by Sarah Price
“I’m not exactly certain,” Alejandro said. “I just know that she was hit by the limousine.”
The officer peered at him for a moment. It was the moment of recognition. “Aren’t you..?”
And so it begins, he thought wistfully. Avoiding the question, Alejandro glanced at the woman. “No disrespect,” he said. “But she’s in a lot of pain, Officer. Do you have any idea when the ambulance will get here?”
To Alejandro’s relief, the officer leaned his chin over to his shoulder, talking into his walkie-talkie. While the officer was trying to get a reading on the location of the ambulance, Alejandro turned his attention back to the young woman. “Amanda?” he asked softly. “Amanda? You hanging in there, princesa?”
She nodded slightly. Her face was pale and tears now fell freely down her cheeks. “I just wanted a pair of sunglasses,” she said, her words barely audible.
“What?” He leaned down, trying to hear what she was saying. “What did you say?”
She reached for his hand again, holding it tightly in her own. “While I was waiting for my train,” she whispered. “I was crossing the street for a pair of sunglasses.”
He didn’t have an opportunity to ask her about what she had said. The ambulance was pulling up behind them, the horn beeping for people to get out of the way. The officer in charge motioned for Alejandro to back away so that the paramedics could bring the gurney closer.
Respectfully, he moved back but stopped just a few feet from where she was stretched out on the road. He noticed the white cap laying on the ground a few feet away and stooped to pick it up. Clutching it into his hands, Alejandro watched as the paramedics worked, quickly taking her vital signs and asking a rapid barrage of questions. Within minutes, Amanda Beiler was gently lifted from the streets of Manhattan, placed on the crisp white sheet covering the gurney, and whisked away to a hospital.
Alejandro stared after it, too aware that his cell phone was vibrating in his pocket and the officer was asking him a question. But his mind was elsewhere. This young woman, dressed in such plain clothes and with such a pure, fresh look on her face, lingered in his memory and he found that he could think of nothing else. She was alone in Manhattan and clearly out of her element. He knew the feeling from his own days as an immigrant with his mother in Miami. And he also knew that he wasn’t going to make that appointment with Richard Gray. Only this was now by his own choice, not because of being delayed by the accident.
About Sarah Price
The Preiss family emigrated from Europe in 1705, settling in Pennsylvania as the area’s first wave of Mennonite families. Sarah Price has always respected and honored her ancestors through exploration and research about her family’s history and their religion. At nineteen, she befriended an Amish family and lived on their farm throughout the years.
Twenty-five years later, Sarah Price splits her time between her home outside of New York City and an Amish farm in Lancaster County, PA where she retreats to reflect, write, and reconnect with her Amish friends and Mennonite family.
Find Sarah Price on Facebook and Goodreads!
Learn about upcoming books, sequels, series, and contests!
Contact the author at [email protected].
Visit her weblog at http://www.sarahpriceauthor.com or
on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fansofsarahprice.
* * *
[1] Ausbund Song 97 verse 1-2.
[2] Proverbs 3:5,6
[3] Ausbund Song 119 verse 12
[4] Philippians 2:2
[5] Submitted by PJ Rodgers.
[6] Submitted by Kris Behringer.
[7] Submitted by Jane Knepp Dysput
[8] Ausbund, Song 131. Also known as the Lob Lieb, this hymn is sung at every church service. In an Amish church service, it is sung in High German.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Other Books by Sarah Price
Foreword
A Note About Vocabulary
Chapter One: Miriam’s Letter
Chapter Two: Rachel’s Letter
Chapter Three: Leah’s Letter
Chapter 4: Anna’s Letter
Chapter 5: Lizzie’s Letter
Chapter 6: Sylvia’s Letter
Chapter 7: Lovina’s Letter
Chapter 8: Ella’s Letter
Chapter 9: Mary Ruth’s Letter
Chapter 10: Miriam’s Package
Recipes
One More Thing…
Hymn from the Ausbund
Glossary of Pennsylvania Dutch
Excerpt from Plain Fame
About Sarah Price
Table of Contents
Copyright
Other Books by Sarah Price
Foreword
A Note About Vocabulary
Chapter One: Miriam’s Letter
Chapter Two: Rachel’s Letter
Chapter Three: Leah’s Letter
Chapter 4: Anna’s Letter
Chapter 5: Lizzie’s Letter
Chapter 6: Sylvia’s Letter
Chapter 7: Lovina’s Letter
Chapter 8: Ella’s Letter
Chapter 9: Mary Ruth’s Letter
Chapter 10: Miriam’s Package
Recipes
One More Thing…
Hymn from the Ausbund
Glossary of Pennsylvania Dutch
Excerpt from Plain Fame
About Sarah Price
