A Dream of Home: Hearts of the Lancaster Grand Hotel: Book Three Read online

  Acclaim for Amy Clipston

  “. . . will leave readers craving more.”

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS, 4½-STAR REVIEW OF A MOTHER’S SECRET, TOP PICK!

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

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS, 4 ½-STAR REVIEW OF A HOPEFUL HEART, TOP PICK!

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

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS, 4-STAR REVIEW OF A PROMISE OF HOPE

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

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS, 4-STAR REVIEW OF 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 REVIEW OF 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 REVIEW OF A PLAIN AND SIMPLE CHRISTMAS

  “Inspiring and a perfect fit for the holiday season.”

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS, 4-STAR REVIEW OF A PLAIN AND SIMPLE CHRISTMAS

  Also by Amy Clipston

  THE HEARTS OF THE LANCASTER

  GRAND HOTEL SERIES

  A Hopeful Heart

  A Mother’s Secret

  A Dream of Home

  A Simple Prayer (Available April 2015)

  THE KAUFFMAN AMISH BAKERY SERIES

  A Gift of Grace

  A Place of Peace

  A Promise of Hope

  A Life of Joy

  A Season of Love

  A Plain and Simple Christmas

  Naomi’s Gift

  Roadside Assistance (young adult)

  Reckless Heart (young adult)

  Destination Unknown (young adult)

  A Spoonful of Love, included in An Amish Kitchen

  A Son for Always, included in An Amish Cradle

  (Available February 2015)

  NONFICTION

  A Gift of Love

  ZONDERVAN

  A Dream of Home

  Copyright © 2014 by Amy Clipston

  ePub Edition © October 2014: ISBN 978-0-310-33586-3

  Requests for information should be addressed to:

  Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Clipston, Amy.

  A dream of home / Amy Clipston.

  pages cm

  ISBN 978-0-310-33585-6 (trade paper)

  1. Amish—Fiction. 2. Domestic fiction. I. Title.

  PS3603.L58D74 2014

  813'.6—dc23

  2014015375

  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. All rights reserved worldwide.

  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 imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

  14 15 16 17 18 19 20 / RRD / 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  For all the brave women who are serving or have served in our military

  Contents

  GLOSSARY

  HEARTS OF THE LANCASTER GRAND HOTEL 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

  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Glossary

  ach: oh

  aenti: aunt

  appeditlich: delicious

  Ausbund: Amish hymnal

  bedauerlich: sad

  boppli: baby

  brot: bread

  bruder: brother

  bruderskinner: nieces/nephews

  bu: boy

  buwe: boys

  Christenpflicht: Amish prayer book

  daadi: granddad

  daed: dad

  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

  fraa: wife

  Frehlicher Grischtdaag: Merry Christmas

  freind: friend

  freinden: friends

  freindschaft: relative

  froh: happy

  gegisch: silly

  Gern gschehne: You’re welcome

  grank: sick

  grossdaadi: grandfather

  grossdochder: granddaughter

  grossdochdern: granddaughters

  grosskinner: grandchildren

  grossmammi: grandmother

  Gude mariye: Good morning

  gut: good

  Gut nacht: Good night

  haus: house

  Ich liebe dich: I love you

  kapp: prayer covering or cap

  kichli: cookie

  kichlin: cookies

  kind: child

  kinner: children

  kumm: come

  liewe: love, a term of endearment

  maed: young women, girls

  maedel: young woman

  mamm: mom

  mammi: grandma

  mei: my

  mutter: mother

  naerfich: nervous

  narrisch: crazy

  onkel: uncle

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

  schee: pretty

  schtupp: family room

  schweschder: sister

  Was iss letz?: What’s wrong?

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

  willkumm: welcome

  wunderbaar: wonderful

  ya: yes

  Hearts of the Lancaster Grand Hotel Family Trees

  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 and 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; howev
er, it would be impossible to be completely accurate in details and description because each and every community differs. Therefore, any inaccuracies in the Amish and Mennonite lifestyles portrayed in this book are completely due to fictional license.

  ONE

  Madeleine Miller’s heart pounded in her ears as she knelt next to the stretcher and held on to its side. “It’s going to be all right,” she cooed. She was wearing earplugs, but she knew the wounded soldier in front of her, barely clinging to life, couldn’t hear her words any more than she could hear his moans. Every other sound was drowned out by the deafening thunder of the C-130’s engine.

  Suddenly she realized the cargo hold was filled with stretchers bearing soldiers and airmen hooked up to a tangle of oxygen canisters and IVs. Now their groans and pleas for help were nearly drowning out the roar of the aircraft. Madeleine let go of the stretcher, stood, and spun around, searching for her medical crew director, the other flight nurse who was supposed to have flown this mission with her. But Madeleine couldn’t find her. The loadmaster, who was responsible for the aircraft’s cargo, was also missing. Yet the number of patients on stretchers was still multiplying, and the entire fuselage was closing in on her.

  Now, even with earplugs, Madeleine could hear the chorus of agonizing screams, and they overwhelmed her as she stared helplessly at the scene around her. She had no medicine, no support, no strength.

  She was all alone.

  Madeleine took a step backward and bumped into something. Turning, she looked down to see a body bag, and then cupping her hand to her mouth, she gasped as she read the tag: T. ROBINSON.

  “Travis! No! No! No!” Madeleine screamed though grief nearly suffocated her. But the sound of her voice was again drowned out by the roar of the engine . . .

  Madeleine’s eyes flew open. She rolled onto her side and stared at the empty wall.

  It was just a dream.

  Another nightmare.

  Madeleine released a shuddering sigh as she ran her hands down the sweat-drenched T-shirt and boxer shorts that served as pajamas. She kicked off the homemade quilt, sat up, and studied the large bedroom. It was the same room that had been her grandparents’ master bedroom. It was still decorated the way they’d left it—with a double bed, two dressers, and four plain white walls.

  She looked at the battery-operated clock on the nightstand. The bright green digital numbers indicated it was only 5:15. She sighed and ran her hands through her long, dark hair, which was also sweaty from the dream that had rocked her to her core. Memories of her time as an air force flight nurse haunted her, despite her attempts to leave it all behind. And then there was Travis.

  Her gaze moved to a single stream of light that broke through the tiny sliver where the green window shade didn’t quite cover the bottom of the window. Madeleine’s feet hit the cold floor, and she shivered as she walked to the window. She lifted the shade and stared out at the small, dark field behind the house. She’d spent nearly every summer in this house from the time she was five until she was twelve, while her mother served in the military. She could be with her mother as she was transferred from place to place—with Madeleine moving from school to school—but her happiest childhood memories were created during those summers in this small house in Paradise, Pennsylvania. Therefore, it only made sense when her mother suggested Madeleine move here.

  Madeleine studied the two-story farmhouse and line of barns that sat across the field, beyond her single barn and the house she lived in now. She remembered when her grandparents owned both properties and ran a dairy farm. Then nearly ten years ago, they sold the land to an Amish man, who now ran a business on that land.

  She turned back toward the bed and gave up on the notion of eight hours of sleep. She hadn’t enjoyed a full night of sleep since she’d lost Travis, and it was apparent she wasn’t going to enjoy that luxury anytime soon. Instead, she decided to do the one thing most likely to calm her when the nightmares came.

  Soon Madeleine pulled her hair into a thick ponytail before changing into a long-sleeved sweatshirt, shorts, and her favorite running shoes. When she stepped out onto the front porch, the chilly September air hit her like a wall of ice. She shivered as she loped down the steps and began jogging toward the paved road at the end of her rock driveway, the one she and her neighbor shared.

  Before long, thoughts of the crisp air evaporated as she fell into the zone. All that mattered was the sound of her feet pounding the pavement. She ran a route she had mapped out when she first moved into the house nearly eight months ago. She moved through the community, taking in the patchwork of farms, large homes, and barns. Cows lowed in the fields, and the aroma of a nearby pig farm overpowered her senses. The scenery was peaceful and inviting, just what her soul had craved. She wanted to find a place where she could release all the stress that had built up inside her since joining the military right after earning her nursing degree.

  Her faith was shaken after she lost Travis. She’d always felt a close relationship with God, but when Travis died, she was left with nothing but loneliness and doubt. She prayed that coming back to Pennsylvania would help her find her faith again.

  She ran until her legs were sore and her mind was free of the images that haunted her—the wounded service members, the body bags, the suffering. Madeleine’s route circled through Paradise. The sunrise burst in colorful hues of orange, pink, and yellow as she ran past the Heart of Paradise Bed-and-Breakfast, which was located down the street from her house.

  She slowed to a jog and then walked, allowing her breathing to return to normal as she walked up her driveway. She looked past her modest one-story home to the Beiler farm, the land that had once belonged to her grandparents. A large sign down by the street and another next to one of the barns read Beiler’s Cabinets, and Madeleine considered walking over to introduce herself. Being an Englisher, she’d never thought she should disturb her Amish neighbors. But she longed to take a peek at Mr. Beiler’s work. She planned to make a few minor changes to the house, and she had been considering updating the cabinets. She wondered what his prices were, but she assumed he was too expensive for her budget; most Amish-made items were astronomically priced.

  Madeleine climbed the steps, to her back porch this time, leaned on the railing, and breathed in the wonderful autumn air. As she stared toward the Beiler farm, she saw a girl walking from one of the barns toward the farmhouse. Madeleine had noticed her before, but they’d never been close enough to make eye contact, not even when they passed her house in their buggy. She guessed she was eleven or twelve. She was wearing a prayer covering and a blue dress with a black apron, and she was carrying a basket.

  The girl turned toward Madeleine and then waved vigorously. Surprised, Madeleine smiled as she waved back. She couldn’t help but think that the little girl reminded her of herself at that age. Madeleine had spent so much time helping her grandmother in the yard and barn, carrying baskets just like that one.

  She walked through her small mudroom into the kitchen and glanced at the clock on the wall. She had less than an hour to shower, eat, and get ready for her part-time job as a housekeeper at the Lancaster Grand Hotel. She’d been glad to find a job where she could earn some money without a lot of stress.

  The fog of grief consumed her as she walked through the kitchen and family room toward the bathroom. Moving to Pennsylvania wasn’t her original plan. She was supposed to have been married a year ago, but everything abruptly changed when her fiancé, Travis Robinson, died. After losing him, she needed a place to call home, and now she wondered if that place truly was in Amish Country. Had her mother thought so?

  As Madeleine stepped into the shower, she pushed away any negative thoughts. Today was a new day, and she wouldn’t let nightmares and grief smother the hope that was slowly blooming inside of her.

  Saul stepped out of one of his workshop buildings and saw Emma holding a basket of eggs in one hand and waving her free arm toward the house adjacent to his farm.

 
“Emma!” he called as he approached her. “What are you doing?”

  Emma continued to flail her arm while a woman standing on the porch across the field waved in return. “I’m waving to the maedel who lives in Mammi’s haus.” She faced him and tilted her head. “Who is she?”

  “I don’t know, and it’s none of our business.” He pointed toward their own house. “Are you ready for breakfast? You need to head off to school soon.”

  “Ya.” Emma watched the woman disappear into the house and then started for the back porch. “I’ll go make breakfast, and you can finish your chores.”

  “Danki.” Saul’s eyes followed his daughter as she climbed the steps and walked into the house. He looked toward the smaller home down the driveway, then finished feeding the horses and cows while questions about the new occupant swirled through his mind. Until she’d come nearly eight months ago, the home had sat empty since Martha Stoltzfus passed away. That was nearly two years ago, and her husband, Mel, had died two years before that.

  Though Saul had become well acquainted with Martha and Mel, most of what he knew about the family’s history was what older members of the community had told him. Apparently, their only child, the daughter he’d met at Mel’s and then Martha’s funeral, had left the community, but she frequently brought her own daughter to visit. Early in Saul’s marriage, Mel and Martha had sold Saul their farm for a fair price. Soon after, he converted one of the large barns into a shop for his cabinet business, adding two more buildings a couple of years later.

  Saul finished feeding the animals and then headed into the house. He shucked his light coat and hat and hung them on a peg in the mudroom before removing his boots. He watched Emma again, this time from the kitchen doorway. She was humming as she fried eggs and bacon on the stove, which was powered by propane.

  The early morning sunlight streaming through the kitchen window gave her light brown hair a golden hue, reminding Saul of her mother, Annie. Memories of his marriage assaulted his mind while he watched Emma work. He wasn’t Annie’s first choice for a husband. Annie had settled for Saul after her boyfriend left the community and moved to a former Amish community in Missouri. He’d known Annie still loved her boyfriend, but Saul had believed he and Annie could somehow build a life together. He’d been blindsided when Annie’s boyfriend came back for her and she walked away from both their marriage and their sweet and innocent four-year-old daughter.