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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

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      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

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