by Naomi Miller
No one had moved while Bella was sharing her story. When she was done, there were tears in the eyes of everyone in the room.
Mr. O'Neal was the first one to speak. “I am so sorry that such a horrible thing happened to you. We'll do anything we can to help you. . . and to make you feel safe.”
“Thank you, sir. Your wife has been awesome. I—“ Bella cried out, doubled over in pain.
Quickly, Lena was at her side. “I think it's time we get you to the hospital, unless you want to have this baby right here!”
“No! No hospital!” Bella's words were said through clenched teeth, accompanied by her pushing away from the people who had all reached out to help her.
“Bella, dear, you cannot have the baby here. It's not safe or sanitary.” Lena's words were very calm, but Bella insisted.
“I am not going to the hospital.”
Freida spoke up then. “Is there something wrong with the hospital?”
“No. . . city. . .” Bella said each word with a hard expulsion of breath.
“Allrecht, we will not go to the hospital.” Lena reassured the young woman while motioning to Katie to come and help her. “You need to let me check you out. It will tell us how much time we have, at least.”
“O. . . K. . . Just no hospital.”
“I promise.” And with that, Lena led her away to the small office Amelia used at the bakery.
It was no more than five minutes when Lena came rushing out of the office. “We have to get her somewhere now. The baby is so close, we wouldn't have time for the hospital anyway.”
Freida spoke up then. “If she won't go to the hospital, would she go to your house?”
Katie was nodding before Freida finished speaking. Hearing a cry, Lena went back into Mrs. O'Neal's office.
“On second thought, there's no time for that, either.” Lena said, coming back to the door. “Ada, your house is closest.”
“Yes, that's fine. Let's just get her there.”
Amelia and Ada rushed into the office to help Bella walk outside to Andrew's truck, which he had quickly pulled around to the back door.
— EPILOGUE —
The sun was shining on Flag Day, assuring the town of a glorious day. Everyone would be gathering in the square in a few hours to celebrate.
Katie and Travis would be arriving together. Katie's family would be attending along with the rest of the community. Mr. O'Neal had arranged for John Baker to pick up the rest of the Davis family and bring them to the square.
Andrew and Amelia were picking up Ada Mueller, along with Bella and her beautiful, newborn daughter, Emma, who would no doubt get more than her share of attention.
The day before, Travis had driven Katie and his sister to Ada's house to help with the birth, and they had arrived with only minutes to spare. In addition to Ada and Amelia, Bella had requested that Katie, Gwen, and Freida stay with her. It had been a bit crowded at times, but none of them would ever forget the experience.
Ada had told Bella she should stay home and rest, but Bella had assured her that she was well enough to be at the Flag Day celebration.
She had given Katie permission to share her story with her parents, in hopes that sharing her experience might help to keep Katie's younger schweschders safe.
The next morning, her parents had surprised her when they told her they had accepted her decision to not join the church. . . and that Travis was a fine, young man and they were glad that she had found someone who would treat her with respect.
Then they had suggested that Katie ask Travis to come to the Chupp home once a week for supper so the family could get to know him better. Martha had also suggested that Travis' family come to supper on a regular basis.
Katie had been too shocked to say anything, but they hadn't really looked as if they'd expected a reply. A moment later, Katie's dat had told her that Travis was there to pick her up, and her mamm had gathered Katie in a hug and reminded her the family would meet her and Travis later at the celebration.
Katie still wasn't sure why her parents had had such an unexpected change of heart, but whatever the reason was, she was thrilled to know that she could pursue a relationship with Travis, without having to move away from her family.
Remembering that Travis was waiting for her, Katie quickly gathered what she wanted to take and headed outside to meet her boyfriend.
Katie couldn't wait to share the gut news with him!
Gwen's Baby Shower Cupcakes
Cake Ingredients:
2 cups cake flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup white sugar
3 large egg whites
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup cold water
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
Icing Ingredients:
2 cups confectioner's sugar
½ tsp pure almond extract
4-6 tbsp whole milk
additional milk as needed
Instructions:
1. Mix together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
2. Using mixer, beat egg whites until slightly stiff.
3. Using mixer, pour cream into another bowl and beat until stiff. Add egg whites and fold together until blended.
4. Stir water and vanilla extract together. Add to cream/egg mixture, gently stirring until blended.
5. Gradually sprinkle onto flour mixture and stir until well blended.
6. Spoon batter into paper baking cups, filling each cup half full.
7. Bake at 350 F about 15 minutes or until done.
8. Remove from oven and cool.
9. Prepare icing, mixing confectioner sugar with pure almond extract. Add small amounts of milk until icing is desired consistency. Spread over top of cooled cupcake.
Yield: 48 cupcakes.
RECIPES in this book:
Katie's Peach Cobbler (after Chapter 3)
Baby Shower Mints (after Chapter 6)
Irish Blessings Butter Mints (after Chapter 9)
Katie's Peach Punch (after Chapter 12)
Gwen's Baby Shower Cupcakes (after Epilogue)
TURN THE PAGE
FOR EXCLUSIVE
BONUS CONTENT

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
WARNING : SPOILERS AHEAD!
1) Katie and Travis have decided to begin dating. . . do you think either one is putting the relationship ahead of their religious beliefs?
2) If the church were to shun Katie, she would lose contact with her family and friends. . . is her relationship with Travis worth it?
3) Do you think Katie is being truthful with herself when she says her relationship with Travis has nothing to do with her joining – or not joining – the Amish church she has always attended?
4) Bella has been keeping secrets. . . what do you think her friends will do when they find out about her past?
5) Do you think Bella did anything that could have contributed to her attack? Do you think the attacker was the man who offered to buy her a drink or someone else?
6) Do you feel that Bella should have told her parents the whole story about what happened to her? Would they have understood her reasons for leaving school?
7) Do you think she was right in keeping the baby? Or should she have followed her parents' advice and given the baby up for adoption?
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Acknowledgments
To God be the glory! HE is THE AUTHOR of my life! God gives me the inspiration for each and every book... books of fa
mily, faith, forgiveness, and grace...
When God placed it on my heart to write a light-hearted mystery series, I’m glad I obeyed... And when HE kept after me to write about a serious occurrence happening not only on school campuses, but in unexpected places, too, I struggled with it, but with lots of prayers and tears, it's finally done.
Thanks to Rachel, who not only designs my covers, memes, posters (well, you get the picture), but is also an amazing author and inspirational speaker.
Rachel, I couldn’t have done it without you!
A big thank you goes out to Pam, a dear friend and an awesome cheerleader. Thank you, Pam, for always inspiring me to never give up!
Last, but by no means least, thank you to my awesome readers, who do so much to encourage me and continue to make this series a huge success!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Naomi Miller mixes up a batch of intrigue, sprinkled with Amish, Mennonite, and English characters, adding a pinch of mystery, and a dash of romance!
Naomi's days are spent focusing on her writing, editing and homeschooling her grandchildren. She loves her new career as an author, blogger and inspirational speaker.
She schedules several book events each year and enjoys the opportunity to meet readers face-to-face. When she's not rushing to meet a deadline, Naomi loves to make time to attend writing conferences, workshops, and other author events.
She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers organization (ACFW), the Knoxville and the Authors Guild of Tennessee (AGT).
Whenever time permits, Naomi can be found in one of two favorite places. . . the beach and the mountains.
Naomi loves traveling with her family, singing inspirational/gospel music, taking daily walks, and witnessing to others of the amazing grace of Jesus Christ.
— ONE —
— TWO —
— THREE —
Katie's Peach Cobbler
— FOUR —
— FIVE —
— SIX —
— SEVEN —
— EIGHT —
— NINE —
— TEN —
Katie's Party Mints
— ELEVEN —
— TWELVE —
— THIRTEEN —
— FOURTEEN —
— EPILOGUE —
Gwen's Baby Shower Cupcakes