Surprising Charity

August 1867: Civil War widow Charity Bingham has turned her back on the past in Virginia, and now she bakes and oversees the meals in the Albuquerque House Hotel in the town she has adopted. Her daughters are married, and she looks forward to a quiet life of doing her job and playing with her growing brood of grandchildren.

Pedro Chaves drowns in grief due to his wife’s death. The only solace he finds is in prayer. Then the ghost of an Anglo soldier repeatedly interrupts his prayers with an outrageous demand. Pedro's priest says God must want him to make a sacrifice, and sends him, against his will, to beg la señora Bingham to marry him. If God and the ghost of the widow’s husband want Pedro to give the woman his name and his protection, perhaps he can learn to live with the situation.

Charity's heart reacts when Pedro rides into town. She knows he’s a married man; she should have no interest in him. They only met because his family gave her family shelter from a blizzard. Then he proposes a marriage of convenience, telling her about his loss and the pesky ghost. Not thinking too much about the risks, Charity agrees to marry him.

Trouble begins on the journey to Pedro's rancho when Charity yearns for him to honor his vows. All of them. Soon, he desires to do so, but they aren't alone. Charity's teenage son travels with them.

A sensual story of two mature people whose wedding takes place in a hurry, but whose romancing will take a bit longer.

Can be read anytime, or after Trail of Storms.