Jorja Lewis

Derailment of Hearts Jorja Lewis

ALL ABOARD! The train conductors yells. Annabelle hears the last cry of the conductor just before the steam whistle blasts its last warning that the train will be leaving the Georgetown depot. She ran as fast as she could with her skirt improperly hiked up past her knees. Breathlessly she tries to call out to the conductor to hold the train. Like a mountain lion, she jumps up onto the metal steps of the last passenger car. Mouth agape the conductor stood shamelessly looking at the plucky young woman's shapely silk adorned legs. Once seated on the hardwood bench Annabelle reflects back on the twist and turns her life has taken. Some calamitous while others are comical. Her love affair with Soapy Wilder would fall in both categories. Her father, the Colonel, an influential man in Georgetown and the state of Colorado kidnaps her from Soapy then has Soapy sent to prison for kidnapping her! It's so tragic it is almost laughable. Because of circumstances beyond her control she discovers she needs a husband straight away and sets her sites on one of her father's employees. Dominick Grant finds himself forced into a loveless marriage all because he tried to be a nice guy! No good deed goes unpunished! The true love of his life caught him in the bed of the Colonel's daughter. For the life of him he cannot remember getting up the stairs to her bedchamber or undressing or anything Annabelle claims happened. He only remembers Nina's screams as she dropped the kettle of boiling water she was carrying and left the room crying. From that moment on nothing seems to go right. Love gets sidetracked and switchbacked like the hairpin curves of the Clear Creek train tracks.