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Book #2 in the Coming to America Series

Swedish immigrant Inga Linberg might not be as beautiful as her flirtatious sisters, but that doesn't mean she doesn't share their romantic ideas. When Dirk Bridger, a handsome but beleaguered Iowa farmer, approaches her minister father for help in caring for his orphaned nieces and ailing mother, Inga immediately volunteers. She goes to live at the Bridger farm as a housekeeper and finds that all is in disarray. Gradually, with patience and understanding, she begins to smooth the family's rough edges. As Inga falls in love with Dirk's little nieces, she is helplessly drawn to their bitter uncle, too. If only there was a way to live forever with this charming but lost family. But could she risk her secret dream of being loved by Dirk in return, when she knows that his dream is to leave them all behind?

Look for the Value Edition ($6.99) available in May 2008

 

 

In its secular form, PATTERNS OF LOVE was awarded the 1999 RITA Award for best inspirational romance. This heart-warming prairie romance has been reworked for the Christian market and promises to establish Hatcher as a noteworthy Christian romance author. The second book in Hatcher's "Coming to America" series, this title is set in late-1800s Iowa and features Swedish immigrant Inga Linberg. As a pastor's eldest daughter, Inga always has been the most sensible of five sisters. Her orderly existence is rocked when Dirk Bridger hires her as housekeeper and caregiver for his two young nieces and his ailing mother. Although a wife is the last thing Dirk wants, desperate circumstances lead him to offer Inga a marriage of convenience. Inga loves the handsome farmer but wonders if she can endure a marriage on his terms. Even as Dirk is increasingly beguiled by his bride's sweet spirit, Inga's insecurities cause her to barricade her heart. Throughout the book, Inga's selfless love is contrasted effectively with her flighty sister's selfish attitudes. Both girls experience emotional upheaval as they learn important lessons about life, love, and self-acceptance. — CBA Marketplace

 

PROLOGUE

Ellis Island, New York Harbor, April 1897

Jostled by the other immigrants disembarking from the ferry, Inga Linberg hurried down the gangway. There were some advantages to being tall, she thought as she looked over the heads of others, her gaze locked on solid ground. It seemed months rather than weeks since the steamship had left Southampton, even longer since she and her family had bade farewell to Goteborg, Sweden, and she wondered what it would feel like to stand on something that wasn't rolling beneath her feet.

She looked over her shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of her parents or sisters, but they had been swallowed up by the crowd. That she'd become separated from them was her own fault, of course. She'd wanted to get a better look at the federal immigration depot and had worked her way to the railing to stare at the building and watch while immigrants from other ferries were unloaded and ushered inside.

"Form a line! Form a line!" an official yelled in English. Another shouted the same in Swedish. Others yelled the command in a variety of languages.

Inga glanced at her bodice, making sure the numbered card that had been pinned there before she'd left the RMS Teutonic had not been lost in the rush to shore. The number matched Inga to the steamship's manifest. Without it, her processing through immigration could be held up for hours, perhaps even days.

"Saints be praised! Sure and I was afraid we wouldn't find you again."

Inga turned to find her shipboard friends, Mary Malone and Beth Wellington, standing behind her. "Ja. I am here. How are you feeling?"

"Tired." Mary touched the round swell of her stomach, as if to reassure the unborn child within.

"You remember what I told you?" Inga asked softly, so as not to be overheard.

Mary nodded. "I remember. They'll not hear it from me that I'm yet to be married. And 'tis married I am in me heart, so 'twon't be a lie. Seamus would never have come to America without me had he known about the babe." She touched Inga's arm. "We may become separated inside and not see each other again. 'Tis thanks I owe you for all the help you've been to us. I'll have you know it."

Beth smiled sadly. "Mary's right. Without your help and advice, we would have been frightfully ignorant about so many things. You have become the dearest of friends, Inga. I shall miss you a great deal. Remember, we all promised to write to one another as soon as we're settled."

The line started moving forward. "I will not forget," Inga promised quickly, her throat tight with emotion.

In all of Inga's life, she had never had any truly close friends. Not like Beth and Mary. But the three of them had become inseparable, almost from the moment they'd met in Southampton. Inga was going to miss them more than she dared admit, even to herself.

"Check your belongings in the baggage room," a man yelled as she entered the depot. "Check your parcels here, then proceed up the stairs."

After leaving her bags where she was told, Inga glanced behind her, only to discover Mary's prediction had proven true. Her friends had disappeared into the sea of immigrants filling the vast room. She wondered if she would ever have an opportunity to hug them and say a proper farewell before they went their separate ways.

But she hadn't time to allow feelings of melancholy to overtake her. This was her first day in America. Even the examination process of Ellis Island, which everyone else seemed to dread, wouldn't spoil it for her. She was determined to savor every moment of this great adventure until the Linbergs reached their new home in Iowa. She suspected that once they were living in the parsonage in Uppsala, the adventure would end, and her life as the pastor's eldest and most dutiful daughter would return to the same familiar routine she had known in Sweden.

What else could possibly await her?

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Copyright 2001 Robin Lee Hatcher
All rights reserved