Small-Town Mom (24 page)

“I trusted you to bring Myles home safe and you did. Myles told me how you kept everyone calm and under control until the emergency squad got there. How you led them in prayer and made him feel confident he’d get out okay. Then, how you worked right along with the rescuers until everyone was out of the van and up on the road.”

“I did what I was able to do. But I didn’t do it alone.”

“I know. You did it with God’s help. I realized tonight that in order to trust anything, anyone, I have to trust our Lord first.”

“Oh, Jamie.” He pulled her into his arms. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He held her close, feeling her heart beat against his chest, and kissed her with every ounce of love he had in him. He lifted his head. “I can’t describe the terror I felt when I thought I might not see you again.” He took a deep breath. “I want to keep seeing you. I like having you and your family in my life.”

Jamie smiled at him, her eyes half-shuttered. “I think that could be arranged.” She ran her finger down the side of his chin. “On a couple conditions.”

“And what might those conditions be?”

“You don’t try to regiment my life and you allow me to be late every now and then.”

He rested his hands on her waist. “You’re a hard taskmaster, but I’m up to the assignment. Now, I’d better walk you out before Myles starts wondering where we are.”

“Let him wonder.” She reached up and pulled his head down and kissed him.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from
Plain Admirer
by Patricia Davids

Epilogue

J
amie bent her head and breathed the sweet smell of her rose bouquet.
Lord, thank You for Your patience with me and for bringing Eli into my life and me back into Your loving family
.

The organ chord sounded signaling the start of the procession. Anne, her matron of honor, turned and smiled at her as Rose and Opal started down the aisle.

“Mommy!” Opal turned and said in a loud stage whisper that echoed through the church. “When the wedding is over, can I call Mr. Payton Daddy or do I still have to call him Mr. Payton?” Laughter rippled through the church.

“I think he would love for you to call him Daddy,” Jamie said. “Now go back up with Rose.”

Jamie’s father bent down and whispered in her ear. “Eli’s a good man. I hope he recognizes all of the treasures he’s getting.” Her father raised his chin toward Rose and Opal, now halfway down the aisle, and Myles standing at the altar rail.

Her gaze traveled from Myles to Neal to the spot where Eli should be standing. He wasn’t there. Why would they have started the procession? Her heart stopped. Eli was never late.

Anne touched her arm. “It’s okay. He’s here. The guys played a trick on him. Last night at the bachelor party, Pastor Joel got ahold of Eli’s watch on some pretext and set it back. And Leah did the same with the clocks at his place.”

Jamie’s giggle was stopped short by Eli rushing in the side door, resplendent in Air Force dress uniform.

Her gaze locked with his, and the love reflected in his eyes filled her heart to bursting. She walked down the aisle on her father’s arm, oblivious to everything but Eli standing military-straight in front of the altar. When she stepped beside Eli, he took her hand in his and squeezed, strong and firm.

“Ready?” Pastor Joel whispered.

Eli dropped his gaze to Jamie’s upturned face and gave a decisive nod.

“Yes,” she whispered back, holding Eli’s gaze. And she was. Ready to give all her love to the man beside her. Ready, with Eli by her side, to face and accept whatever God might have in store for them.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from
Plain Admirer
by Patricia Davids

Dear Readers,

Welcome back to Paradox Lake for widow Jamie Glasser’s story. If you read
Small-Town Dad
, you’ll recall that Jamie was manning the home-front waiting for her husband to return from duty in Afghanistan. He never made it home, and now Jamie has turned away from her faith and anything military. So who does God put in her path at every turn? Retired Air Force Lt. Colonel Eli Payton—youth group leader and Sunday school teacher at Jamie’s former church
and
Jamie’s troubled son’s high school guidance teacher.

The inspiration for
Small-Town Mom
came from a prayer we say at our church every week for our nation’s men and women in uniform. Not coming from a military background, it was a challenge to write. I hope you’ll find reading it as rewarding as I found writing it.

Please feel free to email me at
[email protected]
or snail mail me at PO Box 113, Selkirk, NY 12158. You can also visit me at
Facebook.com/JeanCGordon.author
,
JeanCGordon.com
or Tweet me at @JeanCGordon.

Blessings,

Jean C. Gordon

Questions for Discussion

1. Have you ever had an event in your life that pushed your faith to its limits?
   
2. What did you do?
   
3. Why do you think Jamie was unable to hold on to her faith after her husband was killed?
   
4. Could Eli have done more to bring Jamie back closer to God? What?
   
5. If Jamie were your friend, what would you have done to help her?
   
6. Do you agree or disagree with Jamie’s reasoning for allowing her son Myles to attend confirmation classes. Why or why not?
   
7. How do you think Eli’s childhood and military career colored his first impressions of Jamie?
   
8. Do you think those impressions were justified in any way? Why or why not?
   
9. Is Eli’s military background a positive or negative factor in his working with teenagers at school and church?
   
10. Do you think Jamie overreacted to Charlotte Russell’s behavior toward her and Eli? Why or why not?
    
11. How well do you think Eli handled the situation? Why?
    
12. At what point would you have been able to forgive Charlotte?
    
13. Have you ever had something you’d done when you were younger come back and cause problems later?
    
14. Do you think Jamie was right in vocalizing her resistance to having representatives of the Armed Forces at Career Day, even though she knew the other committee members would disagree with her?
    
15. Was Eli out of line talking to Myles about Eli and Jamie’s budding relationship without talking with her first?
    
16. Do you think Jamie would have found her way back to God and Community Church without Eli’s example?
    

We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired story.

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stories show that faith, forgiveness and hope have the power to lift spirits and change lives—always.

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Chapter One

“T
his isn’t easy to say, but I have to let you go, Joann. I’m sure you understand.”

“You’re firing me?” Joann Yoder faced her boss across the cluttered desk in his office. For once, she wasn’t tempted to straighten up for him. And she didn’t understand.

“
Ja.
I’m sorry.”

Otis Miller didn’t look the least bit sorry. Certainly not as sorry as she was to be losing a job she really needed. A job she loved. Why was this happening? Why now, when she was so close to realizing her dream?

She’d only been at Miller Press for five months, but working as an assistant editor and office manager at the Amish-owned publishing house was everything she’d ever wanted. How could it end so quickly? If she knew what she had done wrong, she could fix it. “At least tell me why.”

He sighed heavily, as if disappointed she hadn’t accepted her dismissal without question. “You knew when you came over from the bookstore that this might not be a permanent position.”

Joann had moved from a part-time job at the bookstore next door to help at the printing shop after Otis’s elder brother suffered a heart attack. When he passed away a few weeks later, Joann had assumed she would be able to keep his job. She loved gathering articles for their monthly magazine and weekly newspaper, as well as making sure the office ran smoothly and customers received the best possible attention. She dropped her gaze to her hands clenched tightly in her lap and struggled to hang on to her dignity. Tears pricked the back of her eyelids, but she refused to cry. “You told me I was doing a good job.”

“You have been. Better than I expected, but I’m giving Roman Weaver your position. I don’t need to tell you why.”

“
Nee,
you don’t.” Like everyone in the Amish community of Hope Springs, Ohio, she was aware of the trouble that had visited the Weaver family. She hated that her compassion struggled so mightily with her desire to support herself. This job was proof that her intelligence mattered. She might be the “bookworm” her brothers had often called her, but here she had a chance to put her learning to good use. Now it was all being taken away.

She couldn’t let it go without a fight. She looked up and blurted, “Does he really need the job more than I do?”

Otis didn’t like conflict. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his broad chest. “Roman has large medical bills to pay.”

“But the church held an auction to help raise money for him.”

“He and his family are grateful for all the help they received, but they are still struggling.”

She’d lost, and she knew it. Only a hint of the bitterness she felt slipped through in her words. “Plus, he’s your nephew.”

“That, too,” Otis admitted without any sign of embarrassment. Family came only after God in their Amish way of life.

Roman Weaver had had it rough, there was no denying that. It was a blessing that he hadn’t lost his arm after a pickup truck smashed into his buggy. Unfortunately, his damaged left arm was now paralyzed and useless. She’d seen him at the church meetings wearing a heavy sling and heard her brothers say the physical therapy he needed was expensive and draining his family’s resources.

Her heart went out to him and his family, but why should she be the one to lose her job? There were others who worked for Miller Press.

She didn’t bother to voice that thought. She already knew why she had been chosen. Because she was a woman.

Joann had no illusions about the male-dominated society she lived in. Unmarried Amish women could hold a job, but they gave it up when they married to make a home for their husband and children. A married woman could work outside the home, but only if her husband agreed to it.

Amish marriage was a partnership where each man and woman knew and respected their roles within the
Ordnung,
the laws of their Amish church. Men were the head of the household. Joann didn’t disagree with any of it. At least, not very much.

It was just that she had no desire to spend the rest of her life living with her brothers, moving from one house to another and being an unwanted burden to their families. She’d never had a come-calling boyfriend, although she’d accepted a ride home from the singings with a few fellas in her youth. She’d never received an offer of marriage. And at the advanced age of twenty-six, it wasn’t likely she would.

Besides, there wasn’t anyone in Hope Springs she would consider spending the rest of her life with. As the years had gone by, she’d begun to accept that she would always be a maiden aunt. Maybe she’d get a cat one day.

Otis folded his hands together on his desk. “I am sorry, Joann. Roman needs the job. He can’t work in the sawmill with only one good arm. It’s too dangerous.”

“I must work, too. My brothers have many children. I don’t wish to burden them by having them take care of me, as well.”

“Come now, you’re being unreasonable. Your brothers do not begrudge you room and board.”

“They would never say it, but I think they do.” She knew her three brothers had taken her in out of a strong sense of duty after their parents died and not because of brotherly love. Hadn’t they decided her living arrangements among themselves without consulting her? She stayed with each brother for four months. At the end of that time, she moved to the next brother’s home. By the end of the year, she was back where she had started. She always had a roof over her head, but she didn’t have a home.

She wanted a home of her own, but that wasn’t going to happen without a good-paying job.

“Joann, think of Roman. Where is your Christian compassion?”