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Shelter From The Storm
Patricia Davids
USA TODAY Bestselling Author Patricia Davids An Amish marriage of convenience A new North Country Amish novel Secretly pregnant and unwed, Gemma Lapp has a difficult choice—face her Amish community or raise her baby alone. But when a storm strands Gemma in the wilderness with her former crush, Jesse Crump, she knows her secret won’t be safe for long. Gemma can’t imagine trusting a man again…until Jesse proposes a marriage of convenience. Could their arrangement lead to love?
An Amish marriage of convenience
A new North Country Amish novel
Secretly pregnant and unwed, Gemma Lapp has a difficult choice—face her Amish community or raise her baby alone. But when a storm strands Gemma in the wilderness with her former crush, Jesse Crump, she knows her secret won’t be safe for long. Gemma can’t imagine trusting a man again...until Jesse proposes a marriage of convenience. Could their arrangement lead to love?
After thirty-five years as a nurse, PATRICIA DAVIDS hung up her stethoscope to become a full-time writer. She enjoys spending her free time visiting her grandchildren, doing some long-overdue yard work and traveling to research her story locations. She resides in Wichita, Kansas. Pat always enjoys hearing from her readers. You can visit her online at patriciadavids.com (http://patriciadavids.com).
Also By Patricia Davids (#uad603436-d11b-5ee9-bc04-14e26edd2116)
North Country Amish
An Amish Wife for Christmas
Shelter from the Storm
The Amish Bachelors
An Amish Harvest
An Amish Noel
His Amish Teacher
Their Pretend Amish Courtship
Amish Christmas Twins
An Unexpected Amish Romance
His New Amish Family
The Amish of Cedar Grove
The Wish
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Shelter from the Storm
Patricia Davids
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-09729-1
SHELTER FROM THE STORM
© 2019 Patricia MacDonald
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Note to Readers (#uad603436-d11b-5ee9-bc04-14e26edd2116)
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Text to speech
“What’s wrong, Gemma?” Jesse came around the fireplace.
She sat up and drew her knees up under her cloak. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
“You use that word far too often. How can you be fine?”
“You have a point. I would love a cup of hot tea and a cracker. Any chance that Dale left some in his toolbox?”
“I’ll check. Chamomile or Earl Grey?”
Her eyes widened with surprise. “Jesse Crump has a sense of humor.”
“Don’t look so amazed.” He stoked the fire.
“I noticed it was snowing again while I was on the porch. Heavily. No one will be able to follow our tracks, will they?”
“Nope.” At least she understood why help wouldn’t be coming.
“So, what do we do?”
“The hardest thing of all in a survival situation. Stay put.”
Her eyes grew wide. “When you say survival situation, are you telling me that we are in serious trouble?”
There was a long silence. “Ja. We are.”
Dear Reader (#uad603436-d11b-5ee9-bc04-14e26edd2116),
I have once again taken you to Maine in the winter. I’m sorry. I promise a warmer time of the year to explore the beauty of New Covenant in my next book. Summer or spring? I haven’t decided yet. I hope you enjoyed visiting some of the characters from my previous North Country Amish series. I’m always happy to let people catch up on the characters they wanted to know more about. There will be eight books in all set in Maine. I should be able to populate a small Amish community by then. If not, I can always keep going. That’s the joy of my God-given gift. New ideas always pop into my head.
Blessings to you and yours,
Patricia Davids
For thou hast been a strength to the poor,
a strength to the needy in his distress,
a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the
heat, when the blast of the terrible ones
is as a storm against the wall.
—Isaiah 25:4
This book is dedicated to all the men and women who work in neonatal intensive care units across the country. You care for the least of God’s children. May you know abundant peace and joy in your work.
Contents
Cover (#u7d0c43c0-058a-5ea9-9564-942845d3133c)
Back Cover Text (#ufbfc76db-cda5-5e57-8d79-0af343bdf183)
About the Author (#u7cd51871-634d-590a-9bd1-b356285c5c62)
Booklist (#ufe9a7641-9743-5456-a0f5-97c0055c8a42)
Title Page (#ubb3f109c-b052-5ed2-b597-415e5cead12b)
Copyright (#ub0962946-27cd-5202-b368-32067aa95dca)
Note to Readers
Introduction (#u8ba38e54-ea7b-5e43-b81a-7c170f57510c)
Dear Reader
Bible Verse (#ue252aa1a-4d4c-5e4f-b919-e6d4e7a9e9b0)
Dedication (#uec5a871b-ce79-5082-9aa1-a7fe365945ca)
Chapter One (#u06981699-08bd-5973-8fc4-0a09c859f662)
Chapter Two (#ue4fe70ec-248e-5cf4-9a5b-cab53288b055)
Chapter Three (#u8cc0fd8e-88e5-5ede-8770-0e927d7ee961)
Chapter Four (#uc866cde2-5507-5530-a517-8c2e7f561825)
Chapter Five (#u34377de8-90df-5dc4-9caa-2bbe80514f50)
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)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#uad603436-d11b-5ee9-bc04-14e26edd2116)
That couldn’t be Gemma Lapp.
Jesse Crump turned in his seat to get a better look at the Amish woman on the sidewalk waiting to cross the street. She was wearing a black Amish traveling bonnet and a long dark gray cloak. She was pulling a black wheeled suitcase behind her. He couldn’t get a good look at her face. His driver and coworker, Dale Kaufman, pulled ahead when the light changed, and Jesse lost sight of her. There was nothing outward to suggest it was Gemma other than the Amish clothing but something about her, perhaps her small stature, reminded him strongly of the woman he wished he could forget.
“What’s the matter?” Dale asked, noticing Jesse staring behind them. “Is something wrong with the load?” He slowed the pickup and trailer carrying two large garden sheds.
Jesse turned around to stare straight ahead. “I thought I saw someone I knew.”
