Under the Harvest Moon

By Beth Wiseman

Can Brock and Naomi harvest a second chance for love?

When Naomi Dienner is suddenly widowed, she never expects to find love again . . . until she meets Brock Mulligan, an English family friend hired at harvest time. As a sinister presence begins to threaten Naomi, Brock seeks to prove himself trustworthy while struggling with growing feelings for Naomi and her children. Will God open Naomi’s heart—and give Brock his own second chance at love?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Aug 16, 2016
• ISBN: 9780718023614

Beth Wiseman

Bestselling and award-winning author Beth Wiseman has sold over two million books. She is the recipient of the coveted Holt Medallion, is a two-time Carol Award winner, and has won the Inspirational Reader's Choice Award three times. Her books have been on various bestseller lists, including CBA, ECPA, Christianbook, and Publishers Weekly. Beth and her husband are empty nesters enjoying country life in south-central Texas. Visit her online at BethWiseman.com; Facebook: @AuthorBethWiseman; Twitter: @BethWiseman; Instagram: @bethwisemanauthor

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Under the Harvest Moon

Copyright © 2016 by Elizabeth Wiseman Mackey

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [e-mail].

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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.

ISBN: 978-0-7180-2357-7 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

CIP data is available upon request.

To Sharon Hanners

CONTENTS

Glossary

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Discussion Questions

Acknowledgments

Recipes from Under the Harvest Moon

An Excerpt from Love and Buggy Rides

Chapter One

Chapter Two

About the Author

GLOSSARY

ab im kopp—off in the head; crazy

ach—oh

bruder—brother

daadi—grandfather

daed—dad

dochder—daughter

Englisch—non-Amish person

frau—wife

gut—good

kapp—prayer covering

kinner—children

lieb—love

maedel / maed—girl(s)

mamm—mom

mammi—grandmother

mei—my

mudder—mother

nee—no

Pennsylvania Deitsch—the language most commonly used by the Amish. Although commonly known as Pennsylvania Dutch, the language is actually a form of German (Deutsch).

Wie bischt—How are you? / Howdy

ya—yes

Prologue

Naomi squeezed concealer into the palm of her hand, then gingerly dabbed it beneath her eye, smoothing it into her skin until the black circle was almost invisible. If anyone said anything, she’d feign lack of sleep and ask the Lord to forgive her lie. Again.

Growing up, Naomi’s father had rarely laid a hand on her and never in anger. Maybe twice she’d received spankings for acting out, but he’d never hit her in the face. In the beginning, it was confusing why Stephen seemed to take out his frustrations on her, but her husband was a good man. Stephen was a hard worker, a pillar in their community, and a handsome man whom others took notice of when they were out and about. He was a good father too. He wasn’t like other Amish husbands who left all the child-rearing to their wives. Stephen played with the children, and when they were infants, he’d even changed a few diapers.

They’d married when Naomi was seventeen, and over the past nine years, she had come to think that the problem must be her. She’d done her best to be a proper wife, even though she wasn’t a very good cook and her housekeeping skills could only be described as mediocre. But having two young children kept her busy, along with the list of daily chores that Stephen encouraged her to keep up with.

Naomi leaned closer to the mirror in the bathroom, proud that she’d learned how to apply the Englisch makeup she’d found at the market. It had taken several purchases before she’d found the color that matched her pale skin almost perfectly. She jumped when there was a knock at the door and quickly stashed the tube in the pocket of her apron, in case she needed a touch-up between worship service and the meal.

You ready?

She opened the door, faced her husband, and smiled. "Ya. All ready."

Stephen looked at her, and for a few seconds, she thought maybe she hadn’t done a good enough job covering the black remnant of their argument a few days ago. But Stephen kissed her on the cheek, stepped back, and smiled.

"You are the most beautiful woman ever born. I’m a blessed man to have you as mei frau." He pushed back a wayward piece of hair that had fallen from beneath her prayer covering, a gesture that used to make her jump. But she’d learned long ago that being timid only angered Stephen, so she’d trained herself not to flinch or cringe, no matter what might be coming.

Danki, she said. I’m a blessed woman to have you also.

He grabbed her hand and together they went downstairs. Abby and Esther Rose were sitting on the couch, dressed and ready for church. It would be a grand day of fellowship and worship, and like always, Naomi would ask God to help her be a better wife, someone who didn’t anger her husband so often.

Naomi followed Stephen and the girls down the porch steps, knowing her pace would be slow today, and probably for the next couple of weeks. A broken rib tended to slow a person down.

Chapter One

Four months later

Naomi stood beside Stephen’s headstone; wooden and plain like the rest of the unmarked graves in the Amish cemetery. Her husband was laid to rest next to Adam, the baby Naomi had lost in her second trimester the year before. She and her children would make their final resting place here also, their souls journeying on to heaven where they’d all reunite someday. Stephen would be a different man by the time they got there. God would see to that. For now, Naomi would continue to bring her girls to the cemetery as often as she could.

"Do you think Daed can see us? seven-year-old Abigail said. Do you think he is with baby Adam? Do kids have toys in heaven? Naomi’s father had once remarked jokingly, That one’s going to keep you on your toes. She’s wise beyond her years and would question a grape if it could talk back to her."

I don’t know. What do you think? Naomi pulled her black sweater snug atop her black dress and apron. She’d be glad to shed her mourning clothes for brighter colors, although she wasn’t sure when it would be appropriate to do so. Her mother had said the choice was hers, but if that had truly been the case, Naomi would have chosen to wear a maroon dress, symbolic of the fall harvest that would soon be upon them. Even though she had no idea how she would bring in the crops Stephen had planted months ago.

"I think Daed and baby Adam can see us and hear us from heaven, and that they are together. And I just know there will be toys in heaven!" Abby smiled brightly, unbothered by the fact that there was a black hole where her two front teeth had been until recently. Her oldest daughter had dimples that made her always look happy, even if she wasn’t smiling. Abby was the only person in the family with curly, blond hair and blue eyes. Everyone else had dark hair, on both sides of their families, except for one of Naomi’s cousins whose hair was red and her eyes green.

Naomi wasn’t sure if Stephen and Adam could hear and see them, she only hoped her husband couldn’t read her thoughts. She folded her arms across her stomach. It saddened her that Abby, Esther Rose, and the child she now carried would grow up without a father—but it was hard not to feel a sense of relief.

Esther Rose sat down in the overgrown grass by Stephen’s headstone. As she’d done a dozen times before, Esther Rose put her hand on the earth where her father was buried and said, "I miss you, Daed." Then she did the same thing where Adam was laid to rest.

Naomi’s five-year-old hung her head, and she suspected that tears were forming in the corners of her daughter’s eyes.

"But remember, Daed and Adam are with Jesus now." Naomi wondered how much Esther Rose would remember about the brother she’d lost and the father they’d buried four months ago. Naomi’s earliest memories ran back to when she was five, and she hoped her younger daughter would remember her father for the good man the child believed him to be.

"We must go now. Mammi is coming by later this morning." Naomi looked forward to her mother’s visits, which had become more frequent since Stephen’s passing. No one said it aloud, but it was obvious that people were waiting for Naomi to either get remarried or have a nervous breakdown following the loss of her husband at such a young age. If they only knew. Some days, Naomi could picture God looking down on her and shaking His head at the wicked thoughts that trolled through her mind. But for the past four months, Naomi had felt more at peace than she had in years. It was awful to think that way, but she was getting reacquainted with a life she barely remembered. She no longer had to worry if the meat was undercooked, the pasta oversalted, or a host of other things that might set off her husband. She could stretch to the ceiling if she felt like it and hang clothes on the line without a pinching pain in her side. She could skip certain chores and opt to play with her children instead.

She placed a hand on her stomach again, knowing that with each pregnancy, Stephen had kept away from her for fear of hurting each unborn child. He could control his temper, she’d come to learn. He just didn’t want to or need to unless she was with child. When she’d been pregnant with Esther Rose, her husband had put a hole through the wall with his fist and also thrown a trinket box that had belonged to Naomi’s grandmother across the room, smashing it into tiny slivers of wood.

But Stephen had nothing to do with Adam being called home before his life had a chance to begin. Not even the doctor had a good explanation, saying only that a small percentage of miscarriages happen in the second trimester. But amid the whirlwind of emotions she’d felt about Stephen’s passing, fear had reared its ugly head in a different way. She didn’t think she could bear losing another baby.

Naomi and her girls returned home from the cemetery later that morning, but it wasn’t her mother waiting on the front porch, it was her father. A rare visit for a Tuesday morning. As Naomi walked across the yard toward him, Esther Rose and Abby almost knocked her over, blowing past her and into their grandfather’s arms. Her parents would be excited to hear she was having another child, but she hadn’t shared the news with anyone yet. Even at five months, her pregnancy was easy enough to hide beneath her baggy dresses. At first, she’d wanted to wait until she felt more certain she would carry her baby to term, or at least longer than she’d carried Adam. Then Stephen died, and it just didn’t seem like the right time to celebrate this new life. Sadness still fell over her when she recalled miscarrying her son. It was the only time she’d seen Stephen cry. She would tell her parents about this baby soon.

"What