Walk By Faith. Rosanne Bittner
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Praise for
ROSANNE BITTNER
and her novels
WALK BY FAITH
“This standout novel is truly in a class of its own.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews
“Bittner shines with this new inspirational historical!”
—Literary Journal
WHERE HEAVEN BEGINS
“Bittner brings to life the dangerous and beautiful Alaskan wilderness of the gold rush days. Clint is a hero who’ll pull at your heartstrings.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews
“Rosanne has written a truly inspiring high adventure that will invigorate your senses and reaffirm your faith in God’s wisdom.”
—Affaire de Coeur
FOLLOW YOUR HEART
“Bittner’s characters spring to life…extraordinary for the depth of emotion with which they are portrayed.”
—Publishers Weekly
“True-to-life characters who stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page!”
—Los Angeles Daily News
Walk by Faith
Rosanne Bittner
MILLS & BOON
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Dedicated to my mother-in-law,
Florence Irene Umphrey Bittner, better known
to the whole family as “Grandma Bittner,”
who lived to the ripe old age of 101. Until she
had to go into a nursing home in her late nineties,
Florence attended Midway Baptist Church in
Watervliet, Michigan, faithfully every Sunday
morning, as well as often attending Sunday evening
services, Wednesday evening services and most other
church functions, in spite of bouts with breast
cancer, colon cancer, two broken hips and arthritis
that finally put her in a wheelchair. Even when using
walkers and a wheelchair, she still attended church.
Though a host encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war arise against me,
Even then, in this will I be confident.
For in the day of trouble
He will hide me in His shelter;
In the secret place of His tent will He hide me;
He will set me high upon a rock.
—Psalms 27:3, 5
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Epilogue
Chapter One
March 16, 1862, St. Louis, Missouri
Clarissa was not sure where she’d found the strength to get dressed and open Seaforth’s Dry Goods this morning. She felt numb with worry, not for her husband’s safety, but for where he might be…and what he might be doing. She set items on the counter to fill the last of a customer’s order.
“There you are, Mrs. Shelby. I think that’s everything. That’s two dollars.”
“Oh, my!” The older woman put a wrinkled hand to her chin. “Put it on my bill, Clare dear, will you? My husband will be by to pay it. And can you wrap it for me?”
“Certainly.” Clarissa wrote the woman’s name on the tab and added “Owed.” Like her father had always done, she extended credit to most hometown customers. Until his sudden death three years ago, Henry Seaforth ran this store most of his life. Then Clarissa married Chad Graham, who took over the store and had run it ever since so that she could stay home with their precious little girl, Sophie.
She pulled a length of brown paper from its roll and tore it off to wrap Mrs. Shelby’s items, resentment toward Chad growing as she silently packed the order. It was because Chad was her baby’s father that Clarissa had struggled to ignore rumors of her husband’s infidelity over the past two years. Now, this morning, the reality of those rumors was burrowing deeply into her mind and heart. Apparently she could no longer avoid the awful truth, though she still did not want to believe it.
Chad was gone. So were all his clothes. Where was the man to whom she’d given all her love, her faith, her trust, her virginity, her heart? Where was the man who was now the legal owner of Seaforth’s? That’s how much she’d trusted him. This business that was her father’s life now belonged to the man her father warned her before he died not to marry. Now that man was missing.
She’d even given up a nursing career for Chad. Getting into Washington University here in St. Louis had not been