A Hand to Hold (33 page)

INTRODUCE YOUR DAUGHTER TO AMISH STORIES WRITTEN JUST FOR THEM IN THE MYSTERIES OF MIDDLEFIELD SERIES.

Immerse yourself into exciting adventure and authentic Amish culture with the first book of the series,
A Summer Secret
. Follow Mary Beth to her secret place, away from the constant chaos of her house. The barn where she finds escape is dangerous, and her parents have forbidden her to go there, but Mary Beth sneaks away as often as she can. She soon discovers she is not alone in the barn. Someone is living there; someone who needs help. Can Mary Beth help the stranger without losing her secret place? And what if the barn is as dangerous as her parents say it is?

In the second book of the series, Rebekah loves a good mystery— that is, until she becomes a part of one. In
The Secrets Beneath
, Rebekah is fascinated with her new neighbor, and is sure there is a case to be solved. Is he hiding something? Treasure? Victims? What she doesn’t realize is there’s not just secrecy lurking next door—there’s danger. Will Rebekah take her curiosity too far?

E
NJOY THESE
A
MISH
N
OVELLAS FOR
E
VERY
S
EASON

An Amish Love
arrives January 2011

Bonus excerpt from
Treasuring Emma
,
the first in the new Middlefield Family series.
Coming spring 2011 from Kathleen Fuller.

I
won!” Emma Shetler held up her hands in victory as she looked across the table at Adam Otto.

Adam glanced up from his cards and grinned. He leaned backward in her father’s old hickory rocker, the back of it touching the white siding on the house. She and Adam usually played cards on Saturday afternoons after he got off work. Today they decided to play outside on her front porch. “You won because I let you.”

“You say that every time I win.”

“I have to defend my bad playing somehow.” He winked, making her heart melt. Emma sat in her mother’s matching rocker and ran her fingers along the smooth edge of the round wooden table, trying to collect herself. Lately all it took was his innocent smile or trademark wink to set her stomach fluttering.

She tried not to stare at Adam’s hands as he gathered the Dutch Blitz cards. The light blue sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to mid-forearm. His fingers were long, with short, well-shaped nails. Even though he worked at Fisher Lumber processing hardwoods, his skin wasn’t overly rough. He’d told her after he first started at the mill a little over three years ago that it didn’t take long for him to get his fill of splinters. Now he wore gloves whenever he could.

She glanced at his hands again, wondering for the thousandth time what his fingers would feel like wrapped around hers.
Stop it
.

“Did you say something?”

“Me?
Nee
, I didn’t say anything.” She bit the inside of her lip, hoping he believed her.

“Sounded like you did.” Adam shuffled the cards.

She couldn’t let her gaze linger on his hands again. Instead she concentrated on his face. Big mistake. She could stare at the adorable freckles scattered across the tops of his cheeks and bridge of his nose all day. Not to mention his honey-colored eyes, his perfect mouth . . . Emma gripped the edge of the table. What was wrong with her? Adam wasn’t just her next door neighbor he was also her best friend. But she couldn’t even look at him without her heart turning inside out, and it had been this way for months.

Suppressing a sigh, she pulled her navy blue sweater closer around her body. It was early October and the late afternoon air had turned cool. She thought to button it, then remembered the bottom button didn’t quite fasten around her hips. That was the last thing she wanted Adam to notice. It wasn’t as if she could ever ignore it herself.

“Are you up for another game?” His eyes twinkled. “This time I won’t be so easy on you.”

She was nothing if not competitive, at least when it came to Dutch Blitz. “You’re on.”

Adam dealt the cards and then grinned at her. Her heart fluttered. Why did he have to be so cute? So nice? So . . . Adam?

“Emma?” He reached across the table and tapped her hand.

“Hello, Emma? You there?”

Emma blinked, startled. “What?”

“I said
geh
and you just sat there.” His grin had faded and his dark brown eyebrows formed a V. “Do you want to play or not?”

“I do. Sorry.” Her cheeks grew hot and she focused on the cards on the table. She picked up her pile. “Ready?”

When Adam said go, they both started to play. He got a jump start on her and suddenly she was behind. Dutch Blitz involved skill and speed, and she scrambled to catch up with him. But he zipped through his stack of cards, slamming the last one on top of the pile. He gave her a victorious smile.

Emma smiled. “Congratulations. You played a
gut
game.” She set her last three cards to the side and started to pick up the others.

“That’s one thing I like about you, Emma. You’re not a sore loser.”

She froze, her fingers grasping a green card.
He likes me
. But she knew exactly what he meant when he said those words. For the past fifteen years he’d told her how much he liked her. As a
friend
. Nothing more. It wasn’t his fault her feelings for him had changed. He’d never been anything but honest with her, from the day he and his parents moved in next door from Kentucky. Even back then he was cute, with shaggy brown hair and a stick-thin body that didn’t fill out until he turned eighteen. She put her fingertip to her temple. Why couldn’t she keep her thoughts straight when she was around him?

“Got a headache?”

More like heartache
. She moved her hand and shook her head.

“
Nee
. I’m fine.”

He nodded and pushed the rocker back a few inches, then stood. He picked up his yellow straw hat from the opposite side of the table and put it on. “I better get going. Christine won’t be happy if I’m late again.”

Emma felt a twinge in her heart at the sound of Adam’s girlfriend’s name. “She’s not one for patience, is she?” The last sentence slipped out, and it sounded catty, even though it was true.

She frowned, wishing she could take the words back.

Adam shrugged. “I suppose she’s not.”

She quickly snatched up the cards and slid them into the box. Standing, she decided to drop the subject of Christine before she said something she might regret. “
Danki
for coming over yesterday and mowing the lawn.” She gestured to the expansive front yard, which was now nicely trimmed. He’d even edged around the flowerbeds and the stone path that led to the porch. “I meant to do it but—”

“Don’t mention it. It doesn’t take that long to mow.”

“It took you over two hours.” Emma’s house sat back nearly a quarter mile from the road. She remembered how he’d come straight home from work and started mowing, sawdust still covering his clothes. “Plus the time it took to use the edger. So it was a big deal to me, and I appreciate it.”

“I thought it would be one less chore for you to do.”

“I don’t mind doing chores.”

“I know you don’t. Just like I don’t mind helping you out.” He smiled again, his bottom lip dipping a little to the right as it always did. Her breath hitched “That’s what friends are for, Emma.”

His words brought her back to reality. Friends. It’s all they ever had been, all they ever would be. She had to keep telling herself that. Her mind knew it, but her heart didn’t want to listen.

The screen door opened and her grandmother stepped out on the front porch, her right hand gripping a plain wooden cane. She leaned on it, her shoulder’s stooped. “Just made a fresh pitcher of lemonade. Would you two like some?”

“
Nee
,
Frau
Shetler.” Adam adjusted his hat on his head. “I was just leaving.”

She shook her head. “Adam, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Leona? You’re practically
familye
, you know. And don’t think you have to leave on my account.” She looked at Emma and winked. “I’ll just slip back inside. Just pretend I was never here.”

Emma’s cheeks heated. Her grandmother was never subtle about her matchmaking attempts with Emma and Adam, which had seemed to kick into high gear recently. She glanced at Adam, praying he didn’t see the wink or understand her grandmother’s implication.

If he did, he didn’t let on. Instead he smiled. “
Danki
again for the offer,
Frau
, er, Leona. But I really do have to
geh
. Someone is waiting for me, and I don’t want to be late.”

Leona nodded. “You should hurry along, then.”

Adam made his way down the three wooden steps from the porch and stepped on the stone path. Emma followed but stopped short at the first step, watching him walk away.

Halfway home he suddenly spun around. “Now that I’m on a roll we need a rematch, Emma. Soon!”

“You bet!” Emma forced a smile, trying to tell herself that Adam was going to meet his cousin Tim or his friend David instead of his girlfriend. She kept the smile pasted on her face, letting it go only when Adam was out of sight.

“When are you gonna be honest with that
bu
?”

Emma whirled around and faced her grandmother. “Honest about what?”

“I may be old but I’m no fool.” Leona leaned against her cane.

“I’ve said it before; anyone can see you’re smitten with Adam.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “Is it that obvious?”

“When the two of you are together,
ya
.”

With a sigh Emma walked over to the table. She picked up the deck of cards, only to set them down again when one of her cats, Nelly, brushed against her leg. She swept Nelly up in her arms, drawing a little comfort from the tabby cat’s loud purring. “Well, Adam obviously doesn’t notice how I feel. If he did he’d probably never speak to me again.”

Leona frowned, the wrinkles around her thin lips deepening. “Now what would make you say something awful like that?”

“
Grossmami
, look at me.” Emma glanced down at her plump figure, something she’d struggled with all of her life. She often wore dark colored dresses in hopes to camouflage her curves, which were more than generous. Today she wore emerald green underneath the snug sweater. “I’m not Adam’s type.”

“Type?”

“You know. Pretty. Popular.
Thin
.”

“
Pshaw
.” Leona waved her wrinkled hand. “Those are superficial things. I don’t know anything about the
maedel
Adam is courting—”

“That would be
maed
.”

Leona’s pale blue eyes widened. “He’s a two-timer?”

“
Nee
. That’s not what I meant.” She put Nelly down and grabbed the cards off the table, then went to stand in front of her grandmother. “There’s always been a lot of
maed
interested in Adam. I’m just saying he’s dated a couple.”

“
Hmmph
. He sounds fickle to me. In my day you didn’t date around. You only courted the
bu
you wanted to marry. Then again, things were much simpler in my day.”

“Adam’s not that fickle. I think he’s picky more than anything. His relationships never last very long.”

“That, my dear, is the very definition of fickle.” Leona took a step forward. “And his relationships don’t last long because he’s picking the wrong
maed
. If you ask me, he should be picking you.” She touched Emma’s chin, then looked at the hickory rockers and table in the corner of the porch. “I remember when your
mami
and
daed
used to sit out here in the evenings, right over there.”

Emma’s throat tightened. “I remember, too.”

“Then when you’re
daed
died, your
mami
would come out here by herself, just rocking and staring out at the road. I would ask her if she wanted some company, but she always said
nee
.” Leona looked at Emma. “Of course she was never rude about it. Later she told me that sitting in her chair right beside Ephraim’s made her feel a little closer to him. I didn’t ask anymore after that.”

“You haven’t talked about
mami
and
daed
in a while,” Emma said.