Small Town Swains

Hannah Bunch, the preacher's spinster daughter, wants to help heaven along by hatching a plan to bring a shy suitor up to the point of a proposal. The Bible had Ruth meeting Boaz on the threshing field. If that worked for Ruth, couldn't it work for Hannah? It did. It all went perfectly, except the wrong man got snared. Henry Lee Watson likes his life—without a wife. He makes the finest corn liquor in the territory. A good business on Saturday night, does not always make a good marriage to a Sunday morning kind of woman.

Miss Gertrude Barkley, local spinster, takes pride in shocking the locals now and then. Her latest scandal is the decision to get her hair bobbed. Her brother blames such behavior on her career as a novelist, giving her wild ideas. But brickyards owner, Mikolai Stefanski likes the look. He's liked a lot of things about Gertrude for a very long time. But Venice Missouri in 1916 is not like his homeland, Poland. The rules of the old world don't work in this new one, especially not in matters of love.

From the first moment she met her new Texas neighbor, Prudence Belmont was in love. When she was old enough for marriage, Gidry Chavis promptly presented her with an engagement ring, and all her dreams seemed to have come true. But the hellraising Gidry disappeared before the wedding, leaving only a brief note in explanation. "My dear Miss Prudence, I have determined that it is best that we do not wed. Please forgive me and recall me with fondness."