Patricia Davids - An Amish Wife For Christmas

Will marriage save her family?

Christmas with the North Country Amish

Bethany Martin has until Christmas to prove to the Amish community that she can raise her siblings—including her mischievous brother—without a husband. Then handsome newcomer Michael Shetler arrives, winning over Bethany’s siblings. He might be the answer to their prayers, but Michael has a troubled past. Can Bethany love a man with secrets...even if it’s the only thing keeping her family together?

After thirty-five years as a nurse, PATRICIA DAVIDShung up her stethoscope to become a full-time writer. She enjoys spending her free time visiting her grandchildren, doing some long-overdue yard work and traveling to research her story locations. She resides in Wichita, Kansas. Patricia always enjoys hearing from her readers. You can visit her online at patriciadavids.com.

Also By Patricia Davids

North Country Amish

An Amish Wife for Christmas

The Amish Bachelors

An Amish Harvest

An Amish Noel

His Amish Teacher

Their Pretend Amish Courtship

Amish Christmas Twins

An Unexpected Amish Romance

His New Amish Family

Brides of Amish Country

Plain Admirer

Amish Christmas Joy

The Shepherd’s Bride

The Amish Nanny

An Amish Family Christmas: A Plain Holiday

An Amish Christmas Journey

Amish Redemption

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

An Amish Wife for Christmas

Patricia Davids

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08636-3

AN AMISH WIFE FOR CHRISTMAS

© 2018 Patricia MacDonald

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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“Your sister thinks you should marry...”

Bethany’s face grew hot. “Husbands don’t exactly grow on trees in New Covenant.”

“Anyone you chose would be getting a fine wife.”

She looked up to study Michael’s reflection in the glass, but it wasn’t clear enough to let her see what he was thinking. “Are you making me an offer?”

“You would be getting a very poor bargain if I was.”

She turned around so she could look into his eyes. “Why do you say that?”

“Because it’s the truth.”

There was so much pain in his voice and deep in his eyes that she wanted to hold him and promise to make everything better.

She couldn’t. “What’s wrong, Michael?”

“Nothing that you can fix.”

“How do I know that if you can’t tell me what troubles you?”

“Trust me. You don’t want to know.” He turned and walked down the hall and out the back door.

He was so wrong.

Bethany wanted to know everything about Michael Shetler.

Dear Reader,

This is the first book in my new Amish series set in Maine. I hope you have enjoyed the story. In case you haven’t noticed, I am a dog lover. The remarkable Sadie Sue was patterned after my own dog Sadie. Sadly she is no longer with us but we have wonderful memories of her happy personality and relentless drive to fetch the ball, fetch the ball.

PTSD is a disorder that has been in the news a lot in recent years. Many of our soldiers are returning to civilian life crippled by this devastating disorder. More research is needed to combat this problem but therapy dogs have been shown to have a positive effect on the men and women who own them. I have limited knowledge of the disorder and this is not meant to be a tutorial on the subject. Any mistakes or incorrect assumptions are purely my own.

Blessings to all,

Patricia Davids

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.

—Ephesians 3:16–19

This book is dedicated with great admiration to my longtime and dare I say long-suffering editor, Emily Rodmell. I’m sure I have tried your endless patience far more often than any other author, but you have never failed to help me get back on track. During the bleak moments of my personal life and in some weird and crazy times you have remained confident in my talent and pushed me to write a better book even when I wasn’t sure I wanted to go there. Thanks for your faith in me. Here’s hoping it isn’t misplaced. Onward and upward.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

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

Extract

About the Publisher

Chapter One

“Your brother’s behavior reflects badly on you, Bethany, and on our community. Something must be done.”

Bethany Martin sat across from Bishop Elmer Schultz at her kitchen table with her head bowed and her hands clasped tightly together in her lap. Her dear friend Gemma Lapp sat beside her. Bethany was grateful for Gemma’s moral support.