Reeling in Love

By Kathleen Fuller

An Amish Picnic story by bestselling author Kathleen Fuller

Nina Stoll and Ira Yoder are just friends. Just friends and fishing buddies. Every Saturday afternoon, they have a picnic at their favorite fishing hole and see who can out fish the other. Until Nina starts to wonder if there’s more.

Her plans to share her feelings go awry, and circumstances seem destined to keep Nina and Ira apart. With both Nina and Ira confused and hurting, it’s going to take courage, some help from the community matchmakers, and a little bit of divine intervention for Nina and Ira to realize they’re each other's perfect catch.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9780310357933

Kathleen Fuller

With over two million copies sold, Kathleen Fuller is the USA TODAY bestselling author of several bestselling novels, including the Hearts of Middlefield novels, the Middlefield Family novels, the Amish of Birch Creek series, and the Amish Letters series as well as a middle-grade Amish series, the Mysteries of Middlefield. Visit her online at KathleenFuller.com; Instagram: @kf_booksandhooks; Facebook: @WriterKathleenFuller; Twitter: @TheKatJam.

Book preview

title page

Copyright

ZONDERVAN

Reeling in Love

Copyright © 2020 by Kathleen Fuller

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

ISBN: 978-0-310-35793-3 (e-book)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

CIP data is available upon request.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version. Public domain.

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

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title page

Contents

Cover

Copyright

Title Page

Contents

Glossary

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Epilogue

Discussion Questions

Acknowledgments

About the Author

To James. I love you.

Glossary

ab im kopp: off in the head; crazy

ach: oh

aenti: aunt

appeditlich: delicious

bedauerlich: sad

boppli: baby/babies

brot: bread

bruder: brother

bruders: brothers

bruderskinner: nieces/nephews

bu: boy

buwe: boys

daadi/daddi: grandfather

daddi’s haus: grandparents’ house

daed: father

danki: thank you

dat: dad

dochder: daughter

dochdern: daughters

dummkopf: stupid

dummle: hurry

Englisch/Englischer: English or non-Amish

fra/fraa: wife

freind: friend

freinden: friends

froh: happy

gegisch: silly

geh: go

gern gschehne: you’re welcome

Gmay: church district

Gott/Gotte: God

Gotte’s wille: God’s will

grandkinner: grandchildren

groossdaadi/grossvatter: grandpa

grossmutter: grandmother

guder daag: good-bye

gude mariye: good morning

gut: good

gut nacht: good night

haus: house

Ich liebe dich: I love you

in lieb: in love

jah: yes

kaffee/kaffi: coffee

kapp: prayer covering or cap

kichli: cookie

kichlin: cookies

kinner: children

krank: ill

kuche: cake

kuchen: cakes

kumm: come

liewe: love, a term of endearment

maed: young women, girls

maedel: young woman

mamm: mom

mammi: grandmother

mann: husband

mei: my

mudder: mother

naerfich: nervous

narrisch: crazy

nee/nein: no

nix: nothing

onkel: uncle

Ordnung: unwritten rules for Amish living

rumspringa: running-around period when a teenager turns sixteen years old

schee: pretty

schmaert: smart

schtupp: family room

schweschder/schwester: sister

schweschdere/schwesters: sisters

seltsam: weird

sohn/suh: son

was iss letz: what’s wrong

Wie geht’s: How do you do? or Good day!

wunderbaar/wunderbarr: wonderful

ya: yes

yer: your

yerselves: yourselves

yung: young

youngie: teen to young adult

*The German dialect spoken by the Amish is not a written language and varies depending on the location and origin of the settlement. These spellings are approximations. Most Amish children learn English after they start school. They also learn high German, which is used in their Sunday services.

Chapter 1

Nina Stoll loved fishing on Saturday afternoons, but today she felt like she was the one on the hook. And she didn’t like that—not at all.

She glanced at Ira Yoder, her best friend since she moved to Birch Creek almost two years ago. As usual, he was quiet, concentrating on catching fish. That was what she should be doing too. And normally she did. Except lately, Ira was all she could focus on.

They don’t seem to be biting today. Ira gave his fishing pole a little yank.

Huh? Nina mumbled, his words barely registering. Ira was exceptionally handsome today, wearing a short-sleeved, light-yellow shirt, his brown hair a little on the long side, and his straw hat a tad askew on his head as if he’d just plopped it on and rushed here after finishing his farm chores. She liked the fact that he was always a little mussed. He worked hard on his family’s farm . . . and he had the physique to prove it.

The fish. He looked at her. They’re not biting today.

Everything about Ira appealed to her, but his eyes were especially striking—a mix of green and brown but not quite hazel. Strange that she’d only recently noticed how appealing they were. But Ira wasn’t all muscles and looks. He was kind, loyal, and fun to be around. He was the total package.

Nina? He snapped his fingers in front of her face. Anyone home?

She blinked but continued to stare at him. She couldn’t help it.

He frowned. Are you all right?

Ya. She sighed, never taking her eyes off his. Everything’s . . . perfect.

He lifted his right eyebrow. O . . . kay, he said, giving her a strange look before reeling in his line. He glanced at her again. If you say so.

Those last words brought her to her senses. She yanked her gaze away from his, her cheeks heating but not because of the July heat. Life was much simpler when she’d thought of Ira as only her best friend. That had changed at Cevilla Schlabach’s wedding a few months ago. She’d been playing volleyball, a game she loved, and as often happened, she was the only female on either side of the net. She and Ira were on the same team, and when they both went to spike the ball, they collided. The impact had knocked the breath out of her, and she’d crumpled to the ground.

Ira, who was as solid as an oak door, had remained on his feet, but he immediately knelt beside her. Nina! Are you all right?

She blinked, and when she looked up at him, it hit her. The man gazing at her with concern in his eyes was more than her best friend, more than the one person she could always be herself around without fear of judgment or rejection. And the warm, giddy feeling in her stomach wasn’t just because an hour earlier she’d witnessed a lovely wedding ceremony.

Then the unexpected happened. She imagined spending her life with him. Or at the very least giving him a serious kiss.

He grabbed her hand and helped her to her feet, and then he dashed off when he realized she was fine. But she was far from fine. She was in love with Ira Yoder . . . and she had no idea what to do about