Walnut Grove Series by Marcella DiPaolo

Douglas McGuire was coming back home after serving in the Union Army for four long years. He had left his father’s farm where he had left his wife, and two small daughters. His mother and father had promised to take care of them while he served in the army serving his country. Doug didn’t get much mail while he was away, and he didn’t get to send many letters home either. He couldn’t wait to see his family again... moreDouglas McGuire was coming back home after serving in the Union Army for four long years. He had left his father’s farm where he had left his wife, and two small daughters. His mother and father had promised to take care of them while he served in the army serving his country. Doug didn’t get much mail while he was away, and he didn’t get to send many letters home either. He couldn’t wait to see his family again. He knew that his daughters would be so big he probably wouldn’t recognize them…and they probably wouldn’t even remember him. He was prepared for that. What he wasn’t prepared for was to see the family farm looking so deserted and falling apart when he rode up the lane…what happened to it while he was gone? Then, he saw his father…when had he gotten so old and frail? Where was his mother and wife? Were those his two little girls? They looked so different…they had grown so big. And then he learned that his mother and his wife had died over a year ago, and he didn’t even know about it! That damn war had kept him apart from his family when they needed him the most! How was he going to pull this place back together and make it into a thriving farm again and into a home for his two little girls? He knew he couldn’t do it alone; he needed help in the worst way…but from where? Laine Temple and Libby Lane lived in Laurence, Kansas. They had lost their husbands and for Libby, also her ten-year-old son when Quantrill’s Raiders came and killed them in the Laurence massacre. They needed a new start…Laurence held too many memories for them. They saw a letter from a man who needed help in getting his farm up and running again and in taking care of his two young daughters, it was from a Mail Order Bride Agency. Laine answered the letter but let him know that they didn’t want to marry him…but they would come and help him get his farm up and running again and take care of his family. Doug also wrote to his best friend from the war, Zane McCoy. Zane’s family had been destroyed by the war. He had nobody and nothing to go home to. Doug asked him to come and help him out. Doug had nothing to lose in asking all three of these people to come and help him with his farm and family. He was desperate. less

Benjamin Sheridan was a soldier in the United States Union Army for over four years. He served with Doug McGuire and Zane McCoy. He was on his way west after just crossing the mighty Mississippi River on his horse. He heard screams from a woman and several horses. He came upon a sight that would haunt his dreams for many years to come. A covered wagon got to going too fast down a hill…the man lost control and it turned over several times. The man and woman were killed... moreBenjamin Sheridan was a soldier in the United States Union Army for over four years. He served with Doug McGuire and Zane McCoy. He was on his way west after just crossing the mighty Mississippi River on his horse. He heard screams from a woman and several horses. He came upon a sight that would haunt his dreams for many years to come. A covered wagon got to going too fast down a hill…the man lost control and it turned over several times. The man and woman were killed. Ben was able to save the small boy and young girl that had been with the couple. He cut the horses loose and tried to save everything he could from the wagon that would be helpful in getting the children set up in a home. They sure didn’t have any clothes except the clothes on their backs. The closest town they came to was Walnut Grove, the same town that Doug and Zane had settled in. He tried to find out if they had any other family to take the children, but they didn’t and Ben refused to put them in an orphanage. He had already become attached to them. He was calling the little boy Charlie and the little girl, who said her name was Edith, Eddie. She liked it and felt safe with Ben. They called him a giant, because he was so big, but they weren’t scared of him, he fed them, washed out diapers of Charlie’s every night without batting an eye, and held them through the night when they both had nightmares. Zane helped him find a place to live, a job, and even someone to watch the kids while he worked. He also found someone to help him get the essentials to get them set up…even clothes for the kids to wear at a resale store. The woman was really shy, but Ben’s size didn’t scare her at all. She even teased him about it. Ben liked that. He didn’t like women being scared about him and his size. Her name was Hailey Howard. She wasn’t very big…but she was nice. It’s not like he was going to marry her. He was never going to get married! less

George Gardner had lived near Walnut Grove all his life. He had always been a large man; it’s why he had become a blacksmith. He liked being a blacksmith. He was his own man and his own boss. He didn’t like how lonely he was all the time. He was a shy man. Most women didn’t feel comfortable talking to him as large as he was. Because they shied away from him, so did he. He avoided them like the plague. Mostly it was men who came to get their horses and oxen shoed anyway... moreGeorge Gardner had lived near Walnut Grove all his life. He had always been a large man; it’s why he had become a blacksmith. He liked being a blacksmith. He was his own man and his own boss. He didn’t like how lonely he was all the time. He was a shy man. Most women didn’t feel comfortable talking to him as large as he was. Because they shied away from him, so did he. He avoided them like the plague. Mostly it was men who came to get their horses and oxen shoed anyway. The only women he ever talked to were Amanda Newel at the general store, but she was married, and to the wives of his friends. Then, one day a women came to his shop to see if he could shoe her two horses. She was in a hurry to get home; she didn’t come to town very often. She’d wait while he did it. George told he would, but then she did the oddest thing. She offered to clean his stalls while he shoed her horses. George told her she couldn’t do that in her dress; she told him she had just bought a pair of pants and shirt at the resale store. It would only take her a minute to change into them. In minutes, she was changed and cleaning out the stalls and George was shoeing her horses. They were talking like they were old friends instead of just meeting. She was on her way in a few hours. George was shocked at how much he had enjoyed talking to her…a woman, and a stranger at that. Her wagon had been loaded down with spring supplies…heavy hundred-pound bags of flour, sugar, and such, not to mention feed for her animals and seed for her fields. How was she going to get that all unloaded from the wagon by herself? At best, she only weighed a hundred pounds herself! George put the closed sign on his blacksmith shop, saddled up his horse and followed the wagon out of town and to her farm. When he showed up, to say she was surprised, was an understatement. George told her that she had cleaned out his stalls, he was going to carry in all her hundred-pound bags of supplies into the cellar, house, and barn. Mavis was surprised and thrilled. It began a friendship that just might be more than a friendship if they could just get a break on love for both of them. less