A classic Amish tale of second chances previously titled The Inn at Hope Springs from bestselling author Patricia Davids (2010)
Emma Wadler has made a good life for herself, running the Wadler Inn in the town of Hope Springs, Ohio. She has accepted her life as an “old maid,” and is content catering to the tourists who come to view her Amish community. She had once hoped to marry and raise a family of her own, but her fiancé died tragically when they were both only seventeen, and Emma has guarded her heart ever since.
Adam Troyer fixes things. Having just returned to the faith after years in the English world, Adam is hoping to prove to his father that he is committed to a simple life. So he’s happy to be hired by Emma’s mother to make repairs to the inn during the winter off-season. The old Swiss-style Chalet has its share of problems, but nothing he can’t fix. Nothing except perhaps the broken heart of the owner….
The Amish Innkeeper’s Secret
Patricia Davids
CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter One
“Stop right there. What do you think you’re doing?”
Inside the front door of the Wadler Inn, Adam Troyer froze, his ladder balanced precariously on his shoulder. He didn’t dare swing around to see who was scolding him. If he tried, he’d break a window or take out a row of Grandma Yoder’s jams and jellies lining the display shelves beside the door. A window could be replaced, but good gooseberry jam was a work of art. Grandma Yoder’s was the best.
“What is the meaning of this?” A woman moved into his line of sight from behind the jam display. Planting herself in front of him, she prevented him from advancing into the lobby. Arms akimbo in her brown Amish dress, a scowl on her face beneath the white prayer cap on her auburn hair, the little woman reminded him of a hen with her feathers ruffled in annoyance. An angry Rhode Island Red with spectacles.
He struggled to keep from laughing. “You are Emma Wadler, jah?”
“I am. Who are you, and why are you bringing that ladder in here?” Her tone was cold as the February temperature outside.
He swallowed his grin. He needed this job. “I’m Adam Troyer. I’m here to fix the loose stones in the fireplace and some of the shutters outside.”
He’d only seen her a few times before this. Although they belonged to different Amish church districts, he’d spent time in Hope Springs when he’d visited his cousins. His cousin David called her a plain-faced alt maedel.
She didn’t look that old, maybe thirty at the most. Not all that plain, either, with her peaches-and-cream complexion and full red lips. At the moment those lips were pressed into a hard line, but he figured a smile would make her almost pretty.
Behind wire-rimmed glasses, her hazel eyes narrowed. No smile appeared. “There’s nothing wrong with our shutters. Who hired you?”
“The owner did.”
She folded her arms. “I’m the owner.”
“You are?” That surprised him. Very few Amish women owned businesses outright, although many owned them jointly with their husbands.
“I asked Mr. Parker to hire the lad, Emma. Now let him get to work. I don’t want another quilt smoked up.” A tall, gray-haired woman in a royal-blue dress crossed the room. Bright-eyed and smiling, tall and big-boned, Naomi Wadler was the opposite of her daughter in every respect.
Stopping in front of him, she pointed to one end of the lobby. “We have several stones loose in the fireplace. Can you fix them?”
The impressive stone structure soared two stories high and was at least eight feet wide. Made in the old-world fashion using rounded river stones in mortar with a massive timber for a mantel. Someone had added a quilt hanger near the top. It made a fine place to display a handmade quilt.
Emma spoke up. “Don’t start work just yet, Mr. Troyer. Mudder, I need a word with you,” she stated, a hint of steel in her tone.
As Adam watched the women leave the room, he had the sinking feeling he was about to lose this much-needed job.
Chapter Two
Emma led the way to the small office behind the front desk and closed the door after her mother. “I wish you had discussed this with me. We can’t afford to have a lot of work done. I can take care of most things myself.”
“Nonsense. We can’t afford not to get the work done. And now is the best time—it’s the middle of winter and we have so few guests. Mr. Parker mentioned to me his growing list of things that need repairs. Didn’t he mention them to you?”
“He did. I will get to them.”
Emma had hired Mr. Parker to take over the day-to-day contact with guests and to handle the phone and computerized reservations that her religion didn’t allow her to do. He had been an invaluable employee for five years. If he felt the need to go over her head, she shouldn’t have brushed aside his concerns.
“I discussed it with Dr. White when I ran into him at the grocery store yesterday,” Naomi said. “He does own half this inn. I felt he needed to know.”
He owned fifty-one percent to be exact. Dr. Harold White was the town’s only physician. He and her father had been great friends. She could not own such a business by herself outright because of her religious restrictions so she had asked Dr. White for his help. Her bishop found it acceptable because she was unmarried and because she was working for a non-Amish partner. Dr. White left her completely in charge of running the place and that suited them both.
Her mother pressed her point. “Adam Troyer’s rates are reasonable. Do you want a stone or a shutter to drop on some poor Englischer’s head? Besides, Dr. White’s not
