Brian's Choice (10 page)
Authors: Vannetta Chapman
Deciding words were overrated, he framed her face with his hands and kissed her. When she finally pulled away, breathless and blushing, they continued their walk down the lane.
“So you're asking me to marry you?”
“I am. It's your choice, Katie. If you'll have meâ”
“Of
course
I'll have you, Brian. It's what I've prayed for sinceâ¦well, I don't know how long.”
“So I'm the answer to your prayers?” The smile on his face grew and he began to laugh.
“What's so funny about that?”
“Nothing at all, Katie love, but I'd like to hear you say yes.”
“Yes.” She turned back toward him, stood on her tiptoes, and planted a kiss on his lips. “I choose you, Brian Walker.”
Those were probably the happiest five words he had ever heard.
Want to know more about Cody's Creek and the Amish of Oklahoma? Continue becoming acquainted with these interesting, tenacious, funny, challenging, and kind people in
Anna's Healing
, the first book in the brand-new Plain and Simple Miracles collection from popular author Vannetta Chapman. These stories of love and family and Amish community tell of the miracles that can happen when lives are lived in service to God and to one another.
The town of Cody's Creek does not exist in Oklahoma. The place I visited and researched was Chouteau, which was originally called Cody's Creek when it became a stop on the Katy Railroad in 1871.
Set in the state of Oklahoma, this story highlights the struggles and adjustments the Amish have endured in order to carve a successful life out of the hard-packed Mayes County soil. Though Plain settlements have existed in Oklahoma for more than a hundred years, they are slow-growing communities partially due to the harsh conditions that have required them to make adjustments, such as allowing the use of tractors. And yet the Chouteau Amish continue to endure, and they do so with grace and humility. They still use a horse and buggy when traveling to church, weddings, or funerals.
Conversions from
Englisch
to Amish are rare. I researched these extensivelyâany change to the process was done in order to fit the characters and plot of my story. Each Amish community is unique, though of course they share many historical, cultural, and religious practices. As with any work of fiction, I've taken some liberties in some areas of research as a means of creating the necessary circumstances for my characters. Therefore, any inaccuracies in the Amish lifestyles portrayed in this book are completely due to fictional license.
When a tornado strikes the farms surrounding Cody's Creek, Anna Schwartz's life is changed forever. She suffers a spinal cord injury and suddenly finds herself learning to live as a paraplegic.
Three peopleâChloe Roberts, Jacob Graber, and Ruth Schwartzâjoin forces to help Anna through her darkest days. Chloe is an
Englischer
who writes for the local paper. Jacob has recently arrived in town and stays on as a hired hand at her uncle's. And Ruth is her grandmother, a woman of deep faith and a compassionate spirit.
Then one morning Anna wakes and finds herself healed. How did it happen? Why did it happen? And what is she to do now? Her life is again turned upside down as the world's attention is drawn to this young Amish girl who has experienced the unexplainable.
Read More from Vannetta Chapman
T
HE
P
EBBLE
C
REEK
A
MISH
Book 1â
A Promise for Miriam
Book 2â
A Home for Lydia
Book 3â
A Wedding for Julia
“Home to Pebble Creek” (free short story e-romance)
“Christmas at Pebble Creek” (free short story e-romance)
P
LAIN AND
S
IMPLE
M
IRACLES
Anna's Healing
Vannetta Chapman
writes inspirational fiction full of grace. She has published more than one hundred articles in Christian family magazines, receiving more than two dozen awards from Romance Writers of America chapter groups. She discovered her love for the Amish while researching her grandfather's birthplace of Albion, Pennsylvania. Her novel
Falling to Pieces
was a 2012 ACFW Carol Award finalist.
A Promise for Miriam
earned a spot on the June 2012 Christian Retailing Top Ten Fiction list. Chapman was a teacher for 15 years and currently writes full time. She lives in the Texas hill country with her husband. For more information, visit her at
www.VannettaChapman.com
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