Healing an Amish Family


 
 
 
 “I appreciate you helping me out like this.”
 All those feelings Miriam had tried to command came flooding back—her old hopes and tender dreams. What was it about this man that made her knees turn to wet noodles with one piercing glance? Being Amos’s wife would have been lovely, if they’d been more compatible, and if she’d been able to give him the family he wanted.
 “Yah, it’s not a problem,” she said, and her voice sounded breathy in her own ears. Then she smelled the scent of bread, and she tapped him aside to pull on her oven mitts. Amos stepped back, his strong arm brushing against hers as he did so, and she swallowed hard, pretending that it didn’t feel as sweet as it had.
 She’d do her duty by her husband—in the kitchen at least—for these few weeks. And when she left, she’d be certain that he was fine without her. Maybe there was wisdom in Mammi’s request, after all.
 
 
 Patricia Johns is a Publishers Weekly bestselling author who writes from Alberta, Canada. She has her Hon. BA in English literature and currently writes for Harlequin’s Love Inspired and Heartwarming lines. She also writes Amish romance for Kensington Books. You can find her at patriciajohnsromance.com.
 Carrie Lighte lives in Massachusetts next door to a Mennonite farming family, and she frequently spots deer, foxes, fisher cats, coyotes and turkeys in her backyard. Having enjoyed traveling to several Amish communities in the eastern United States, she looks forward to visiting settlements in the western states and in Canada. When she’s not reading, writing or researching, Carrie likes to hike, kayak, bake and play word games.
 
 
 Healing an Amish Family 
 Patricia Johns &Carrie Lighte
 2 Uplifting StoriesWife on His Doorstep and An Unexpected Amish Harvest
 
 
 
 Table of Contents
 Wife on His Doorstep by Patricia Johns 
 An Unexpected Amish Harvest by Carrie Lighte
 Excerpt from Her Amish Adversary by Vannetta Chapman
 
 
 Wife on His Doorstep
 Patricia Johns
 
 
 To my husband, who I love more than anything.
 
 
 Who can find a virtuous woman?… The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her.
 —Proverbs 31:10–11
 
 
 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
 Epilogue
 
 
 Chapter One
 “Mammi, let me get that for you.” Amos pulled his grandmother’s mug of tea closer to her before she could rise to her feet to reach it. Outside, the day was chilly, the May sunlight drawing out the buds on the trees, but not warm enough for the sick old woman’s comfort. She had a shawl around her shoulders, and Amos had put another one over her lap, but her fingers were still cold. He wanted to help...more than help, he wanted to make her well.
 The sound of an engine drew their attention, and Amos rose to his feet and headed for the window. It was a taxi, and he couldn’t see the occupant, but it was a blue dress that first appeared out the door, then a small traveling bag, and when the woman straightened and turned, bag in hand, his heart stuttered to a stop.
 “Who’s there?” Mammi asked.
 He knew the woman very well, and at the sight of her, his breath turned shallow and his heart hammered hard to catch up.
 “Amos?” Mammi said.
 “It’s my wife,” he breathed.
 Miriam Lapp tugged a black woolen coat closer around herself in the spring chill, and she stopped short when she saw Amos in the window. Miriam had changed a little since she’d left him ten years ago. Her strawberry blond hair was pulled back under her kapp, but one tendril fell free and it ruffled in the wind. She’d be thirty-five now, and she could still make his breath catch.
 “Miriam is here?” Mammi asked, and this time she did stand up and her lap blanket fell into a pile at her feet.
 “Yah, it looks that way,” Amos said, and he headed for the door and pulled it open. “Mammi, you should sit down,” he said over his shoulder, but his grandmother didn’t listen.
 Miriam headed toward him and came up the steps, then stopped. It was like the last decade just crumbled around him and he was left looking at the wife he’d vowed to love and protect all the days of his life...
 “Hello,” Amos said quietly.
 “Hello, Amos.” She didn’t smile.
 “It’s been a long time,” he said, his voice tight. He cleared his throat. “A very long time.”
 “Yah, I know,” she replied. “You look...” She looked him over in a frank appraisal. “You look good, Amos.”
 “I’ve held together,” he replied. “So do you.”
 She looked more than good—she looked beautiful in that way she always had. She’d never been an obvious beauty. Men didn’t twist in their buggies to get a second look at her, and Amos had liked that. He’d never wanted a wife that other men gawked at. Miriam had a solidity about her, and a frank honesty that he’d been drawn to from the start. It was why he’d asked her to marry him after only knowing her for four days. They both wanted marriage and kinner, and he’d thought she’d make a fine wife. What was the point in wasting time?
 “Can I come in?” Miriam asked.
 “Yah.” Amos stepped back, and he watched her as she came inside the house, unwrapping the shawl from around her shoulders. She’d put on a little weight in the last few years, and it looked good on her. But why was she here?
 “Hello, Mammi,” Miriam said, and she went forward to take Mammi’s outstretched hand. “I’m sorry to burst in on you like this.”
 “I’m glad to see you,” Mammi said softly. “It’s been...a while.”
 “Yah.” Miriam released Mammi’s hand and