The Widow's Hidden Past: An Uplifting Inspirational Romance


 
 
 
 Alta caught sight of him and blushed.
 “P-Preacher, I didn’t know you were here.”
 Jonas met her gaze with a soft smile. “I wanted to see how you were feeling. Your sister said you’re doing better.”
 She bobbed her head before she took a big gulp of her coffee then gasped at the heat of the brew.
 “Please sit, Alta,” Jonas invited as he rose and pulled out a chair next to his. “Relax and enjoy your coffee. I’m not a scary man, but I guess you’ll have to be the one to judge for yourself.” He kept his tone light and teasing.
 To his amazement, she blinked as if momentarily stunned then she chuckled. “What if I’m not a gut judge of character?”
 The transformation of her beautiful features struck him like a blow to his heart. He quickly controlled his thoughts. “Lovina has known me for years. Ask her if you’re wondering what type of man I am.”
 Alta met her sister’s gaze.
 “I can vouch that he’s a gut man,” Lovina said with a grin.
 To Jonas’s surprise, Alta smirked. “Okey.”
 
 
 Rebecca Kertz was first introduced to the Amish when her husband took a job with an Amish construction crew. She enjoyed watching the Amish foreman’s children at play and swapping recipes with his wife. Rebecca resides in Delaware with her husband and dog. She has a strong faith in God and feels blessed to have family nearby. Besides writing, she enjoys reading, doing crafts and visiting Lancaster County.
 Books by Rebecca Kertz
 Love Inspired
 Loving Her Amish Neighbor
 In Love with the Amish Nanny
 The Widow’s Hidden Past
 Women of Lancaster County 
 A Secret Amish Love
 Her Amish Christmas Sweetheart
 Her Forgiving Amish Heart
 Her Amish Christmas Gift
 His Suitable Amish Wife
 Finding Her Amish Love
 Lancaster County Weddings
 Noah’s Sweetheart
 Jedidiah’s Bride
 A Wife for Jacob
 Elijah and the Widow
 Loving Isaac
 Visit the Author Profile page at LoveInspired.com for more titles.
 
 
 THE WIDOW’S HIDDEN PAST
 Rebecca Kertz
 
 
 
 Remember ye not the former things,neither consider the things of old.
 —Isaiah 43:18 
 
 
 For my cousin, Linda J. Barnes, with love.
 
 
 Contents
 Chapter One
 Chapter Two
 Chapter Three
 Chapter Four
 Chapter Five
 Chapter Six
 Chapter Seven
 Chapter Eight
 Chapter Nine
 Chapter Ten
 Chapter Eleven
 Chapter Twelve
 Chapter Thirteen
 Chapter Fourteen
 Chapter Fifteen
 Chapter Sixteen
 Chapter Seventeen
 Chapter Eighteen
 Epilogue
 Dear Reader
 Excerpt from A Steadfast Companion by Myra Johnson
 
 
 Chapter One
 Autumn, the Village of Happiness, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
 “How could you! How could you betray your dochter?”
 Alta Hershberger gazed at her oldest daughter with tears in her eyes. “I didn’t, Mary. I didn’t betray you! I wouldn’t do that to you or Sally.”
 “I confided in you and you told everyone! Sally heard it from Aunt Miriam who heard it from members of her quilting bee. Now everyone knows that I had a miscarriage, and they all think that Ethan and I are having problems!”
 “But you’re not! I know how much your husband loves you.”
 Mary kept shaking her head. “I can’t believe this. You’ve ruined everything! Now everyone is talking about Ethan and my personal business!” Tears ran down her face, making Alta’s stomach clench to see her daughter in pain. “I won’t forgive you for this! I can’t.” The last was whispered before Mary ran out the door, crying.
 “Mary, wait!” Alta jumped up from her kitchen chair. She would make Mary understand that she’d never said a word about Mary’s miscarriage to anyone...and she certainly wouldn’t have talked about Mary and Ethan’s marriage. Mary was her child. She loved her and her younger daughter Sally. The fact that Sally was married to the bishop only made the gossip she’d supposedly spread more believable because Sally had confirmed that Alta had nattered. If the bishop’s wife said that her mother had spread the gossip, then everyone would believe it was true.
 Except it wasn’t.
 She ran outside to catch her daughter before she left. “Mary, please! I didn’t do this. You must believe me!”
 Mary paused near her buggy. “I don’t. You have always been a busybody, and we never liked it, but we loved you because nothing you nattered about hurt anyone. Until now!”
 Her daughter climbed into her buggy and steered the vehicle toward the road.
 “Mary, please! Mary!” Alta chased after the buggy, hoping her daughter would stop and listen to the truth. But Mary kept driving, ignoring her mother’s plea.
 “Mary!” Alta tripped and fell hard. She lay a moment on the dirt driveway as her tears fell and ran down her cheeks. She struggled to rise and cried out at the excruciating pain in her hip. “Mary,” she whispered as she pushed to her feet, watching Mary disappear. “I didn’t do it.”
 But her daughters didn’t believe her, and she knew that no one else would. She managed the two steps into the side door of her small house, where she and John had lived since they’d married. Thoughts of her late husband made her cry harder as she grabbed a chair and sat down. “I’m sorry, John. I’ve failed our daughters. What do I do now?”
 By the end of the week, Alta realized that everyone within the community refused to acknowledge her. It was as if she were shunned. She decided that she needed to get away from Happiness. But where could she go? The only other family she had was her estranged sister Lovina, who’d been angry with her since the day that John had asked Alta to marry him and she had accepted. Lovina had been in love with John. Lovina had accused her of stealing her man, then she’d moved away and never returned. Alta had written to her sister numerous times, hoping for a reconciliation, but her letters were returned to her, unanswered.
 Should she try again? Alta had recently learned that