Jenny's Choice (Apple Creek Dreams #3) Read online

  Endorsements

  Advance praise for Jenny’s Choice by Patrick E. Craig…

  “From the first page I felt a tender compassion for Jenny, the young woman in this novel. Her story unfolds with a gentle hand and a lyrical tone that leads to an ending filled with hope. As with the other books in the Apple Creek Dreams series, you’ll want to read this book in one sitting. Preferably with a cup of tea.”

  Robin Jones Gunn,

  bestselling author of the Glenbrooke series and the Christy Miller series

  “Patrick Craig’s Apple Creek Dreams series is both poetic and sincere. Strong characters who deal with the grief and joy of everyday life make these stories you’ll remember long after you reach the last page….Jenny’s Choice is a tender story of grief, restoration, and grace.”

  Vannetta Chapman,

  author of the Pebble Creek Series

  “Patrick Craig’s artistry is like a buggy ride across the Amish countryside. It’s a gentle, bouncing journey through bucolic farmland blended with a compelling story of family, romance, and faith. Delight yourself to the perfect escape with Jenny’s Choice.”

  Michael K. Reynolds,

  author of the acclaimed Heirs of Ireland Series

  Harvest House books by Patrick E. Craig

  A Quilt for Jenna

  http://bit.ly/QuiltforJenna

  The Road Home

  http://bit.ly/RoadHome

  Jenny’s Choice

  HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

  EUGENE, OREGON

  Cover by Garborg Design Works, Savage, Minnesota

  Cover photos © Chris Garborg; Bigstock / robhillphoto.com

  Author photo by William Craig-Craig Propraphica

  Patrick E. Craig is published in association with the Steve Laube Agency, LLC, 5025 N. Central Ave., #635, Phoenix, Arizona, 85012.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  JENNY’S CHOICE

  Copyright © 2014 by Patrick E. Craig

  Published by Harvest House Publishers

  Eugene, Oregon 97402

  www.harvesthousepublishers.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Craig, Patrick E.

  Jenny’s Choice / Patrick E. Craig.

  pages cm.—(Apple Creek Dreams Series ; Book 3)

  ISBN 978-0-7369-5109-8 (pbk.)

  ISBN 978-0-7369-5110-4 (eBook)

  1. Amish—Fiction. 2. Farm life—Pennsylvania—Paradise—Fiction. 3. Life change events—Fiction. 4. Homecoming—Ohio—Apple Creek—Fiction. 5. Authors and publishers—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3603.R3554J46 2014

  813'.6—dc23

  2013023639

  All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author’s and publisher’s rights is strictly prohibited.

  DEDICATION

  Dedicated in loving memory to Fred and Alice Niemi:

  To Uncle Fred for being a second father to me and giving me an undying love for fly fishing, and to Aunt Alice for giving me an undying love for writing.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  To my wife, Judy,

  for her tireless efforts in proofing and editing Jenny’s Choice.

  To Amish author Sicily Yoder,

  for her advice and counsel on all things Amish.

  To Lindsay, Sarah, Jane, Ashley, Julie, Laura, and Jill

  for their extremely helpful advice and critique.

  CONTENTS

  Endorsements

  Harvest House books by Patrick E. Craig

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  A Note from Patrick E. Craig

  Part One: Paradise Lost

  Chapter One: The Departure

  Chapter Two: The Journey

  Chapter Three: The Homecoming

  Chapter Four: Lost

  Chapter Five: News

  Chapter Six: Dark Days

  Chapter Seven: Safe Haven

  Chapter Eight: Grief

  Chapter Nine: Healing Words

  Chapter Ten: A Helping Hand

  Chapter Eleven: A Mother’s Love

  Chapter Twelve: The Meeting

  Part Two: The Long and Winding Road

  Chapter Thirteen: An Open Door

  Chapter Fourteen: Uncovering

  Chapter Fifteen: Opposition

  Chapter Sixteen: A Shelter

  Chapter Seventeen: The Declaration

  Chapter Eighteen: The Quilt

  Chapter Nineteen: The Journals of Jenny Hershberger

  Chapter Twenty: Jeremy

  Chapter Twenty-One: Trouble

  Chapter Twenty-Two: Tragedy

  Chapter Twenty-Three: The Truth

  Chapter Twenty-Four: One Heart—Two Lives

  Chapter Twenty-Five: The Third Day

  Chapter Twenty-Six: The Dream Slips Away

  Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Decision

  Chapter Twenty-Eight: Another Homecoming

  Part Three: The Trees of Eden

  Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Fountain

  Chapter Thirty: Songs from the Heart

  Chapter Thirty-One: Big Business

  Chapter Thirty-Two: Beyond the Veil

  Chapter Thirty-Three: The Visit

  Chapter Thirty-Four: The Proposal

  Chapter Thirty-Five: The Offer

  Chapter Thirty-Six: Questions

  Chapter Thirty-Seven: Jenny’s Choice

  Chapter Thirty-Eight: Only by Grace

  Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Song

  Epilogue: Among the Trees of Eden

  Discussion Guide

  About Patrick E. Craig

  Praise for the first two books in Patrick Craig’s Apple Creek Dreams Series

  Ready to Discover More?

  A Note from Patrick E. Craig

  WHEN I FIRST STARTED WRITING the Apple Creek Dreams Series, I was amazed at the way my characters seemed to spring from the ground, fully developed, letting me see and record all of their strengths and flaws as though I were writing their biographies. First, I wrote about Jerusha Springer and her encounter with God in the Great Storm of 1950 that paralyzed Ohio. Then, I shared the story of Jenny Springer, Jerusha and Reuben’s adopted daughter, and her impassioned search for her own identity, which threatened to take her outside the Amish community of Apple Creek.

  For the third book, I fully intended to write the story of Rachel Hershberger, Jenny’s daughter. But when I finished The Road Home, I was startled to discover that I had come to love Jenny Hershberger—her strength, her passion, her mind, her love for God…she had captured my heart. I kept trying to move on to Rachel’s tale, but I could not. So I asked my publisher if I could continue with Jenny’s story, and Harvest House graciously gave me permission to do so.

  So here is the rest of Jenny’s story. For the romantic, it’s the story of true love. For the pragmatist, it’s the story of a gift given and a gift received. And for the one who longs for adventure, it’s the journey of a tiny girl who is found beside a frozen pond in the hea
rt of a blizzard, the road a young woman travels to find her way home, and the coming to fruition of the gift that God placed in her heart.

  Part One

  PARADISE LOST

  Sometimes I think life is like a rushing river that begins its journey high in the mountains, tumbles down over jagged rocks, rushes headlong over cliffs, and pours booming through nameless chasms until at last it escapes the harsh stone walls to the broad plain spread before it, flowing deep and quiet through lush meadows between banks that hold it tenderly.

  On the way to this place, we usually make choices quickly and without thinking, like those a boatman makes as his vessel poises on the brink before it plunges headlong into the rapids. We look back on these instantaneous choices and understand, with a quiet shudder in our soul, the eternal enormity of a moment.

  But even so, the choices we make as we drift in the place of safety and security can be the most consequential. For every soldier knows that in the lush growth beside a quiet river, or beneath the deep underbrush of a peaceful forest, the enemy is most likely to be hidden.

  “Choices”

  from the journals of Jenny Hershberger

  CHAPTER ONE

  The Departure

  NOVEMBER 1978

  JENNY HERSHBERGER WALKED SLOWLY INTO the room and surveyed the piles of boxes waiting to be moved out to the wagon. Her eyes turned to a heap of clothing spread across the bed. With a weary sigh she brushed back an errant curl that had escaped from her kappe. Each item she looked at seemed to have a mouth clamoring for her attention, each with a story to tell or a memory to unveil.

  This will be the hard part.

  She went to the pine dresser—the first big project Jonathan had undertaken after Grandfather Borntraeger began to teach him woodworking. The detailing was coarse and the lines of the piece a bit awkward, but she had loved it from the moment Jonathan moved it into their room. She remembered him standing proudly beside it as she ran her hands over the top and opened each drawer as though it were a treasure trove. She loved the smell of the linseed oil he had rubbed into the wood, and when she had spread a lace piece over the top and placed her things there, it had become a symbol of all that Jonathan had left behind from his old life and all that he had become to be with her.

  Now she picked up one of the objects on the top of the dresser, a small box. A sharp, almost physical pain touched her heart as she opened the lid. Inside were several folded pieces of paper. She took one out, slowly spread it open on the dresser, and began to read.

  My precious Jenny,

  It’s the end of another long day here in Paradise. I’ve been in the fields since daybreak with Grandfather Borntraeger. As soon as the thaw came and the soil started to warm, we began preparing the ground for spring planting. This is the hardest work I’ve ever done, yet at the same time it is the most fulfilling. Your grandfather is a kind man, but he’s very strict and doesn’t put up with any complaining or questioning of his methods.

  Since I’m so new to this, he must teach me as we work. I feel like a little boy all over again, but he’s very patient with me even when I make mistakes.

  I’m beginning to comprehend so many things, especially about God and His Son, Jesus. The Bible is a wonderful book. Did you know that God made the first man out of dirt? I wonder if that’s why I feel so at home on the land. When I’m out in the fields with Grandfather Borntraeger, walking behind the plow, I feel as though my life finally means something, as if this is the most natural and real way I could ever be. As I work, I remember the words of a song I heard the Amish men singing when I first came to Apple Creek.

  Let him who has laid his hand on the plow not look back! Press on to the goal! Press on to Jesus Christ! The one who gains Christ will rise with Him from the dead on the youngest day.

  That’s who I want to be—the one who lays his hand to the plow and doesn’t look back!

  Jenny didn’t finish reading, but folded the letter and placed it back in the box. Tears formed in her eyes as she stood alone in the room, lost in her sorrow.

  “Mama?”

  A quiet little voice spoke from the doorway. Jenny turned to the young girl who stood there. She was small, with dark hair and deep, sea-blue eyes.

  She has his eyes—she’s so much like him.

  Jenny went to the girl and stooped down as she took the little one in her arms and lifted her into a hug. The girl softly touched Jenny’s face.

  “Why are you crying, Mama?” she asked.

  “It’s nothing, my Rachel,” Jenny answered. “I was only reading your papa’s letters, the ones he wrote to me before we were courting, when he lived here with your great-grandfather and learned the Amish ways. He wrote to me every day of the two years we were apart. I kept the most special letters in this box so I could read them now and again and let du lieber Gott remind me how much He blessed me by sending me your papa.”

  “Is Papa happy in heaven?” Rachel asked.

  “Oh, yes, my dearest; Papa is very, very happy with Jesus and all the angels.”

  “Why do we have to move to another house, Mama? I like our house. What if Papa decides to come back from heaven and he can’t find us? Won’t he be sad?”

  Jenny sat on the bed and set Rachel down beside her. “Papa won’t come back from heaven, darling. Heaven is so wunderbar that once you’ve gone there, you don’t ever want to come back. And we wouldn’t want to call him back to this world once he’s been with Jesus. He will wait for us there, and one day we will join him and be with him again.

  “In the meantime, we’re sad that he’s gone…very sad. We must move because it’s very hard for your mama to live here without Papa. There are so many things that make me remember him, and my heart breaks again each time I see them. I need to go back to my old home and be with my mama and papa so they can help me not to feel this way. And they will help you to be happy again. Your grossdaadi can’t wait for you to come, and Mama, my mama, has prepared a special room just for you. You will love being with them. Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here soon, and it will be comforting to be in Apple Creek with our family and friends for the holidays.”

  “Oh, yes, Mama, I love Grossmudder and Grossdaadi. It will be nice to see them. But won’t we ever come back to Paradise?”

  “Only der vollkluge Gott knows the answer to that question, my darling. Now, do you have all your things packed up like I asked you?”

  “Mostly, Mama. Can you help me with the rest?” Rachel asked.

  “Yes, dearest. I’ll be there in a bit, when I finish here. Run ahead.”

  Rachel bounced off the bed and ran from the room. Jenny smiled as she watched her go.

  She has her papa’s eyes and my bounce!

  Jenny sighed again as Jonathan crowded back into her thoughts. She stood up, grabbed an empty box, and quickly put the letter box and the rest of the items from the dresser top into it. Then she folded up the lace piece, placed it on top of her other belongings, and closed the box. She set it with the others, piled the clothing on a chair by the door, and then pulled the quilt and the linens from the bed. She folded them and put them into the last remaining empty box. She surveyed the stack of boxes and then went to the closet and took out her suitcase. Carefully she packed her clothing in it and snapped the latches shut. The click of the latches echoed in the room like tiny gunshots. Finished.

  She took a deep breath.

  There, I’m done. That wasn’t so bad. Cousin Borntraeger can carry all this out for me and take it to the storage place. Mama said to just bring our clothes for now.

  She heard boots on the front porch, and her heart leapt. Then just as quickly, reality dashed her hopes. Another deep sigh. How many times had she heard Jonathan coming up the front stoop and walking across the porch to the door? It was always such a comforting sound at the end of the day. But now…

  There was a knock and then a voice calling. “Jenny? Are you ready, then?”

  “I’m here, Cousin, in the bedroom. Can you help m
e with these boxes?”

  Lem Borntraeger walked down the hall and into the room. He glanced around at the emptiness and pulled his black hat from his head.

  “Jenny, are you sure this is what you want? We all want you to stay. I know it won’t be the same without Jonathan, but you have family here.”

  Jenny looked at her tall cousin. He had been one of the blessings God bestowed on Jenny and Jonathan when they had come to Paradise ten years before. He had taken her into his heart from the first day they met, and after she and Jonathan married, he became their good friend and helper. She reached over and patted his arm.

  “I have to go home, Lem. I need to be with my mama and papa. You will run the farm, and it will prosper in your care. For me, there are too many memories. Sometimes my remembrances of Jonathan and our days here feel like cobwebs that stick to me and hold me fast. They keep me from going on with my life. And I need to go on now or I’ll die inside.”

  “Will you ever come back?” Lem asked.

  “Right now I would say no,” Jenny answered. “But who knows the road ahead? We may come back someday when I can be in this house without weeping every time I turn around.” Jenny managed a weak smile. “I need to go, Lem.”

  “All right then,” Lem said. “I understand.”

  He stood for a moment with his hat in his hands. “Jonathan was a good man, and he was my friend. I will miss him deeply.” Then Lem put his hat back on and smiled. “It’s enough. Now let me load these boxes.”

  Jenny watched him as he picked up two boxes and went out. She took one last look at the room and then turned to go.

  “Jenny…”

  She stopped and turned, thinking she had heard Jonathan’s voice. But it was only the echoes of unspoken longings that filled her aching heart. She went one last time to the bed and touched it softly.

  “Jonathan, oh, Jonathan. You are my true love. There will never be anyone like you for me. Thank you, my dearest, for loving me so deeply. Thank you for being a good man, a wonderful husband, and a loving father to Rachel. May Gott be with you on your journey.”