Bride-to-Be (Grace Church Book 3)

{While third in the Grace Church series, Bride-to-Be can be read in any order.}

This is it, she thought, hearing the brakes of the locomotive screech and hiss loudly. When the train finally came to a halt, letting out one last gasp of steam, Ida was ready. The doors opened and she stepped out onto the platform.
Her Western adventure had truly begun.
“Miss Robbins?”
Ida saw a man step in front of her. Tall and thin, he did not remove his hat as he stared at her. Looking her up and down, he frowned. He looked down at a crumpled piece of paper he held and then back at her. His face fell. His drooping, ginger mustaches drooped lower. His pale, watery blue eyes blinked rapidly as he stared at her, his frown becoming more pronounced.
“Miss Alice Robbins? You don’t look nothing like your mail order bride picture. You ain’t as young as you said, neither,” he said, staring into her face.
She raised her hand to stop him and raised her chin, too. Gathering herself, she looked down at him. “I’m Ida C. Quinn and I am thankful to let you know that I am not your bride-to-be,” she said, as she turned away from him. Looking back once, she gazed at him. “You’re no spring chicken, either.”

Not a mail order bride, Ida C. Quinn arrives in the small town of Cutler’s Pass, California to be a schoolteacher. Having devoted her life to being there for others, she struggles to accept that she will never have a family of her own.
Abel Smith, the blacksmith’s brother, ends up in Cutler's Pass because he needs to start over after having lost nearly everything. Caring for an orphaned little girl who is deaf, he needs help, as much as he hates to admit it.
When Ida and Abel cross paths, everything they thought they understood gets turned upside down. Maybe love and dreams come true are right around the corner.
But when Ida's livelihood and reputation are threatened, could all her fragile hopes fall apart?
A sweetly old-fashioned romance, Bride-to-Be is an inspirational tale of keeping one’s heart open to God’s plan.