A Seat by the Hearth Read online

  PRAISE FOR AMY CLIPSTON

  “This heartbreaking series continues to take a fearlessly honest look at grief, as hopelessness threatens to steal what happiness Allen has treasured within his marriage and recent fatherhood. Clipston takes these feelings seriously without sugarcoating any aspect of the mourning process, allowing her characters to make their painful but ultimately joyous journey back to love and faith. Readers who have made this tough and ongoing pilgrimage themselves will appreciate the author’s realistic portrayal of coming to terms with loss in order to continue living with hope and happiness.”

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS, 4 STARS, ON ROOM ON THE PORCH SWING

  “A story of grief as well as new beginnings, this is a lovely Amish tale and the start of a great new series.”

  —PARKERSBURG NEWS AND SENTINEL ON A PLACE AT OUR TABLE

  “Themes of family, forgiveness, love, and strength are woven throughout the story . . . a great choice for all readers of Amish fiction.”

  —CBA MARKET MAGAZINE ON A PLACE AT OUR TABLE

  “This debut title in a new series offers an emotionally charged and engaging read headed by sympathetically drawn and believable protagonists. The meaty issues of trust and faith make this a solid book group choice.”

  —LIBRARY JOURNAL ON A PLACE AT OUR TABLE

  “These sweet, tender novellas from one of the genre’s best make the perfect sampler for new readers curious about Amish romances.”

  —LIBRARY JOURNAL ON AMISH SWEETHEARTS

  “Clipston is as reliable as her character, giving Emily a difficult and intense romance worthy of Emily’s ability to shine the light of Christ into the hearts of those she loves.”

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS, 4½ STARS, TOP PICK! ON THE CHERISHED QUILT

  “Clipston’s heartfelt writing and engaging characters make her a fan favorite. Her latest Amish tale combines a spiritual message of accepting God’s blessings as they are given with a sweet romance.”

  —LIBRARY JOURNAL ON THE CHERISHED QUILT

  “In the first book in her Amish Heirloom series, Clipston takes readers on a roller-coaster ride through grief, guilt, and anxiety.”

  —BOOKLIST ON THE FORGOTTEN RECIPE

  “Clipston delivers another enchanting series starter with a tasty premise, family secrets, and sweet-as-pie romance, offering assurance that true love can happen more than once and second chances are worth fighting for.”

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS, 4½ STARS, TOP PICK! ON THE FORGOTTEN RECIPE

  “Clipston is well versed in Amish culture and does a good job creating the world of Lancaster County, Penn. . . . Amish fiction fans will enjoy this story—and want a taste of Veronica’s raspberry pie!”

  —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ON THE FORGOTTEN RECIPE

  “[Clipston] does an excellent job of wrapping up her story while setting the stage for the sequel.”

  —CBA RETAILERS + RESOURCES ON THE FORGOTTEN RECIPE

  “Clipston brings this engaging series to an end with two emotional family reunions, a prodigal son parable, a sweet but hard-won romance, and a happy ending for characters readers have grown to love. Once again, she gives us all we could possibly want from a talented storyteller.”

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS, 4½ STARS, TOP PICK! ON A SIMPLE PRAYER

  “. . . will leave readers craving more.”

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS, 4½ STARS, TOP PICK! ON A MOTHER’S SECRET

  “Clipston’s series starter has a compelling drama involving faith, family, and romance . . . [an] absorbing series.”

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS, 4½ STARS, TOP PICK! ON A HOPEFUL HEART

  “Authentic characters, delectable recipes, and faith abound in Clipston’s second Kauffman Amish Bakery story.”

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS, 4 STARS ON A PROMISE OF HOPE

  “. . . an entertaining story of Amish life, loss, love and family.”

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS, 4 STARS ON A PLACE OF PEACE

  “This fifth and final installment in the Kauffman Amish Bakery series is sure to please fans who have waited for Katie’s story.”

  —LIBRARY JOURNAL ON A SEASON OF LOVE

  “[The Kauffman Amish Bakery] series’ wide popularity is sure to attract readers to this novella, and they won’t be disappointed by the excellent writing and the story’s wholesome goodness.”

  —LIBRARY JOURNAL ON A PLAIN AND SIMPLE CHRISTMAS

  OTHER BOOKS BY AMY CLIPSTON

  THE AMISH HOMESTEAD SERIES

  A Place at Our Table

  Room on the Porch Swing

  THE AMISH HEIRLOOM SERIES

  The Forgotten Recipe

  The Courtship Basket

  The Cherished Quilt

  The Beloved Hope Chest

  THE HEARTS OF THE LANCASTER GRAND HOTEL SERIES

  A Hopeful Heart

  A Mother’s Secret

  A Dream of Home

  A Simple Prayer

  THE KAUFFMAN AMISH BAKERY SERIES

  A Gift of Grace

  A Promise of Hope

  A Place of Peace

  A Life of Joy

  A Season of Love

  NOVELLA COLLECTIONS

  Amish Sweethearts

  NOVELLAS

  A Plain and Simple Christmas

  Naomi’s Gift included in An Amish Christmas Gift

  A Spoonful of Love included in An Amish Kitchen

  Love Birds included in An Amish Market

  Love and Buggy Rides included in An Amish Harvest

  Summer Storms included in An Amish Summer

  The Christmas Cat included in An Amish Christmas Love

  Home Sweet Home included in An Amish Winter

  A Son for Always included in An Amish Spring

  A Legacy of Love included in An Amish Heirloom

  No Place Like Home included in An Amish Homecoming

  NONFICTION

  A Gift of Love

  ZONDERVAN

  A Seat by the Hearth

  Copyright © 2018 by Amy Clipston

  Requests for information should be addressed to:

  Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

  Epub Edition September 2018 9780310349099

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication

  Names: Clipston, Amy, author.

  Title: A seat by the hearth / Amy Clipston.

  Description: Nashville : Zondervan, [2018] | Series: An Amish Homestead novel ; 3

  Identifiers: LCCN 2018017484 | ISBN 9780310349082 (paperback)

  Subjects: LCSH: Amish--Fiction. | GSAFD: Christian fiction. | Love stories.

  Classification: LCC PS3603.L58 S45 2018 | DDC 813/.6--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018017484

  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

  Any internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

  Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagi
nation or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Printed in the United States of America

  18 19 20 21 22 / LSC / 5 4 3 2 1

  For editor Jean Bloom with love and appreciation.

  Thank you for using your amazing talent to polish my books and

  keep my characters and timelines straight. You’re a blessing!

  GLOSSARY

  ach: oh

  aenti: aunt

  appeditlich: delicious

  Ausbund: Amish hymnal

  bedauerlich: sad

  boppli: baby

  bopplin: babies

  brot: bread

  bruder: brother

  bruderskind: niece/nephew

  bruderskinner: nieces/nephews

  bu: boy

  buwe: boys

  daadi: granddad

  daadihaus: a small house built onto or near the main house for grandparents to live in

  daed: father

  danki: thank you

  dat: dad

  Dietsch: Pennsylvania Dutch, the Amish language (a German dialect)

  dochder: daughter

  dochdern: daughters

  Dummle!: Hurry!

  Englisher: a non-Amish person

  faul: lazy

  faulenzer: lazy person

  fraa: wife

  freind: friend

  freinden: friends

  froh: happy

  gegisch: silly

  gern gschehne: you’re welcome

  grossdaadi: grandfather

  grossdochder: granddaughter

  grossdochdern: granddaughters

  grossmammi: grandmother

  gross-sohn: grandson

  Gude mariye: Good morning

  gut: good

  Gut nacht: Good night

  haus: house

  Ich liebe dich: I love you

  kaffi: coffee

  kapp: prayer covering or cap

  kichli: cookie

  kichlin: cookies

  kind: child

  kinner: children

  krank: sick

  kuche: cake

  kumm: come

  liewe: love, a term of endearment

  maed: young women, girls

  maedel: young woman

  mamm: mom

  mammi: grandma

  mei: my

  Meiding: shunning

  mutter: mother

  naerfich: nervous

  narrisch: crazy

  onkel: uncle

  Ordnung: the oral tradition of practices required and forbidden in the Amish faith

  schee: pretty

  schmaert: smart

  schtupp: family room

  schweschder: sister

  schweschdere: sisters

  sohn: son

  Was iss letz?: What’s wrong?

  Willkumm: Welcome

  Wie geht’s: How do you do? or Good day!

  wunderbaar: wonderful

  ya: yes

  zwillingbopplin: twins

  AMISH HOMESTEAD SERIES FAMILY TREES

  Edna m. Yonnie Allgyer

  |

  Priscilla

  Marilyn m. Willie Dienner

  |

  Simeon (deceased)

  Kayla m. James “Jamie” Riehl

  Nathan

  Eva m. Simeon (deceased) Dienner

  |

  Simeon Jr. (“Junior”)

  Nellie m. Walter Esh

  |

  Judah

  Naaman

  Laura m. Allen Lambert

  |

  Mollie Faith (mother—Savilla—deceased)

  Irma Mae m. Milton Lapp

  |

  Savilla

  Florence m. Vernon Riehl

  |

  James (“Jamie”) Riehl (mother—Dorothy—deceased)

  Walter Esh (father—Alphus Esh—deceased)

  Mark Riehl (Laura’s twin)

  (mother—Dorothy—deceased)

  Laura (Mark’s twin) m. Allen

  Lambert (mother—Dorothy—deceased)

  Roy Esh (father—Alphus Esh—deceased)

  Sarah Jane Esh (father—Alphus Esh—deceased)

  Cindy Riehl (mother—Dorothy—deceased)

  Kayla m. James “Jamie” Riehl

  |

  Calvin

  Elsie m. Noah Zook

  |

  Christian

  Lily Rose

  NOTE TO THE READER

  WHILE THIS NOVEL IS SET AGAINST THE REAL BACKDROP of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the characters are fictional. There is no intended resemblance between the characters in this book and any real members of the Amish or Mennonite communities. As with any work of fiction, I’ve taken license in some areas of research as a means of creating the necessary circumstances for my characters. My research was thorough; however, it would be impossible to be completely accurate in details and description, since every community differs. Therefore, any inaccuracies in the Amish and Mennonite lifestyles portrayed in this book are completely due to fictional license.

  CONTENTS

  Praise for Amy Clipston

  Other Books by Amy Clipston

  Glossary

  Amish Homestead Series Family Trees

  Note to the Reader

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Discussion Questions

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  ONE

  PRISCILLA ALLGYER’S HANDS TREMBLED AS HER TAXI sped down the two-lane road. When the Allgyer’s Belgian and Dutch Harness Horses sign came into view, her stomach seemed to twist.

  She turned to her son, who’d nodded off in the booster seat beside her.

  “Ethan.” She nudged him. “Ethan, wake up. We’re here.”

  “Already?” His honey-brown eyes fluttered open as he yawned. “But I just fell asleep.” He peered out the window as the Prius steered up the winding rock driveway.

  When they reached the top, she could see her father’s line of red barns and stables. She’d been away for eight years, but all the buildings looked as pristine as if they’d just been painted. Perhaps they had. The white split-rail fence lining the enormous, lush, rolling green pasture where his beautiful horses frolicked looked the same. The large, two-story whitewashed house where she was born and raised seemed just as immaculate. Every building, every blade of grass on her father’s horse farm was as impeccable as she remembered.

  If only her childhood had been as perfect.

  “This is where you grew up, Mom?”

  “Yes.” Her chest constricted as the taxi bumped over the rocks. She cleared her throat and tried to shake off the apprehension coiling through her. When she left all those years ago, she promised she’d never return.

  But here she was with nothing but a few dollars to her name and a child she’d had out of wedlock.

  “It’s nice.” Ethan pointed to the row of barns after unbuckling himself. “It’s a horse farm?”

  She nodded. Ethan lowered his window, and the humid July air mixed with the familiar aroma of moist earth and horses permeated the taxi and overpowered her senses.

  “I can touch the horses?”

  She shrugged. “I imagine so.” If my father even allows us to stay.

&n
bsp; She shoved that thought away. Aside from a few nights in a motel and then a homeless shelter, her parents were her only hope. Priscilla would do anything to give her son a safe home.

  When she noticed movement in the corner of her vision, she turned toward her father’s largest barn. The door had swung open, and a man stood with his back to the driveway. He looked taller than Robert Yoder, the farmhand who had worked for her father since she was a teenager. His shoulders seemed broader too.

  The taxi came to a halt in front of the house, and Priscilla’s attention was drawn to her childhood home. Her palms began to sweat as she studied the wraparound porch. Her father’s harsh voice and biting criticisms echoed in her mind, and when she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples against a coming headache, she could still see his disappointed face.

  This was a mistake. Her father would never forgive her. Maybe they should have stayed in Baltimore with Trent. Her left hand moved to her right bicep, hidden by the three-quarter sleeve of her purple shirt. The situation there might have improved if she’d tried harder to keep Trent happy.

  But it wasn’t safe to keep Ethan in that environment! It was her duty to protect her son.

  “Miss?” The taxi driver turned to face her. “I think we’re here.”

  Priscilla had just opened her mouth to respond when a tap near Ethan’s open window startled her. She spun toward it and was surprised to find Mark Riehl peering in.

  “Can I help—” He stopped, recognition sparkling in his bright-blue eyes. “Priscilla?”

  “Mark. Hi.” She tried to force a smile, but it felt more like a grimace.

  “Your dat didn’t mention you were coming home today.” He glanced toward the house and then back at her.

  “I didn’t tell either of my parents I was coming.” Her throat suddenly felt bone-dry.

  “Oh.” He smiled. “They’re going to be surprised.”

  That was an understatement. “Yes, they sure are.”

  Mark turned his attention to Ethan and smiled. “Hi. I’m Mark.” He extended his arm through the open window, and Ethan shook his hand.

  “Hi. I’m Ethan. I’m six and a half. We’re here to visit my grandparents.”

  “It’s nice to meet you.” Mark grinned as his eyes flickered back to Priscilla.

  She swallowed a groan. Why did Mark Riehl, one of her schoolmates and an acquaintance from her youth group, have to be at her father’s farm when she arrived? Coming home was difficult enough. Facing a peer from her past made it even more painful. News of her arrival would rage through the community like wildfire, and she was certain that judgment would follow.