Today's Saturday Snippet is taken from
Elise
Rescue Me (Mail-order Brides), Book 8
by Zina Abbott
As soon as she heard Herr Kleist enter the rear door of the restaurant, Anja Elise Meyer felt her shoulders involuntarily tighten. He treated her with far too much familiarity. Since she had agreed—or rather, her brothers on her behalf had agreed—she would work for three years to pay off her passage from her home in the German Empire, that was the position in which she now found herself. Two years and three months more. At the thought, she inhaled and blinked back tears. Next, she clamped her back teeth together and lifted her chin. He lied.
It was never intended to be like this—her working the kitchen in the Kleist restaurant and tavern. The original agreement—made between a steamship agent and her family members back in Oberhessen (Upper Hesse)—had been for her to work as a nurse—a nanny—for the Kleist grandchildren to pay for her travel expenses. At the end of that time, she would marry the Kleist son, Gunter, who was away at university for three years. She would have lived in the family home and spent most of her time in the nursery caring for the children. However, upon arriving in New York, she had been met at Castle Garden, the American immigration center, by Ernst Schmitt, a young man, who introduced himself as a servant working for the Kleists. From there, she went to the Kleist home and was introduced to the gratefully happy housekeeper who had been helping to care for the children.
Within an hour after meeting the two boys, Hans and Franz, ages four and three respectively, the grandmother, Frau Kleist, entered the room. “Your name is Anja, ja?”
“Ja, Anja Meyer.” Anja had been known as Anja Elise back in Oberhessen to distinguish her from her Tante (Aunt) Anja and another village girl two years her senior, also named Anja. However, when her brothers signed the contract to send her to America, they listed her name as Anja E. Meyer. The ship and immigration records had listed her using only her first name. Therefore, she decided, now she was in America, she would go by Anja.
The woman had stared at Anja with narrowed eyes. “A pretty, young woman living under the same roof as my husband? Nein.” Scowling, she stormed out of the room.
Elise, Rescue Me (Mail-order Brides) Book 8, is now available in ebook and at no additional cost with your Kindle Unlimited subscription.
To find the book description and link, please
Lauren is now available for sale or at no additional costs with your Kindle Unlimited subscription. A book with a lawman theme, this is my final book that includes references to the 1878 total solar eclipse. To find the book description and purchase link,
please CLICK HERE.
Ellie,
book 13 in the Runaway Brides of the West series is now for sale as an
ebook, plus available on Kindle Unlimited at no additional cost. This book also has a connection to the 1878 total solar eclipse, although Ellie and Rand's story takes place a year later.
To find the book description and pre-order link for Ellie, please CLICK HERE.
