The Middlefield Family Collection

by Kathleen Fuller

  2. Laura wants justice for how Mark treated her, yet what she really wants is vengeance. What is the difference between the two?

  3. Both Laura and Emma are insecure about their looks (for different reasons). Can you identify with their insecurities? How can we see past the surface to others’ hearts the way God does?

  4. Cora has an extremely negative reaction to Amish country. What do you think it will take for her to accept Sawyer’s desire to become Amish?

  5. Do you think Sawyer’s decision to become Amish stems from a true belief that the Amish faith and way of life is what he wants, or is he influenced by his love for Laura? Explain your answer.

  6. Do you think Mark has the capacity to change? Why or why not?

  7. Laura and Sawyer were able to find healing and forgiveness, not just through each other, but because of God’s mercy. Think of a time when you felt bruised and broken. How did God comfort you?

  8. Was Norman’s public confession necessary? Why do you think admitting his indiscretion in front of the church was the only way for him to find peace?

  9. What do you think Sawyer will do when he discovers Cora’s illness? How will that affect his relationship with Laura and the rest of the Amish community?

  10. Despite Laura pushing Sawyer away, he remained faithful to her. How does God remain faithful to us during the times we feel distant from Him?

  from Letters to Katie

  1. For years Katherine struggled with unrequited love. Have you ever yearned for something you couldn’t have? How did you handle having a dream just out of your reach?

  2. Did you find Johnny’s actions impulsive? Do you understand why he refused his family’s and community’s help? Why or why not?

  3. What do you think might have happened to Johnny and Katherine’s relationship if he had told her about his feelings earlier? Would their relationship have lasted?

  4. Sawyer had to convince several people he was serious about his faith—Laura, Cora, Laura’s mother, the bishop, among others. Do you think he succeeded? Why or why not?

  5. How do you think living in the Amish community will affect Cora? Do you think she’ll ever understand the Amish faith?

  6. Do you think Johnny made the right decision by turning down the Wagners’ offer? What do you think would have happened if he had accepted it?

  7. Can you relate to Katherine’s struggle with letting God take the lead in her life? Are there areas in your life where God needs to take control?

  8. In what ways do you seek God’s will and timing for your life?

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  from Treasuring Emma

  I always thank my editors and agent in every book I write. But they deserve more thanks than I can say for their help, support, and encouragement during the process of writing Treasuring Emma. Natalie, Penny, and Tamela, thank you for being there for me as this book took shape. Thank you for the prayers and guidance that kept me going. Thank you for being by my side as I faced the challenges during the writing process. Thank you for being wonderful at your jobs and for being treasured friends.

  from Faithful to Laura

  My deepest thanks to my editors, Natalie Hanemann and Penelope Stokes for their encouragement, support, and skillful editing of Faithful to Laura. Thank you to my agent, Tamela Hancock Murray, who has always been in my corner throughout my writing career. My love to my family. I’m grateful for their patience and understanding, not just of my writing, but me as a person. I’m not always easy to live with!

  A special note of thanks to Karla Hanns. Soon after writing Treasuring Emma, the first book in this series, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. As I went through treatment, Karla made me a prayer quilt. I was fortunate enough to have the actual quilt included on the cover of this book, and it is the model for the quilt Katherine made for Laura. Karla, along with so many family members, friends, and readers prayed for me during my treatment, which as of this writing was successful. For that, there aren’t enough thanks in the world. God bless you all!

  from Letters to Katie

  I want to thank my editors Natalie Hanemann and Penelope Stokes, who always take my raw manuscripts and provide invaluable guidance to help me get them in shape. Letters to Katie is no exception. Thank you to the team at Thomas Nelson for their unwavering support during the writing of the Middlefield Family series. Thanks as well to my agent, Tamela Hancock Murray, for standing by me. And above all, my family, my friends, and my Lord—without whom I couldn’t get through the day, much less write a book.

  OTHER BOOKS BY KATHLEEN FULLER

  A Faith of Her Own (Available March 2015)

  A Reluctant Bride (Available September 2015)

  The Hearts of Middlefield novels

  A Man of His Word

  An Honest Love

  A Hand to Hold

  The Middlefield Family novels

  Treasuring Emma

  Faithful to Laura

  Letters to Katie

  A Gift for Anne Marie, included in An Amish Second Christmas

  Flowers for Rachel, included in An Amish Garden

  A Perfect Match, included in An Amish Wedding

  A Miracle for Miriam, included in An Amish Christmas

  What the Heart Sees, included in An Amish Love

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Kathleen Fuller is the author of several bestselling novels, including A Man of His Word and Treasuring Emma, as well as a middle-grade Amish series, The Mysteries of Middlefield. Visit her website at www.kathleenfuller.com. Twitter: @TheKatJam Facebook: Author Kathleen Fuller

  An Excerpt from

  A Faith of Her Own

  Prologue

  Nine Years Earlier

  Anna Mae Shetler walked the short length of the tree house, growing more impatient with every step. Where were they? It wasn’t like Jeremiah and Amos Mullet to keep her waiting. Sure, her mother had said more than once since she’d turned thirteen that she needed to learn patience. And humility and steadfastness and all those other things the Bible said she had to have. She’d have time for that, though. Later. Right now she was eager to see Jeremiah and Amos.

  When she heard the rustling of leaves down below, she stuck her head out the window and grinned at them. “About time. I thought you two would never get here.”

  Amos climbed up first. Stocky and slow, he took a lot longer to get up to the tree house. Jeremiah, although a year younger at thirteen, was leaner, taller, and faster. But he waited without complaint while his brother made his way up the new steps Daniel Beiler had nailed to the tree. His father had made him replace the old ones, which he had removed when he had tried not to get caught stealing money from the tree house.

  Once Amos was near the opening of the tree house, Jeremiah climbed up. Anna Mae smirked. She was sure her mother would approve of Jeremiah’s patience.

  Soon the three of them were sitting cross-legged on the slat wood floor.

  “Look, Anna Mae,” Amos said. “Grossmammi gave me a new art set. A real set, like real artists use. Charcoal and watercolors and a sketchbook.” He pulled the set out of his bag and spread the treasures out on the floor. “I’m going to be a farmer-artist.” He picked up the sketchbook. “I’ll work as a farmer. I’ll be an artist for fun.”

  Jeremiah smiled at her over Amos’s head.

  “Grossmammi said I could make pictures for you and Jeremiah,” Amos went on. “I’ll send them to Jeremiah at Dr. Miller’s.”

  A panicked look filled Jeremiah’s eyes. Anna Mae took hold of his hand and squeezed. “We’ll see you all the time, remember? It will be like you’re here with us.”

  But somehow she knew it wouldn’t be the same. Although Jeremiah was going to live and apprentice with Dr. Miller, the local vet, she and Amos wouldn’t see him as much as they did now. Deep inside she hoped that maybe he would change his mind about becoming a veterinarian. If he didn’t, he would have to leave the Amisch to pursue his dream. More than anything she wanted him to be happy, but the selfish part of
her didn’t want him to go. And if he did leave her and the Amisch behind . . . she didn’t know if she could handle that.

  She shoved the thoughts out of her mind, released Amos’s hand, and glanced around the tree house. The space felt smaller, more confined, almost claustrophobic. It wasn’t theirs anymore. Everything was changing. They were getting older and about to go their separate ways. Jeremiah would be gone as soon as he finished eighth grade. Amos would be busy helping his father with their farm. When she completed school she would . . .

  She had no idea what she would do. Unlike Jeremiah and Amos, Anna Mae was uncertain about her future. Yet she knew whatever the future held, Jeremiah and Amos would always be her best friends.

  She let out a quick breath. “I think we all know we won’t be coming back here again.”

  “Ya,” Jeremiah sighed. Amos nodded.

  “Let’s make a pact.”

  Jeremiah cocked his head. “A pact?”

  A pact was a promise. Anna Mae felt the rightness of the words. “We’ll make a pact that we’ll let nothing come between us. That we’ll always be the best of friends, no matter what.”

  Jeremiah grinned and stuck his hand in the middle of the circle. “To friendship,” he said. “Nix will come between us.”

  Amos slapped his hand on top of his brother’s. “Not even work and art will come between us.”

  Anna Mae smiled and laid her hand on Amos’s.

  “Not even our dreams will come between us.” Jeremiah placed his other hand on top of hers.

  Amos put his other hand on Jeremiah’s.

  Anna Mae put her other hand atop the pile. “We promise to always be best friends.”

  And Anna Mae knew that the promise was true. No matter how life changed, no matter what path they traveled, she knew they would always have this friendship.

  That, she could count on.

  Forever.

  Chapter 1

  Nine Years Later

  Anna Mae folded her hands in her lap as the buggy rolled past the lush grove of oak and maple trees. She sat in the back behind her parents, tilting her face to let the warm June air flow over her, perfumed with the scent of fresh-mown hay, clover, and timothy grass.

  “It’s been awhile since we’ve all gotten together,” her mother said from the front seat of the buggy. She glanced at Anna Mae over her shoulder. “Other than church, of course. But it’s nice to have time with just the family, especially since it’s growing so fast.”

  “Ya.”

  “It’s hard to believe Mary Beth and Christopher have been married for nearly nine years,” Mamm said, referring to Anna Mae’s brother and his wife. “I just wish Rachel could be here. Then we’d all be together.” She turned around in her seat. “You’re very quiet this afternoon, Anna Mae.”

  “Unlike some people,” her father muttered good-naturedly.

  Mamm lightly smacked him on the arm with the palm of her hand before turning her full attention back to Anna Mae. “Is something wrong?”

  Anna Mae turned from the fresh air and looked at her mother’s wide eyes, filled with feigned innocence. Something was wrong and they both knew it. But Anna Mae wasn’t in the mood for a lecture, discussion, or argument. Not today. “Nee,” she said, mustering up her sweetest voice. “Everything is fine.”

  “Gut,” her father said, turning into her brother’s driveway. “Because we’re here. And I’m starving.”

  Mamm’s eyes narrowed slightly as she gave Anna Mae one last look before facing front.

  When the buggy stopped, Anna Mae scrambled out, glad to be free of the tight thread of tension that had connected her and her mother for the past several months. That her father was oblivious to it was a testament to the effort both she and her mother expended in hiding their true feelings around him. But it was getting harder for Anna Mae to keep silent, to pretend everything was okay when it wasn’t. She suspected it was becoming difficult for her mother too.

  Anna Mae looked around, noting all the buggies parked neatly in a row by the side of the driveway. The horses must have all been stabled in the barn. Her father was leading their horse, Licorice, there already. She smiled, remembering when her father let her name the horse after her favorite candy.

  Her thoughts turned bittersweet. Life had been so much easier when she was a child.

  “Anna Mae!”

  She turned to see one of her relatives by marriage, Bekah Yoder, striding toward her. She was twenty-five, three years older than Anna Mae. They weren’t particularly close, but Anna Mae liked her. She was different from a lot of the friends Anna Mae had—in her mid-twenties and still not married. She had joined the church as soon as she could, yet she managed to remain independent and happy—the opposite of Anna Mae.

  “We need more hands in the kitchen,” Bekah said, linking her arm with Anna Mae’s. “Actually, we need more competent hands in the kitchen.”

  “You’ve been kicked out?”

  “Voluntarily removed.” Bekah laughed. “I didn’t want to spend the afternoon cooped up in there anyway.”

  Anna Mae grinned. Bekah was notorious among their family not only for her independent spirit but for her complete lack of cooking skills.

  “I offered to help man the grills, but nee.” The smoky scent of smoldering charcoal filtered through the air. They stopped on the front porch. “Apparently only men are allowed to do that job.” She sighed, her pale-brown brows knitting together. “I guess I’ll set the tables. And they’ll be the best set tables you’ll ever see.” Bekah released her arm and headed for the backyard, where Anna Mae knew there were at least two long tables and over a dozen chairs to accommodate the family.

  Anna Mae went inside and proceeded to the kitchen, where there were indeed many good cooks—her sister-in-law, Mary Beth; Mary Beth’s mother, Margaret Mullet; Bekah’s sister Katherine, who was married to Mary Beth’s twin brother, Johnny Mullet; and Anna Mae’s mother, Caroline, who must have gotten to the kitchen through the back door while Anna Mae was talking with Bekah.

  She hung back and stood in the doorway, watching them finish up the final preparations for a meal that included a bounty of food to accompany whatever grilled meat was cooking outside. Anna Mae saw a plate of deviled eggs, a bowl of pickles, two platters filled with Swiss, cheddar, and American sliced cheese, three huge bowls of red-skinned potato salad, two jars of chowchow, a fruit salad, a plate of cookies, and four pies.

  Her stomach growled as she kept observing the bustle in the kitchen, each woman wearing a different colored dress but with the same white prayer kapps secured to their heads. They spoke to each other in Pennsylvania Deitsch, only stopping the conversation with a smile or a chuckle. They all seemed happy. They all seemed at peace.

  All but Anna Mae.

  “Anna Mae,” her mother said, motioning her to come inside the kitchen. “Put out these yeast rolls Katherine made.” She lifted the lid to the plastic container and sniffed. “They smell appeditlich. Reminds me of the ones your grossmammi Bertha used to make.”

  She took the rolls from her mother with a small smile. Grossmammi had passed away two years ago, and she still missed her. She could be tough, especially when it came to Anna Mae learning how to cook, take care of the house, and be a gut Amisch woman. But as Anna Mae grew up and her grandmother grew more frail, she’d learned to appreciate Grossmammi more. Maybe if she were here, Anna Mae could confide in her.

  Then again, she probably wouldn’t have understood. No one did.

  A blast of warm air hit her when she went outside, her nose detecting the grilled pork chops that were on the menu for the Saturday supper meal. The sun still gleamed brightly in the late-afternoon sky, with only a few dainty puffs of clouds dotting the brilliant blue expanse above.

  “I see you finally have a job you can handle.”

  Anna Mae glanced at Caleb Mullet, her sister-in-law’s younger brother, who was behind one of the grills flipping over a pork chop with a metal spatula. His words were aimed at Bekah, w
ho was putting the last fork on the table.

  “At least I’m not burning supper,” Bekah said sweetly.

  A quick look of panic crossed Caleb’s face, disappearing when he realized the chops were fine. “They’re not burned.”

  “I’m sure they will be.”

  “What they will be are the best chops you’ve ever tasted.”

  “A little full of yourself, ya?” Bekah straightened one of the chairs.

  “More like confident.”

  Anna Mae kept her head down as she placed the rolls on the table. She’d seen them go at it like this since Christopher had married Mary Beth. Always sniping, always trying to one-up each other with the sarcastic comments and veiled insults. She wondered when they’d figure out they were meant for each other.

  When the meat was done and the rest of the food laid out, everyone found their places at the table. The only ones missing were Mary Beth’s younger brothers, Micah and Eli. Anna Mae had overheard Caleb mention that they were spending the day fishing on Lake Erie with a few of their friends.

  Her parents sat at one end, Mary Beth’s at the other. In between were the couples, Mary Beth and Christopher, Johnny and Katherine. Bekah and Caleb sat across from each other, both pretending to ignore the other, and Mary Beth and Christopher’s two children sat by their parents. The table was crowded, and Anna Mae sat on the corner edge next to her mother, her plate barely fitting on the table.

  Everyone had a place. Everyone fit. Everyone belonged.

  Everyone but Anna Mae.

  Jeremiah Mullet turned off the engine and gripped the steering wheel of his car. He looked at the veterinarian clinic in front of him and the modest house connected to it. For the hundredth time since he’d started the drive from Columbus, he questioned his decision to come here. But he owed Doc Miller, and after he received the call for help from his former mentor yesterday, Jeremiah threw some clothes in his beat-up two-door early this morning and hurried here before he could change his mind.