Julia believes she is faced with the choice of abandoning her mother or turning her back on her love. Only when the people in her life make concessions that will allow Julia and Martin to be together does she discover that life is full of surprises and God can bless us when we least expect it.
I know that as we accept and wait upon God’s will in our own lives and follow the Savior’s example, we can find peace and joy no matter what difficulties we might face.
I hope you enjoy reading this story and I invite you to visit my website at LeighBale.com to learn more about my books.
May you find peace in the Lord’s words!
Leigh Bale
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
—Ecclesiastes 9:11
To my very own Rose, who has brought me more joy than I ever thought possible.
Contents
Note to Readers
“Hallo?”
Julia Rose jerked, startled. The two nails she’d been holding between her pursed lips dropped to the wooden planks of the front porch and bounced off into the weedy flower bed.
She swiveled around on the rickety ladder and caught a glimpse of a tall man standing directly behind her. She didn’t have time to return his greeting. The leather gloves she wore were overly large and caused her to lose her grasp on the heavy hammer. It followed the nails, thudding to the wooden porch below. The ladder wobbled and she fought to retain her grip on the tall post she’d been holding upright with her left hand. For fifteen minutes, she’d struggled to get it in just the right spot so she could nail it into place. Now, it slid sideways. Without its support, the heavy canopy above sagged dangerously near her head. The overly stressed timbers gave a low groan and she widened her eyes.
“Acht gewwe!” the man called in a foreign language.
A sickening crack sounded above and Julia scrambled down the ladder. Like a zipper coming undone, the nails holding the awning to the side of the building pinged into the air as the canopy tore away from the outer wall and knocked her to the ground. She gasped in pain as the ruined wood continued its descent toward her.
With a cry of alarm, she curled against the side of the wall, protecting her head with her arms. She was vaguely aware of the man shielding her, taking the brunt of the weight against his own back.
“Oof!”
She glanced up and found his face no more than a breath away. She gazed into his eyes, catching the subtle scent of licorice. His muscular arms held her tight as another piece of the canopy bludgeoned him with a shocking thump. He jerked at the impact but made no sound. For several seconds, they both held perfectly still. She felt uncomfortable with his close proximity but couldn’t move away just then.
“Alles fit? Are you all right?” His voice sounded low and calm, like the approach of thunder off in the distance.
“I think so.” She stared in fascination, captivated by his piercing blue eyes… The kind of eyes that could see deep inside a person’s heart and know exactly what they were thinking. In those brief moments, she took in his plain clothes, his angular face, short auburn hair and a faint smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose. No doubt he spent hours working outside in the sun.
“Mar-tin! Mar-tin, are you okay?”
Julia looked up and saw a boy of approximately fifteen years standing in front of the ruined porch. Dressed identical to the man, his short, stocky build was accented by plain black pants, a blue chambray shirt, black suspenders and a black felt hat.
They were Amish!
“Ja, I’m okay, Hank.” The man holding onto