скачать книгу бесплатно
An Amish Courtship
Jan Drexler
Amish RedemptionSamuel Lapp all but accepts his estrangement from the Amish community—until Mary Hochstetter moves in next door to care for her elderly aunt. The young woman with the pretty brown eyes sees Samuel differently than his neighbors do. If he can earn her respect while helping with her aunt’s chores, perhaps the rest of the community will follow. But Samuel can’t let Mary get too close, lest he disappoint her as well.Mary’s relocation to Shipshewana, Indiana, means confronting her deepest fears. By helping Samuel rebuild his life and his farm, she finally feels ready to embrace her future. But as their delicate friendship grows deeper, they both must overcome their painful pasts before they can build a home together.Amish Country Brides: Small-town love, plain and simple
Amish Redemption
Samuel Lapp all but accepts his estrangement from the Amish community—until Mary Hochstetter moves in next door to care for her elderly aunt. The young woman with the pretty brown eyes sees Samuel differently than his neighbors do. If he can earn her respect while helping with her aunt’s chores, perhaps the rest of the community will follow. But Samuel can’t let Mary get too close, lest he disappoint her, as well.
Mary’s relocation to Shipshewana, Indiana, means confronting her deepest fears. By helping Samuel rebuild his life and his farm, she finally feels ready to embrace her future. But as their delicate friendship grows deeper, they both must overcome their painful pasts before they can build a home together.
“When we met this morning, I was very impolite.” Mary twisted her fingers together.
“Forget it.” Samuel cleared his throat.
“I let myself form an opinion of you without learning to know you first.”
She smiled then and his heart wrenched at the soft curve of her lips.
“I wasn’t very polite myself.”
“You were fine. I mean, you didn’t do anything—” Her face flushed a pretty pink. “I mean, you were friendly.” Her face grew even redder. “Except for...when you winked... I mean, I’m sure you didn’t mean to be forward.” She bit her lip and turned away.
Samuel resisted the urge to step close to her, to cover her embarrassment with a hand on her arm. “I think I know what you mean.”
She tilted her head toward the house in a quick nod. “I think it is wonderful-gut that you want to help with that poor farmer’s work.”
He felt a flush rise in his cheeks at her words of praise. “Thank you.” If he could earn Mary Hochstetter’s respect, maybe he could change everyone else’s opinion, too.
Dear Reader (#ub77ddd3a-2a68-5069-ba16-ed569b84e2a7),
I hope you enjoyed this visit to Indiana’s Amish Country with me!
Shipshewana and the surrounding area are home to the third largest Amish community in the country. Today’s Shipshewana is a busy place, full of tourists and fun activities all through the year.
We love to visit our favorite businesses in the area: Das Essenhaus, Yoder’s Department Store, E&S Sales, and many others. And if we’re there on a Tuesday or Wednesday, we make the time to go to the Shipshewana Flea Market on the grounds of the Sale Barn.
The Sale Barn? Oh yes. It’s the same place Samuel and Mary went in their story. The livestock auction is still held every week, year-round.
And while we’re there, we enjoy breakfast at the Auction Restaurant. They serve the best fried mush I’ve ever eaten.
I love to hear from my readers! You can contact me through my website, www.JanDrexler.com (http://www.JanDrexler.com), or visit me on Facebook!
Jan Drexler
JAN DREXLER enjoys living in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband of more than thirty years and their four adult children. Intrigued by history and stories from an early age, she loves delving into the world of “what if?” with her characters. If she isn’t at her computer giving life to imaginary people, she’s probably hiking in the Hills or the Badlands, enjoying the spectacular scenery.
An Amish Courtship
Jan Drexler
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy Salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit.
—Psalms 51:10–12
To Mrs. Harrington, the kind of teacher I would like to be someday.
Soli Deo Gloria
Contents
Cover (#uf398939f-52d4-5c1e-a5f8-3c95fdfa64c2)
Back Cover Text (#u3433a967-6b5f-54ef-b1c4-6167eb175754)
Introduction (#ud31e4ede-39de-59a8-ac4d-c58c8b0114f1)
Dear Reader (#u490299f1-a6ff-51a0-8d1e-b7eb33612f0d)
About the Author (#u5a8393e3-7dac-5cb3-bad9-2405fd5a74f3)
Title Page (#u76934fcf-2842-5229-a678-82f2d86300f5)
Bible Verse (#u93147be1-a4cb-50e8-9490-6b5d8c4cffcb)
Dedication (#ub56e0c93-d4d2-5b9e-a2eb-ecc4e465604f)
Chapter One (#u0e7c8424-fc69-541a-9aee-a8ea4d375789)
Chapter Two (#u33b57d70-c33d-5617-952e-79dc126f0ae3)
Chapter Three (#udd7b7b8b-709d-556e-a7cd-2a0c735645a7)
Chapter Four (#ud3f23044-328b-53c6-9411-c85e3332a6f5)
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)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#ub77ddd3a-2a68-5069-ba16-ed569b84e2a7)
Shipshewana, Indiana
April 1937
“I’m so glad we aren’t late,” Aunt Sadie said as Mary turned the buggy into the farm lane.
Mary Hochstetter looked ahead, clutching the reins with damp hands. At least twenty buggies lined up along the barn like a flock of blackbirds on a telegraph wire and the lines of people moving toward the house were long.
So many strangers! But she must face them for Ida Mae’s sake. She straightened her shoulders and glanced into the back seat to give her sister a reassuring smile. There was nothing frightening about attending the Sabbath meeting.
Ida Mae gave her a weak smile in return. “I’ll be all right. After all, we already know the ladies we met at the quilting last week. The rest will soon become friends, too.”
A boy stepped forward and grasped the horse’s bridle. “I’ll take care of Chester for you, Aunt Sadie.”
“Denki, Stephen.” Sadie climbed out of the buggy. Mary joined her, with Ida Mae right behind. “You’re growing up so fast. I remember when your mother had to pull you out of mud puddles at Sunday meeting.”
Stephen laughed, his voice slipping down to a deep bass and back up again. “That was a long time ago.”
“Not to me, young man. The older I get, the faster time flies. You’re a fine man, just like your father.”
Sadie grasped Mary’s arm to make sure she had her attention. “Here come the Lapp sisters, Judith and Esther, who you met at the quilting last week,” she said. “That’s their brother, Samuel, driving. They’re our next-door neighbors.” She leaned closer, dropping her voice. “And Mary, Samuel is a bachelor.”
Mary shook her head. “I’m not looking for a husband.”
“You never know what the Good Lord has planned.”
Mary knew what the Good Lord had planned, and it was clear to her that marriage had no part of whatever He had in mind.
The Lapps’ dusty buggy pulled up next to theirs and two young women jumped out. The man who was driving barely waited until they had stepped down before he started his horse forward to the buggy parking area. But just then Aunt Sadie’s horse stepped sideways into his path.
Mutters and growls came from the buggy as it rocked under the weight of the man who jumped to the ground from the driver’s seat, nearly landing on Sadie. He caught the older woman’s arm to steady her.
“Sorry, Aunt Sadie.” He waited until the older woman was stable again, then grasped his horse’s bridle. “If someone hadn’t left your buggy in the middle of the drive, I could have been out of the way by now.”
“We just got here ourselves, Samuel,” Aunt Sadie said. “There’s no need to be in such a hurry.” She turned to Mary with a satisfied smile. “I’m sure you and Mary will be able to straighten out the horses.” She took Ida Mae’s arm. “Let’s go inside. I’ll need your help.”
Ida Mae gave Mary a helpless look.
“Go on in.” Mary lifted her chin with confidence she didn’t feel. “I’ll be right there.”
“It’s going to take hours to get this mess straightened out.” Samuel gestured toward the road where a buggy had just turned in, with another close behind it. “It’s becoming a real log jam.”
“Once I get Chester off to the side, things will clear up.” Stephen took the horse’s bridle and led him down the drive toward the barn, patting his brown neck.
As the buggy moved out of the way, Mary found herself face-to-face with Samuel Lapp. She felt her cheeks heat as he stared at her with dark blue eyes.
She leveled her gaze, focusing on the front of his coat. He was a solid wall in front of her, a man a couple years older than her own twenty-three years. His closeness sent her heart racing and she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. He wasn’t Harvey Anderson. She bit her lip, forcing that thought out of her mind. Samuel was only an Amishman driving his sisters to Sunday meeting. There was nothing threatening about him.
Mary stepped to the side of the driveway so he could move past her.
“I think you can follow Stephen now.”
He didn’t budge.
“The way is clear.”
Ignoring three more buggies that had driven into the barnyard, he still stared at her. Suddenly, his eyebrows shot up as if he had gotten a flash of insight. “You’re that Mary Hochstetter that Sadie’s been expecting.”
“Ja, I am.”
“From Ohio.”
“Ja.”
He ran his hand down his short beard. “You’re not what I imagined when Sadie said you were coming. I thought you’d be older, being her niece.”
“Sadie is actually my mother’s aunt.” Mary glanced behind Samuel’s buggy. Families walked toward the house, voices hushed as they separated into women’s and men’s lines. Stephen and two or three other boys had lined up the buggies in order and were unhitching the horses. The log jam had cleared.
She looked back at Samuel. “I should go in. Meeting is about to begin.”
The corner of his mouth, visible above his short beard, quirked up.
“You’re anxious to be rid of me?”
Now he was laughing at her, maybe even flirting with her. She drew herself up to her full height and looked him in the eyes, lowering her brow in the expression that always sent her younger brothers hurrying to do their chores.
He stepped forward to grasp his horse’s bridle. “You’re not only younger than I expected, but you’re prettier, too.”
Then he winked at her.
