Grace Given (Touch of Grace) Read online

  Readers who adore Amish fiction will quickly fall in love with Grace Given, book two in Beth Shriver’s popular new series, Touch of Grace. At the heart of this novel is the powerful triple-threaded theme of forgiveness, mercy, and grace, and Beth weaves them together with a deft touch. Grace Given gives readers the best of all worlds—romance with a bit of mystery and a storyline that will make you burn the midnight oil. Highly recommended!

  —DIANE NOBLE

  AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR

  In Grace Given a young couple and their family learn to overcome the hurt of betrayal and prejudice with love and forgiveness, leaving us wanting to make our own fresh starts. With a full cast of characters and compelling storytelling, Shriver reminds us of how complex even the “simple life” can be when it comes to matters of the heart—and what matters most.

  —CATHY LIGGETT

  AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF BEADED HOPE

  Beth Shriver’s smooth writing style and lovely characterization make Grace Given a joy to read. Beth Shriver is truly an author to watch in the Amish genre.

  —SHELLEY SHEPARD GRAY

  NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BEST-SELLING

  AUTHOR

  BETH

  SHRIVER

  Most CHARISMA HOUSE BOOK GROUP products are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchase for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, and educational needs. For details, write Charisma House Book Group, 600 Rinehart Road, Lake Mary, Florida 32746, or telephone (407) 333-0600.

  GRACE GIVEN by Beth Shriver

  Published by Realms

  Charisma Media/Charisma House Book Group

  600 Rinehart Road

  Lake Mary, Florida 32746

  www.charismahouse.com

  This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise— without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

  Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible and from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission.

  Although this story is depicted from the real town of Beeville and the surrounding area, the characters created are fictitious. The traditions are similar to the Amish ways, but because all groups are different with dialogue, rules, and culture, they may vary from what your conception may be.

  Martyrs Mirror was written and published in 1659 by a Dutch Mennonite, Thieleman J. van Braght. One of the reasons why van Braght compiled this massive work was to strengthen the faith of his fellow believers, now that persecution of the Mennonites in the Netherlands had largely ended. Martyrs Mirror contains classic accounts of more than four thousand Christians who endured suffering, torture, and a martyr’s death because of their simple faith in the gospel of Christ. It also includes more than fifty finely detailed etchings by noted Dutch artist Jan Luyken.

  Copyright © 2013 by Beth Shriver

  All rights reserved

  Cover design by Bill Johnson

  Visit the author’s website at www.BethShriverWriter.com.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Shriver, Beth.

  Grace given / Beth Shriver. -- 1st ed.

  p. cm. -- ( Touch of grace ; bk. 2)

  ISBN 978-1-62136-017-9 (trade paper) -- ISBN 978-1-62136-018-6 (e-book)

  1. Amish--Fiction. 2. Christian fiction. I. Title.

  PS3619.H7746G73 2013

  813’.6--dc23

  2012034652

  First edition

  13 14 15 16 17 — 987654321

  Printed in the United States of America

  To Carmen Webb, my friend,

  my encourager, and Christ follower

  If we don’t forgive, we won’t be forgiven.

  —Amish Carpenter

  • Claping [claping]: verb, clap, clap-ing, noun, adjective.

  • Pronounced clay-ping: hate crime against Amish victims

  1. assaults, physically or verbally, harming or harassing

  2. vandalism and property damage

  Contents

  Prologue

  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

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Glossary

  Prologue

  RIPPLES OF PINK clouds covered the blue Texas sky. The sun slowly dipped behind a large oak tree, almost invisible against the fading darkness. Elsie and Katie Yoder strolled down a dirt road leading to their family farm after a day at a neighbor’s quilting bee.

  “I like the orange with the yellow patches.” Katie flicked her thick, amber curls away from her cutting, blue eyes.

  Elsie shook her head as she tugged the shawl around her for warmth. “Not me. I like green with the yellow.”

  Katie frowned and kicked a rock down the lane.

  Elsie thought of a compromise, a frequent gesture she made on her part involving her sister. “What if we do all three?”

  As they chatted about the patches needed to complete their quilt, an unfamiliar rumbling noise made them pause. Elsie stopped and glanced behind her as a blue car drove up, causing a cloud of dust to fall around them. Her kapp blew off, and the driver let out a low whistle.

  The three other young men in the car heckled them and laughed. “Hey, sweetie, show us more.”

  “How about some leg, Amish girl?” the driver called out to her.

  “Hey, ladies, stop and talk to us,” another yelled. “No harm in being friendly.”

  Elsie had never felt dirty like this. With each word she felt as if they’d thrown a handful of mud at her. She sucked in a breath when the car came to a halt and the driver got out. His dirty, blond hair stuck straight up, and his blue eyes hardened as he took her in.

  The passenger side door opened, and a tall, skinny young man sauntered around the front of the car. He looked Elsie up and down and moved toward her. She took two steps backward then took off. Her heart beat out of her chest, but she kept running until she got to the gravel road leading to their house, then she bent over, puffing and holding her side. Katie was close behind, trying to catch her breath against the cold air.

  Katie turned around. “They didn’t follow us, thank Gott.”

  Elsie followed her sister’s gaze. No one was in sight.

  “Elsie, Katie. Are you all right?” Their daed’s booming voice came from behind them. “I saw you running all the way up the drive.” Though he was a gentle man, his height and hefty build made him appear intimidating.

  “Nee, we’re fine,” Katie answered before Elsie could think of
what to say.

  He eyed them suspiciously and then nodded. “Okay then.” He lumbered away but looked back once.

  “Do you think he believed me?” Katie watched him until he was out of sight.

  “Why didn’t you tell him?” Elsie twiddled her thumbs. What they kept secret had now become a lie. She didn’t want the burden of either.

  “I don’t want to upset him or Mamm. Nothing really happened anyway.” Katie shrugged.

  “It might have if we hadn’t gotten away from them. They had something bad on their minds.” Elsie frowned. “What those boys said to us was embarrassing. What if someone thinks we invited the attention?”

  “They would know better than that with you involved,” Katie scoffed. “They didn’t have a chance to do anything with the way you ran off so quickly.”

  But Elsie wasn’t so sure. Katie liked attention, especially when a young man smiled her way. “Well, I guess it’s done.” Elsie tried to put it out of her mind as they walked to the house, hoping they made the right decision not to tell anyone. And she prayed it wouldn’t happen again.

  Three weeks later Katie disappeared, and Elsie’s heart was broken for more than just one reason when Jake left with her.

  Chapter One

  ELSIE BLINKED, OPENED her eyes, and then peered out the window. Darkness hung in the morning sky. The storm clouds moved slowly, turning like smoke in the wind. Her heartbeat quickened as Elsie remembered where she was.

  She knew, but drawing in a breath, she tried to forget. The four walls around her seemed to close in, suffocating her thoughts. It was her sister’s birthday, but not a day to celebrate. Katie wasn’t here.

  At times she felt Katie was right there with her, even imagined what they might say or do. She wondered what Katie was doing now. Where was she? Elsie also thought of Jake. Her stomach roiled with anger and hurt. She didn’t know which of them she resented more. The absence of one was hard enough, but both? When was the last time she hadn’t been weighed down with such sorrow? Five months now, or was it six?

  Soft rain hit the windowpane as she sat up in bed and gazed out at the endless rows of golden wheat fields. There would be no outside chores today. Even so, knowing she would have her five-year-old twin brothers in tow indoors made her tired. She immediately chastised herself for the thought.

  They had moved from Virginia a year ago when young men in their large community needed land of their own. Finding a parcel size sufficient to make a living was becoming harder to come by in the areas up north. Here in Texas her family had more land than they could manage, but as Elsie soon learned, they were not welcomed by some of the locals.

  Forcing herself to get ready for the day was becoming less painful. Even the simplest tasks used to irritate her and seemed pointless. Opening the closet door, she studied her black dress and white apron. They were wrinkled, in need of a good pressing. There were only a few of Katie’s clothes left in the closet. Elsie thought of packing them up and putting them away in the attic with her other belongings, but she didn’t. She left them there to see each morning and night, as if she needed something to hold onto to feel her sister’s presence.

  She had just walked over to the window when she heard her mamm come into the room. “Elsie, you’re awake.”

  Without looking, Elsie knew her mamm’s hands rested on her hips, her blue eyes sharp and blonde hair in a tight bun. She didn’t want to discuss the significance of the day but turned to face her anyway.

  “Sizing up the weather. There is plenty of work to be done indoors as well.” Even as she spoke, Elsie knew her chipper voice didn’t fool her mamm. When she turned, she could see it on her mamm’s face.

  “I’m sure your daed can find you something to do.” Her mamm fell silent, seeming to analyze Elsie’s every movement and word.

  Elsie laid her clothes on the bed, smoothed her black dress, and then smiled at her mamm. “I don’t want to leave you with the boys.”

  “I’ll manage.” Her scrutinizing stare made Elsie turn away. “Today will be hard.”

  Elsie stiffened her lower lip. She wanted to talk about it, yet didn’t. Birthdays received little attention in the community. Elsie wondered if Katie and Jake were celebrating her day together right now.

  “It’ll get better. She’ll come home.” Mamm shifted forward and rubbed her hand along Elsie’s arm. “Soon it will be your birthday. Twenty, that’s a special one.”

  Her mamm’s certainty hadn’t waned over the last couple of months since Katie left. Elsie wasn’t as confident of her sister’s return, but then she knew more as to why Katie left than her mamm did. Telling anyone now about the harassment would only add more shame and suspicion to Katie’s troubles.

  The incident still gave her nightmares, and she shivered as the memory returned. Even in broad daylight she remained careful and watchful, especially when she was alone, listening for the sound of a car, picturing the boys with their leering expressions and hearing their dirty words.

  If it weren’t for Elsie’s friend Rachel, Katie’s absence would have been even harder. But Rachel had four brothers and her daed to tend to, with little time for conversation or consolation.

  The five-year-old twins, Aaron and Adam, flew into the room freshly scrubbed, bringing the clean smell of soap with them. Her fair-haired brothers came to a halt when her mamm stepped in front of them. “Slow down, you two. Save your energy for your chores.” She caught them both and gave them a tender hug until they wiggled free from her embrace.

  “I’m starving.” Aaron scrunched up his freckled nose and held his stomach for effect.

  “I’m hungrier.” Adam frowned, his chubby cheeks taut by the scowl he held.

  “You two set the table, please.” Mamm patted each of them on the bottom as they headed for the stairs. Adam glanced at Elsie. “Are you coming down?”

  “I’m right behind you.” Elsie smiled at him then turned to her mamm. “Are you sure about that?”

  “About what, Elsie?” Mamm’s brow furrowed, as if not wanting to go.

  “About it getting better.” Elsie let her gaze drift from her mamm’s eyes. She didn’t want to put pressure on her to talk about it only to make her feel hopeful. She wanted to see them both again. To scold and then hug Katie, and then to ask Jake how he could turn on her so abruptly, so cold. “And that she will come home?”

  “I have great hope in my heart that it will get better, that she will come home, and we’ll be a family again.” Mamm’s touch to Elsie’s shoulder warmed her. She would try to hold the same good hope that her mamm did, and even more so the forgiveness she already gave Katie. “You’re a strong young woman. You have so much ahead of you and Gideon—”

  Elsie held up a hand, tired of her parent’s references to Gideon. He was perfect. That’s why she couldn’t be around him. She was tainted with bitterness, yet Gideon never seemed to make a mistake or say a wrong word. And he was five years her senior, so he was more mature and grounded.

  “If not him, then at least let someone in.” Mamm waited for a reply, but Elsie couldn’t share her thoughts about that horrid day that made her feel so dirty, and worse, that she’d kept the secret from those who loved her. From the whole community.

  Mamm turned and went down the squeaky, wood stairs and sighed. “I wish I knew what went on in that head of yours.”

  Elsie merely smiled then slipped on her shoes and made her way to the kitchen to help with the morning meal of pancakes, eggs, and toast.

  Her daed was up before dawn, tending to the morning milking, and was ready to eat. He lumbered in, ducking under the doorway, and rubbed his calloused hands together. “There’s a chill in the air.” He tapped each of the boy’s heads and put his arm around Mamm’s waist as he inspected the scrambled eggs. “Smells gut to me.” His customary comment still made her smile. When he turned to Elsie, he tapped her on the nose and then sat down. “How’s my girl this morning?”

  Since Katie’s departure Elsie was the only girl in the h
ouse, and she had to admit she liked the extra attention. She knew he meant more than his regular greeting due to the importance of the day, and she felt a small sense of peace. “It’s going to be a gut day.” She sounded more like her mamm than herself, but it was a heartfelt answer.

  Elsie walked across the spotless white kitchen and took four plates off the shelf, placed them on the table, and then took the matchbox that hung on the wall. She lit an oil lantern and placed it on the large counter in the middle of the room.

  As they ate, Mamm went to a shelf by the back door to gather dirty clothes and place them in a laundry basket. Today she and Mamm would do a week’s worth of laundry, come rain or shine. Monday was wash day even if they had to set up a clothesline in the house. Daed had purchased a wooden washing wringer from their neighbor Jonas, who lived in their community, which helped the process along.

  The boys sat at the spindle table their daed made and finished eating. They couldn’t wait to get outside and see the baby birds. The chicks were new entertainment for them—until the next animal to come into the world, which made them very busy come spring time. Aaron stopped at the door. “Can you help me with my carving today, Daed?”

  “Jah, son. I have a whittling knife just your size.” He grinned at his son, obviously pleased Aaron wanted to learn the proper way to work with wood.

  Elsie put away the last of the dishes and turned toward her daed as he walked to the door. “What do you need me to do today, Daed?”

  He stopped with his hand on the door handle and told her his needs. “Axle on the wagon. I need one of the Fisher boys to come fix it for me.” As Daed ran a hand over his dark, short hair, he studied Elsie’s face for a moment, and then added a smile.

  Elsie’s heart nearly pounded out of her chest. Mamm stared at Daed as if he didn’t know what he was saying. Elsie asked the question both she and Mamm were wondering about. “You mean go to the Fishers’ house?”

  Daed opened the door. “Only if you’re up to it, Elsie.”