Free Faithful to Laura by Kathleen Fuller Page A

true. Once we’re married, we’ll be together for life. We can’t divorce.”
    “There are other kinds of divorce within a marriage.
    You can live separate lives under the same roof. And that can lead to destruction, not only of your relationship, but of yourself.”
    Adam looked at him, trying to figure out what his daed wasn’t saying. But the man’s expression became hard.
    Unreadable.
    “Do you really want to marry Emma?” Daed asked. “Do you love her enough to tell her the truth?”
    Adam gulped. But he didn’t have to think about it. “ Ya . I do. I only hope that when I tell her, she can forgive me.” He turned around and headed back to the house, his parents’ problems fading into the back of his mind. How could he possibly tell Emma about his past with Ashley?
    God, I don’t want to lose her .
    When he returned home to Middlefield and his Amish life, Adam had experienced both the consequences of his actions and the forgiveness of God and the community. He had expected that to be the end of it.
    But it wasn’t. He would still have to pay for his biggest regret—and Emma would pay for it too.

    Norman leaned against the wall of the barn. His hat tilted back until it started to slip off his head. It landed on the ground. He didn’t bother to pick it up.
    Adam was right. He should be happy for him and Emma.
    But he couldn’t be, not completely. He loved Emma like his own daughter. And at one time, he would have been pleased at the idea of the two of them together.
    But now, although his love for Emma hadn’t changed, the circumstances had. He had given Adam the right advice. Too bad he was too much of a coward to heed his own words.
    Norman snatched his hat off the ground and brushed the dirt off. He picked up the rake and tried to block out the world, working at the menial task until he was too exhausted to do anything but fall into bed.
    It was how he’d coped with Adam’s rumspringa . There were times he would have lost his sanity if he hadn’t been outside among his animals, working the land. Some days it was the only way he had any peace, a state of mind and soul that Adam had been chipping away at for years with a rebellion that culminated in leaving the Amish faith.
    Now his son was back. Yet Norman was still avoiding the house, avoiding his family. If only the situation with his wife could be ignored as easily as his wayward boy.
    Norman loved his wife. After twenty-five years, he still cared deeply for her. But he had made a mistake. One that made his son’s rebellious indiscretion pale in comparison. And he didn’t know why or even how, but he suspected Carol knew about it.
    Shame filled him. He was a deacon. Held to a higher standard. Yet how could he acknowledge his sin to his wife, his son, possibly the church?
    The rake fell out of his hands. He dropped to his knees.
    God, forgive me . . .
    It wasn’t the first time he’d asked for forgiveness.
    It also wasn’t the first time he didn’t feel forgiven.

C HAPTER 10
     
    “Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?”
    Cora tapped her manicured nails on the edge of the leather seat. She looked at Kenneth Hamilton, her personal attorney.
    She had called him the night before, and he had met her at the penthouse before dawn. Now they were headed for the airport.
    Cora retained several attorneys, but Kenneth had been with her the longest. She confided more in him than in anyone else. Even then, she only told him the minimum of what he needed to know. “I’m positive. This is something I need to do on my own.”
    Kenneth adjusted his glasses and looked over the open file folder of legal documents and forms. “Everything seems to be in order here, considering the rush job I put my paralegal through.” He looked at Cora. “But I have to tell you. Since your grandson is an adult, there’s not much you can do to make him come to New York.”
    “Which is why I wanted you to draft a new will.”
    “He can still refuse.”