Valuing Vanessa in Bloomington, MN

Facing a dim future as a spinster under her mother's thumb, Vanessa Sedgely makes a practical decision to attach an amiable gentleman who will not try to rule her life. The last thing widower George Durand thinks he wants is another wife, but his difficult daughter is proving difficult to handle. In any case, the admirable Miss Sedgely is far too young for him. A love match is not even a remote consideration for these two. Or is it? This story originally appeared in Holly and Hopeful Hearts, the 2016 holiday anthology of the Bluestocking Belles.