The Prodigal Daughter Returns
Ten years ago, Amish quiltmaker Leah Beiler and her twin brother left their community and family without a word. Now sheâs finally come homeâwith her orphaned young niece. Leah has much to explain to so many, including Ezra Stoltzfus. Before she left, she dreamed of marrying the handsome dairy farmer. But now that sheâs lived among the English and is raising a child who knows nothing of Amish ways, Ezra worries sheâll leave again. Leah will have to prove to Ezra that her future is in Paradise Springsâand with himâforever.
âMy niece will adjust soon to the Amish way of life,â Leah said.
âAnd what about you?â Ezra asked.
âIâm happy to be back home, and I donât have much to adjust to other than the quiet at night. Philadelphia was noisy.â
âI wasnât talking about that.â
âOh.â Her smile returned, but it was unsteady. âYouâre talking about us. We arenât kinder any longer, Ezra. Iâm sure we can be reasonable about this strange situation we find ourselves in,â she said in a tone that suggested she wasnât as certain as she sounded.
âI agree.â
âWe are neighbors again. Weâre going to see each other regularly.â She faltered before hurrying on. âWho knows? We may even call each other friend again someday, but until then, itâd probably be for the best if you live your life and I live mine.â She backed away. âSpeaking of that, I need to go and console Mandy.â
His heart cramped as he thought of the sorrow haunting both Leah and Mandy. They had both lost someone very dear to them.
The very least he could do was agree to her request. Even though he knew she was right, he also knew there was no way he could ignore Leah Beiler.
JO ANN BROWN has always loved stories with happy-ever-after endings. A former military officer, she is thrilled to have the chance to write stories about people falling in love. She is also a photographer, and she travels with her husband of more than thirty years to places where she can snap pictures. They live in Nevada with three children and a spoiled cat. Drop her a note at joannbrownbooks.com.
Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.
âEzra 10:4
Chapter One
Paradise Springs
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
âI canât believe my eyes. Is that who I think it is?â
Ezra Stoltzfus looked up from the new buggy heâd been admiring. His older brother Joshua had done an excellent job with the courting buggy he was building for his son. It was low and sleek, exactly what Ezraâs nephew Timothy would want when he was ready to ask a special girl to let him take her home from a singing.
He was about to ask Joshua what he was talking about, but then he looked through the large glass window at the front of his brotherâs buggy shop in the small village of Paradise Springs. Every word fled from his mind.
It couldnât be. Not after all this time. It had been ten years.
Getting out of a family buggy in the parking lot of the line of shops connected to the Stoltzfus Market was a slender woman dressed plain in dark purple. From beneath her black bonnet, her white kapp peeked out along with her golden hair that glistened in the spring sunshine. A small, black dog jumped from the buggy and stayed close to the woman as she spoke to someone inside. She smiled, and he knew.
It was Leah Beiler!
He couldnât have forgotten Leahâs heart-shaped face with the single dimple in her left cheek. Not if he tried, and the gut Lord knew how much heâd tried for the past ten years, since she and her twin brother, Johnny, left Paradise Springs. Theyâd gone without telling anyone where they intended to go. They hadnât come back.
Until today.
Did her family know she was back? They must, because she was driving Abram Beilerâs family buggy. He recognized it by the dent where his neighbor had scraped a tree on an icy morning a few months ago and hadnât gotten around to bringing it in to Joshua to get it repaired. Why hadnât Leahâs daed mentioned that his kinder were home? Theyâd spoken three days ago when Abram came over during milking to talk about the selection of a new minister for the district at the service on the next church Sunday. Abram had mentioned he was going to be away at a horse and stock auction west of Harrisburg for over a week and that he hoped heâd be home in time for calving, because several of his cows were due to deliver soon. How could Abram have talked of those commonplace things and never mentioned his twins had come back after so many years away?
Ezra couldnât forget the conversation he and Abram had the very day Leah and Johnny had disappeared. Theyâd spoken about Abramâs youngest daughter, who was torn between her love for her way of life and faith in Paradise Springs and her twin brotherâs increasing rebellion against both, as well as his family.