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An Amish Reunion
Jo Ann Brown
Amish Family TiesHannah Lambright becomes an instant mother when her estranged father abandons his toddler daughter on her doorstep. The pretty beekeeper knows all about honey—and nothing about tending to a kinder, especially one with special needs. She’s grateful to Daniel Stoltzfus for offering to help care for her sister in exchange for Hannah’s beekeeping skills on a hive at his workplace. But the handsome carpenter broke her heart years ago and she’s afraid it’s never quite mended. Yet spending time with the boppli-whisperer and the sweet little girl has love-shy Hannah hoping the family they’re forming will last forever.
Amish Family Ties
Hannah Lambright becomes an instant mother when her estranged father abandons his toddler daughter on her doorstep. The pretty beekeeper knows all about honey—and nothing about tending to a kinder, especially one with special needs. She’s grateful to Daniel Stoltzfus for offering to help care for her sister in exchange for Hannah’s beekeeping skills on a hive at his workplace. But the handsome carpenter broke her heart years ago and she’s afraid it’s never quite mended. Yet spending time with the boppli whisperer and the sweet little girl has love-shy Hannah hoping the family they’re forming will last forever.
“How am I going to take care of Shelby when she hates me?” Hannah murmured.
Daniel smiled. “She doesn’t hate you. She’s scared, and she’s known me longer.”
“Two minutes longer because you’re the one who found her on my doorstep!” Hannah said. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Just as it doesn’t make sense she doesn’t like you. Who knows what goes on in the heads of bopplin?” He shampooed little Shelby’s hair, taking care not to get suds in her eyes. “I’ll make you a deal, Hannah.” He began to rinse Shelby’s fine hair. “You help me by moving the bees at the bridge, and I’ll help you learn how to take care of Shelby. In addition, I’ll do all I can to find your daed.”
Hannah nodded, but didn’t speak.
Knowing he shouldn’t push her further, he lifted the kind out and wrapped her in a towel before her wiggling sent water all over the bathroom. He watched Hannah’s face, knowing she wished he’d walked away as he had before.
But she needed his help. And he needed hers.
Dear Reader (#ubb987acd-c01b-502e-ad4e-2b00bb913e0d),
It’s easy to get caught up in obligations and forget that there are others who are willing to help us. For those with a volunteer’s heart, the ones who always are there to help, it’s sometimes difficult to accept assistance from others. Learning that it’s important to let others relish the joy of helping you can be a hard lesson. I know it was for Hannah...and for me. But once I discovered that givers must learn to receive as well, I found my friendships were deepened and I got more satisfaction from helping because I came to understand what it meant to be helped. Both Hannah and Daniel do as well, and their lives are enriched with love.
Stop in and visit me at www.joannbrownbooks.com (http://www.joannbrownbooks.com/). Look for my next story in the Amish Hearts series coming soon.
Wishing you many blessings,
Jo Ann Brown
JO ANN BROWN has always loved stories with happy-ever-after endings. A former military officer, she is thrilled to have the chance to write stories about people falling in love. She is also a photographer, and she travels with her husband of more than thirty years to places where she can snap pictures. They live in Nevada with three children and a spoiled cat. Drop her a note at joannbrownbooks.com (http://www.joannbrownbooks.com).
An Amish Reunion
Jo Ann Brown
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Then said He unto me, “Fear not, Daniel:
for from the first day that thou didst set
thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself
before thy God, thy words were heard,
and I am come for thy words.”
—Daniel 10:12
For Janet Jones Bann
Thanks for all you do for all of us,
especially being my friend
Contents
Cover (#u035ba981-72aa-5166-a6c4-29473e90c992)
Back Cover Text (#u81e18c62-3500-5f67-8004-96dd7ca35dad)
Introduction (#u07a791cf-3fb3-549d-beba-58d0099f5073)
Dear Reader (#u33b12f44-480d-52b4-9eca-ffcdbb69a7ad)
About the Author (#u40e59ae3-2b30-579a-98ee-9e50c982e1ba)
Title Page (#u7d5bc0ef-eeac-5d86-89e5-7eebef2aa49e)
Bible Verse (#u5e3b0235-e27d-54d9-858e-1713e683ddd5)
Dedication (#ufca7219d-995c-5903-b021-9bc5f301e707)
Chapter One (#ue4a1939b-31fd-59a4-83af-7af716617e0b)
Chapter Two (#u34b9e162-27cb-5b48-a685-08c0f4768cd5)
Chapter Three (#u8de1b6ac-aaa4-52fa-97a0-35e05e223ed2)
Chapter Four (#u499b20d5-e8a5-5f72-a5b0-93f3002900de)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#ubb987acd-c01b-502e-ad4e-2b00bb913e0d)
Paradise Springs
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
The knock came at the worst possible moment.
Hannah Lambright had her grossmammi partway to her bed where she could look out, through the cold rain, at the covered bridge over Hunter’s Mill Creek until she fell asleep for her afternoon nap. Grossmammi Ella depended on Hannah to help her. She refused to use a cane, not wanting to be considered old, though she’d recently celebrated her 90th birthday.
Smoothing the blanket over her grossmammi, who’d already closed her eyes, Hannah hurried from the room. She wiped her hands on her black apron and pushed loose strands of hair under her white kapp. The impatient rapping continued. She opened the door. Words fled from her mouth and her brain as she stared at a handsome face she’d never expected to see at her door. She couldn’t be mistaken about the identity of the man with sleek black hair beneath his dripping straw hat and deep blue eyes set below assertive brows. Her momentary hope that she was looking at his twin brother vanished when she noticed the cleft in his chin.
“Daniel Stoltzfus, why are you here?” she asked.
“Is she yours?”
Only then did she realize Daniel held a wicker container about the size of a laundry basket. A little girl, her golden hair in uneven braids sticking out like a bug’s antennae, was curled, half-asleep in the basket. Chocolate crumbs freckled her cheeks. The kind wore an Englisch-style pink overall and a shirt with puffy sleeves. She couldn’t have been more than eighteen months old.
“Mine?” she choked.
The little girl’s dark brown eyes opened. Her chubby, adorable face displayed the unmistakable characteristics of Down syndrome.
“I was on my way to the covered bridge when I saw her in your side yard,” he replied. “By the time my buggy stopped and I could get out, she’d disappeared behind the house.”
“My honeybees are out there! Did she get stung?”
“I don’t think so. Is this kind yours?”
She recoiled from the strong emotions darkening his blue eyes. Behind his question, she heard unspoken accusations. An answer of ja would mean not only was she an unmarried woman with a kind, but she let the toddler wander near her beehives.
After the five months she and Daniel had walked out together three years ago, did he know so little about her? Didn’t he know she was the dependable one? As she’d been since her mamm died when she was ten years old. When she dared to trust someone again, she’d chosen Daniel Stoltzfus, who’d broken her heart.
“I don’t know who she is,” Hannah said, determined to keep her thoughts to herself. “Just because she was in my yard—”
“And this basket was on your porch. She must have crawled out of it.”
“Why would someone leave her on my front porch?”
“I’ve got no idea.” He glanced over his shoulder. “It’s raining. Can we come in?”
Hannah could think of a dozen reasons to say no, but nodded. She couldn’t leave a young kind out in the cold and damp...nor Daniel.
He set the basket on the well-worn sofa and squatted beside it. When the little girl sat and began to whimper, he said, “It’s okay, liebling. You’re safe.”
She didn’t know if the little girl knew the word meant sweetheart, but the kind began to calm as she gazed at him, trying to figure out who he was.
Hannah bit back a sad laugh. After months with him, she’d been shocked when he turned out not to be the man she’d thought he was. She shook those thoughts aside. The kind should be her sole concern.
The little girl moved, and Hannah heard a crackle. A crumpled and wet envelope was stuck in the basket. Hannah took it and removed a single piece of wet paper. How long had the basket and the toddler been in the rain? She peeled the damp edges apart and was relieved the writing hadn’t been smudged.
“What does it say?” Daniel asked.
She read aloud, “Shelby is your sister. Take care of her.” Looking at the kind, she asked, “Are you Shelby?”
The little girl blinked.
“I guess Shelby is her name.” He began to make faces at the little girl. “Does it say anything else?”
Hannah gasped when she saw the signature.
Daed.
In the fifteen years since he’d left after her mamm’s death, her daed hadn’t written her a single letter. At first, she’d thought it was because he’d been placed under the bann when he abandoned his faith along with his only kind. Later, he’d sent postcards from the places around the United States and Canada. Nevada and Florida. California and Mississippi. Manitoba and Texas. Never anywhere near Paradise Springs. And never with any message other than Daed.
Until now.
What was going on?
“Is it signed?” Daniel asked.
She nodded, unable to speak. Had her daed been right outside the door? Why hadn’t he knocked? Did he think she’d turn him away? She sighed as she realized he might have been afraid she wouldn’t take the basket from him. The rules of the bann were clear—she could speak with him, though her words should be focused on persuading him to confess his sins and return to their plain life. She couldn’t eat at the same table or take a piece of paper from his hand. The whole community hoped a shunning would convince an offender to repent; then family and friends would welcome him into the fold as if the bann had never happened. As God forgave, so should those who loved Him.
“Who signed it, Hannah?” Daniel’s voice was as gentle as when he’d spoken to the little girl.
She gulped, trying to swallow past the lump in her throat. How could Daed have left without seeing her again? Feeling as hurt as the day she’d discovered he’d jumped the fence into the Englisch world, she whispered, “My daed.”
Daniel’s eyes widened. He was as stunned as she was. More than once, while they’d been courting, she’d talked about her hope to see her daed again.
Under a stained blanket, she saw a lump. She lifted out two plastic bags. The handles were tied together. She hooked her finger in the top of one and pulled. The bag tore, and tiny clothing, most in shades of pink, scattered across the floor.
“Her clothes, I’d guess,” Daniel said as he picked up the little girl. He bounced the kind and tried to keep her from pulling off his straw hat at the same time.
The sight was so endearing Hannah smiled in spite of herself. When a chuckle escaped, he looked at her in astonishment.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
