Amish Romance Read online

  Amish Romance

  Amish Bed and Breakfast, Book 4

  Ruth Hartzler

  Amish Romance (Amish Bed and Breakfast, Book 4)

  Copyright © 2017 by Ruth Hartzler

  All Rights Reserved

  ISBN 9781925689853

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The personal names have been invented by the author, and any likeness to the name of any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  This book may contain references to specific commercial products, process or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, specific brand-name products and/or trade names of products, which are trademarks or registered trademarks and/or trade names, and these are property of their respective owners. Ruth Hartzler or her associates, have no association with any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, specific brand-name products and / or trade names of products.

  Contents

  Glossary

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Connect with Ruth Hartzler

  Other Books by Ruth Hartzler

  About Ruth Hartzler

  Glossary

  Pennsylvania Dutch is a dialect. It is often written as it sounds, which is why you will see the same word written several different ways. The word ‘Dutch’ has nothing to do with Holland, but rather is likely a corruption of the German word ‘Deitsch’ or ‘Deutsch’.

  Glossary

  ab im kopp - addled in the head

  Ach! (also, Ack!) - Oh!

  aenti - aunt

  appeditlich - delicious

  Ausbund - Amish hymn book

  bedauerlich - sad

  bloobier - blueberry

  boppli - baby

  bopplin - babies

  bro - bread

  bruder(s) - brother(s)

  bu - boy

  Budget, The - weekly newspaper for Amish and Mennonite communities. Based on Sugarcreek, Ohio, and has 2 versions, Local and National.

  buwe - boys

  daag - day

  Daed, Datt, Dat (vocative) - Dad

  Diary, The - Lancaster County based Amish newspaper. Focus is on Old Order Amish.

  Dawdi (also, Daadi) (vocative) - Grandfather

  dawdi haus (also, daadi haus, grossdawdi haus) - grandfather’s or grandparents’ house (often a small house behind the main house)

  de Bo - boyfriend

  Die Botschaft - Amish weekly newspaper. Based in PA but its focus is nation-wide.

  demut - humility

  denki (or danki) - thank you

  Der Herr - The Lord

  dochder - daughter

  dokter - doctor

  doplich - clumsy

  dumm - dumb

  dummkopf - idiot, dummy

  Dutch Blitz - Amish card game

  English (or Englisch) (adjective) - A non-Amish person

  Englischer (noun) - A non-Amish person

  familye - family

  ferhoodled - foolish, crazy

  fraa - wife, woman

  froh - happy

  freind - friend

  freinden - friends

  gegisch - silly

  geh - go

  gern gheschen (also, gern gschehne) - you’re welcome

  Gott (also, Gotte) - God

  grank - sick, ill

  grossboppli - grandbaby

  grossdawdi (also, dawdi, daadi haus, gross dawdi) - grandfather, or, in some communities, great grandfather

  grosskinskind - great-grandchild

  grosskinskinner - great-grandchildren

  grossmammi (or grossmudder) - grandmother

  gross-sohn - grandson

  grossvadder - grandfather (see also grossdawdi)

  gude mariye - good morning

  guten nacht (also, gut nacht) - good night

  gude nochmiddaag - good afternoon

  gut - good

  haus - house

  Herr - Mr.

  Hiya - Hi

  hochmut - pride

  Hullo (also, Hallo) - Hello

  hungerich - hungry

  Ich liebe dich - I love you

  jah (also ya) - yes

  kaffi (also, kaffee) - coffee

  kapp - prayer covering worn by women

  kichli - cookie

  kichlin - cookies

  kinn (also, kind) - child

  kinner - children

  kinskinner - Grandchildren

  Kumme (or Kumm) - Come

  lieb - love, sweetheart

  liewe - a term of endearment, dear, love

  liede - song

  maid (also, maed) - girls

  maidel (also, maedel) - girl

  Mamm (also, Mammi) - Mother, Mom

  Mammi - Grandmother

  mann - man

  mariye-esse - breakfast

  mei - my

  meidung - shunning

  mei lieb - my love

  mein liewe - my dear, my love

  menner - men

  mudder - mother

  naerfich - nervous

  naut (also, nacht) - night

  nee (also nein) - no

  nix - nothing

  nohma - name

  onkel - uncle

  Ordnung - “Order”, the unwritten Amish set of rules, different in each community

  piffle (also, piddle) - to waste time or kill time

  Plain - referring to the Amish way of life

  rett (also, redd) - to put (items) away or to clean up.

  rootsh (also, ruch) - not being able to sit still.

  rumspringa (also, rumschpringe) - Running around years - when Amish youth (usually around the age of sixteen) leave the community for time and can be English, and decide whether to commit to the Amish way of life and be baptized.

  schatzi - honey

  schee - pretty, handsome

  schecklich - scary

  schmaert - smart

  schtupp - family room

  schweschder - sister

  schweschdern - sisters

  schwoger - brother-in-law

  seltsam - strange, unnatural

  sohn - son

  vadder - father

  verboten - forbidden

  Vorsinger - Song leader

  was its let - what is the matter?

  wie gehts - how are you?

  wilkum (also, wilkom) - welcome

  wunderbar (also, wunderbaar) - wonderful

  yer - you

  yourself - yourself

  youngie (also, young) - the youth

  yung - young

  Chapter 1

  Miriam woke with a crick in her neck. She had not slept well the night before, and her heart felt heavy. She wasn’t sure why, only that Jonas had come to her in a dream, his kind eyes smiling at her. After she rose, she washed and dressed. Outside morning dawne
d, but a thick mist made its way through the beautiful farming community. She folded some bread in a napkin and decided to walk down to the pond, to sit among the ducks and the whispering reeds.

  Miriam stepped into the cool morning air and stretched out her arms, watching as the sunlight played on the trees. She walked down to the gate and waved to a married couple in a buggy making their way up the road. There was a pang in her heart. As a widow, she missed the happy times with her husband. She missed having someone around, and her loneliness seemed to swallow her whole, like it was a cloud.

  Returning inside, she collected her coat and then stepped outside again, to walk down to the large pond where a little family of ducks lived. She did not want to be in Eden right now, remembering her old haus in Ohio where her husband used to hang his coat and his hat, and the place where she would set down their food at the end of a long day of hard work.

  The ground crunched underfoot as Miriam walked. She could hear the menner in the nearby fields, and for a moment she paused to reflect upon her somber mood. Finally arriving at the pond, she stood and watched the rippling water.

  When Miriam had lost her husband, she had not just lost him, but the life they were going to have. She could feel the children she dreamed of having with him in her arms. She could smell them and kiss them and sing to them, but of course this was all in her dreams, because her husband had died before they ever had the chance to start the big familye she had always wanted. Rachel was her only child, and now Rachel was married to Isaac and had a boppli of her own.

  Miriam had planned on being alone by the lake, but when she looked back at Eden, she noticed a figure on her roof silhouetted against the rising sun. It was Jonas. Miriam was going to call out and wave, but Jonas looked so lost in thought as he stood there and looked over the fields, that she hated to rouse him from his own mind. Jonas really was such a handsome man with broad, strong shoulders and a kind heart.

  For a long time Miriam watched Jonas work on the roof, as the day grew brighter and brighter.

  Returning to Eden, Miriam took off her coat and looked around. After a minute, she went to her room to find the box where she kept all the letters she had once written to her husband, and the letters he had written back. Taking one out of the bundle, she rubbed the paper between her hands. There was something about the texture of the letter, and something about seeing her late husband’s neat handwriting scribbled over the paper, that made her heart feel terribly heavy and sad.

  She put away the letters and thought of Jonas. He really did have the kindest eyes. Still, there was no time to think upon her own concerns, because Eden was about to have a fresh influx of guests.

  Chapter 2

  Miriam was a little concerned that all the new guests were arriving at once. This hadn’t happened before. Usually, one person left, and then another person arrived, but today, several new guests were coming at the same time.

  Miriam was grateful that Tiffany was there to help her. Tiffany had become a hard worker, and while she was still becoming accustomed to the Amish ways, and from time to time complained incessantly, she was nevertheless a great help and Miriam had come to rely on her.

  The first guest to arrive was Jake Reeves, a young man with sharp, pointed features and nervous eyes that darted from side to side. Jake had told Miriam when booking that he was an author, coming to lock himself into his room to finish a novel he had been working on for a year and a half. With that in mind, Miriam had decided to put him in the room with the best view of the creek.

  Miriam gave Jake a reassuring smile, but he avoided eye contact. Miriam wondered if he was normally so shy and uncomfortable around people, and so brooding and intense, or whether he had simply not encountered an Amish person before. Miriam was well aware that the Amish often made Englischers uncomfortable, simply because they were different.

  “I have a lovely room for you, Mr. Reeves,” Miriam said. “It has a beautiful view of the creek.”

  “Authors aren’t like what you see in Hollywood movies,” Jake snapped. “They don’t stare at beautiful scenery waiting for inspiration to strike. They have to work hard. It’s not as glamorous as it’s made out to be.”

  Miriam merely nodded. She would have loved to say that she had never seen a Hollywood movie, and likewise had no idea of what was or was not glamorous, but she held her tongue. “If you’ll follow me, Mr. Reeves, I’ll show you to your room,” was all she said.

  Just then, an elderly lady bustled through the door clutching a hairy dog under her arm. “Is this Eden?” the woman said, her cheeks flushed. “Please tell me I don’t have the wrong place! I couldn’t stand it if I had the wrong place. That would upset me greatly.”

  Miriam rubbed her forehead. “Tiffany, would you please show Mr. Reeves to his room? I’ll see to this lady.”

  Tiffany did as she was asked and then Miriam approached the lady. She was heavily made up and seemed a little eccentric, but had a sweet look on her face. “Are you Mrs. Ava Douglas?” Miriam asked her.

  An unmistakable look of relief flashed across the woman’s face. “Yes, I am, and this is Cuddles. He’s a Pomeranian.” She shoved the dog at Miriam, who took a step backward.

  “Does he bite?” Miriam asked tentatively, looking at a protruding set of bottom teeth.

  Mrs. Douglas laughed. “No, don’t let his looks scare you. I got him cheaply because something went wrong with him. He was supposed to be a show dog, but as you can see, he isn’t.” She burst into laughter. “Go on, pat him,” she urged Miriam.

  Miriam stretched out her hand, hoping her fingers weren’t about to be bitten, but the little dog seemed accepting of her attention. Miriam wasn’t used to little dogs like this—her father always said any animal must be worth its keep. The cats she had growing up were to kill mice, and the only dogs were working dogs, not pets. Still, Miriam had always wanted a pet, but had never had the time to look after one.

  “I’ll show you to your room, Mrs. Douglas,” Miriam began, but the lady interrupted her.

  “Please, call me Ava.”

  “Ava.” Miriam shot the woman a warm smile. “I’ve put you on the ground floor, because you said you’re not very mobile.”

  “Yes, it’s my arthritis,” Ava said. “I have to have a hip replacement soon, maybe even knee replacements and a shoulder replacement.”

  Miriam looked at the woman appraisingly. She looked quite fit and trim, but Miriam knew that appearances could be deceptive. One of the ladies back home in Ohio had been quite thin prior to her hip replacement, and had then put on weight. That lady had told Miriam that the pain had made her thin. Miriam’s heart went out to Ava. “Well, Ava, please call me Miriam. I’ll show you to your room, and I hope you and Cuddles will be happy there.”

  Ava thanked her. “Cuddles sleeps all day and night. You won’t hear a word out of him. I’ve left my bags in the car—would you please send a man for them?”

  Miriam smiled to herself. “Sure, I’ll have your bags to you in no time.” She was used to Englischers thinking she wasn’t strong, yet all her years of working on the farm back in Ohio had made her as strong as many Englischer men, she figured.

  Ava exclaimed with delight when she saw her room. Miriam was pleased that Ava liked it, as it was a plain room, and Englischers often expected something fancy. Still, she had advertised Eden as a place where guests could experience the Amish way of life.

  A quilt chest stood under the window, opposite a hickory rocking chair. An oak closet was in the corner. This was for the benefit of guests, as most Englischers did not like to hang their clothes from pegs on the wall. The plain walls contrasted with that of the brightly colored Lone Star quilt on the double bed, its brilliant orange, red, and yellow standing out against the midnight blue background.

  Ava was clearly delighted that Miriam had gone to the trouble to provide a little dog bed. “Cuddles is crate trained,” Ava said. “He always sleeps in his crate at night. That’s the way the breeder trained him and he finds
security in there. I leave the door open for him, but he sleeps in his crate. Still, it’s so kind of you to put that little dog bed in there for him.”

  “I’ll just get your bags for you,” Miriam said with a smile. She took a deep breath as she walked to the car. Ava seemed lovely, but she hoped Jake wouldn’t be a problem.

  Miriam had so much trouble with people looking for the reported treasure in the grounds of Eden in the past, but she hoped those troubles were now behind her. The townsfolk were convinced that Captain Kidd’s treasure was buried either under Eden itself, or in the nearby fields. Eden was named after Dr. John Eden. John Eden was one of Captain Kidd’s men who retired to Pennsylvania, taking with him plenty of gold. Eden, Miriam’s house, was said to stand on the site of John Eden’s original house. No one had ever found any of the lost gold, but that hadn’t stopped treasure hunters looking for it.

  Miriam also hoped that the next two groups of guests would not arrive at the same time, but judging by the two cars heading her way, she realized those hopes were in vain. Happily, Jonas appeared at her shoulder. “It looks like you’re overrun by guests,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Yes, but it’s something I’m grateful for. Still, it would be good if they didn’t all arrive at once,” Miriam added. She hoped Jonas would stay around and help her, and to her relief, he showed no sign of going.

  Both expected couples were newly married and on vacation. The first couple appeared to have just had an argument, given their manner to each other. They were decidedly icy, but they were also somewhat icy to Miriam and Jonas. They introduced themselves as Bruce and Heather Hanson. Jonas offered to carry their bags upstairs to their room.

  The Hansons were only halfway to the door when the last guests arrived. By process of elimination, Miriam knew these would be Kevin and Susan Smith. The two of them took a long time to get out of their car, because they were kissing. When they finally did get out of the car, they clung to each other and kissed again, before acknowledging Miriam’s presence.