by Lillard, Amy
They bowed their knees at the name of the savior out of love and respect.
Bishop Ebersol smiled. “Go ye forth in the name of our Lord, for you are now man and wife.”
Caroline’s entire body felt warm, and she wondered briefly if she might pass out. But Andrew squeezed her hand reassuringly. They were married now, forever and always.
The bishop invited one of the ministers from Andrew’s district in Missouri to stand up and speak.
As he rose and made his way to the front of the crowd of people, Caroline gave Andrew a small smile. She squeezed his hand in return, and they went back to their seats. Whatever God had in store for them, they would meet it together. He had brought them this far.
Minister Troy King talked about the sanctity of marriage and wished Caroline and Andrew the best. He was followed by the deacon in Wells Landing.
Then her father stood and came to the front. Caroline’s eyes filled with unexpected tears. She had known deep down that her father would most likely say a few words, but she hadn’t thought about how that would affect her until now. They had come so far in the last few weeks.
Emma spied her grossdaadi and squealed. Everyone chuckled as he smiled at her. She squirmed down from her perch in Emily’s lap and ran to him. Hollis Hostetler swung her into his arms and propped her on one hip. His own eyes filled with tears as he started to speak.
“The Lord has been gut to me,” he started, his voice as rough as sandpaper. “And He saw fit to bless me with a daughter.” He took a deep breath, and Caroline felt the bitter sting of tears in her own eyes. “Grace and I were never able to have another, and we have always been thankful for what we had. We love our Caroline.
“That’s not to say that every road we have traveled has been easy,” he continued. “We’ve had our share of heartbreak and sadness. It’s times like those when a person’s faith is tested and stretched to its limits. This is when most people, some even the most devout of Christians, begin to lose faith in the Lord.” He smiled. “But not my Caroline.
“Through all of her trials and tribulations, she has kept her faith. When she needed a chance to start over, this community here took her in and made her one of you. For that I will be eternally grateful. I am so glad that she found love here within this district and with a gut man like Andrew Fitch. A vatter cannot ask for more than his daughter to find a spouse who will love her and cherish her as he once did.
“Without a doubt in my mind, I know that God intended Andrew and Caroline to be together. Though why He wants her six hundred miles away from the rest of her family I have not yet ciphered. But I can pray about it. And I have. Caroline’s mother and I have both prayed. We’ve talked to our church elders and come to a decision. We are moving to Wells Landing so that we can be closer to our daughter.”
Caroline slapped a hand over her mouth to hide her gasp of surprise. She looked to Andrew, but he was staring straight ahead, a small smile tugging at his lips.
“We hope that you will welcome us as much as you have her, and we look forward to getting to know the wunderbaar Christian people here.”
Caroline couldn’t hold in her overflowing emotions any longer. She rose, tears streaming down her smiling cheeks, and went to her father. He wrapped her in a tight hug, the one she remembered from her childhood. She breathed in the familiar smell of him, the sandalwood-scented soap her mother used and the faint odor of tobacco smoke from the pipe he swore he never lit.
There were cheers and applause as he held her, and Caroline knew that whatever had been between them in the past, all was forgiven now.
The Lord had truly blessed her. She had Emma and Andrew, great friends like Emily and Lorie, Esther and Abe, and her family, since she had her mother and father back. It was more than she had ever dreamed possible.
Andrew came up and stood next to them.
From seemingly nowhere, her mother materialized, tears shining in her hazel eyes. Caroline’s heart nearly burst with the joy and blessings.
She bowed her head and sent up a small prayer. Lord, please watch over Trey and fill his heart with love and understanding. Give him everything he needs, and may he find his one true love someday. Someone to share his life with. Someone who will love him even more than I once did. And, Lord, please ease his mind in knowing that Emma will be well cared for and well loved. And when the time comes, may she forgive us all and know that everything we did, we did with her in mind. In Jesus’s name . . . Aemen.
Andrew touched her back, and she turned to smile up at him. She had everything she could want and more, she thought as she looked up into his eyes. God was good.
Dear Reader,
Any story is a series of what-ifs. Caroline’s Secret came from “What if a young Amish mother is mistaken for a young Amish widow?” What if she is accepted by the community and what if she finds love there among people who don’t know the truth? What if her baby’s father comes back? What if he is English?
And the story goes from there.
I am a romantic at heart and require a happy ending. Always. Yet when dealing with two different men who love the same woman, with two lifestyles that are near opposite, and with the fate and future of an innocent child in the balance, someone is going to get hurt. Sacrifices will be made, and true love will outshine obligation.
I hope you enjoyed Caroline’s Secret. It’s a little different kind of story for me, but yet a romance through and through. As an author, it caused me tears. I have never before cried while writing a book. I hope that’s a good sign.
The next book in the series is Courting Emily. You may remember Emily Ebersol, the bishop’s daughter and good friend to Caroline Hostetler. Emily is caught between what she thinks she wants and the father who expects too much. She is torn between the flighty Luke Lambright and the steady Elam Riehl. Emily has the tough task of finding love and making her family happy . . . if both are possible at the same time.
Many blessings and happy reading!
Amy
AMISH WORDS
ach oh
aemen amen
allrecht all right
baremlich terrible
bedauerlich sad
boppli baby
brechdich magnificent
bu boy
danki thank you
dat dad
Deutsch refers to Pennsylvania Dutch,
a dialect of German spoken
by the Plain people
dochder daughter
elder parents
English, Englisch non-Amish person
foahvitzich bossy
fraa wife
frack dress
freind/freinden friend/friends
froh happy
geb acht uff dich take care of yourself
gegisch silly
gern gschehne you’re welcome
goedemiddag good afternoon
grank sick
grossdaadi grandfather
grossdochder granddaughter
grosskinner grandchildren
grossmammi grandmother
guder mariye good morning
gut good
gut himmel good heavens
halt stop
haus house
hungerich hungry
ich liebe dich I love you
jah yes
kaffi coffee
kapp prayer covering, cap
kinner children
liebschdi dear child
mach schnell hurry up (make quickly)
maedel girl
mamm mom
meidung shunning
middawk noon meal
mudder mother
nachtess supper
naerfich nervous
narrisch crazy
nay no
nix nothing
onkle uncle
Ordnung set of rules both written and
understood
rumspringa running-around time (at sixteen)
schee pretty
schlupp schotzli
pinafore worn over the dresses of
small girls up until age eight
schpass fun
schtupp family room
shveshtah sister
strubbly hair messy hair
vatter father
Was iss letz? What’s wrong?
Wie geht? How are things?
wunderbaar wonderful
RECIPES
Amish Buttermilk Cookies
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup lard
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
4 cups self-rising flour
1 cup walnuts
Cream together brown sugar and lard. Add vanilla and eggs. Mix thoroughly.
Alternately add flour and buttermilk until all is mixed. Add nuts.
Chill overnight or several hours. Drop by teaspoonful onto greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 400° for 8–10 minutes. Enjoy! Makes about 4 dozen.
Hawaiian Delight Cookies
1 cup softened butter
8 oz. package cream cheese
2½ cups flour
2 tablespoons flour
½ cup chopped macadamia nuts
½ cup chopped pecans
3 eggs, beaten
1½ cups firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup shredded coconut
1 tsp baking powder
Preheat oven at 350°.
Grease muffin tin.
Cream together butter and cream cheese.
Gradually add 2½ cups of flour until well blended.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls.
Pat balls into prepared muffin tins, shaping into shells. Sprinkle ½ cup of nuts evenly into the shells.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs and brown sugar. Mix well.
Stir in remaining nuts, coconut, 2 tablespoons of flour, and baking powder. Pour mixture evenly into shells, filling them half full.
Bake at 350° for 15–18 minutes.
Reduce to 250° and bake for another 10 minutes.
Makes about 3 dozen.
Cowboy Cookies
1½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup shortening
½ cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups old-fashioned oats
12 oz. package chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts or pecans
Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium-sized bowl and put aside.
In a large bowl, beat together shortening, sugars, and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs, continuing to beat until light and fluffy. Gradually stir in flour mixture and oats. Next add chocolate chips and nuts.
Drop by well-rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet.
Bake 8–10 minutes.
Cool cookies on cookie sheets for two minutes before moving to a wire rack for further cooling.
Makes about 7 dozen.
Please turn the page for an exciting sneak peek at Amy Lillard’s next Wells Landing Amish romance,
COURTING EMILY,
coming in January 2015 from Kensington Publishing!
Prologue
“Come with me.” Luke Lambright took her hands into his, warm and callused. Emily’s skin tingled where he touched her. Oh, how she wanted to tell him yes.
Bright sunlight spilled all around them. How could she tell him nay? She had loved him as long as she could remember. She loved everything about him from his dancing blue eyes to his unruly hair that was as dark as a raven’s wing. He was the handsomest boy she had ever seen. Since they were no more than ten or twelve they had talked about getting married, the children they would have, their house, their farm.
But now he was leaving. In broad daylight. Boldly walking away from the Plain life they had always known. Walking away from their shared dreams of a simple life in Wells Landing.
Luke wanted to experience the Englisch world, go to see movies, dance, and drive a race car for money. Even as much as she loved him, she couldn’t understand what spurred his dreams in such a different direction.
“Luke, I—” She stopped short of giving him an answer. Her heart wanted to tell him one thing, but every other part of her knew that she had to stay. Tears sprang into her eyes. She blinked them back. “I—”
As if he knew she was about to tell him no, he pulled her into the circle of his arms. He held her close. Pressed against his warmth, she felt like she was home. His heart pounded under her ear, his breathing steady and true.
“How can I leave?” She managed to keep her voice from cracking, the building sob from escaping.
“How can I stay?”
She pulled away to look into his blue eyes. Normally they sparkled with a mischief to rival any Englisch troublemaker, but today they were cloudy with longing and hurt.
“You can’t ask me to choose, Emily. I can’t.”
“I know,” she whispered. “Nor can I.”
Leaving with Luke, leaving Wells Landing would mean saying good-bye to her family, her mudder and vatter and all of her shveshtah. And because she had already joined the church, a meidung for sure. A shunning.
“Ich liebe dich,” he said, cupping her face in his hands and pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“I love you too.”
How could she leave? How could she ask him to stay? Why, oh why did love have to hurt so bad?
He trailed his fingers down the snowy-white linen of her prayer kapp, tracing an errant tear that had somehow managed to escape.
“I’ll call you, you know.”
She nodded.
“And I’ll come back for visits. I’m not a member of the church. They won’t shun me.”
She tried to smile at his hopeful words. But would her father let her visit with the wayward son of the community? She knew he wouldn’t. Dat would barely let her see Luke a’tall now as it was. They had been sneaking around so much, they didn’t even ask for courting visits any longer. And once he left the community—
“Are you afraid I’m going to forget you?”
Emily swallowed hard and gave a small nod. It was her worst fear of all: He would forget her and find some Englisch girl who understood things like race car driving.
“I could never forget you, Em. You’re my best girl.”
She closed her eyes as he traced the outline of her brow, the curve of her jaw. Lord, please protect him; let him see the error of his ways. Let him come back to me.
A car horn honked. Emily started at the noise, her nerves and emotions raw from the pain.
“I’ve got to go.” He gave her a small kiss, just a brief touch of his lips against hers, and then he was gone.
Emily watched, tears running unheeded down her face as he hoisted his suitcase and placed it in the trunk of the car. He still wore his Amish clothes, though his shirt was untucked and his hat had been shucked long ago. Already he looked different. Already he was apart from her.
He looked back at her once as the Englisch driver revved the engine. Luke smiled and waved, then opened the door and disappeared inside.
She pressed the back of one hand to her mouth to stifle her sobs as the blue car pulled away, taking with it the only boy she had ever loved.
How was she ever going to live the rest of her days and be happy without Luke?
Chapter One
“Emily? What are you doing out here all by yourself ?”
Emily Ebersol jumped as the voice sounded behind her. She whirled away from the sight of the beautiful Thoroughbred horses that Abe Fitch and his nephew kept and turned to face Becky Riehl. “W-what? I mean, jah.I’m fine.”
Becky’s gaze followed the line of sight and watched as the horses frolicked and played. Twin dimples dented her cheeks as she turned her attention back to Emily. “I didn’t ask how you were. I asked what you were doing out here alone. There is a wedding celebration going on at th
e house.” She gestured behind her toward the rambling farmhouse Andrew Fitch shared with his onkle Abe.
“Jah. Right.” Had she been that deep in thought that she hadn’t even heard the teen’s words correctly? “I just—” Needed a break? Had to get away? Wanted some time alone? She tipped her head toward the pasture. “You know.”
Becky stepped up to the fence and folded her arms across the top wooden slat. “They are schee.”
Emily allowed her gaze to wander back to the beautiful horses dotting the lush green field. The scene was pastoral and peaceful, yet it brought her no comfort. “Why aren’t you with the others at the singing?”
Caroline and Andrew’s wedding was over, but the celebration had just gotten started. There would be a singing in the afternoon and another in the evening with more food and cake in between.
Becky made a face, somewhere between a smile and a grimace. “They’re still getting everything ready, but I don’t think I’m staying.”
“Is Billy Beiler sitting with someone else?”
The young girl sighed. She’d had a crush on Billy since as long as Emily could remember, even when they were both in the schoolhouse and Emily was their teacher.
“You know tradition,” Emily said. “He’ll sit with a different girl at each singing. All the buwe will.”
Becky sighed again. “That still doesn’t mean he’ll sit with me.”
As true as the statement was, Emily could offer no rebuttal. What sort of advice could she give? The one man she wanted had left the Amish entirely. She hadn’t heard from Luke in months, even with all of his promises to call. And she worried that by now he had forgotten all about her. She pushed the thought away and concentrated on the girl before her. “He surely can’t sit with you if you are out here with me.”
“Will you go in with me?”
“Of course.” Despite the differences in their ages, Emily had always gotten along well with Becky. She supposed it was the other things they had in common that bonded them together. Like the fact that both of their families relied on dairy animals for their primary living, and the number of girls in each house. Both Emily and Becky had four other sisters to share the burdens of cooking and cleaning.