{"id":1259,"date":"2019-02-15T00:04:34","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T05:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/read.whitefire-publishing.com\/?p=1259"},"modified":"2020-06-01T09:07:20","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T13:07:20","slug":"fully-persuaded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whitefire-publishing.com\/read\/fully-persuaded\/","title":{"rendered":"Fully Persuaded"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Fully Persuaded<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

by Niki Turner<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on Persuasion<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annie Ellis fell in love with Ford Winters at the tender age of 19, but her family persuaded her to end the relationship. Eight years later and still alone, Annie is resigned to life as a spinster. She pours her frustrated passion into teaching art at Austen Abbey. When Annie\u2019s spendthrift father and sister nearly bankrupt them, an unknown investor\u2019s offer to lease the family\u2019s ranch is their only hope. The investor is none other than Ford, who made his fortune in Colorado\u2019s silver fields and has returned to Texas to show the woman who broke his heart she made a terrible mistake. But when her family<\/a> tries to manipulate Ford, he realizes Annie didn\u2019t stand a chance against their scheming ways. Now Ford must prove to Annie that true love needs no persuasion, only faith.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Chapter 1<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

May 1894<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austin, Texas<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI heard he\u2019s a gambler.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecky\u2019s cousin said he\u2019s an outlaw.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Austin society matrons huddled in front of the Jeanette C. Austen\nAcademy for Young Ladies\u2014fondly known as \u201cAusten Abbey\u201d\u2014resembled hens\nsurrounding a grasshopper, ready to peck the poor insect to death. Annie\nswallowed and ducked behind a hedge that kept her out of sight, but not out of\nearshot. If they caught sight of her, she would become the hapless grasshopper.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBad blood, I\u2019m telling you, there\u2019s no getting around bad blood. Annie\nEllis ought to thank her pa and sister for their wise counsel all those years\nago,\u201d announced one self-righteous voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heat suffused Annie\u2019s fair cheeks as if she\u2019d eaten one too many hot\npeppers. Careful to stay behind the concealing foliage, she hurried toward the\nback of the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She slipped through the gate in the wrought-iron fence, climbed the\nback porch steps, and entered her sanctuary. Classes were in session, so the\nhall was silent. She rubbed her knuckles against the hard, hot lump of emotions\nlodged in her chest. Part of her wanted to run away, but she had responsibilities\nto her students and to the Abbey. And, she sighed, nowhere to go. She couldn\u2019t\neven afford a train ticket out of Travis County. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhere in the vast building the chime of a hand bell signaled the\nend of the current class session. Doors opened and girls fluttered into the\nhall like so many bright butterflies. Annie glanced at the watch pinned to her\nplain shirtwaist. She had enough time before her painting class to meet with\nHeadmistress Collins and ask if the rumors were true. Was Ford Winters really\nreturning to Austin after an eight-year absence? Ford was distantly related to\nAugusta by marriage, so her reports were less likely to be skewed by Austin\u2019s\npenchant for the sensational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annie threaded upstream through the flow of students on their way to\ntheir next classes. Reaching the headmistress\u2019s office, she caught her\nreflection in the window at the end of the hall and grimaced. She would never\nbe a beauty, no matter how many times she sought out a mirror. She patted her\ndrab brown hair to make sure it was suitably restrained and smoothed wrinkles\nfrom her serviceable gray serge skirt before she knocked on the polished door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHeadmistress Collins? It\u2019s Annie Ellis. Could I speak with you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCertainly, my dear. Come right in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annie pushed the door open, struck anew by the room\u2019s welcoming\natmosphere, bedecked in rich shades of emerald green. Seated behind an\noversized desk, Augusta Collins wrote in her daily ledger in what Annie knew\nwas perfect, precise penmanship\u2014tracking student attendance and grades and who\nknew what else. Sunlight streamed through the half-moon window behind her,\ngiving the vague impression Augusta was somehow not of this temporal realm.\nAnnie was awkwardly aware of her feet sinking into the deep carpet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd what, pray tell, can I do for my favorite art teacher?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bit of the icy chill Annie had felt since hearing the rumors about\nFord melted under the headmistress\u2019s kind reception. \u201cI\u2019ve heard Ford Winters\nis returning to Austin, and I wanted to ask if you knew anything about it.\u201d Her\nwords tumbled out in a rush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Augusta leaned back in her chair, her expression a blend of fondness\nand concern. \u201cAnnie, you should sit down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annie checked her watch. \u201cI only have a few minutes until my class.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt will be all right if you\u2019re late once.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annie\u2019s heart fluttered against her ribs like a trapped bird. Augusta\nCollins would never suggest tardiness as an option under normal circumstances.\nShe dropped into the tufted brown velvet chair opposite Augusta\u2019s desk and\npressed shaky hands into her lap.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, ma\u2019am?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cNoah told me he spoke with you\nat length about options for funding the Kelly Ranch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annie flushed. Talking to the bank president had been embarrassing and\nunpleasant, in spite of his efforts to comfort her. The Kelly Ranch was all she\nhad left of her mother\u2019s family, and Annie was determined to save it from\nbankruptcy. She\u2019d finally acquiesced to the idea of offering investors an\nopportunity to purchase shares in the property. Thus far there\u2019d been no\ntakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, ma\u2019am, but what does this have to do with Mr. Winters?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope you will forgive me, but I took the liberty of telegraphing\nFord to inform him of the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opportunity<\/em>. She should have been affronted or angered by Headmistress Collins\u2019s announcement.\nInstead, anticipation quivered through her nerves and settled at the base of\nher spine in a warm hum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnnie, I know there has been talk around town about\nFord\u2019s\u2026er\u2026activities since he left Austin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And his former relationship with you.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annie ignored the unspoken words. Eight years earlier she\u2019d yielded to\nher father and sister\u2019s beleaguering about Ford\u2019s \u201cquestionable parentage\u201d and\n\u201cinsufficient prospects for the future\u201d instead of following her heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll have you know,\u201d Augusta continued, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have contacted\nFord about the Kelly Ranch if I had concerns about his moral code.\u201d She tapped\nher well-manicured fingers on the desk\u2019s surface in a steady rhythm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annie met Augusta\u2019s gaze. She was ashamed to admit that Ford\u2019s morality\nwas the least of her concerns. She had loved him once. If she were honest with\nherself, she still loved him. Ford Winters invaded her heart and mind with\ndebilitating frequency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnnie, dear, I give you my word, Ford has accumulated his wealth\nthrough legal methods, no matter what the local gossips say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Annie considered Augusta\u2019s words\nand sucked in a breath. \u201cSo he\u2019s coming here to purchase shares in my\u2026our\u2026the\nKelly Ranch?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Augusta reached into her desk and withdrew a fat envelope. \u201cNoah\nWhitley has scheduled the paperwork to be signed later this morning. I told him\nI would pass this along to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annie reached for the envelope with a shaking hand. \u201cThat\u2019s so soon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNoah was under the impression your situation was urgent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cYes, it is. I just wasn\u2019t\nexpecting\u2026\u201d Annie\u2019s hand dropped into her lap and her chin fell to her chest,\nstricken by what the contents of the envelope meant to her life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annie\u2019s grandparents had homesteaded the Kelly Ranch, and Annie loved\nthe place as much as her mother and grandmother had. Her mother, Amelia, aware\nof her husband\u2019s and youngest daughter\u2019s weakness when it came to money, had\ngiven Annie legal control of what remained of the family\u2019s property before her\ndeath. Annie could legally refuse Ford\u2019s purchase of shares of the property,\nbut for the sake of her mother\u2019s love for the ranch, Annie would endure\nanything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a choice.\u201d Her statement was laced with resignation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Augusta rose from her chair and came around the desk, skirts rustling.\nUnbidden, she wrapped her arms around Annie in a gentle lemon verbena-scented\nembrace. \u201cMy dear, there is always a choice. Unfortunately, the right thing to\ndo is rarely the thing that appeals to your flesh.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n