OTHER NOVELS BY THE AUTHORS
AMY CLIPSTON
THE AMISH HOMESTEAD SERIES
A Place at Our Table
Room on the Porch Swing
A Seat by the Hearth (available November 2018)
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
BETH WISEMAN
AN AMISH JOURNEY NOVEL
Hearts in Harmony (available March 2019)
THE AMISH SECRETS NOVELS
Her Brother’s Keeper
Love Bears All Things
Home All Along
THE DAUGHTERS OF THE PROMISE NOVELS
Plain Perfect
Plain Pursuit
Plain Promise
Plain Paradise
Plain Proposal
Plain Peace
THE LAND OF CANAAN NOVELS
Seek Me with All Your Heart
The Wonder of Your Love
His Love Endures Forever
OTHER NOVELS
Need You Now
The House that Love Built
The Promise
NOVELLAS
A Choice to Forgive included in An Amish Christmas
A Change of Heart included in An Amish Gathering
Healing Hearts included in An Amish Love
A Perfect Plan included in An Amish Wedding
A Recipe for Hope included in An Amish Kitchen
Always Beautiful included in An Amish Miracle
Rooted in Love included in An Amish Garden
When Christmas Comes included in
An Amish Second Christmas
In His Father’s Arms included in An Amish Cradle
A Love for Irma Rose included in An Amish Year
Patchwork Perfect included in An Amish Year
A Cup Half Full included in An Amish Home
The Cedar Chest included in An Amish Heirloom
The Gift of Sisters included in Amish Celebrations
A New Beginning included in Amish Celebrations
A Christmas Miracle included in Amish Celebrations
SHELLEY SHEPARD GRAY
LONE STAR HERO LOVE STORIES
The Loyal Heart
An Uncommon Protector
Love Held Captive
CHICAGO WORLD’S FAIR MYSTERY SERIES
Secrets of Sloane House
Deception on Sable Hill
Whispers in the Reading Room
NOVELLAS
Reunion in Pinecraft included in An Amish Summer
KATHLEEN FULLER
THE AMISH LETTERS NOVELS
Written in Love
The Promise of a Letter
Words from the Heart
THE AMISH OF BIRCH CREEK NOVELS
A Reluctant Bride
An Unbroken Heart
A Love Made New
THE MIDDLEFIELD AMISH NOVELS
A Faith of Her Own
THE MIDDLEFIELD FAMILY NOVELS
Treasuring Emma
Faithful to Laura
Letters to Katie
THE HEARTS OF MIDDLEFIELD NOVELS
A Man of His Word
An Honest Love
A Hand to Hold
NOVELLAS
A Miracle for Miriam included in An Amish Christmas
A Place of His Own included in An Amish Gathering
What the Heart Sees included in An Amish Love
A Perfect Match included in An Amish Wedding
Flowers for Rachael included in An Amish Garden
A Gift for Anne Marie included in An Amish Second Christmas
A Heart Full of Love included in An Amish Cradle
A Bid for Love included in An Amish Market
A Quiet Love included in An Amish Harvest
Building Faith included in An Amish Home
Building Trust included in An Amish Family
Surprised by Love included in An Amish Family
ZONDERVAN
An Amish Homecoming
No Place Like Home Copyright © 2018 Amy Clipston
When Love Returns Copyright © 2018 Elizabeth Wiseman Mackey
The Courage to Love Copyright © 2018 Shelley Sabga
What Love Built Copyright © 2018 Kathleen Fuller
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546
Epub Edition August 2018 9780785218173
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Clipston, Amy. No place like home. | Wiseman, Beth, 1962- When love returns. | Gray, Shelley Shepard. The courage to love. | Fuller, Kathleen. What love built.
Title: An Amish homecoming : four Amish stories / Amy Clipston, Beth Wiseman,
Shelley Shepard Gray, Kathleen Fuller.
Description: Grand Rapids, Michigan : Zondervan, 2018.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018020493 | ISBN 9780785218487 (paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: Amish--Fiction. | Christian fiction, American.
Classification: LCC PS648.A45 A424 2018 | DDC 813/.01083823--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018020493
Scripture quotations 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. www.zondervan.com. Scripture quotations in The Courage to Love are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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.
Printed in the United States of America
18 19 20 21 22 / LSC / 5 4 3 2 1
&n
bsp; CONTENTS
Other Novels by the Authors
Glossary
NO PLACE LIKE HOME by Amy Clipston Featured Amish Homestead Series Char Acters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Discussion Questions
Acknowledgments
WHEN LOVE RETURNS by Beth Wiseman Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
Discussion Questions
Acknowledgments
THE COURAGE TO LOVE by Shelley Shepard Gray Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Discussion Questions
Acknowledgments
WHAT LOVE BUILT by Kathleen Fuller Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Epilogue
Discussion Questions
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
GLOSSARY
ach (also ack): oh
aenti: aunt
appeditlich: delicious
bedauerlich: sad
boppli: baby
brot: bread
bruder, bruders: brother, brothers
bruderskinner: nieces and nephews
bu, buwe: boy, boys
Budget, The: a weekly newspaper serving Amish and Mennonite communities everywhere
daadi: grandfather
daadihaus (also daadi haus, dawdi haus): grandparents’ house, usually a smaller dwelling on the same property
danki: thank you
daed (also dat): dad
Die Botschaft: a weekly correspondent newspaper that includes reports from scribes in many Amish settlements across the nation
dochder: daughter
English, Englisher (also Englisch, Englischer): non-Amish
familye, familyes: family, families
fraa (also frau): wife
freind, freinden: friend, friends
froh: happy
gegisch: silly
geh: go
gern gschehne: you’re welcome
Gott: God
grossmutter: grandmother
Gude mariye: Good morning
gut: good
Gut nacht (also Gute nacht): Good night
haus: house
Ich liebe dich: I love you
jah: yes
kaffi (also kaffee): coffee
kapp: prayer covering or cap
kichli, kichlin: cookie, cookies
kind, kinner: child, children
lieb: love
liewe: love, a term of endearment
maedel, maed: young woman or girl, young women or girls
mamm: mom
mann: husband or man
mei: my
mudder: mother
naut: night
nee: no
nix: nothing
nohma: name
onkel: uncle
Ordnung: the written and unwritten rules of the Amish; the understood behavior by which the Amish are expected to live, passed down from generation to generation. Most Amish know the rules by heart.
Pennsylvania Deutsch: the language most commonly used by the Amish. Although widely known as Pennsylvania Dutch, the language is actually a form of German (Deutsch).
Plain: the Amish way of life
rumschpringe (also rumspringa): running-around period when a teenager turns sixteen years old
schee: pretty
schmaert: smart
schtupp: family room
schwester: sister
sohn: son
vatter: father
Was iss letz?: What’s wrong?
wunderbaar: wonderful
ya: yes
yer, yerself: your, yourself
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
AMY CLIPSTON
For my amazing, handsome, supercool
sons, Zac and Matt, with love
FEATURED AMISH HOMESTEAD SERIES CHARACTERS
Mary m. Harvey Bender
Eva Bender Dienner
Marilyn m. Willie Dienner Simeon (deceased)
Kayla Dienner Riehl
Nathan
Eva m. Simeon (deceased) Dienner
Simeon Jr. (“Junior”)
Miriam Faye m. Joel Stoltzfoos
Hannah
Kayla m. James (“Jamie”) Riehl
CHAPTER 1
Eva Dienner sniffed as she stared at the letter in her trembling hands. Grief, hot and unexpected, poured from her eyes in the form of tears as she studied her mother’s beautiful handwriting. She missed her parents as memories of them pricked her heart.
She glanced around the small apartment she once shared with her beloved husband. Six years ago, she left her parents in Western Pennsylvania to marry Simeon Dienner and live with him and his family here in Ronks, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, nearly a five-hour bus ride away. Then Simeon died while on duty as a volunteer firefighter more than four years ago, leaving her and their unborn child behind. Heaviness settled in the center of her chest. Oh, how she missed him.
“Mamm?” Simeon Jr. entered the apartment from the main house where her in-laws and brother-in-law lived. “Are you crying?”
“I’m fine.” She shook her head and wiped her eyes.
“Don’t cry.” He crawled up on the sofa beside her and took her hand in his. At almost four years old, he resembled his handsome father with his shock of blond hair and cornflower-blue eyes. “I’m here.”
“Danki.” She smiled down at him. He also had his father’s kind heart.
“Why are you bedauerlich?”
“I was just thinking about mei mamm and dat.” She held up the letter, the first she’d received from her mother in nearly four months. “Mei mamm wrote a letter and told me my best freind, Miriam Faye, stopped by the other day and asked about me.” She sniffed again as memories of her old friends tumbled through her mind.
“Your mamm?” He tilted his head.
“Right. She’s your other mammi.”
He pointed toward the door leading to her mother-in-law’s kitchen. “I have another mammi?”
“Ya.” Eva cleared her throat. “You have another mammi and daadi who live in New Wilmington, where I grew up.”
“Can we go there so I can meet them?” His eyes sparkled.
Stunned by the question, she swallowed.
“Please?” he begged.
“I-I don’t know.” Her heart raced at the thought of seeing her parents again. Would they even want to see her? Her mother’s letters always seemed so . . . reserved.
He folded his hands as if praying. “Pleeease?”
How could she say no?
“Let me write mei mamm and ask her.”
“I’m going to tell Mammi and Daadi we’re going on a trip!” As Junior jumped off the sofa and ran to the door, Eva wondered if her parents would be as excited to meet him.
A barrage of new memories nearly overcame Eva as she prepared to get off the bus two weeks later. She wiped at the wetness forming under her eyes and worked to control her emotions. Before she left six years ago, she’d had a terri
ble argument with her mother. Was coming back now a mistake, even though her mother had readily agreed to this visit? Could she and her mother ever recover from the rift between them?
Apprehension chewed on her stomach as she swung her purse over one shoulder and took Junior’s hand in hers.
“Mamm, your hand is wet.”
“Just go.” She nodded toward the bus exit.
They climbed off the bus, and she retrieved their duffel bag from the luggage compartment. After hefting it onto her other shoulder, they made their way through the knot of people in the terminal.
A familiar face emerged.
“Ian. Hi.” Eva’s throat tightened as she looked up at Ian Miller—a man she’d known for half her life. She hadn’t expected to see him, at least not here.
“It’s nice to see you again.” Ian’s smile was warm as his brown eyes flickered to Junior. “You must be Simeon. I’m Ian. It’s wunderbaar to meet you.” He held out his hand for a shake.
“Hi.” Junior grinned as he shook Ian’s hand. “I’m Junior.”
“Junior.” Ian reached for the strap of the heavy duffel bag digging into Eva’s shoulder. “Let me take that for you.”
“Danki.” Eva swiveled slightly, allowing Ian to take the bag as she searched the crowd behind him. “Are my parents outside?”
“No.” Ian hefted the bag onto his broad shoulder and then pulled on the brim of the straw hat sitting atop his dark hair. “They should be home by the time we get there.”
“I thought they’d meet us at the bus station.” She felt her brow furrow as she met his gaze. “They’ve known we were arriving this afternoon for over a week.”
“They had an appointment.” He nodded toward the exit. “The van is waiting. We should get on the road.” He started toward the door.
Anxiety twisted a tight knot in her stomach. “Wait.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him back. She felt a fluttering in her chest at the touch of his warm skin against hers. She swallowed a gasp. Where had that come from . . . after all these years?
He raised his eyebrows. “Did you forget something?”
“No.” She cleared her throat as her cheeks heated with embarrassment. “What kind of appointment did my parents have?”
“Your dat had a doctor’s appointment that’s been scheduled for a month.”
Alarm filled Eva as she swallowed another gasp. “Is he okay?”
Ian nodded. “Ya. He’s fine.”
Eva studied his face. Was he telling her the truth? She took a trembling breath as various illnesses came to her mind. Did her father have cancer? Or maybe heart trouble? Why didn’t she know he was ill? Her mother never mentioned it in her letters. Did Mamm assume she wouldn’t care?