The loss of her mother likely sent her into a tailspin . . .
Her mother’s advice about peace had her fleeing to a place she’d visited while touring with her first book, a place she’d once likened to the most peaceful place on earth according to another tidbit Diane had unearthed . . .
It made sense. It truly did.
The only thing left to do now was to see if it made the same kind of sense to Jane . . .
Inhaling the courage she knew she needed, Claire stepped out of her aunt’s car and made her way onto the front walkway, her eyes soaking up every gut-confirming detail of the otherwise nondescript house and yard . . .
The electric hedge clipper lying on the grass . . .
The security sign staked just inside the minimal landscaping . . .
At the door, she reached into her pocket with her left hand and knocked with her right. When no one came despite the absolute certainty her every step had been watched from a front window, she knocked again. Louder.
Seconds turned to minutes as she waited, her eyes taking in the still-closed door in front of her . . . The absence of any traffic on the dirt road behind her . . . The way the curtain in the room beside the door swayed with the breeze . . .
The breeze.
Slowly, she eased closer to the window and lowered her voice to a level no one beyond the screen could here.
“My name is Claire. Claire Weatherly. A little less than two years ago, I moved to Heavenly because I, too, needed to heal. I’d hit a place in life where I wasn’t me anymore. I needed to stop, breathe, and discover myself again. So please know that I’m not here to harm you or to expose your whereabouts to anyone.” She forced herself to breathe. To speak clearly and succinctly, while taking care not to sound the least bit threatening. “It’s just that I’m pretty sure I have something that belongs to you . . . Something that was found in a dresser my aunt purchased from the man you sold it back to. I think your mother would want you to have it with you as you start on this new journey—in a place I hope heals you just as it healed me.”
The words spoken, she stood perfectly still, listening for any sound of movement. When she heard nothing—not a cough, not a sniffle, not the squeak of a floorboard—she pulled the pendant and chain from her pocket. “I’m going to leave it here on the doormat along with my address and phone number. In case you’d like a friend.”
• • •
Three days later . . .
She was in route back to the kitchen when she heard the knock. It was quiet and it was quick, but somehow, despite the near-constant chatter and laughter emanating from the parlor, she’d still caught it.
Doubling back with the empty sandwich platter in her hand, Claire tried to make out the identity of the figure on the other side of the beveled glass door, but it was no use. The only thing she knew for sure was that it wasn’t Jakob. His plan was to time his arrival with the end of his niece’s luncheon so maybe, just maybe, if Esther was the only one left, he could present her with his gift for the great-nephew or great-niece he would soon have.
She smiled at the image of the detective handing the gift bag to Esther and pulled open the front door, her mouth gaping as the identity of the woman standing on her aunt’s doorstep registered in her head.
“Jane . . . Hello. Welcome. I . . . I’m glad you’re here.”
The diminutive woman, clad from head to toe in Amish garb, glanced down at the mat, cleared her throat, and then slowly lifted her gaze back to Claire’s. “I want to thank you. For returning my necklace. I thought it was gone forever like my moth—” Jane shifted her weight from foot to foot and cleared her throat again. “Well, I’m just grateful is all. I don’t know how you found me, and it’s making me think it’s time to move on again, but—”
“No! You don’t have to do that. I never would have figured out where you were if it weren’t for the necklace in the dresser and being a fan of your work.” She saw the woman stiffen and rushed to smooth away her worry. “I meant what I said the other day. This really is the perfect place to heal and start over.”
“That’s what I want, what I need,” Jane said, her voice choked with emotion. “But I don’t want anyone to know I’m here.”
“And that’s okay.”
“But you know.”
“As does my aunt. She owns this place.” Claire lifted her free hand to indicate the inn. “And my boyfriend knows, too. But they know firsthand about the healing power of this area and I’m confident they’ll respect your right to live as you choose.”
Esther’s sweet laugh filtered into the hallway, widening Jane’s eyes as it did. “I’m sorry, I’ve interrupted something. I-I should go . . .”
Looking down at the plate and then back over her shoulder toward the parlor, Claire gathered her breath. “My friend Esther is due to have a baby any time now, so I invited some of her family and friends over for a special luncheon. We’ve already eaten, I’m afraid, but I know Esther would love to have you join us.”
All color drained from Jane’s face. “No . . . I couldn’t . . .”
She reached out, closed her hand gently over Jane’s, and squeezed quickly. “Everyone in there, with the exception of me and my aunt, is Amish. They haven’t read your books, I’m confident of that. And—wait . . . Valerie isn’t Amish, either. But even if she’s familiar with your work, she wouldn’t know it was you.”
“Are-are you sure?” Jane touched her kapp, her dress and, finally, her face. “I lightened my hair and—”
“You look great. Truly. Though, that said, if you’re going to keep your car in the barn and use electric hedge trimmers, we might want to talk about you posing as a Mennonite, instead.” A second, louder burst of laughter swirled around them, prompting Claire to step back and gesture her visitor inside. “Please. Join us.”
“But if your friends are Amish, won’t they know I’m not?”
“Perhaps.” She set the plate on the table beside the door and then gently tugged Jane forward. “I will introduce you as my friend—Fannie. For today, that will be enough. After the luncheon is over and everyone has gone home, we can put our heads together and figure out the rest.”
Jane paused halfway through the door. “Why are you doing this? You don’t even know me.”
“You’re right, I don’t. But what I do know is that during one of my lowest points in life, your books helped me escape. They gave me a place to be able to forget . . . To just be . . .” She closed the door and then pushed a flyaway piece of hair back inside Jane’s kapp. “I guess I see this as my chance to do the same for you.”
“Thank you,” Jane whispered. “I-I could use a friend.”
“Good, because I’m pretty sure you’re about to make quite a few.” Draping her arm around Jane’s shoulders, she guided her toward the parlor and the laughter. “Esther . . . Everyone . . . I’d like you to meet my friend Fannie. Fannie, this is everyone.”
“Oh!”
She slid her gaze toward the center of the room in time to see Esther bring a hand to the large mound beneath her aproned dress. “Esther, sweetie? Are you okay?”
“I think . . . it is . . . time.”
“Time?” she echoed as first Martha, and then Aunt Diane, flocked to Esther’s side. “Time for what?”
Esther’s eyes sparkled as she glanced down at her stomach. “It is time for the baby to come.”
• • •
To learn what Esther has, as well as what’s next for everyone in Heavenly, Pennsylvania, be sure to pick up your copy of the new Amish Mystery, Just Plain Murder, when it releases on December 4, 2018.
Excerpt from Portrait of a Sister
Keep reading for an excerpt from
Laura Bradford’s new
Amish women’s fiction novel,
Portrait of a Sister,
coming from Kensington in June!
Katie Beiler was always the follower to her twin sister Hannah’s lead. That is, until Hannah left their Amish upbringing for an Eng
lish life—leaving Katie to find her own footing in a world that no longer looks as it once did . . .
Katie has always imagined her life being just like Mamm’s. It’s why she chose baptism and why she’ll soon marry Abram Zook. But ever since Hannah left, the only thing that truly makes Katie smile is the sketchpad in which she indulges her talent for drawing faces—a sin that, if discovered, could get her shunned by her family, her friends, and even Abram. Yet Katie sees her secret pastime as the only way to quiet a growing restlessness she’d just as soon ignore. That is, until their mamm’s untimely death brings Hannah back home to Pennsylvania, with a new outlook on life, a man she adores, and, soon, an invitation for Katie to visit her in New York City.
Suddenly, Katie is experiencing a freedom she’s never had, in a world she never imagined. She’s also spending time in the company of a fellow dreamer, someone who sees her as strong and brave and makes her laugh. But it’s when Hannah shows Katie’s drawings to a gallery owner that she truly finds herself at a crossroads between the only life she’s ever known and the powerful lure of an unfamiliar future.
• • •
Katie turned in time to see Hannah and Travis disappear inside the farmhouse with Mary and Sadie in tow. She looked down at her food and then back up at Miss Lottie, her voice barely more than a raspy whisper. “She does not look like Hannah.”
“Oh?”
“The Hannah I remember did not have such black eyelashes and such red cheeks. She wore the same clothes that I wear and did not hold hands with boys.” She bit into a slice of bread in the hope it would somehow steady the tremor in her voice, but it didn’t help. Instead, it simply confirmed her total lack of appetite. “I miss that Hannah.”
“Inside, she is still the same Hannah you remember, Katie. Makeup and English clothes can’t change that any more than a freshly scrubbed face and aproned dress can change who you are inside.”
Blinking against the sudden stinging in her eyes, Katie stared down at the chicken leg and green beans she knew she shouldn’t waste. “I miss her so much, Miss Lottie. I-I miss them both so much.”
“Your mamm is still with you, Katie.” Lottie placed her hand to her chest and closed her eyes for a brief moment. “In your heart and in your mind. Find comfort and strength in that.”
Comfort.
And strength.
Comfort and—
“And as for Hannah, she is only a bus or a train ride away.”
Slowly, Katie lifted her eyes to Miss Lottie’s, her lips quivering. “In a big city. With a job. And an apartment. And new friends. And”—her voice faltered—“Travis.”
“You have Abram, don’t you?”
She sucked in a breath. “H-how do you know about Abram?”
“Your mamm and I did not just sit and stare at one another when I came for a visit, dear.” Then, with a slight wave of her hand, Lottie got them back on track. “You are still Hannah’s sister, Katie. Nothing—not a city, or a job, or even a boyfriend—can change that.”
Oh how she wanted to believe Miss Lottie was right. But the nagging sensation in her chest refused to acquiesce.
“We used to do everything together. She knew what I was thinking before I did sometimes. But now”—Katie stopped, inhaled sharply, and then sank against the back of her rocking chair—“it is like she is a-a . . . stranger.”
“Give it time, dear. I suspect that will change.”
“But how?” she protested. “I do not live in her world and she does not live in mine. Soon, she will be just like all the English girls who stare at my kapp and dress.”
“That will never happen, dear. At least not in the way you’re implying.”
“You sound so certain.”
“Because I am.” Lottie shifted forward in her rocker, stopping its gentle motion as she did. “One only has to see what I see to know how much Hannah loves you.”
“See what you see?”
“Every time I spotted your sister in the crowd today, she was looking at you. With nothing but love in her eyes.” Lottie bent forward, retrieved her cane from the ground beside her chair, and readied it for the support she needed in order to stand. “Which is why you should go inside now and soak up every minute you can with her before she heads back to the city.”
“But I don’t know what to say . . . or how to be around her anymore.”
“Be yourself, Katie.”
She looked down at her own simple dress and tried not to compare it to Hannah’s formfitting one. “What happens if that is not enough?”
“It is.”
Swiping at the pair of tears that made their way down her cheeks, Katie pushed off the chair, held out her hand, and carefully helped Miss Lottie to her feet. Once the woman was fully upright and steady, she pulled Katie in for a hug.
“Your mamm loved you, Katie. Loved you with her whole heart. More than anything, she wanted you to be honest and true.”
Katie stumbled backward, her mouth gaped. “I did not lie to Mamm. Not ever.”
Miss Lottie quieted Katie’s protest with her finger and a gentle hush. “Being honest and true to yourself is every bit as important as being honest and true with everyone else, Katie.”
Available now for pre-order!
The Amish Mystery Series
Be sure to look for all the books
in the Amish Mystery Series
by Laura Bradford!
Hearse and Buggy
Claire Weatherly has fled a high-stress lifestyle for a slower pace—in Amish country: Heavenly, Pennsylvania. She only planned a short visit but instead found herself opening an Amish specialty shop, Heavenly Treasures, and settling in. Claire loves her new home, and she’s slowly making friends among the locals, including Esther, a young Amish woman who works in the shop. So when the store’s former owner, the unlikable Walter Snow, is murdered, and the man Esther is sweet on becomes a suspect, Claire can’t help but get involved.
Newly returned Detective Jakob Fisher, who left Heavenly—and his Amish upbringing—as a teenager, is on the case. But his investigation is stalled by the fact that none of his former community will speak with him. Claire’s connections make her the perfect go-between.
As Claire investigates, she uncovers more than she wanted to know about her neighbors. And suddenly, everything she had hoped to find in this peaceful refuge is at risk . . .
Assaulted Pretzel
The quiet town of Heavenly is buzzing with excitement over the latest guests at the local inn, Sleep Heavenly. Toy manufacturer Rob Karble is in town to meet the members of the Amish community who will soon be crafting a new toy line for his company. But when word gets out that Karble intends to use the Amish designs without employing the Amish to make them, someone sends the interloper to his final reward.
No one wants to believe anyone from the Amish community could commit such an act, but as Claire and Detective Fisher have learned, no one is above sin—or suspicion.
Shunned and Dangerous
Claire has always been game for a good puzzle, so when she hears that Mose Fisher has made one of his famous corn mazes, she can’t wait to walk the paths and test her skill. But she’ll have a much more serious puzzle to solve when, deep inside the maze, she discovers the body of Amish dairy farmer Harley Zook.
It won’t be easy for Detective Jakob Fisher to investigate a murder on his own father’s farm—not after being shunned by the man for leaving the Amish community and becoming a cop. With Mose himself as a suspect, and old family secrets cropping up, it’s up to Claire to help catch the killer before she finds herself at a dead end.
Suspendered Sentence
After the Stoltzfus barn catches fire, Claire is awed by the response of the community. Hundreds of Amish men gather together to raise a new barn for the family in a matter of days. But in the midst of the work, a human skeleton is unearthed. Found with the remains is half of a friendship bracelet last seen on Sadie Lehman, an Amish teen long believed to have left her strict upbringing for
the allure of English ways.
Now Detective Jakob Fisher—once a member of the Amish community himself—is determined to solve the young woman’s murder. With Claire’s help, he must dig into the past and bring to light long-buried secrets—secrets that someone is willing to kill to protect . . .
A Churn for the Worse
When an Amish farmer is found dead in his barn, his family accepts his death as God’s will. But Detective Jakob Fisher knows the farmer didn’t hit himself in the head with the shovel lying beside his body. And when it comes to light that a stranger appeared at the farmer’s home and now money is missing from their milk can, Fisher suspects robbery as the motive—especially when another Amish family is victimized.
Getting to the truth proves difficult, however, since Fisher has two strikes against him in the eyes of the Amish—his chosen career, and the Amish roots he left behind. Desperate to stop a murderous thief, Fisher turns to Heavenly Treasures shop owner Claire Weatherly for help. The trust she’s earned from the Amish community enables her to go where the detective cannot—straight into the path of a killer . . .
Books by Laura Bradford
See all of Laura Bradford’s Books at Smashwords!
Plain as Day Page 7
