PLAIN PROTECTOR
The father Darcy Simmons thought was dead is actually alive, but in a coma, and the men who attacked him are after her to produce what he was hiding. But she hasnât spoken to her father in twenty years, since he entered witness protection and became Amish, and has no clue what the criminals want. Now the only person she can depend on is Amish farmer Thomas Nolt, her fatherâs neighbor and closest friend. Thomas knows nothing of his friendâs past, but heâs determined to save the fragile beauty the man shielded all these years with his silence. But with men willing to kill for stolen items her father was hiding, can Thomas and Darcy find them before their time runs out?
âFor starters,â Thomas said. âWhy donât you tell me who you are?â
The woman wiped her tears, looked him dead in the eye and sighed. âIâmâ Well, Iâm Darcy Simmons and IâmâIâm Jesseâs daughter.â
Daughter? What? Jesse didnât have any kin that Thomas had ever heard of. Jesse had always been all aloneâ¦
The womanâDarcyâhad hardly gotten the words out when her fancy smartphone rang.
She looked at the phone and frowned. âI donât know that number.â
Still, she touched the screen to accept the call and lifted the phone to her ear. She was so close that Thomas could hear every crazy word of the call. The oddly distorted voice filled the room.
âOh, Darcy, honey, youâre just as lovely as your mother, but you do have your daddyâs eyes⦠And you also have something of mine. Iâll be coming around soon to get it back. You can either cooperate when I see you, or you can end up like your dear old dad. Either way, I get whatâs mine. See you soon.â
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading a copy of Lancaster County Reckoning. I hope you enjoyed the story of Darcy and Thomas. I was so happy to finally write this story, because I have wanted to do so ever since I started the Willow Trace series. I fell in love the character Thomas Nolt when I was writing Plain Secrets and felt like he had to have his own happy ending after having been so good to Hannah in book one.
I dedicated this book to my father, who passed away suddenly while I was working on this book. He was a genius of a man who loved a good story and was a voracious reader. I will definitely miss all of his great advice and chatting to him about my writing.
This book is also dedicated to my oldest sister, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimerâs a few years ago. She has spent most of her life taking care of other people, but now depends on others to take care of her. I wish a million blessings to those of you who take care of herâGreg, Charneise, Tamera, Cindy, Mom and my nieces and nephew.
If you or someone you love is suffering from Alzheimerâs, my prayers to you.
With all my love,
Kit
KIT WILKINSON lives in the heart of Central Virginia, where she works full-time as a French and English teacher and overtime as a mother of two. A graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Tennessee, Kit loves to study, learn and read. She finds through writing she is able to do both with a purpose, while creating something new in the process. You can visit her website at www.kitwilkinson.com.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with me.
âRevelations 3:20
To Dad, thanks for sharing your love, most especially your love for story and books. I miss you.
And to my sister, Elizabeth, my biggest fan and most dear to my heart, the Lord shines through you still.
ONE
Thomas Nolt spotted the bright red car the second he entered the clearing. It made for such an odd sight on his neighborâs land, in the middle of their Amish community, that he pulled up on the reins of his gelding. The sudden stop of the horse threw the weight of the satchel his grandmother Ruth had loaded up with baked goods and preserves for his âUncle Jesseâ against his back.
Not really an uncle but his close neighbor of twenty years and considered part of the Nolt family, Jesse Troyer had asked Thomas to come take a look at his well at lunch. So it seemed a bit odd that someone else was visiting at the same time. Not that it was unusual for Jesse to have any visitors, but most of his acquaintances drove the typical Amish horse and buggyânot cars. And certainly not a fancy, brightly colored automobile like this one.
To be sure, Jesse had not always been Amish. Thomas had been just a child when Jesse had joined their community twenty years earlier, but he remembered how hard the man had worked to embrace the plain life and leave his Englisch ways behind. Ever since, Jesse pretty much stuck to his friends in the Ordnung. He had never mentioned keeping in touch with anyone in the Englisch world.