Secrets of Willow Springs - Book 2: An Amish Christian Book

by Tracy Fredrychowski

Genres: Amish & Mennonite; Christian Fiction; Contemporary Christian; Christian Romance; Small Town & Rural; Clean & Wholesome Romance; Christian fiction; amish romance; amish; amish authors; amish novel; mennonite fiction; clean reads; clean wholesome

Synopsis

Can an English woman escape her past in this Amish Fiction Book where two worlds collide.


After spending sixteen years in prison, Marie Cooper is forced to return to Sugarcreek, deep in Amish Country.


Forced to take the only job available to her, she finds herself working for wealthy Nathan Bouteright. As her late husband's memory continues to follow her, who will hold the key to unlock so many unanswered questions about her past? Will she be able to help Emma and Daniel come to terms with who they are, and can they forgive the one person who played God with their lives?


When Marie struggles to get Nathan to trust her, will it be his four-year-old son Amos who shows them there is more to a person than what is on the outside? Or, will a letter from her deceased mother help her find her way back to her faith and the exact place she dropped her thread of obedience?


Excerpt from Chapter 1
The early morning light had just started to flood the corridor when the seven o'clock bell rang. The steel lock that kept Marie Cooper in her cell slid open, and an armed guard was waiting to escort her to Processing. Pushing herself off the bottom bunk, she reached for the small canvas bag at her feet that contained her meager belongings and headed for the door. Stopping only for a second to look back and wave goodbye to her cellmates, she suddenly felt a sense of sadness. These women had become like family. Even though she hated to admit it, she felt closer to them than she did her own.


Walking through the double doors that separated her from the outside world, Marie was stopped and patted down by two female guards. Once through the reception area, she found herself sitting at a desk listening to the monotone voice of the discharge officer. Signing her name to a form indicating she understood she could not vote, carry a firearm or leave the state of Ohio, she then laid the pen aside and folded her hands on her lap. Her heart raced as the officer read the date and time she was to report to her probation officer and the monthly amount that would be due in thirty days to pay her fines.


After the officer finished all of her release documents, she directed Marie to move to the counter at the back of the room. There she found herself looking down at the items that had been emptied out in front of her. Listening to the inventory being rattled off by the large woman behind the counter, each piece forced her to remember something she had tried hard to forget.
“One gold band.”
Against the wishes of her mother, Marie had run away with the first boy who paid any attention to her. When the bruises became too hard to conceal, and all of her mother's predictions came true, she cut off all ties with her.
“One pair of jeans and one pink T-shirt.”
The blue stretchy material reminded her that she hadn't even gotten a chance to work off her pregnancy weight before being arrested.
“One nursing bra.”
Just another reminder that she never got to raise her daughter. The sound of a baby crying still haunted her dreams.
“One necklace.”
At the age of fourteen, after giving her life to Christ, her mother surprised her with the simple gold cross. It was all she had to remember her by now.


The woman pushed another form at her to sign and pointed to the area where she could change out of her prison clothes and into the ones in front of her. She scooped up her belongings and headed to the changing room.


Closing the door with her foot, she leaned back and tried to ward off the tears that were pooling in her eyes. This day was supposed to be happy, but the fear she felt was traumatizing.


Amazon Categories:
Amish & Mennonite Fiction
Amish Romance (Kindle Store)
Mennonite Christianity (Kindle Store)
Amish Christianity
Amish Romance (Books)


Can love be found in this Amish fiction book by Amish Author, Tracy Fredrychowksi?

Release date: December 17, 2019

Publisher: The Tracer Group, LLC

Print pages: 214

Sample

Prologue

August 2017 - Sugarcreek, Ohio

The early morning light had just started to flood the corridor when the seven o’clock bell rang. The steel lock that kept Marie Cooper in her cell slid open, and an armed guard was waiting to escort her to Processing. Pushing herself off the bottom bunk, she reached for the small canvas bag at her feet that contained her meager belongings and headed for the door. Stopping only for a second to look back and wave goodbye to her cellmates, she suddenly felt a sense of sadness. These women had become like family. Even though she hated to admit it, she felt closer to them than she did her own.

Walking through the double doors that separated her from the outside world, Marie was stopped and patted down by two female guards. Once through the reception area, she found herself sitting at a desk listening to the monotone voice of the discharge officer. Signing her name to a form indicating she understood she could not vote, carry a firearm or leave the state of Ohio, she then laid the pen aside and folded her hands on her lap. Her heart raced as the officer read the date and time she was to report to her probation officer and the monthly amount that would be due in thirty days to pay her fines.

After the officer finished all of her release documents, she directed Marie to move to the counter at the back of the room. There she found herself looking down at the items that had been emptied out in front of her. Listening to the inventory being rattled off by the large woman behind the counter, each piece forced her to remember something she had tried hard to forget.

“One gold band.”

Against the wishes of her mother, Marie had run away with the first boy who paid any attention to her. When the bruises became too hard to conceal, and all of her mother’s predictions came true, she cut off all ties with her.

“One pair of jeans and one pink T-shirt.”

The blue stretchy material reminded her that she hadn’t even gotten a chance to work off her pregnancy weight before being arrested.

“One nursing bra.”

Just another reminder that she never got to raise her daughter. The sound of a baby crying still haunted her dreams.

“One necklace.”

At the age of fourteen, after giving her life to Christ, her mother surprised her with the simple gold cross. It was all she had to remember her by now.

The woman pushed another form at her to sign and pointed to the area where she could change out of her prison clothes and into the ones in front of her. She scooped up her belongings and headed to the changing room.

Closing the door with her foot, she leaned back and tried to ward off the tears that were pooling in her eyes. This day was supposed to be happy, but the fear she felt was traumatizing.

Pulling the prison issued blue shirt over her head, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her golden hair was now showing signs of silver flecks at her temples, and the brown eyes that once had been full of hope and wonder had turned cold and lifeless. 

Slipping her legs into the loose jeans, she realized not only had her body changed, everything about her was different. Years in prison had hardened her, and she wasn’t sure she liked who she saw in the mirror.

She had failed her children, but more importantly, she felt like she had failed God. Killing her husband to protect an Amish man she didn’t know, giving her baby away to a stranger and signing over her parental rights so her son could be adopted had changed her. The only stability in life had been her mother, and she had long passed away. She had no one who cared or, better yet, no one who loved her. Daniel Miller, her son, was only helping her out of duty, and he’d made it clear he wasn’t happy about letting her back into his life. He was her only connection to the outside world she had been shut off from for so long.  

After pushing the gold band in her pocket, she clasped the necklace around her neck and laid her hand over the cross that fell in the hollow of her neck. At one time the cross meant the world to her, but years of feeling abandoned by God left her full of resentment. No matter how she looked at it or how many prison ministers had tried to reach out to her, she couldn’t let go of the feeling of being forgotten by God.

A hard knock on the door reminded her that she was still under the watchful eye of the guard. She was taking too much time changing her clothes.

Opening the door, she walked past the guard and handed the woman at the desk her neatly folded pile of prison clothes. After the guard asked her a series of questions about who was picking her up and if she understood she had an appointment with her parole officer the next day, she was instructed to sit in the reception area to wait for her ten o'clock release time.

The hands on the clock above the door made a loud click as it reached nine. Again, the fear she was fighting started to take over.

What will happen if Daniel doesn’t come pick me up?  Where will I go? How will I get to my appointment tomorrow?  

Her stomach churned as she tapped her fingers on the wooden arms of the chair. That voice, there it was again.

She closed her eyes and tried to get it to leave. It was getting louder and louder. No matter how hard she tried to push the words away, the whispers kept coming. Deep down she knew who it was, but she wasn’t ready to listen. Like a voice a million miles away she heard. “Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

She shook her head, trying to quiet the small voice. Where have I heard that before? Was it one of the Bible verses Mother often read to me or was it a Sunday school memory verse playing in my head?

Wherever it was, she knew she needed to put her trust in God. But years of torment left her feeling that she could count on only one person, herself.

Picking up the bag at her feet, she peered inside making sure she had everything with her. Is this all I have to show for thirty-nine years? 

She pulled the ring from her pocket and put it in the bag as she picked up the torn and tattered picture of a baby. There was no way for her to know what Elizabeth looked like or even how she’d spent the first sixteen years of her life. The unanswered letters she’d sent to the address where she’d left her gave her no hope. She begged Daniel to visit the address in Sugarcreek to see if he could find his sister, but she had not heard if he had gone. 

Aside from the picture, she had a few short letters from Daniel that were anything but short and to the point. She owned a brush, a toothbrush and a picture of her mother. What fond memories she had of her mother. It didn’t matter that her father had died when she was five, her mother worked hard to support them and always made it a priority to raise her in a good Christian home.

How was she ever going to face it all without her mother by her side? She felt all alone in a world that had shown her no mercy. Harshly sentenced for a crime by a judge who was out to use her as an example and married to a man who used her as a punching bag, life as she saw it was hopeless.

The room was cold and lifeless, just like her cell had been, and Marie was anxious to leave the bitterness behind. How was she ever going to ward off these dark feelings? Sitting on the stand beside her was a leather-bound Bible. Instantly her hand was drawn to it. Instead of opening it, she laid her hand on top of it. Memories of the well-worn pages of her mother’s Bible flashed in her head. A warm feeling passed through her hand. She jerked it away as if she’d touched something hot.

“Cooper.”

Startled by the buzz that unlocked the door, Marie needed a minute to realize her name had been called. She watched the door swing open.

Standing on wobbly legs, she passed the guard seated at the entrance. Without looking up, he instructed her that her ride was waiting in the parking lot near the front security checkpoint.

Stepping outside she closed her eyes and raised her face to the sun. It felt warmer, the air fresher than it had ever felt before. A dragonfly fluttered in front of her nose and made her smile. The first real genuine smile she’d had in years. For a moment, chills ran down her arms, and warmth surrounded her like someone had embraced her in a loving hug. One single tear rolled down her cheek as she pushed the feeling away. Marie shook her head back to reality. 

Focusing her eyes toward the security gate, she saw a man, not the boy she’d left behind. Daniel was leaning up against his truck, his arms folded tightly across his chest. Her heart ached to hold him close and tell him how sorry she was. He’d been through so much because of the choices she’d made. How was she ever going to mend his broken heart?