Runaway Amish Bride Read online

  His Amish bride arrives...but he never proposed!

  Surprises await in Colorado Amish Courtships

  Widower Jakob Fisher isn’t interested in remarrying, even to pretty Abigail Miller. But thanks to his daed’s meddling, Abby’s sitting in his Colorado farmhouse, expecting to be wed. While Jakob can’t offer marriage, he can give Abby a job caring for his young children. But when he starts to fall for her, could Abby make Jakob’s familye happy and whole once again?

  “I may never marry at all,” Abby said, her voice sounding noncommittal.

  Jakob jerked his head up, blinking at her in surprise. Not marry? Ever? The idea was alien to him.

  “You should marry. It is what Gott would want.”

  “I know you really believe that. I’m not so sure anymore.”

  Hmm, he didn’t like the sound of that. And yet, how could he fault Abby when he was shunning marriage for himself?

  “Of course you will marry one day,” he said.

  She smiled and Jakob felt a new awareness sweep over him. Abby wasn’t just a girl from his past. She was now a beautiful woman. He hurried to his feet and moved away. He couldn’t face the disloyalty he felt toward his late wife. Never once had he been tempted by another woman.

  Until now.

  He was definitely attracted to her, but that wasn’t enough. After everything Abby had been through, she deserved for someone to adore her.

  But that someone couldn’t be him.

  Leigh Bale is a Publishers Weekly bestselling author. She is the winner of the prestigious Golden Heart® Award and is a finalist for the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence and the Booksellers’ Best Award. The daughter of a retired US forest ranger, she holds a BA in history. Married in 1981 to the love of her life, Leigh and her professor husband have two children and two grandkids. You can reach her at leighbale.com.

  Books by Leigh Bale

  Love Inspired

  Colorado Amish Courtships

  Runaway Amish Bride

  Men of Wildfire

  Her Firefighter Hero

  Wildfire Sweethearts

  Reunited by a Secret Child

  The Road to Forgiveness

  The Forest Ranger’s Promise

  The Forest Ranger’s Husband

  The Forest Ranger’s Child

  Falling for the Forest Ranger

  Healing the Forest Ranger

  The Forest Ranger’s Return

  The Forest Ranger’s Christmas

  The Forest Ranger’s Rescue

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

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  RUNAWAY

  AMISH BRIDE

  Leigh Bale

  ...See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.

  —1 Peter 1:22

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Dear Reader

  Excerpt from Reunited with the Rancher by Brenda Minton

  Chapter One

  Abigail Miller sat primly on the edge of a tall-backed chair and stared at Jakob Fisher, his long fingers clenched around the letters Abby had given him.

  He paced the length of the spacious living room in his home, his blue chambray shirt stretched taut across his overly broad shoulders and muscular arms. Even his black suspenders looked tight against his solid back. He had just arrived from working in the fields, and his plain trousers and black boots had dust on them. His dark hair was slightly damp and curled against the nape of his neck, confirming that the April weather was unseasonably warm. His straw hat sat on a table where he’d carelessly tossed it twenty minutes earlier. His high forehead furrowed as he scowled at his mother.

  “I can’t believe you told this woman I would marry her,” he muttered.

  Naomi Fisher met her son’s gaze. She sat beside Bishop Yoder on the sofa, her hands in her lap. The friction in the room was palpable. Abby couldn’t help wishing she had never come to Colorado. Even the abuse she had suffered back home in Ohio at the hands of her father and elder brother was preferable to this humiliating scene.

  “I didn’t make the offer, mein sohn. As you can see from his letters, your father did this, just before he died.” Naomi spoke in a quiet, matter-of-fact voice, her expression calm but resolute.

  Jakob handed the letters back to Abby. Several pages escaped her grasp and drifted to the floor. She bent over to gather them up, then placed them neatly inside her purse. They were like a shameful reminder that she’d done something wrong, but she hadn’t. She’d merely agreed to what she thought was a marriage proposal.

  “Did you know what Daed had done?” Jakob asked.

  “Ne, I didn’t know anything about it. Not until today. I just thought Abby was coming to Colorado to visit us,” Naomi said.

  The bishop cleared his voice. “Your vadder told me of his plans, although he led me to believe that you had agreed to the offer of marriage. I thought it was all arranged. I’m sorry that I didn’t speak with you about it before now.”

  Jakob stopped dead and stared at the man. “Ne, I knew nothing. Why didn’t Daed tell me about it? I never would have agreed to such a scheme.”

  Abby flinched at the irritation in his voice. She felt devious, as though she had plotted behind Jakob’s back. She shifted her weight, wishing she could disappear. Wishing she were anywhere but here. She had arrived by bus only two hours earlier. Naomi, Bishop Yoder and his wife, Sarah, had been at the station to meet her. After traveling for twenty-six hours, Abby was hungry, exhausted and relieved to see a friendly face. She’d climbed into the back of the bishop’s buggy and he had driven her here, to the Fishers’ farm just nine miles outside town. She thought she was coming here to marry Jakob, the only man she’d ever trusted. Now, she realized she’d made a huge mistake.

  “I’m already married. Susan is my wife,” Jakob said, his voice sounding hoarse with emotion.

  Abby jerked her head up at this information. Jakob had a wife? When had that happened? Obviously, Jakob hadn’t known about his father’s offer until this morning. Even among the Amish, an arranged marriage was considered old-fashioned. But Abby had suffered a lifetime of abuse at the hands of her father and elder brother, Simon. Desperate to escape, she had agreed to come to Colorado. Naomi had been childhood friends with her mother. Fourth cousins, to be exact. Abby had been a girl when they’d left Ohio, but she still remembered them.

  Naomi lifted her head, her eyes shimmering with moisture. “Susan is gone, but your children still need a mamm. Perhaps that is why your vadder contacted Abby and told her to come here.”

  “My children have you to mother them. They don’t need anyone else. And it wasn’t Daed’s place to find me a wife,” Jakob said.

  Naomi nodded. “You are right, of course. But Reuben is so angry all the time. He’s becoming uncontrollable. Yesterday, his schoolteacher told me he put a frog in her desk drawer. It jumped out and nearly scared her to death. And he’s constantly teas
ing Ruby and making her cry.”

  Abby listened intently. He had children, too! Reuben and Ruby. Those must be their names. And knowing that Reuben was picking on Ruby made Abby’s defenses go up like a kite flying high. She couldn’t help feeling instantly protective of the girl.

  Jakob released a heavy sigh of frustration. “I will speak with him again.”

  “That’s just it. He won’t listen. He needs a mamm. So does Ruby. They need a complete familye,” Naomi said.

  Sitting next to the bishop wearing a black traveling bonnet, Sarah Yoder nodded her agreement.

  A sick feeling settled in Abby’s stomach. She hadn’t known any of this information. That Jakob had been married before and had two children. That was more than she’d bargained for.

  “I didn’t know.” She spoke in a quiet voice, needing to understand exactly what she was getting herself into. At his father’s urging, she had agreed to marry Jakob, not become an instant mother.

  Jakob turned, his eyes widening, as if he’d forgotten she was here. “What didn’t you know?”

  She swallowed, gathering her courage. “That you were married before and have kinder.”

  “Ach, it’s true.” He looked away, his gestures filled with impatience.

  A dark, heavy silence followed.

  “Jakob is a widower. Susan died in childbirth sixteen months ago,” Naomi explained in a gentle tone.

  Oh, dear. Jakob’s father had neglected to mention that in his letters. Abby couldn’t help wondering what the man had been playing at. Had he hoped to get her here and then convince her to become a stepmother to Jakob’s children? Why hadn’t he told her the truth before she traveled across the country? Since the man had died suddenly a few weeks earlier, she would never know. It had taken her all that time to convince her brother to let her come here, and now it seemed a wasted effort.

  “How old are your kinder?” she asked.

  Jakob raked a hand through his short hair, showing his annoyance. “Reuben is seven and Ruby is five.”

  “I didn’t know anything about them,” she said.

  Now what? She hadn’t expected this. No, not at all.

  The Western United States seemed strange and isolated to Abby, but it offered a chance at freedom. To begin a new life of peace and happiness. At the age of twenty-four, she should have already wed. But frankly, her father and brother had soured her toward all men.

  Except one.

  A rush of memory filled Abby’s mind. She’d been twelve years old when Simon was beating her with a heavy stick...doing what he’d seen their father do so many times before. Up until then, Jakob had been friends with Simon. The two boys were both fifteen years old. Jakob had been working with his daed in a nearby field. When he’d seen what was happening, he’d marched through the tall wheat, jerked the stick out of Simon’s hand and broken it over his bended knee. Simon had been furious that Jakob would interfere, but he hadn’t dared challenge him. Jakob was bigger, stronger and fiercer. He’d shielded Abby, giving her time to flee.

  When Jakob’s familye had migrated to Colorado a year later, Abby never forgot his kindness. And every time her father or brother beat her, she thought about Jakob and his compassion. It was the only reason she had agreed to marry him. But now, she had a dilemma. If she returned to Ohio, she’d be forced to live in Simon’s household, where she had no doubt the abuse would continue. And she couldn’t stand that. No, not ever again. But maybe there was another option.

  “I understand a marriage will not work between us.” She spoke softly, her hands trembling.

  Jakob tilted his head to the side. “What did you say?”

  She forced herself to meet his dark, angry eyes and repeated herself. “There has obviously been a horrible misunderstanding. But now that I am here, is it possible that I might work for you? Surely you need help on the farm. I am eager not to return to Ohio. Please. Don’t send me back there. Let me stay and work here.”

  She hated that she must resort to begging, but life was harsh for an Amish woman alone in the world. She didn’t want to return to the misery waiting for her in Ohio, but neither did she want to abandon her faith for a life among the Englisch. She could work to make her way, if only Jakob would agree.

  “I see no reason why you must leave, especially when you just got here,” Bishop Yoder said. “Our district is anxious to bring new members into its fold, to increase our settlement. There are not enough women of our faith to marry our young men. You would be a great asset to our congregation.”

  Abby understood the implication of his words. If Jakob wouldn’t marry her, then someone else would because they were in short supply of Amish women. But what they didn’t know was that Abby would never agree to marry any of them. The fact that Jakob’s father had misguided her only confirmed her belief that most men could not be trusted and they used women only to get what they wanted.

  Naomi nodded eagerly. “Of course, you must stay. We can find room for you here. There’s always work to be done, and we really could use more help. The bishop’s wife runs a bakery in town, and we contribute baked goods on consignment. In fact, I have to make a delivery in town tomorrow morning.”

  Sarah nodded eagerly. “Ja, that is true.”

  “You could also assist me with keeping an eye on the kinder,” Naomi continued.

  Abby didn’t mind looking after children, but she felt a little odd tending Jakob’s kids. It was preferable to returning to Ohio. Everyone seemed eager for her to remain here. Everyone except Jakob.

  “I would like that very much,” Abby said.

  In unison, they all turned to look at Jakob. Their eyes were filled with hope as they silently awaited his verdict. For the first time in Abby’s life, it felt good to be wanted for a change, even if it was just Naomi, the bishop and Sarah who wanted her.

  Jakob blinked, regarding them all as if he were a cornered rabbit facing a pride of mountain lions. Panicked and desperate. Abby held her breath, silently praying he agreed to let her stay.

  * * *

  Jakob took a deep breath, then released it slowly. He tried to calm his racing heart and troubled mind. Right now, he didn’t know what to think. Confusion fogged his brain. Too much grief had struck his familye lately. First, his beloved wife, Susan, had died in childbirth. Then Daed had died of a heart attack a few weeks ago. But why had Daed written to Abby and said that Jakob had agreed to marry her? It didn’t make sense.

  Between the farm and his furniture-making business, Jakob already had more responsibilities than he could handle effectively without a wife. Though he tried, he had little time to comfort his grieving children. Mamm and his elderly grandfather had filled in the gaps. They’d been a great deal of help, but they were also still in mourning. He was responsible for each of them. To cope with his loss, he had buried himself in his work. It was easier to pretend that Susan was still alive, waiting for him at home at the end of each day. That his father was available anytime he needed advice or help with his labors. That they were a whole and happy familye again.

  But they weren’t.

  He definitely could use assistance on the farm, but not a wife. Never that. He would not allow Bishop Yoder or Mamm to pressure him into marrying again. It hurt too much. But what should he do about Abigail Miller?

  He reminded himself that he wasn’t the only one who had been duped by his daed. After reading his father’s letters to Abby, he realized she hadn’t known that he was a widower with two young children to raise. Right now, they were with Dawdi Zeke, their great-grandfather, and not here to witness this difficult conversation. Reuben was still so angry that his mudder and grandfather had died. He and Ruby couldn’t understand what had happened to their world.

  Neither could Jakob. It seemed that Gott had abandoned them, and he didn’t know why.

  “I suppose we could make room for you here in the house, at least unti
l you decide what you’d like to do. I can stay with Dawdi Zeke, so that there is no appearance of impropriety,” he said.

  There. That was good. His offer provided an immediate solution to Abby’s needs without making any long-term commitments. And by staying with Dawdi, it would remove Jakob from the house so that no one could accuse him of indecency with a woman who wasn’t his wife. Of course, he’d still be taking his meals here in the house, but with Naomi and Dawdi’s presence, no member of his congregation could accuse him of being inappropriate.

  “Dawdi Zeke?” Abby asked.

  “My grandfather.”

  She nodded. “Danke. I am grateful to accept your offer.”

  She released a quiet sigh and looked away, her startling blue eyes filled with relief. He couldn’t blame her. He remembered her familye well and could guess her reason for not wanting to return to them. Mamm had told him that her father had died a few years earlier, which left her to the questionable mercy of Simon. Jakob had no doubt the boy had grown up to be a cruel man just like his father, and he hated the thought of sending Abby back to him.

  A clatter sounded outside the open window. Jakob stepped over to peer out and saw Reuben racing across the lawn toward the barn. A bucket was overturned in the flower bed, as though it had been used as a step stool. The boy’s footprints were embedded in the damp soil, and he had tromped on Naomi’s petunias.

  Hmm. No doubt the little scamp had been listening in on their conversation. Jakob had no idea how much the boy had overheard, but he would have to deal with that later.

  “Wundervoll. I am so glad we have come to an agreement. Abby will remain here, then.” Bishop Yoder slapped his hands against his thighs and stood to signal his departure. Sarah rose also, smiling wide.

  Naomi hopped up and escorted them out onto the front porch. “I appreciate your being here today.”

  “Any time. Let me know how things go...” The bishop’s voice faded as the screen door clapped closed behind him.

  Jakob turned and faced Abby. She’d been a young girl when he saw her last. Young, quiet and afraid. Now, she was an attractive, fully grown woman with magnetic blue eyes; smooth, pale skin; and golden-blond hair. Her light blue dress and matching cape looked perfectly starched, though her skirts were slightly wrinkled from her travels. She still looked quiet, still afraid. The complete opposite of his outspoken wife. Susan had been olive-skinned with dark hair, freckles, hazel eyes and an overly long nose. She wasn’t what most people would call beautiful, but she’d been kind and energetic, and Jakob had loved her dearly.