01712cam a2200289 4500 603810041 TxAuBib 20220101120000.0 120130s2012||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 2012001282 9780764209659 pbk. 0764209655 pbk. (OCoLC)759173336 DLC eng DLC IG# BTCTA BDX UKMGB MO3 DLC TxAuBib Witemeyer, Karen. Short-straw bride / Karen Witemeyer. Minneapolis, Minn : Bethany House, 2012. 363 p. ; 22 cm. No one steps on Archer land. Not if they value their life. But when Meredith Hayes overhears a lethal plot to burn the Archer brothers off their ranch, a twelve-year-old debt compels her to take the risk. Fourteen years of constant vigilance hardens a man. Yet when Travis Archer confronts a female trespasser with the same vivid blue eyes as the courageous young girl he once aided, he can't bring himself to send her away. And when an act of sacrifice leaves her injured and her reputation in shreds, gratitude and guilt send him riding to her rescue once again. Despite the fact that Travis is no longer the gallant youth Meredith once dreamed about, she determines to stand by his side against the enemy that threatens them both. But will love ever be hers? Or will Travis always see her merely as a short-straw bride? 20220101. Man-woman relationships Texas Fiction. Western stories. Texas History 1846-1950 Fiction. Historical fiction. Christian fiction. Love stories.