Free In Plain View (Amish Safe House, Book 2) by Ruth Hartzler Page A

maybe, before he returns
home.”
    Rose nodded. “Perhaps I will,” she said. She
then turned and headed back into the dining room. Ten minutes
later, as Kate was washing the dishes, she glanced out of the back
window and saw the two young people walking in the backyard with
one another. They were close together, but not touching. Kate
smiled. There was something sweet to it, innocent. It wasn’t like
the world she had come from, and she was starting to realize that
just might be a good thing.
    Kate finished with the dishes and went into
the dining room, and was surprised to see Beth and Isaac still
sitting at the table. Beth looked at Kate when she entered. “Have a
seat, Kate, if you’re in no hurry to get home.”
    Kate sat down across from the woman and
smiled. “What are you two up to?”
    “Not trouble, if that’s what you're
thinking,” Beth with a wink, and Isaac laughed.
    “So you’re sitting here waiting for Rose to
get back?” Kate asked.
    “Maybe,” Beth admitted.
    “It feels like just yesterday she was four
years old,” Isaac said. “Running around here, getting into
everything.”
    “And now she is out walking with the mann
who is going to marry her,” Beth said.
    Kate smiled warmly at the conviction in
Beth’s voice. She reached over and set her hand on Beth’s. “You
have to let them grow up,” she said.
    “It’s hard,” Beth said.
    “She’ll be happier than she’s ever been,”
Kate said, and the two parents nodded. They sat like that for
fifteen or so minutes, and then the front door opened and Rose came
in.
    “Samuel is heading home,” she said. “He told
me to thank you again for dinner.”
    “How was your walk?” Isaac asked. Rose
paused in the doorway and was unable to keep a wide smile from
spreading across her face.
    “It was great,” she said. “I’m going to get
ready for bed.”
    The three at the table watched her go, and
then they turned to look at one another. There was a smile on every
face.
     

 
    Acts 18:8-10.
Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord,
together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians
hearing Paul believed and were baptized. And the Lord said to Paul
one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do
not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to
harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”
    Chapter
12 .
     
    As daybreak approached, the animals stirred,
like they did every morning. The rooster crowed, waking up every
resident of the farm, both animal and human. Kate looked over at
her window and smiled as the first glimpses of sun shone through.
She could hear the livestock as they waited for their breakfast.
This forced her to wipe away her sleepiness and roll out of bed. As
she approached the wall, she stared at the dresses hanging on the
pegs. With a half-hearted smile, she studied the dresses carefully.
This had become her life now, but there were moments where her true
self would feel like someone she was losing, like an old friend who
was slipping away forever.
    Kate lifted the calf-high dress in her arms
and secured her bonnet with her left hand. It had been a harsh life
to conform to initially, but by now she was actually enjoying her
time in the preserved community. Balancing her undercover
investigation into a homicide with her everyday life on the farm
was difficult, but so far everything was going to plan. She
finished getting ready and began preparing the feed for the
animals.
    As she strolled outside, she noticed Isaac
was already tending the fields. He was cultivating the crops with
his horse-drawn cultivator. The Amish sure were an odd bunch, but
she greatly respected their values, morals, and hard work, not to
mention how this couple had done so much for a complete stranger
out of the kindness of their hearts. She watched Isaac drive by and
smiled, waving her hand.
    Her daily chores were to maintain the
animals and reseed the garden, while