The Farmerâs Instant Family
Jeremiah Stoltzfus hopes the Amish community of Harmony Creek will provide a fresh start...until days before closing on his new farm, he finds a beautiful trespasser. Mercy Bamberger claims the property is hers, promised by her late grossdawdi. Jeremiah canât turn out the single mom and her daughter, nor can he leave. His solution: temporarily sharing the farm until ownership is settled. Once a city kid adopted by a Mennonite family, Mercy yearns to make the farm a haven for unwanted children. But living beside the handsome Amish farmer has her yearning for everything thatâs eluded her...laughter, love and a forever family.
âIâm not going to relinquish my familyâs farm to you or anyone else.â
âButââ
âWe moved in a couple of days ago. Weâre not giving it up.â Mercy crossed her arms over her chest. âItâs our home.â
Jeremiah had to select his words with care. He didnât know if heâd be allowed to close on the farm as scheduled. Heâd never heard of a person dying before property was transferred.
Until he spoke with his real estate agent and got her advice, he didnât know what the outcome of this sticky situation would be. Mercy wasnât going to back down. That much was clear. If their situations were reversed, he suspected heâd be as unwilling to compromise. He was unwilling to compromise.
There wasnât room to. Either the farm was going to be his...or it wasnât.
A pleasant warmth buzzed through him again as his gaze connected with hers. He looked away. Until he knew what was going to happen with the farm, he needed to keep his distance.
For Leon Barkley,
one of my first friends. Together we learned softball from my dad and basketball from your brother. Thanks for your help with my real estate questions and making this story possible.
A special thank-you to Tina, Melissa and Dina,
who have shared my love for the Stoltzfus family right from the beginning and made each book better.
Chapter One
Harmony Creek Hollow, New York
The day had started out as Jeremiah Stoltzfus had planned.
It didnât stay that way after a woman dropped into his arms.
For most men, playing the hero for a beautiful woman would have been a dream come true. But most men didnât discover that woman trespassing on a tumbledown farm in northern New York. A farm Jeremiah couldnât wait to call his own.
Heâd been invited by the current owner to visit when he reached Harmony Creek. In a couple of days the farm would be his.
At dawn Jeremiah had left his familyâs home in Paradise Springs, Pennsylvania. He was joining others to build a new Amish settlement near the Vermont border. Heâd made arrangements during the past few months, purchasing the farm based on a few photographs sent by his Realtor. After saying goodbye to his mamm, brothers and sisters along with their spouses and kinder and knowing it was unlikely heâd see them again for a year, heâd taken a train north to Albany. There, he was met by a van, which drove him the last fifty miles to Harmony Creek Hollow.
The valley edging the creek was set outside the tiny town of Salem. Rolling hills covered with trees and meadows would support dairy farms for the Amish families moving into the area.
The owner of the sixty-acre farm he was buying, Rudy Bamberger, had invited him to stop by before the closing in two days. Jeremiah suspected the old man wanted to size him up first.
Rudy had already asked him a lot of questions through Kitty Vasic, Jeremiahâs Realtor. Personal questions that Kitty told Jeremiah he didnât have to answer. However, Jeremiah had no problem with the questions, because the old man had been selling his familyâs farm. Jeremiah had written a long letter, explaining his background and his plans for the farm and his future. His answers must have satisfied Rudy, because the old man accepted his offer on the farm the next day.
When heâd arrived, Jeremiah had carried his two bags as he crossed the snowy yard past neglected barns. No tracks had been visible. Nothing had gone in or out of the big barn since the last snowstorm. Allowing himself a quick glance at the other outbuildings, which needed, as heâd known, a lot of repairs, heâd walked through the freshly fallen snow to the main house.