The Amish Ten Commandments (Complete Series Book 1-10): The Amish Ten Commandments Series

By Rebecca Byler

Released to celebrate Rebecca Byler's first full year of publishing.

The Amish Ten Commandments is a fantastic collection of Amish Romance novels which are based on the ten commandments of the bible. 
In this collection of stories, Amish men and women battle with their sinful human desires, their lives and their own strengths. They overcome their trespasses, find forgiveness from God and their fellow Amish men and are falling in love in unexpected ways. 

Rebecca Byler writes clean Amish Romance books.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rebecca Byler
• Release date: Jan 11, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524277727

Book preview

The Amish Ten Commandments Series

Amish Romance

Rebecca Byler

Copyright ©2015, by Rebecca Byler

All Rights Reserved

[e-mail]

License Notes

This eBook is licensed for personal enjoyment only. It may not be resold or given away to others. If you wish to share this book, please purchase an additional copy. If you are reading this book and it was not purchased then, you should purchase your own copy. Your continued respect for author's right is appreciated.

This story is a work of fiction and any resemblance to people is purely coincidence. All places, names, events, business, etc. are used in a fictional manner. All characters are from the imagination of the author.

––––––––

A note to our readers...

If you love pure, clean love stories join us here completely free to be notified about new Amish Romance Books: http://www.RebeccaByler.com

Table of Contents

1. NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME: A DOUBLE LIFE

2. LETTING GO OF THE PAST

3. WASTED WORDS

4. HOLY DAY

5. THE FAMILY WAY

6. SOME WORLDLY JUDGMENT

7. SOMETHING WAS WRONG ABOUT JOHN

8. A TWIST OF FATE

9. LITTLE WHITE LIES

10. A DOUBLE PORTION

More books by Rebecca Byler

BONUS CHAPTERS: AN AMISH CHRISTMAS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

––––––––

1.

NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME: A DOUBLE LIFE

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.’You shall have no other gods before me.’ Exodus 20:2-3

Helen gathered strands of fine hair that had escaped from her bonnet, tucking the wisps behind her ear while listening to the clucking chickens, now roused and excited for a meal.  5’ 2" and a bit plump for her small stature, she scattered feed from the pocket of her white apron and watched the sun rise over the green hills to the east. Levi, her long-time, secret love, had been gone for more than six months, and she pined for him in the quiet hours before dawn, hoping that soon, he would come to his God-given senses and return. She worried about him and her Bruder, Amos. Holmes County was a place that she cherished, and she thought the boys had loved it, too. She felt betrayed by them, had thought the day would never come, and she was frightened—for the young men or herself, she no longer knew.

"Gelassenheit, her Mudder had said. We must have patience, Helen. It’s Levi’s time, now. Your time will come soon enough."

The words had seemed hollow in her ears, but she noticed that, somehow, her Mudder had always known her heart, her growing love for Levi.

Three years her senior, it was natural that Helen developed a crush on Levi, but her feelings now were more than this, apparent only when Amos told them, Mudder, Vadder and herself, what the two of them were going to do, he and Levi, together. She wanted to forgive them, but the city and all that Columbus meant loomed loud in her mind, and she felt the warm tears, full and wet, on her face before she realized she’d been crying.

With the back of her hand, she wiped her tears away, a calming breath easing the hard lump in her throat. She untied her apron and shook the rest of the feed to the ground. White feathers and bobbing heads closed in at her feet.

In the distance, at the end of a narrow, lightly graveled path, her Vadder stood outside the barn watching the sun rise over the trees. Helen turned to face the day as the sky filled with peach, violet, and blue, the clouds casting a rainbow across the expanse, a feast for her hungry eyes. Her world came alive in this hour, and she had much to do before Vadder came inside for a morning meal. It was hard for him to work the farm with Amos gone, and Helen didn’t want to add to his burden by crying about the void.

She had sliced the strawberries and poured a concoction of eggs, milk, salt, and flour into a well-buttered casserole before going out to the coop. After the eggs had been gathered, she brought them to her Mudder before returning to feed the chickens. By now, her mamm would have placed the casserole in the oven and fried sausages and eggs to go with the warm dish, now covered with fresh blueberries, raspberries, and the strawberries she had sliced. Upon entering the kitchen, she hurried to the sink to wash her hands before adding the confectioners’ sugar over the top, and with the table set, she rushed to her bedroom to remove her bonnet and pin her unruly blond hair securely back into place. Vadder came in through the screen door just as she came back into the kitchen.

She offered a smile, not entirely ingenuous but awkward to genuinely feel. Vadder didn’t meet her eyes, and she suspected that he found it painful to do so. Mudder patted her arm, pulled her toward the table to sit while she served, and when her Vadder spoke, his low baritone bounced from the white, plaster walls of the kitchen.

We shall have a discussion, he said, during breakfast. But first, we shall give thanks for this beautiful meal. Mudder and Vadder’s eyes locked, an understanding forged without words.

Helen, concerned now, for it wasn’t their custom to hold a conversation during meals, bowed her head and clasped her hands in her lap. Her Vadder was pressed for time with Amos gone, and this day, he would bend the rules due to a matter of importance. She was surprised she would not be asked to leave the room. Under the table, during morning prayers, Mudder placed a hand over Helen’s and squeezed.

Vadder ate slowly, and while he chewed every bite like it was made of thick sorghum, Helen’s mind raced. She stared at Vadder’s hat, now removed and hanging on the back of his chair, a simple, black brim. She’d lost interest in food since the boys left, and instead of eating, she found herself wondering if Levi still wore his hat or was dressing English. When her Vadder finally came around to speaking, she was startled back to reality.

I’m behind on my work, he said. Mudder and I’ve been thinking that it’s time for a visit to Amos.

Helen’s eyes snapped to Vadder’s; the sullen acceptance she found there hurt anew.

It is time for the young men to be reminded of responsibility, he said. And how their choices affect those left behind.

With the last, Vadder looked directly into Helen’s soul, and she blushed to think that Vadder knew her heart for Levi.

It has been decided, Helen, that you and Mudder will visit.

She studied him. He wiped his lips with the napkin that had been wadded tight in his large hand, worked throughout the meal into a hard knot. He didn’t turn to meet her questioning eyes while he told her that Mudder will be visiting with Amos, and Helen must speak to Levi in his Mudder’s stead.

Alone, Vadder? We are to go to Columbus alone? Helen asked. But it’s so far and so busy with the buggy ... Helen began, but she was silenced when her Vadder raised a thick-fingered, strong hand.

The Mennonite will take you in his cab service, he said. He knows where the boys are, and he’s willing to escort you there. He has been personally asked, for your safety, by the bishop.

When?

You will go this afternoon and return this evening, Vadder said.

We must hurry. There is little time, Mudder said, clearing the dishes from the table. Her eyes were smiling, though her lips did not.

It’s decided, Vadder said. He scooted his chair across the tiled floor, a screeching sound, before donning his hat. He didn’t look back before walking through the screened door, the slapping sound of final closure between them, her and Levi, Amos and the family, close in her mind.

At two o'clock, the Mennonite pulled into the driveway in an easily recognizable black sedan with blackened hubs. Helen had known John for as long as she could remember because her Vadder had purchased cattle, chickens, and horses from John’s Vadder when he was in need of fresh stock. She had noticed John looking after her when they met in town at the dinner on Saturdays, or in the park playing volleyball on Wednesday nights with her family. The bishop had chosen well, for John’s presence would lift the hairs on the back of Levi’s neck upon sight.

John jumped from the automobile to open doors, and Helen recognized disappointment in his eyes when her Mudder took the front, passenger seat. She walked crisply to the other side of the car and slipped inside on her own.

Flattening the simple, white apron with her hands, she moved to straighten the freshly ironed, crisp, blue fabric of her best dress. She licked a finger and wiped a scuff on her black shoes before tightening the seatbelt around her waist. She had ridden in a bus for several years, as each summer, her family vacationed in Florida for a summer holiday, but this was only her second ride in an automobile.

Armed with saltine crackers and water, she was determined to avoid the sickness that overwhelmed her on that distant winter day. Whirring along the two-lane highway, floating along as if flying, she was back there, in the vehicle with her Mudder’s head on her shoulder, sick and afraid.

It had been a harsh winter. Sub-zero temperatures had kept everyone inside during Helen’s tenth year. Mudder had been so sick that she was having trouble keeping food and liquids down. Her lungs had tightened, her breathing labored, and Vadder thought that she’d not recover without help. He’d sent Helen and Amos to hitch the buggy to take her to town to see an English doctor, and it was then that John and his Vadder stopped in the driveway to check on them.

Helen had dressed and combed Mudder’s hair into a bun before placing her cap and coat. With no other option, Vadder helped to wrap her in a quilt for the ride, lifting her like a child in his muscled arms, so tenderly that it made Helen want to cry. When the car pulled into the drive, without so much as a few words, John’s Vadder took them to town.

John sat by her in the unfamiliar waiting room, even after she’d thrown up on him in the car. Smelling of vomit, he’d quietly talked to her until her Mudder and Vadder came from the back room clutching a bottle of what she knew was medicine, something strong to help when nothing else worked. Vadder slipped the bottle into his coat pocket, and it didn’t emerge again until they were home, inside the four walls, warm, safe and away from John’s searing green eyes. Even the English doctor had won her over that day.

She’d been relieved and remained forever grateful to John and his Vadder, but it was Levi’s blue eyes that she’d wanted, even then. She respected Levi’s family, their tradition, and faith, and although she’d been convinced that God sent John and his Vadder to aid her family in this remarkable way, she had been just as convinced that only Levi could quench her yearning heart.

A humid day, June could not be felt inside the sedan. Seas of green rolled outside her window, and she focused on the horizon to keep her quarrelsome stomach at rest. They carefully passed two buggies along winding roads. She caught John’s eye in the rear-view mirror hanging above the windshield and she blushed, aware that his sharp, green eyes had been staring all along.

Soon, the vast open fields of soy, corn, grazing cows and horses fell away, and Helen saw, as if for the first time, tall brick buildings rise out of flat lands, columns of unending apartment complexes and concrete sidewalks leading to door after door. Grocery stores, mattress warehouses and cell phone stores lined the perimeter of large parking lots beating waves of heat into still, solid air. Twenty minutes later, humanity converged into tall, stately buildings before John turned down a side-street, off the main grid. In the shadow of the city, in a place named Victorian Village, they found number 229 Neil Avenue.

John pulled the car to a stop next to a curb crammed with litter, old leaves, and multi-colored wrappers that glutted the space between the curb and the tires. It seemed all of humanity could be smelled fermenting in the sun, for it was trash day and sweltering outside the vehicle.

A sign in a window read: Furnished Two Bedroom, and Helen thought that it was reasonable to assume that Amos and Levi rented something similar from the same stout, burly businessman in the main office. The man said that he’s seen the two young men in 229 go out at 7:00 each morning to return just after 5:00 pm most days, and he suggested that they wait the long hour out inside a small diner that was within walking distance. Helen met her Mudder’s frightened, wide eyes steadily, and John placed a familiar hand across her back to escort them to the dinner.

The sidewalk was cracked and tilted, causing a single file procession, the women to the front and John close behind. The neighborhood was a mix of beaten houses with sagging porches and dated brick apartments with patched lots. Windows were opened to combat the heat, and fans thrummed in window after window, a constant, rhythmic whir without end. Some of the houses had ragged couches pulled onto the porch, and Helen spotted a tiny, blond-haired girl curled up on one end of a paisley print, like a cat, staring at them with wide, blue eyes. The air stagnated, and her dress stuck to her back in the heat, but she forced a smile and waved at the tiny, precious child.

At the end of the block, the diner was located across a busy street and hummed with cars of all shapes and sizes. A delivery truck rushed by a mere foot from the curb, and Helen’s breathes were taken away in the wind as it passed. John steadied her with a hand on her shoulder and pointed toward a box mounted on a pole to her left. The box began to tweet like a Cardinal’s song, and John nudged her to cross the street, his hand warming her shoulder as she hurried along the white lines that marked a path toward safety.

Helen saw them through the large plated window seated at the counter. Side by side like birds on a clothesline, Amos and Levi ate like starved hogs, elbows on the table and mouths full, talking and laughing and talking more as if it were any other day in Holmes County. Only, this day, they were dressed in English clothes, the familiar brims missing from their heads and tight blue-jeans replacing trousers.

A waitress with bright red and pink hair twirled a lock between her fingers and leaned close to Amos, her cherry-painted lips far too close to his unshaven face.

Amos Gunden, Mudder said sharply to the open room.

Amos jumped from his stool, his cheeks and neck flushed, and as he turned, rather than noticing Amos, Helen looked directly into Levi’s eyes and saw genuine happiness reflected—that is— until his gaze rested upon John. Levi’s jaw hung like an open jar before he snapped his mouth shut.

Amos bounded across the tiled floor to hug Mudder and kiss her cheek. Mudder held him at arm’s length, looking to measure his guilt, no doubt, but also to soak in the sight of him, her eyes fitting over Amos’ face as if she was memorizing every inch. She placed a hand on his cheek, cupping his chin like the child he was no longer. Helen saw it, however subtle, and she knew her Mudder saw it, too. ‘We’ve come to visit you, Amos, Mudder said. And Helen is to speak with Levi, as well.

Come, sit, Amos said, and he pulled Mudder toward a booth in the back corner. Helen followed but caught Levi glaring at John before Levi joined her in the booth. John sat at the counter alone, his back to the booth they occupied.

She sat across from Levi, next to her Mudder, and she listened while Mudder spoke of the responsibility for the family and the hardship that Vadder endures with his absence from the farm. The women ordered and ate a simple meal, chicken-noodle soup, a roll, and a glass of milk while Mudder spoke to Amos in hushed tones.

You are needed at home, Amos, Mudder said. Your Vadder will need to hire a hand for our farm if it’s your intention to stay here. It’s time, Amos. We want you to return home and get baptized in the church.

Amos took it all in and sat staring at his hands, now smooth and clean, void of the hard days spent working fields in the springtime. I have something to show you, he said. Will you come with me back to our apartment before I give you an answer?

Mudder searched his face, an earnest look, fear lacing her expression as viewed from Helen’s angle. She sat back in her chair and folding her hands in her lap, she accepted Amos’ offer to walk back to the apartment. You two should stay for pie, Mudder said, more for Helen’s sake than Levi’s. I’ll leave John at the counter to escort you back to the car, Helen. She nodded at Levi before standing to take Amos’ arm.

Helen waited until Mudder spoke to John before she had the courage to meet Levi’s gaze, his eyes so blue that she felt adrift, outside herself. I’ve been asked to speak in your Mudder’s stead, she began, but she didn’t think Levi was listening, his jaw clenched ever so slightly with the sound of her voice.

Why is he here, Levi said.

What? Do you mean John? Helen asked. John was asked by the bishop to drive us. For our safety, Levi—our security—there is nothing more to it. Helen said, repeating the words that her Vadder had spoken only hours prior. You look well, Levi. I’m so glad you are well, even in your English clothes and unshaven face, she said, teasing him. You were not married in these last months, were you?

With this, he smiled, his straight, white teeth a welcome sight in Helen’s mind.

Don’t be silly, Helen, he said. You don’t like the clothes? I didn’t know what to choose to fit in at work.

Work?

He leaned forward in his chair, his dimples deep and contagious. I have my driver’s license, Helen. And, for the last four months, I’ve been driving for a cab service, just like John. He sat back in his seat, a proud grin splashed across his face.

So, you’re happy then, Helen said. Here, in this city, you have found something you desire to do more than working your family farm? Do you like your new lifestyle here? She was indignant. Exasperated, she didn’t know what she expected from Levi, but his happiness only served to make her more miserable.  Why, Levi? Aren’t you lonely for home? She followed his gaze, assuming he no longer heard her without direct eye contact.

John was talking to the waitress with cherry-red lips, and Helen’s stomach suddenly lurched. Who helped you to get your driver’s license, Levi? Who rode along with you while you had only a temporary license? But she already knew the answer to her question before she asked it. It was her, wasn’t it? It was that waitress that helped the two of you. Am I right? Levi, look at me.

Jah, he said. Roxy helped us to get started.

I see.

Nee, you don’t see, Helen. Roxy’s just a friend. I’m doing all of this for us.

Us?  The word