Saved By An Angel Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Join My VIP Readers’ Club List

  A Personal Note From Ellie Atkinson

  Dedication

  About The Author

  Saved By An Angel

  PROLOGUE

  *

  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

  EPILOGUE

  Also By Elliee Atkinson

  Acknowledgement

  If You Have Enjoyed This Book…

  Publisher’s Notes

  Saved By An Angel

  Family of Love Series

  Elliee Atkinson

  GREENHOUSE PUBLISHING CO.

  Contents

  Copyright

  Join My VIP Readers’ Club List

  A Personal Note From Ellie Atkinson

  Dedication

  About The Author

  Saved By An Angel

  PROLOGUE

  *

  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

  *

  EPILOGUE

  *

  Join My VIP Readers’ Club List

  Also By Elliee Atkinson

  Acknowledgement

  If You Have Enjoyed This Book…

  Publisher’s Notes

  Copyright © 2017 by ELLIEE ATKINSON & GREEN HOUSE PUBLISHING CO.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real or dead people, places, or events are not intentional and are the result of coincidence. The characters, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author/publisher. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  Cover designed by Ms Melody Simmons. Author has the copyrights to this cover.

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  A PERSONAL NOTE

  FROM ELLIEE ATKINSON

  To My Dearest Lovely Readers,

  Those female characters within my stories are women who displayed strong faith of love, knowing what they want to pursue in the Wild West.

  They are constantly seeking and believe the true love really exists as they are often being looked upon as an inferior gender. Because of these social stigma, it motivates them to overcome challenges they may face while waiting for the man of their dreams to appear.

  Will these insecurities and stigma encourages them in believing true love despite the differences and challenges in social standing that they will face during this Wild West period?

  Read on to find out the answers!

  Thank you very much for your strong support to my writing journey!

  With Hugs, Kisses and Love…

  DEDICATION

  “I have learned not to worry about love; but to honor its coming with all my heart.”

  Alice Walker

  This Story Is Specially Dedicated To You, My Dearest Reader!

  It is with gratefulness and gratitude that I am writing to you this personal dedication.

  Thank you once again for giving me this opportunity to share with you my creative side of me.

  I hope you will enjoy reading this story as much I have enjoyed writing it!

  It is with such great support from you that keep us authors writing and writing, presenting to you with great and interesting stories.

  Have you checked out my other western historical romance books series?

  Click the link below to get started

  *** AMAZON USA ***

  Do you like what you have read?

  I would want to hear from you!

  Please do get in touch with me:

  https://www.facebook.com/EllieeAtkinsonBooks/

  [email protected]

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Elliee Atkinson is the author of many mail order brides stories and her alternate name is Rosie Attwood. Using Elliee Atkinson as her new pen-name, she spins out American historical western romance stories for readers that appreciate the romance that happened in the Old Wild West.

  Elliee loves writing and reading romance. Her first western romance “Wild Montana Sky” by Debra Holland was inspired by the story perseverance and determination of the women from the wild west and how they overcome adversaries, fight for the love they deserved and desired.

  Many of her stories are based on her knowledge of the old west, although all the names, events, and places that may resemble or are similar to living people are only coincidental and fiction, of course.

  Elliee credits her wonderfully supportive partner and friend, Steven and her advance review reviewers for helping her to fine-tune her writing skills and allowing her creativity to explode.

  SAVED BY AN ANGEL

  A WESTERN ROMANCE STORY

  by

  ELLIEE ATKINSON

  and

  Green House Publishing Co.

  PROLOGUE

  PROLOGUE

  Jake Collins knew it was tim
e to leave when the man he was playing cards with stood abruptly and pulled out his gun. He aimed it at Jake, who lifted his hands, his wide eyes staring at the large barrel on the end of the pistol.

  “Whoa there!” Jake said loudly. “No need to get defensive.”

  “You’re a stinking, lying cheater, Jacob Collins, and I will end your life right now if you don’t put that money back on the table.” The man’s voice was low and growly.

  Jake didn’t like the sound of it. His head was swimming, so it was difficult to think straight. He’d gotten himself into this predicament all on his own. He chided himself silently for his bad decisions, but it didn’t stop him from picking up his mug and downing what was left in it. He slammed the mug back on the table and stared at the man for a moment before standing. He emptied his pockets of all the money he had onto the table in front of him.

  “You are robbing me blind, Sal,” he said, not noticing when his words came out slurred. “You really are. You can’t just take everything a man has.”

  “Life ain’t fair, Jake. You been stealing from me for too long. Don’t know why I ever play cards with you. I know you’re gonna cheat.”

  “I don’t… I don’t cheat…” Jake felt like his brain was turning to mush. He wouldn’t be able to win against Sal in a fight, even if he wasn’t drunk. The man was big and mean. He didn’t know why he played cards with him, or what gave him the courage to cheat every time.

  Cheating was easy and Jake was good at it. He’d stolen more money from his opponents than he’d ever won legitimately. It was fun. He liked doing it. Moreover, more often than not, that money went to getting a room upstairs from the bar or drinking it up in barroom whiskey. Jake didn’t like to do anything without at least a little alcohol in his system. His preferred liquor was vodka. When he wasn’t drinking vodka – and sometimes when he was – he drank beer. His two preferred beverages.

  He felt like he was going to fall over. When he swayed, he put his hand down on the table to steady himself.

  “Look at you,” Sal sneered. “You gotta be disgusted with yourself. Nothin’ but a cheatin’ scoundrel, that’s what you are. I don’t wanna see you in here anymore, Jake. I swear I will put a bullet through your skull. Get out of here!”

  Jake shook his head. “I can’t. I got a room upstairs. Nowhere else to sleep.”

  “You can sleep on your horse for all I care,” Sal responded, grabbing the bills and holding them up in front of Jake’s face. “I own this place and I don’t want you here, paying for your room with money you stole from me.”

  Jake’s eyes were half closed. He was barely processing what Sal had said. “I gotta be in a bed, Sal. You know it.”

  Sal shook his money-clutching fist. “Not here!” he bellowed.

  “Where will I go?” Jake knew he sounded like a whining child, but he couldn’t help it. He was just trying to get by. He wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. Maybe their wallets or their pockets, but not physically.

  “You are a disgrace.” Sal came around the table, shoving the money into his pocket. He put both hands on Jake’s shoulders and turned around the smaller man so that he was facing the door. He pushed him and Jake stumbled forward, hitting the ground with a loud thump.

  Everyone in the saloon was watching him struggle to get to his feet. No one offered to help. In the past, when he’d gotten as drunk as he was now, there was typically at least one person who would help him stand and get to bed.

  Now his bed had been taken away from him and it seemed everyone in the place was afraid that if they offered help, Sal would kick them out, too.

  Sal didn’t leave him on the floor. He grabbed the back of Jake’s jacket and lifted him to his feet as if he weighed no more than a sack of potatoes. Once Jake was standing (reasonably), Sal dragged him to the doors of the saloon and shoved him out.

  Again, Jake stumbled across the small porch and slipped down the steps. He landed face-first on the dirt street outside. His entire body hurt and his face was bleeding. His hands were scraped up and his knees were on fire from where he had dropped to them first back in the saloon.

  He pictured the warm, comfortable bed he had left behind and wondered if there was any way he could sneak in, just to get there and get to sleep.

  He turned around so that he was sitting in the dirt and brushed his hands together, gazing up at the second-floor windows, where the bed was. Sal wasn’t going to let him back into the place. He had taken all of Jake’s money, leaving him without a way to pay for anywhere else, not that there was somewhere he could go. This was the only saloon with rooms to rent. There were a few ladies in town who offered rooms to rent, but he’d worn out his welcome with all of them, mostly because he never did anything unless he was drunk while he was doing it, which limited his options in the lady-friend department. It had been a very long time since he was able to get any gratification in that area, so he rarely even thought about it anymore.

  No one could love a drunken mess like him. It was with his last shred of dignity that he decided he wouldn’t put a woman through that. There were several fine women in the small town, but none of them showed any interest in him. Why would they?

  He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, but finding that his spinning head made him want to fall over. He opened them back up and struggled to get to his feet. He stumbled to his horse and untethered the reins. He pulled himself up into the saddle and held on for dear life.

  Where could he go now?

  CHAPTER ONE

  JAKE COLLINS FINDS A HOME

  JAKE COLLINS FINDS A HOME

  Jake passed through the town limits of Wickenburg with high hopes. It had taken him the entire night to reach his cousin’s town. He didn’t know where Adam lived but he knew he would find a bar. Perhaps one with rooms to rent.

  He thought of that before he remembered he didn’t have any money. Perhaps he could start a tab at the nearest saloon and get drunk again. He was starting to shake. He knew he would need to get a drink soon to stop the shaking.

  He smiled as soon as he saw it. The Horse N Saddle saloon. A man had just come through the doors and was sweeping off the porch. It was early. Jake doubted anyone was in the saloon right then. In fact, it probably wasn’t open at all. He was surprised to see the man sweeping.

  Sam looked up at him and smiled. It was the first smile he’d seen directed toward him for months. The people of his town must have truly been sick of him. He thought about the fact that he had no money.

  He had several options. He could talk his way into getting inside the saloon and rob the place for everything he could get or he could talk to the man and see how generous he might be. He could offer services in return for money or at least a tab at the bar and a room upstairs. But only until he found Adam. He was certain his cousin would take him in. Adam was known for being kind-hearted.

  He pulled the horse up to the hitching post and got down, trying his best not to reflect the pain his body was in.

  “You all right, mister?” Sam asked, looking over the bloody, dirty cowboy in front of him. “You got blood on your face. You need to wash up?”

  Jake nodded. “I’ve been riding all night and could use a nice bed and a way to clean myself up,” he responded as he tied the reins around the post. “Got robbed last night and I have no money. You need any work done? I could really use your help.”

  Sam gave him another once-over and nodded. “You look like a strong fellow. What do you do?”

  “I’m a carpenter by trade,” Jake didn’t lie. He truly was a carpenter before everything went downhill for him and he found his only regular residence was at the bottom of a liquor bottle. “I can fix your steps or your roof if it needs it. I can repair tables and chairs.”

  “You good at it?”

  “Yes, sir,” Jake replied, humbly.

  Sam hesitated a moment, thinking it over. “All right, I’ll give you a chance,” he held out his hand, holding up the broom with the other. “I’m Sam. This is my place. What’
s your name?”

  “Jake. Jake Collins. I have a cousin who lives in this town. Adam. You know him?”

  Sam nodded, his eyes lighting up. Jake could tell he was friends with Adam by the look on the man’s face. “I do know Adam! We are friends. He doesn’t come in often but comes in enough for me to know what type of drink he likes the most.”

  Jake smiled. “I sure could use a drink but again, no money. Kinda puts a damper on things.”

  Sam shook his head. “Don’t you worry about that right now. You need to get cleaned up and get some sleep. That’s gonna be your remedy this time. I’ll get you a glass of beer to calm your nerves while you’re washing up. The stuff you’ll need is in the washroom and there’s a basin on the dresser in every room, if you want privacy. You take a bath, though, you gotta go in the washroom.”