Courting Susannah [Paperback]

BelovedNew York Timesbestselling author Linda Lael Miller delivers an emotion-packed novel of love set against the breathtaking backdrop of the American West.

When Susannah McKittrick leaves Nantucket for the boomtown of Seattle, she is hardly looking to strike it rich; she is headed west to care for a newborn left motherless after Susannah’s cousin died. Although the rigorous trip depletes all of her savings, Susannah is certain she is doing the right thing. She is less sure when she meets the infant’s father, wealthy businessman Aubrey Fairgrieve—who seems embittered toward love and marriage, and indifferent toward the precious baby Susannah is so eager to care for.

Gradually, Susannah discovers that Aubrey’s marriage to her cousin was far from perfect—and she comes to see the brusque but handsome man in a new light. But when Aubrey makes her a most practical offer, it is a far cry from the heartfelt proposal Susannah desires. If he truly wants to win her hand, he will have to learn to trust once more—and sweep her away with the bold passion of a man in love.Chapter 1

1906

When no one answered her ring, Susannah McKittrick gathered the last frayed ravels of her courage and, in an act of unprecedented boldness, let herself into Aubrey Fairgrieve's grand house high on one of Seattle's seven hills. Shoulders straight, satchel in hand, glancing neither left nor right lest she lose her nerve and flee like a thief discovered, she mounted the grand staircase, marched along the imposing hallway, and selected a modest but adequate room at the rear.

From the one narrow window, she could see the mountains in their mantillas of white and the unsettled waters of Puget Sound, charcoal beneath a glowering October sky. A muddy patch of neglected garden fell within the range of her vision, as did the churchyard on the other side of a high stone wall, a patchwork of gold, yellow, and l£Ï