Carrie Lighte - Her Amish Holiday Suitor

Booklist Also By Carrie Lighte Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Note to Readers 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 Epilogue Extract About the Publisher Amish Country Courtships Amish Triplets for Christmas Anna’s Forgotten Fiancé An Amish Holiday Wedding Minding the Amish Baby Her New Amish Family Her Amish Holiday Suitor Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk .

Title Page Her Amish Holiday Suitor Carrie Lighte www.millsandboon.co.uk

Copyright ISBN: 978-1-474-09751-2 HER AMISH HOLIDAY SUITOR © 2019 Carrie Lighte Published in Great Britain 2019 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. ® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries. www.millsandboon.co.uk

Note to Readers

Introduction “I really am sorry, Lucy,” Nick said softly. When Lucy finally stopped crying, she asked, “May I use your handkerchief, please?” “You can use my scarf. I don’t mind.” The offer to use Nick’s scarf to dry her eyes and blow her nose was so ridiculous and sweet it caused Lucy to chuckle. “Neh, that’s okay,” she said, removing her mittens to dab her tears. “I’m sorry I treated you that way. I didn’t mean to. I care about you, and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. I especially wouldn’t want to play a role in hurting you.” Lucy was overwhelmed. No man had ever said anything like that to her before, even in friendship. “It’s not your fault,” she said. “And I do appreciate that you care. But I’m not as fragile as you think I am.” “Fragile? You? I don’t think you’re fragile at all,” Nick scoffed. “I think you’re one of the most resilient women I’ve ever known.” Lucy was overwhelmed again. If this kept up, she was going to fall hard for Nick Burkholder. Maybe she already had...

Dear Reader Dear Reader Contents Cover Back Cover Text About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Note to Readers 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 Epilogue Extract About the Publisher , When I was around Lucy’s age, I was sometimes drawn to gregarious, charming men like Nick, who in many ways were a contrast to my reserved, introverted personality. Then I went through a phase where I deliberately avoided that type of man at all costs. Like Lucy and Nick, I eventually realized I couldn’t judge a book by its cover one way or the other; I had to get to know the person—and vice versa—on more than a superficial level before determining whether or not to develop a relationship. Similarly, I’m reminded of Isaiah 53:2, which indicates there was no comeliness about Christ that we would be drawn to Him. Whether that refers to His physical appearance, lineage, societal status or something else, I’m not certain. But I do know He wasn’t anything like people expected. Discovering who He is and how much He loves me is the most rewarding joy of my life, as I hope it is for you, too. Blessings, Carrie Lighte

Bible Verse For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. — 1 Samuel 16:7

Dedication For the readers who have followed my Amish Country Courtships series, with much gratitude for your interest and best wishes for your lives.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

Extract

About the Publisher

“You did what ?” Nick Burkholder asked as he guided his horse along the dark, winding country roads of Willow Creek, Pennsylvania. It was the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and he and his brother were on their way to a singing at Frederick Stutzman’s house. Their plan was to make a brief appearance and then leave to hang out with Nick’s Amish friends from Elmsville at an eatery in Highland Springs.

“On Friday night I, uh, sort of started a fire in Jenny Nelson’s cabin,” seventeen-year-old Kevin repeated, referring to the vacation house of an Englisch acquaintance.

The redheaded brothers were known for kidding around, so Nick assumed Kevin was joking. “Oh, I get it. You mean you started a fire in their fireplace. You sounded so serious you had me going for a minute there. Voll schpass .”

“I wish it were very funny,” Kevin replied, using the Englisch term for voll schpass. It seemed to Nick his brother had picked up more Englisch phrases and habits during the first six months of his rumspringa than Nick had learned during the entirety of his own five-year running around period.

Kevin’s voice was somber as he continued. “I mean, jah , initially I was trying to start a fire in the fireplace, but one of the newspaper logs I rolled must have—”

“Kevin!” Nick cut him off. “You should know better than to use newspaper logs after all the warnings Daed ’s given you!”

“I just thought—”

“ Neh , that’s just the problem. You didn’t think at all,” Nick retorted, ironically using the same words his father often used when lecturing him . He brought the buggy to a standstill at the side of the road and turned to face Kevin. “Please tell me no one was injured.”

“ Neh. But there was a little superficial damage to the walls and ceiling.”

Kevin proceeded to tell Nick he must have been distracted by the other guests summoning him into the kitchen to eat, because he forgot to close the protective mesh screen on the fireplace. He reckoned when someone opened the door to the cabin it created a back draft, and ash from the dry newspaper logs was swept through the air, because the next thing anyone knew, a pair of window curtains caught fire. The flames quickly leaped to a dried floral wreath hanging on the wall nearby, and before Jenny could retrieve the extinguisher, the wood paneling and ceiling had been burned, too.