Take a look at Handsome Bikes line of bicycles https://handsomecycles.com . I got a She-Devil step through and it was the best riding bike under 1k that I tested at my local dealers (some steel, some aluminum). Well built, not cheap feeling like a lot of the other sub 1k bikes I tested.

My guess is the she-devil wouldn't be the right model for you, but they have quite a few models and gearing setups.

Roberta