A Home for Lydia (The Pebble Creek Amish Series)
Read A Home for Lydia (The Pebble Creek Amish Series) Online
Authors: Vannetta Chapman
HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version
®
, NIV
®
. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
www.zondervan.com
Cover by Koechel Peterson & Associates, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cover photos © Koechel Peterson & Associates, Inc.; Arsty /
Dreamstime.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
A HOME FOR LYDIA
Copyright © 2013 by Vannetta Chapman
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chapman, Vannetta.
A home for lydia / Vannetta Chapman.
p. cm. – (The Pebble Creek Amish series ; bk. 2)
ISBN 978-0-7369-4614-8 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-4615-5 (eBook)
1. Amish–Fiction. 2. Wisconsin–Fiction. I. Title.
PS3603.H3744H66 2013
813’.6–dc23
2012027223
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
For my mother-in-law,
Barbara Elizabeth Chapman
Contents
A Wedding for Julia: Sample Chapter – Prologue
A Wedding for Julia: Sample Chapter – Chapter One
This book is dedicated to my mother-in-law, Barbara Elizabeth Chapman. We have enjoyed many evenings together, and I count it as joy that she accepted me into her family. She has been such an inspiration to me—a real-life example of a woman who lives with grace, compassion, and a sense of humor.
Although Pebble Creek doesn’t actually exist, the village of Cashton does, and I would like to thank several folks in the Driftless region, including Anita Reeck (Amil’s Inn Bed and Breakfast), Kathy Kuderer (Down a Country Road), and Pete and Nora Knapik (Inn at Lonesome Hollow). Richard Lee Dawley (author of
Amish in Wisconsin
) was also kind enough to answer questions while I was conducting research.
Many of the items described in Aaron’s Plain Shop can be purchased at
www.downacountryroad.com
, which is in the Cashton area and supplies items made by local Amish artisans.
Thanks to Suzanne Woods Fisher and the
Budget
for their endless supply of Amish proverbs.
My editor, Kim Moore, is a dream to work with, and the excellent staff at Harvest House have been superb. I’m also indebted to my agent, Mary Sue Seymour. Donna, Kristy, and Dorsey, I need you every book. Bobby, Mom, and Pam—thank you. Kids, every single day I thank God for you.
I’ve always been drawn to rivers and cabins. There have been many places, such as the cabins along Pebble Creek, where I have found a respite from the world. I am extremely grateful they exist.
And finally…
always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
(Ephesians 5:20).
Wisconsin
May
L
ydia Fisher pulled her sweater around her shoulders and sank down on the top step of the last cabin as the sun set along Pebble Creek. The waters had begun to recede from last week’s rains, but the creek still pushed at its banks—running swiftly past the Plain Cabins and not pausing to consider her worries.
Debris from the flooding reached to the bottom step of cabin twelve. She could have reached out and nudged it with the toe of her shoe. Fortunately, the water hadn’t made it into the small cottages.
Almost, though.
Only two days ago she’d stood at the office window and watched as the waters had crept closer to the picturesque buildings nestled along the creek—watched and prayed.
Now the sun was dropping, and she knew she should harness Tin Star to the buggy and head home. Her mother would be putting dinner on the table. Her brother and sisters would be needing help with schoolwork. Her father would be waiting.
Standing up with a weariness that was unnatural for her twenty-two years, Lydia trudged back toward the front of the property, checking each cabin as she went.
All were locked and secure.
All were vacant.
Perhaps this weekend the
Englisch
tourists would return and provide some income for the owner, Elizabeth Troyer. Guests would also ensure that Lydia kept her job. If the cabins were to close and she were to lose her employment, she wouldn’t be able to convince her brother to stay in school. Their last conversation on the matter had turned into an argument—one she’d nearly lost.
Pulling their old black gelding from the barn, she tied Tin Star’s lead rope to the hitching post, and then she began to work the collar up and over his ears.
“You’re a
gut
boy. Are you ready to go home? Ready for some oats? I imagine you are.”
He’d been their buggy horse since she was a child, and Lydia knew his days were numbered. What would her family do when he gave out on them? As she straightened his mane and made sure the collar pad protected his shoulders and neck, she paused to rest her cheek against his side. The horse’s sure steady breathing brought her a measure of comfort.