Coldwater Reckoning

A Novel of Love, Loss, and the Fight to Belong

1870s Kansas—On the windswept frontier, where the railroad has yet to arrive and old divisions still run deep, Coldwater is a town caught between its past and an uncertain future.

When Alice Payne arrives, she is seeking more than a teaching position. Haunted by loss and driven by quiet defiance, she hopes to forge a new life in this divided town. But her independence and intellect quickly draw suspicion from the town’s elite—and one man’s unexpected attention.

Will Mertens is a widowed German immigrant burdened by grief and the weight of survival. He never intended to fall for the spirited schoolteacher with fire in her hair and conviction in her voice. Yet in Alice, he finds not just companionship but the chance to reclaim the parts of himself long buried in silence.

As tensions rise between Coldwater’s founding families and the immigrant farmers who now surround it, Alice and Will must navigate gossip, prejudice, and the shadows of their own pasts. When the schoolhouse burns and the town demands they choose between respectability and truth, they’ll be forced to fight for a vision of community built on courage, compassion, and education for all.

Rich with emotional depth, romantic tension, and the quiet heroism of ordinary people, Coldwater is a poignant story about finding hope—and each other—on the American frontier.