by Dana R. Lynn
Later that afternoon, he walked her back to her grossmamma’s haus where she would live until they were wed. He hesitated to leave her. It seemed cruel that he had her back and had to leave her again. He said as much.
“Only until tomorrow, dear Ben.” She reached out and touched his hand.
He leaned forward and kissed her, barely a whisper across her soft lips. “Until tomorrow, my dear one.”
And all the days that followed.
EPILOGUE
“Mamm, when will baby Evie be able to play with me?” Nathaniel asked.
Ben grinned at Sadie and waited for her to answer the question. Sadie bit her lip, holding back her returning smile. She was very careful not to give the impression that she was laughing at Nathaniel. At eight and a half, he thought he was quite grown-up. Ben knew that Sadie wasn’t laughing at Nathaniel, she just thought he was adorable. Plus, whenever he called her mamm, her heart just about melted right out of her chest.
She was so blessed with her men.
And now she had another wee blessing.
Cuddling her sleeping daughter closer in her arms, she smoothed a kiss on the tiny forehead. Sometimes she had to remind herself to breathe, her happiness was so overwhelming.
She thought about the months following the arrests of Ethan Nettle and his son. They had both been convicted, and with the list of crimes against them, they would spend the rest of their lives in prison. Jeffrey was free, and although still bitter, he had told her that he never blamed her. In fact, he said that he would have intervened if he’d seen her getting kidnapped. Ironically, that meant he would have been the one who died that day.
“You’re the same age as my baby sister. I couldn’t have stood by and done nothing,” he’d said.
She prayed for him every day.
She returned her attention to Nathaniel, who was watching her with avid eyes.
“Nathaniel, she won’t be able to play with you for a while yet. She’s only five days old.”
He scrunched up his face and peered at his new sister with disgust. He’d been hoping that she would be able to play immediately, she was certain of it. Evelyn yawned and grunted and stretched in her sleep. Stepping so that he was leaning against his stepmother, Nathaniel placed a very gentle finger in one of the small fists. When Evelyn grabbed his finger and held on tight in her sleep, his scowl softened. Something akin to awe glowed on his features.
“She ain’t a boy, and she can’t do anything,” he announced to his parents. “Still, I guess she’s fine, as far as babies go.”
Sadie and Ben both chuckled. Her eyes lifted to meet his. The love she saw reflected in his gaze warmed her. Evelyn stretched again, her mouth moving in smacking movements. Someone was hungry. Ben laughed again, bending to kiss his wife.
“Oh, yuck. Kissing.” Nathaniel sighed, positively disgusted with the behavior of his parents. Sadie bit back another laugh, not wanting to hurt his feelings.
“Come, Nathaniel,” Ben said, standing. “I could use your help in the barn for a bit.”
Nathaniel kissed his sister and waved at Sadie before following his father out to the barn. Alone, Sadie fed the newborn and then put her down in her bassinet to sleep. Hearing voices when she returned to the kitchen area, Sadie peered out the open window, breathing in the sweet-scented spring air. She loved this time of year, with all the blossoms and flowers blooming.
Ah, Isaac had arrived. It was good to see that his friendship with Ben had grown solid and strong, like when they had all been children together. Her memories of her past had returned. Sadie recalled many times when she had followed Ben and Isaac around. Those were happy memories. The dark memories, the ones of her father’s death and the period after that, were harder. Between those memories and her near brush with death, she’d suffered from several months of nightmares, and even some anxiety. Thankfully, those had faded since she joined the Amish church and married Ben.
Isaac’s wife, Lizzy, was walking toward the house. Sadie threw the door open and moved out onto the porch, not even bothering with shoes.
“Lizzy, it is wonderful to see you. I didn’t know that you were coming over to visit.”
“Ack, of course I was coming. The minute I knew my husband was coming to see Ben, I knew that I would come and spend time with my dearest friend.”
Joy filled Sadie with its warmth. She felt as though she were standing in her own patch of sunlight. She wanted to pinch herself to assure herself that she was truly awake. But she knew she was. God had brought her through the storm and the trials and had blessed her with friends who would stand by her and a man and children who would love her all the days that God had allotted them on His earth.
She was overwhelmed by the blessings she had been given so freely, her heart was near to bursting.
“God is so good,” she murmured.
“Jah, Gott is very gut.” Lizzy gave her an understanding smile. Sadie gestured for Lizzy to come inside. As the woman moved past her to enter the house, Sadie’s smile widened. Lizzy hadn’t said anything, as most Amish women did not speak of such things to anyone beyond their husbands, but even in her Amish attire, it appeared that her friend might be expecting. She hoped so. She knew that Lizzy and Isaac wanted a child. She mentally said a prayer that God would bless them with a large family.
Lizzy caught her glance and laid a hand on her midsection. Although she didn’t say anything, her blazing smile and nod confirmed Sadie’s suspicions. One more joy to pile on top of all the other sources of happiness in her life. “God is good, indeed,” she repeated.
That night, after their guests had left and the children had been put to bed, Ben draped Sadie’s cloak around her shoulders and led her out to the front porch. They sat close together on the porch swing he had made her as a wedding gift. She snuggled close to her husband, inhaling the combined scents of the soap she had made and the night air and was content.
“I think Isaac and Lizzy are going to have a child,” she said softly.
He kissed the top of her head. With his foot, he gave a small push against the porch floor to make the swing sway gently. “Jah, I think so, too. It is gut.”
“I received a letter from Kurt today.”
“Jah? What did our brother write?”
She loved hearing him claim kinship with Kurt. “He said he has a new assignment that will take him out of the area for a bit, he couldn’t say what, but I think he was excited. His handwriting was a bit harder to read. Anyway, he wants to come and stay with us for a few days before he leaves.”
“He is always welcome.” Ben looked up at the stars for a moment. “You know, I will always have a warm spot in my heart for him. It is because of him that we were reunited.”
She turned to her husband. “I feel the same. I love you so much, Ben Mast. You and our children have filled all the empty spaces in my heart.”
His eyes bright, Ben leaned closer and kissed her. Sadie allowed her eyes to close as she praised her God for His faithful care.
When the kiss ended, she rested her head against her husband, knowing she was where she belonged.
* * *
If you enjoyed this book, don’t miss the other heart-stopping Amish adventures from Dana R. Lynn’s Amish Country Justice series:
Plain Target
Plain Retribution
Amish Christmas Abduction
Amish Country Ambush
Amish Christmas Emergency
Guarding the Amish Midwife
Find more great reads at www.LoveInspired.com.
Keep reading for an excerpt from Christmas Witness Protection by Maggie K. Black.
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Dear Reader,
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I am so thrilled to be able to tell you another story from Waylan Grove, Ohio. Sadie, Ben and Nathaniel are all brand-new characters. I fell in love with them as I wrote this book, and I hope you did, too.
I have always been intrigued by the idea of amnesia. When Sadie woke up to discover she had no memories and a killer after her, it took a lot of determination to survive and find the truth. Sadie had those qualities. What she lacked, though, was faith.
Ben Mast has survived a horrible heartbreak. He has been wounded, but somehow his faith has remained strong. I loved watching him show Sadie the truths about God while they fell in love and tried to escape a killer.
Thank you for reading Hidden in Amish Country. I love to connect with readers. You can find me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Or contact me through my website, www.danarlynn.com.
Blessings,
Dana R. Lynn
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Christmas Witness Protection
by Maggie K. Black
ONE
It was a week until Christmas, and the early morning sky was every bit as cold and gray as the icy waters of Lake Ontario and the concrete loading docks that surrounded the car now transporting Corporal Holly Asher to her new life in witness protection. Her eyes flickered to the passenger-side mirror as another car came into view on the empty road behind them.
A tremor of warning brushed her spine.
“That looks like the same car I saw parked outside the safe house this morning,” Holly said. “I think we’re being followed.”
Officer Elias Crane, the gray-haired witness protection officer in the driver’s seat beside her, cut a glance to the rearview mirror. He frowned. “It’s fine.”
No, it really wasn’t. Her gut told her something was wrong—very wrong—and after surviving two tours of duty overseas on a combination of faith and intuition, she wasn’t about to start ignoring either now. Something about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police detective had had Holly on edge ever since Elias had woken her up at the safe house before dawn and given her exactly five minutes to get into the car. She’d done it in four, including an external sweep of the vehicle, which he’d told her wasn’t necessary considering it was unlikely “anyone would go to too much trouble to stop someone from testifying in some government inquiry about a handful of misplaced weapons.”
That was the moment she’d first felt her jaw set. It had been far more than just a handful of weapons and they hadn’t been misplaced so much as illegally bartered, sold and given to warring factions by one of the most respected generals in the Canadian military. It was an international scandal, one that had the potential to ruin General Alberto “Bertie” Frey’s career. Holly had grown up in a military family and dedicated her life to serving her country. After a decade of exemplary service, she’d agreed to come forward, testify in the upcoming inquiry against her former mentor and explain the best she could exactly how a man as beloved as General Bertie had somehow allowed dozens of Canadian military firearms to end up in the hands of warring desert families in a remote area of the world where the Canadian military was deployed. For that, she’d been treated like a pariah by some of the people she’d served alongside and had her reputation dragged through the mud online. Then had come the final breaking point—three thugs had jumped her one night in downtown Ottawa and tried to intimidate her, later claiming to police that some stranger had paid them to show her just how bad her life could get if she didn’t keep her mouth shut. But they’d clearly underestimated the strength and power of the woman they were trying to scare out of testifying.
Even then she wouldn’t have delayed deployment on a third tour of duty or gone into witness protection if the RCMP hadn’t insisted and the inquiry hadn’t wanted to risk losing their star witness.
“I’m telling you it’s the same car.” She opened the sun visor mirror and took a better look, glancing past her own short-cropped black hair and the dark shadows that framed her green eyes. She couldn’t see the driver’s face in the darkness, but something about the sense of alert tension that seemed to radiate through his muscular arms and broad shoulders was anything but forgettable. “Could be a potential hostile.”
“This is Canada, not Afghanistan.” A chuckle slipped from Elias’s lips, and Holly felt her spine stiffen. He gestured to the rearview mirror. “And that’s just Detective Wilder. He’s got a bit of a burr stuck in his fur about our drive.”
“Why is he concerned?” she asked. “Has he been assigned to me, as well? Is there something wrong with my new temporary identity?”
The irritation that flashed in Elias’s eyes told her the answer to the third question at least was no.
“Look, Corporal, it’s fine,” he said. “Can I call you Hildy?”
“No.” Because it wasn’t her name and she’d never been one for being called anything other than who or what she was. Her given first name was Hildegard, an old-fashioned family name shared by both her mother and grandmother. Her parents and very closest friends had always called her Holly, in part because she was born on Christmas Day. For everyone else in her life Asher would do. “Either Asher or Corporal is fine.”
“Well, then, just learn to relax, Corporal, or it’s gonna be a really long drive.”
But how could she relax when something inside kept telling her something was wrong?
Help me, Lord. Something’s not right. I can feel it. Help me know what it is and what to do about it.
A phone began to ring. She reached in vain for the cell that used to be in her pocket before she’d entered witness protection, and then realized it had to be Elias’s. The officer yanked his phone from his own pocket and her eyes barely caught the name on the screen before he held it to his ear. Det. Noah Wilder.
“Back off, Wilder,” Elias said. “I’ve got it covered. I don’t need your help. I’ve been doing this since before you were in diapers and you’re not even supposed to be on active duty!”
She didn’t hear whatever answer Detective Wilder gave, but it seemed to be taking him a long time to say it. Elias was still driving with his phone to his ear and one hand on the steering wheel. Then he wedged the phone into his shoulder and his left hand darted out of sight. A loud and sudden click resounded through the car. Officer Elias had activated the child safety locks. He’d locked her in? Why had he locked her in? Elias swerved up an on-ramp and onto the elevated highway that ran through Toronto’s downtown core. For a moment, the city spread out below her and skyscrapers pressed in around them. Then he darted down another ramp and back into a maze of docks and warehouses. Green and red cardboard letters in the windows of an ugly brick building wished her a Merry Christmas. She glanced back. The blue car had stayed on the highway and was now traveling parallel to them on the road above.
�
��You were wrong, plain and simple,” Elias said. “The safe house was clean, the route wasn’t contaminated and—Yes, I’m sure it’s really her! I’m not about to pick up some imposter!”
He said the last word so loudly it seemed to reverberate inside the car. Warehouses hemmed them in on either side. Fleeting glimpses of ships docked in Toronto’s harbor rose to her right, through the narrow, vertical slits between buildings. He turned down another, even narrower street, and though the man was old enough to be her grandfather, her own years of tactical experience made the hair stand up at the back of her neck. Not only did he not take her, or apparently Detective Wilder, seriously, he’d chosen a route with terrible lines of sight.
“You know, Corporal,” Elias started, and it took her a second to realize he was now talking to her, “sometimes you’ve got to ask yourself if whatever stand you’re trying to make is really worth all the trouble it’s gonna put you through.”
Gunshots split the air to their left, taking out the tires and shattering the driver’s and back seat windows in a spray of bullets and broken glass. The phone fell from Elias’s hand. His lifeless body slumped over the steering wheel. The vehicle swerved wildly.
No one was driving the car!
“Help me, God!” The words flew from her lips as she lunged for the wheel and fought to straighten the car. But the vehicle began to speed faster, as the pressure of Elias’s full weight landed hard on the accelerator. She yanked her seat belt off, then threw her leg over the center console, kicking his foot off the pedal and pressing her own on the brake. The car spun on the icy ground. She clenched her jaw and tried to force the wheels to the right. But they reached a lamppost first, taking out the front of the hood as the vehicle slid into it. Her head slammed against the dashboard, then her body landed back against the seat. Pain filled her skull. The sound of a horn filled her ears as Elias fell against it.
