The Widow's Hidden Past, page 1
Alta caught sight of him and blushed.
“P-Preacher, I didn’t know you were here.”
Jonas met her gaze with a soft smile. “I wanted to see how you were feeling. Your sister said you’re doing better.”
She bobbed her head before she took a big gulp of her coffee then gasped at the heat of the brew.
“Please sit, Alta,” Jonas invited as he rose and pulled out a chair next to his. “Relax and enjoy your coffee. I’m not a scary man, but I guess you’ll have to be the one to judge for yourself.” He kept his tone light and teasing.
To his amazement, she blinked as if momentarily stunned then she chuckled. “What if I’m not a gut judge of character?”
The transformation of her beautiful features struck him like a blow to his heart. He quickly controlled his thoughts. “Lovina has known me for years. Ask her if you’re wondering what type of man I am.”
Alta met her sister’s gaze.
“I can vouch that he’s a gut man,” Lovina said with a grin.
To Jonas’s surprise, Alta smirked. “Okey.”
Rebecca Kertz was first introduced to the Amish when her husband took a job with an Amish construction crew. She enjoyed watching the Amish foreman’s children at play and swapping recipes with his wife. Rebecca resides in Delaware with her husband and dog. She has a strong faith in God and feels blessed to have family nearby. Besides writing, she enjoys reading, doing crafts and visiting Lancaster County.
Books by Rebecca Kertz
Love Inspired
Loving Her Amish Neighbor
In Love with the Amish Nanny
The Widow’s Hidden Past
Women of Lancaster County
A Secret Amish Love
Her Amish Christmas Sweetheart
Her Forgiving Amish Heart
Her Amish Christmas Gift
His Suitable Amish Wife
Finding Her Amish Love
Lancaster County Weddings
Noah’s Sweetheart
Jedidiah’s Bride
A Wife for Jacob
Elijah and the Widow
Loving Isaac
Visit the Author Profile page at LoveInspired.com for more titles.
THE WIDOW’S HIDDEN PAST
Rebecca Kertz
Remember ye not the former things,
neither consider the things of old.
—Isaiah 43:18
For my cousin, Linda J. Barnes, with love.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
Dear Reader
Excerpt from A Steadfast Companion by Myra Johnson
Chapter One
Autumn, the Village of Happiness,
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
“How could you! How could you betray your dochter?”
Alta Hershberger gazed at her oldest daughter with tears in her eyes. “I didn’t, Mary. I didn’t betray you! I wouldn’t do that to you or Sally.”
“I confided in you and you told everyone! Sally heard it from Aunt Miriam who heard it from members of her quilting bee. Now everyone knows that I had a miscarriage, and they all think that Ethan and I are having problems!”
“But you’re not! I know how much your husband loves you.”
Mary kept shaking her head. “I can’t believe this. You’ve ruined everything! Now everyone is talking about Ethan and my personal business!” Tears ran down her face, making Alta’s stomach clench to see her daughter in pain. “I won’t forgive you for this! I can’t.” The last was whispered before Mary ran out the door, crying.
“Mary, wait!” Alta jumped up from her kitchen chair. She would make Mary understand that she’d never said a word about Mary’s miscarriage to anyone...and she certainly wouldn’t have talked about Mary and Ethan’s marriage. Mary was her child. She loved her and her younger daughter Sally. The fact that Sally was married to the bishop only made the gossip she’d supposedly spread more believable because Sally had confirmed that Alta had nattered. If the bishop’s wife said that her mother had spread the gossip, then everyone would believe it was true.
Except it wasn’t.
She ran outside to catch her daughter before she left. “Mary, please! I didn’t do this. You must believe me!”
Mary paused near her buggy. “I don’t. You have always been a busybody, and we never liked it, but we loved you because nothing you nattered about hurt anyone. Until now!”
Her daughter climbed into her buggy and steered the vehicle toward the road.
“Mary, please! Mary!” Alta chased after the buggy, hoping her daughter would stop and listen to the truth. But Mary kept driving, ignoring her mother’s plea.
“Mary!” Alta tripped and fell hard. She lay a moment on the dirt driveway as her tears fell and ran down her cheeks. She struggled to rise and cried out at the excruciating pain in her hip. “Mary,” she whispered as she pushed to her feet, watching Mary disappear. “I didn’t do it.”
But her daughters didn’t believe her, and she knew that no one else would. She managed the two steps into the side door of her small house, where she and John had lived since they’d married. Thoughts of her late husband made her cry harder as she grabbed a chair and sat down. “I’m sorry, John. I’ve failed our daughters. What do I do now?”
By the end of the week, Alta realized that everyone within the community refused to acknowledge her. It was as if she were shunned. She decided that she needed to get away from Happiness. But where could she go? The only other family she had was her estranged sister Lovina, who’d been angry with her since the day that John had asked Alta to marry him and she had accepted. Lovina had been in love with John. Lovina had accused her of stealing her man, then she’d moved away and never returned. Alta had written to her sister numerous times, hoping for a reconciliation, but her letters were returned to her, unanswered.
Should she try again? Alta had recently learned that Lovina was living in New Berne. She packed her clothes and made sure the water was off in the house in case the weather turned cold. Then she locked up before she left and headed toward New Berne, Pennsylvania—and her sister.
* * *
Jonas Miller set the coffeepot to heat on the stove, then started to make his breakfast. He’d learned to cook after his wife’s death. He had five children—three sons and two daughters, all of them grown but his daughter Fannie, who still resided with him. Fannie was an independent business owner who had worked hard to open a luncheonette. Her business was booming, and he had a feeling that it wouldn’t be long before she met a man who wanted to court her.
He sighed as he scrambled eggs in a pan then turned three slices of bacon in another. There were times like now when he felt lonely. He was frequently invited to his children’s houses for meals and Visiting Day, but while he loved every one of them, spending time with them didn’t bring him the same comfort his wife Lena had given him when she’d been alive. He and Lena had enjoyed a good, solid marriage, and he’d missed her terribly since her passing. At first, the church elders had encouraged him to remarry, but he hadn’t found a woman he wanted to wed, and he didn’t want an arranged marriage. At nearly fifty years old, he figured he had a right to choose the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. And he hadn’t met her yet. He’d waved the elders’ concerns aside and hoped for the best. Recently, however, he had been asked to be a minister in the church, and he was afraid that the elders would insist that he take a wife.
Jonas took both pans off the heat then opened the refrigerator to look for ketchup for his eggs. He frowned when he realized there wasn’t any. Lena had always made sure he had everything he needed, he recalled with fondness. He was lonely without a wife, he admitted, but he was fine. He took stock of the refrigerator’s contents and realized that it was empty of the basics and his favorite foods. How could this have happened? Because Fannie has been bringing me meals home from her restaurant. Jonas sighed. He’d have to go grocery shopping today.
After pouring himself a cup of coffee, he sat down at the table to eat his breakfast and think about his day. He could shop this morning then have lunch at Fannie’s Luncheonette later.
Jonas ate his eggs without ketchup and enjoyed his crispy bacon with his coffee. When he was done, he cleaned up the kitchen and then made a list of the groceries he needed to purchase. “Everything,” he murmured. “What don’t I need?” By the time he left the house, he held a long list.
Minutes later he was on his way to Kings General Store to grocery shop. He had driven his wagon about a mile or so down the street when he saw a horse and buggy at an awkward angle on the side of the road near a farm. Jonas furrowed his brow. Was there something wrong? He pulled up behind the vehicle and got out. Approaching from the farm side of the carriage, he went up t
“Hallo,” he said softly, hoping he wouldn’t scare her. “Do you need help?”
At the sound of his voice, she gasped and lifted a bright green gaze to meet his. He gave her a warm, encouraging smile. “I saw you stopped here and worried that something was wrong,” he said. “Are you oll recht?”
She blinked rapidly, and he saw the telltale sign of her tears. She glanced away and wiped her eyes. “I’m fine,” she said, looking at him again.
He arched an eyebrow. “Is there something I can do to assist?”
She nodded. “I’m trying to find Lovina Schlabach. Do you know where she lives? I’ve stopped and asked at a few businesses in town, but no one seems to know her.”
Jonas eyed her with concern. “I’m afraid I don’t know any Schlabachs who live here in New Berne.” The woman was older than he’d first thought, he realized. She was lovely, with blond hair and green eyes the color of a lawn covered with dew on a bright morning. From the tiny lines at the outer corners of her eyes, he guessed she was in her forties and about four or five years younger than he was.
The woman’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t know what to do. I came here to see my sister, and now I have no idea where she lives.” She closed her eyes, and he thought she might be fighting tears.
“You said your sister’s name is Lovina?”
She nodded. “Ja. I...haven’t seen her in years...” With a sigh, she glanced away as if she struggled with what to do.
“Lovina King lives close by. Maybe she’s your sister.”
The woman looked at him with hope. “Could be she married, I guess.” She seemed embarrassed that she didn’t know.
“You can always visit the house to find out,” Jonas suggested. He gestured in the direction her buggy was headed. “Continue straight on this road until you come to Kings General Store. You can’t miss it. Make a right about a quarter mile past the store then continue along until you see a sign advertising eggs for sale. Lovina King lives in the farmhouse. She raises chickens and sells eggs.”
The woman’s green eyes studied him with gratitude. “Danki. I’ll do that.”
He stood a moment, unable to tear his eyes from her pretty face. When the woman blushed, Jonas realized he was staring at her. He blinked and smiled. “I should be going,” he said. “I’ll pray that Lovina King is your sister.”
She flashed him a wide, genuine smile, so bright it filled his heart with a warmth like sunshine. He returned to his vehicle and watched as she carefully drove her buggy back onto the road. Jonas followed moments later and caught sight of the rear end of the woman’s carriage as he reached the general store. He hoped she’d be all right, he thought as he pulled into the parking lot. The memory of the vulnerable woman’s sad eyes and then the smile that had transformed her features were etched in his mind. Although he may not see her again, he couldn’t help but wonder about her and pray that she’d be all right.
* * *
Alta Hershberger was nervous as she steered her buggy past Kings General Store toward the road she needed to turn on in order, she hoped, to find her sister. If it was her, would Lovina still be angry with her after all these years? It had been over twenty-six years since they’d last seen each other, and their parting had been awful. If Lovina King was, in fact, her only sibling, then her sister had married. Was she happy? Would Lovina ever forgive her for marrying the man she’d loved?
Tears filled Alta’s eyes as she reflected on the sixteen wonderful years that she’d enjoyed with her husband Johnathan before he’d passed away. She’d given birth to their daughter Mary nearly two years after she and John had wed. Their youngest Sally had come a year later. They’d been happy together—John and she with their baby daughters. Alta had been living the life she’d always wanted with the man she loved and the children they’d created together. Then tragedy had hit when John suffered a fatal injury in a buggy accident when their girls were in their early teens. When he’d died, Alta had been afraid to drive a buggy for a long time afterward. She’d become overprotective of her daughters, fearing that she’d lose them, too. Alta had lost the love of her life, and she’d had difficulty facing a future without her husband. She’d wanted to crawl into bed and fade away, but her girls had needed her, so she’d faced each day as a challenge to be a good mother to Mary and Sally.
The road she was looking for appeared on the right. Thoughts of her recent problems with her community were superseded by her increasing nervousness at encountering her angry sister again—if the woman was her sister. She could hear the voice of the man she’d just met, recalled the warmth in his brown eyes, and garnered the courage to do this. Alta saw the egg sign near the road that the kind man had told her about. She flipped on her blinker and made the turn onto the long dirt lane that led up to a large farmhouse situated far off the road.
“Dear Lord, if this is my sister, please let her forgive me,” she prayed aloud as her vehicle bumped over a few ruts in the dirt lane. “I’ll work hard to be a better person. I’ll do whatever I can to put You, Father, above everything.”
The King residence was well maintained, she saw, as she parked her buggy in the barnyard. A woman came out of the house and waved. Alta took a long look at her and recognized that this Lovina was indeed her sister. She could feel her heart pumping hard in her chest. Her hands felt clammy, and she was afraid she would pass out.
“Hallo!” her sister called out as she approached with a smile. “Have you come for eggs?”
Bracing herself for rejection, Alta opened the buggy door and climbed out. Their gazes met. Lovina froze and stared at her, as if unable to believe her eyes.
“Alta?” Her sister appeared stunned.
Alta drew in a sharp breath and nodded. “Ja, it’s me, schweschter.”
As her sister came closer, Alta saw that Lovina looked wonderful. “I’m surprised to see you.” She looked toward Alta’s buggy as if searching inside. “Did Johnathan come with you?”
Alta shook her head as a painful lump lodged in her throat. “Nay, he is no longer with us. I lost him eleven years ago.” While her community looked at her as a busybody, she’d never shared any news with the Budget, the newsletter that many Amish communities subscribed to and read.
Eyes filling with tears, her sister regarded her with sympathy. “Come in and have some tea.”
She swallowed hard. “You’ll have me in?”
“Ja, ’tis been a long time. I wondered if I’d ever see you again. We can catch up.”
A little of the tension left Alta’s shoulders. “Danki, I would like some tea.” She paused. “And to catch up.”
When she entered her sister’s house, Alta found Lovina’s home warm and cozy. She detected the scent of chocolate. “It smells wunderbor in here,” she said.
“Chocolate cake. My husband’s favorite.” Lovina smiled. “Sit, schweschter.”
As she took a seat, Alta experienced an intense curiosity to meet her brother-in-law. Lovina put a teakettle on the stove and turned on the flame. “Lovina, you look happy.”
Her sister looked at her. “Ja, I’m extremely happy, more than I thought I’d ever be.”
“I’m glad,” Alta said sincerely. She had always felt terrible about the way she and Lovina had parted. She’d loved John, and after her sister had become upset with her for agreeing to marry him, she’d wondered if she should give him up. Alta had asked John before they’d married if he’d rather wed her sister. John had looked at her with warmth and affection. “I love you, Alta, not your sister,” he’d told her. “You’re the only woman I want as my wife and the mother of my children.”
His sincerity had thrilled her—it still did years later whenever she reflected on his feelings for her. She wished they could have enjoyed more time together. After the accident, she’d been angry at the driver who had hit John’s buggy from behind. She’d never cried so much in her life as after her husband passed on, leaving her alone to raise their two daughters. Only once did the church elders press for her to marry, but they’d let it go after a problem she’d had with a prospective suitor. Thankfully, they had never urged her to wed again. John had been the love of her life, and no one could ever take his place. She’d received a hefty settlement from the driver’s insurance company, so money hadn’t been a problem for her. As for her daughters, they’d been old enough not to need a strange man as their stepfather. Their uncle Joseph had been all the male influence they’d needed in their life.
