Falling for an Englisher
With dreams of marrying an Old Order Amish man, Leah Yoder plans on raising children in the peaceful Delaware community. But when Mennonite missionary Daniel Brown arrives to share his story with their church, Leah is fascinated by him. She spends time with Daniel in a forbidden courtship to learn how she truly feels about him. Before long, Leah has a choice to make. Should she stay with her community...or leave with the man she believes God has placed in her life’s path?
“You’re Daniel Brown, the hero who saved that boy from the mob?”
“Hardly a hero,” Daniel said.
“I didn’t know…” Leah hesitated. “Now I feel foolish. I spent so much time with you tonight and I never asked you about your travels. I really feel foolish.”
“Don’t. It was a natural mistake.” He struggled to find the right thing to say. He didn’t want her to walk away feeling embarrassed. “I’ll be looking for you—at the presentation. I hope you aren’t disappointed.”
“No,” Leah said. “You couldn’t disappoint anyone, Daniel Brown. Least of all, me.”
“I’ll see you there, then?”
“Leah?” A woman called from the porch. “Are you ready?”
“Ya,” she answered. “Coming.” She smiled at him. “I’m glad you were with me tonight.”
“Me, too.”
“What you said before…” she murmured shyly. “I agree. We made a good team.”
“We did,” he said. And then, without another word, she turned and hurried off, leaving him standing there, staring after her and wishing she wasn’t going.
EMMA MILLER
lives quietly in her old farmhouse in rural Delaware amid fertile fields and lush woodlands. Fortunate enough to be born into a family of strong faith, she grew up on a dairy farm, surrounded by loving parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Emma was educated in local schools, and once taught in an Amish schoolhouse much like the one at Seven Poplars. When she’s not caring for her large family, reading and writing are her favorite pastimes.
Leah’s Choice
Emma Miller
Do not press me to leave you
Or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
Where you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people.
And your God my God.
—Ruth 1:16
Contents
Chapter One
Kent County, Delaware, Spring
More than forty people, Mennonite and Amish, waited in the old Grange building for the speaker’s arrival. A long table covered with photographs and maps stood at the rear of the hall, and volunteers had arranged folding chairs in two sections, one on either side of a central aisle. Leah Yoder, three of her sisters, her brother-in-law, and nine giggling and whispering Amish teenagers from Seven Poplars filled the first two rows on the left.
It was rare for Old Order Amish to attend events hosted by other denominations, but tonight was an exception. Leah’s older sister, Miriam, and her husband, Charley, had volunteered to chaperone the outing for their church’s youth group, the Gleaners, and the bishop had given them special permission to do so. Leah, at twenty, was too old for the Gleaners, but she had been just as eager as her younger sisters, Rebecca and Susanna, to see the PowerPoint presentation and hear the Mennonite missionary share his experiences in spreading God’s word outside the United States.
A young man in jeans and a raincoat, carrying a briefcase and a camera, wandered in from the offices in the back, and Leah thought that he might be the speaker, but it was only a reporter from a local newspaper. She hoped that he wouldn’t attempt to take photos of the audience. Having pictures taken was against Amish beliefs, and if he tried to snap their picture, Charley and Miriam might decide that it was better to leave. To Leah’s relief, the man found a seat near the front and didn’t even look across the aisle at them.
The program had been scheduled to start at seven, but it was already twenty past the hour and Susanna was growing restless. Susanna had been born with Down syndrome, and although she was eighteen, in many ways, she would always be a child. Leah had convinced their mother to allow her to bring Susanna to the presentation this evening, so her sister was her responsibility.
Susanna wasn’t the only one losing patience with the long wait. Herman Beachy, who could never sit still for long, was tugging at his sister Verna’s bonnet strings and, by the expression on her face, she appeared ready to give him a sharp elbow in the ribs. Amish considered themselves nonviolent, but that didn’t mean brothers and sisters didn’t have their spats. Leah could see that the rest of the Gleaners were keyed up as well. If the youngsters became unruly, it would reflect badly on the entire Amish community, and that would put an end to any future outings of this kind.
Leah leaned forward, cleared her throat and threw Charley a meaningful look. See what’s keeping him, she mouthed silently.
We’ll just wait, he mouthed in return.