Oregon Promise

On the windswept frontier, love and redemption favor those brave enough to risk the journey. Fleeing the cruelty of her abusive husband, Mercy embarks on a perilous journey with her four-year-old son, seeking refuge in the company of a grieving family. Grief that is only compounded when Mercy's husband catches up to them. In the span of one moment, tranquility is crushed beneath the boot of brutality. Now, Mercy must navigate the treacherous terrain of her heart, torn between two men she's bound to by debt and duty. Micah, haunted by a love extinguished too soon and shackled by a sorrow that makes God seem distant, is gruff but protective and ignites a flame of yearning in the ash heap of her soul. Gideon, though he finds solace in his faith, bears scars of his own. His gentle friendship awakens desires she thought long buried. Join Mercy, Micah, and Gideon as they discover that amidst the dust and ashes of their pasts, the promise of a new beginning awaits those who dare to choose faith.

When Willow's papa says they are bound for Oregon on the next wagon train. She can hardly fathom the ache of leaving everything familiar behind. Sure, there will be good things, too-like not saying goodbye to Gideon Riley, even though he's still oblivious to her. She keeps her emotions in tight check until a fit of melancholy sends her fleeing. If only Papa had given her a choice! When Gideon sees Willow Chancellor run past with tears streaking her cheeks, he can't leave her heartbroken and alone. Her father should have mentioned the trip sooner so she could adjust. Gid finds her at the creek, and as she collapses into his arms, he pushes away thoughts of how easy it would be to get used to this. She deserves a man who can love her without the burden of past loss. He must keep his distance. But when the cry of "fire!" goes up from town, they discover that it's the Chancellor's mercantile engulfed in flames! And as Gideon scrambles to keep Willow from dashing into the inferno, he realizes that neither one of them may ever have a choice about their future again.

They long to build a future. But first, they must overcome their shattered past. Eden Houston wants nothing more than to repair her broken relationship with her husband, Adam. But the death of their infant son has left them distant, walking together in body but worlds apart in spirit. As they follow the Oregon Trail with hope of starting fresh, even the vast plains feel too small to contain their grief and brokenness. But when they come upon the ruins of a massacred wagon train and find three young children still alive in the wreckage, she finds a spark of purpose in a wilderness of sorrow. Adam fears that taking in the orphans will reopen the grief that Eden has only just begun to conquer. Leaving the children at the next fort will break her heart all over again-and he's not sure he can bear that agony a second time, either. However, that concern will have to wait because the man responsible for the massacre has realized the children survived. And he will do whatever it takes to silence them-and anyone who stands in his way. Including Eden. In the face of fear and desperation, Adam and Eden must hold tight to love, to hope . . . and to the God who knows how to carry those He loves across barren plains.