bags to the carriage. I’ll take three of them at once and come back for you and the rest of your luggage, if that suits you.”
She could feel the heat in her cheeks burning as hotly as ever so she continued to look away from him. “Your proposal suits me fine, Mr. Truman.”
She sensed him next to her as he picked up two bags and her trunk. When she was sure he was walking away from her, she looked at him. Her heart began to beat wildly. How strong he was! Her heavy trunk full of shoes, clothes and personal items was a feather to him. And what a confident, assured gait he had in his stride.
She judged him to be over six feet tall. His dungarees clung to his legs showing their powerful muscles. His blue cotton shirt stretched tight over his broad shoulders.
Grit Truman was a very attractive man.
Servant, mechanic, sharecropper, whatever he wanted to call himself, he was every inch male--
Read more excerpts at: https://sites.google.com/site/franshaffsmarismiracle
~ * ~
Romantic Comedy
Male Fraud
Married While Intoxicated
Crossed Wires
MALE FRAUD
Available in e-book, paperback coming soon
Terry Fiscus wants to be a trainer for the pro football Chicago Cyclones. Coach Dan Barringer doesn’t believe a woman belongs in a men’s locker room. Terry really, really wants this job so she disguises herself as a man, and Dan hires her. When Dan meets Terry outside of work and gets to know her as the lovely “Teresa” he falls in love, and so does Terry. As Terry tries to manage her double life things get extremely complicated and side-splittingly funny.
Watch video, read excerpts, learn more at: https://sites.google.com/site/malefraudbook
Initial Attraction Excerpt
Setup: Terry is on the job as trainer for the Chicago Cyclones disguised as a man.
As she policed her area of the locker room Terry realized the first week of training camp had gone by with lightning speed. She’d worked hard to keep her players as healthy as
possible, and things had gone well most of the time.
The only thing giving her more trouble than she’d thought it would was getting used to the smells, sights and sounds in the locker room. Especially the sights!
Seeing naked men by the dozens was a completely new adjustment for her. At Nebraska, the players knew she was a woman, and most of them would cover up if she was in the locker room. Now that Terry was one of the guys, she rarely saw a towel wrapped around a waist in modesty.
More than once the old story about the size of a man’s feet and his--
“Fiscus!” She looked at the coach who was standing in the doorway to his office. “When you have a minute, I want to see you.”
“Sure thing, Coach.” She was getting used to using her fake deep voice, though it didn’t sound as gruff anymore since her cold had gone away.
The coach went back into his office, but Terry kept looking his way.
There was one other thing which had been giving her trouble since she started her new job. Coach Barringer.
Not that he’d been hard on her or anything, no harder than she’d expected anyway. The trouble she was having with the coach was entirely her own fault.
She found him terribly attractive. Whether he was a Neanderthal or not, she couldn’t help being practically giddy over him. Consequently, she’d avoided Dan as much as possible.
She’d learned rather quickly that one glance from him could melt her quite completely, and she couldn’t afford to liquefy around him.
At least not until she told him she was a woman.
She finished cleaning up her area and went to face Coach Barringer.
She knocked on his open door.
“Come in.” His voice was stern, commanding.
He was looking at a pad full of x’s and o’s when Terry entered his domain. Considering the crush she had on him, she blushed a little at the symbols for hugs and kisses which Dan was using to diagram offensive and defensive team members in plays he was designing.