An Amish Nanny
Caring for her late cousinâs young kinder is Jessie Millerâs dutyâeven if it means seeing their father again. Years ago, she thought Caleb King might be her husbandâuntil he met her cousin and Jessieâs dream was cut short. Laid up with a broken leg and a demanding dairy farm, Caleb needs her. But Caleb wants no woman around...and no reminder of the wife who abandoned her family before her death. Especially since he fears Jessie will throw a wrench in his plan to remain a single dad. Sheâs gentle and kind, and if Caleb isnât careful, she may be just what his little Amish family needs.
There was a clatter at the back door as the kinder came in.
Jessie folded the mending. âIâll go up and get things ready for bed.â
When she came downstairs afterward, Timothy was on the floor, showing his daadi something about his farm animal set, while Becky cuddled on Calebâs lap.
He smoothed back the strands of hair that had slipped out of Beckyâs braids, and the tender look on his face told Jessie everything was all right between them now.
Even as she thought it, Calebâs gaze moved to her face with a smiling acknowledgment that her words had helped. Her heart swelled. Perhaps they could be friends one day.
Caleb glanced at the clock. âTime you young ones were in bed.â
When she bent over to reach for Timothy, Caleb caught her wrist. She raised startled eyes to his, wondering if he could feel her pulse pounding.
âDenke,â he said.
He let go, looked away, and Jessie hurried after the kinder who were already scrambling up the stairs. She couldnât let Caleb imagine she had any feelings for him. She just couldnât.
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for deciding to read my latest story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did creating it!
I have always been touched by the importance with which the Amish view forgiveness. Their firm belief that they will be forgiven in the same measure they forgive others is at the bedrock of faith.
That doesnât mean it is easier for the Amish than it is for any other Christian. All of us must surely struggle with forgiving the wrongs that have been done to us and to our loved ones. Sometimes I think I must forgive the same things over and over again, every day, until at last I realize that the forgiveness sticks!
Caleb and Jessie struggle with this concept of forgiveness in my story, and it doesnât come easy for either of them. I hope you were moved by their struggles, and you feel theyâd earned their happy ending when they finally succeeded.
Iâd love to hear what you think of my story. You can contact me at my website, www.martaperry.com, find me on Facebook, www.facebook.com/MartaPerryBooks, or write to me at [email protected] or in care of Love Inspired Books, 195 Broadway, 24th Fl, New York, NY 10007. Iâll be happy to send you a signed bookmark and my brochure of Pennsylvania Dutch recipes.
Blessings,
Marta Perry
A lifetime spent in rural Pennsylvania and her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage led MARTA PERRY to write about the Plain People who add so much richness to her home state. Marta has seen nearly sixty of her books published, with over six million books in print. She and her husband live in a centuries-old farmhouse in a central Pennsylvania valley. When sheâs not writing, sheâs reading, traveling, baking or enjoying her six beautiful grandchildren.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
âLuke 6:37
This story is dedicated to my husband, Brian, with much love.
Chapter One
The hospital van bounced over a rut in the farm lane, and Caleb King leaned forward to catch the first glimpse of his home. At lastâthose four weeks in the rehab hospital after his leg surgery had seemed endless, but finally he was coming back to his central Pennsylvania farm. If only he could jump down from the van, hug his kinder and plunge back into the life of being a dairy farmer.
But he couldnât. His hands tightened on the arms of the wheelchair, and he glared at the cast on his leg. How much longer would he have to count on the kindness of his family and neighbors to keep the farm going?
Caleb glanced toward the Fisher farm across the fields. The spot where the barn had been before the fire was cleared now, and stacks of fresh lumber showed a new barn would soon rise in its place. For an instant he was back in the burning structure with Sam Fisher, struggling to get the last of the stock out before the place was consumed. He heard again Samâs shout, saw the fiery timber falling toward him, tried to dive out of the way...
He should have thought himself blessed it had been only his leg that suffered. And doubly blessed that Sam had hauled him out of there at the risk of his own life.