Secrets of Harmony Grove , livre ebook

Harvest House Publishers - Starns Clark Mindy

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

209 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

From the bestselling author of Shadows of Lancaster County comes an exciting new romantic mystery set in Amish country.Sienna Collins, owner of the Harmony Grove Bed & Breakfast in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, learns that she is under investigation by the federal government for crimes she knows nothing about. A few hours later she finds her ex-boyfriend, Troy, dead, and her life and livelihood begin to spin wildly out of control. She begins to doubt everyone around her, even the handsome detective assigned to the case.As Sienna tries to clear her name, she is forced to depend on her faith, the wisdom of the Amish, and the insight of the man she has recently begun dating. She'll need all the help she can get, because the secrets she uncovers in Harmony Grove end up threatening not just her bed-and-breakfast, but also her credibility, her beliefs, and ultimately her life.

Sujets

Philosophie et théologie

Informations

Publié par	Harvest House Publishers
Date de parution	01 octobre 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780736938235
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0480€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

SECRETS
of
HARMONY
GROVE
MINDY STARNS
CLARK

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
The author is represented by MacGregor Literary.
Cover by Dugan Design Group, Bloomington, Minnesota
Cover photos iStockphoto / parema, DelmasLehman; Fotolia / varnadoe5
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
English translation of Ovid s Metamorphoses copyright 2000 by A.S. Kline, www.poetrytranslation.com . Used by permission.
SECRETS OF HARMONY GROVE
Copyright 2010 by Mindy Starns Clark
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Clark, Mindy Starns.
Secrets of Harmony Grove / Mindy Starns Clark.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7369-2625-6 (pbk.)
1. Single women-Fiction. 2. Amish-Fiction. 3. Lancaster County (Pa.)-Fiction. 4. Bed and breakfast accommodations-Fiction. I. Title.
PS3603.L366S43 2010
813 .6-dc22
2010024019
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, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 / DP-SK / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
With love and endless thanks to Ned and Marie Scannell. Your friendship and hospitality help make my books a reality .
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to:
My Amazing Dream Team: My sweet husband, John, and our precious daughters, Emily and Lauren
Kim Moore and all of the wonderful folks at Harvest House Publishers
Vanessa Thompson, Alex Cummings, Kendell Weiland, and Shari Weber
Chip MacGregor at MacGregor Literary
Erik Wesner
Kay Justus, Julie Koehn, Chuck Pease, Guy Anhorn, Patricia B. Smith, and Ricky Alford
The Pennsylvania Game Commission
Ned and Marie Scannell, Paul and Amy Cummings, and Gail Anderson
Our FVCN Small Group
The Lower Providence Branch of the Montgomery County Library system
The Upper Shores Branch of the Ocean County Library system
The Mennonite Information Center of Lancaster, Pennsylvania
ChiLibris and Sisters in Crime
The wonderful members of CONSENSUS, my online advisory council

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Forty-One
Forty-Two
Forty-Three
Forty-Four
Forty-Five
Forty-Six
Forty-Seven
Epilogue
Other Books by Mindy Starns Clark
About the Author
The Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook
ONE
A large yellow Post-it Note clung to my office door, its message scrawled out in letters big enough to read from several feet away: Sienna, Ric and Jon need to see you in Ric s office the minute you get in!!! The note had been jotted in the familiar, artsy style of one of my copywriters, with multiple exclamation points added for emphasis. Obviously, my recent admonitions to her about nuance, subtlety, and the importance of avoiding overkill in her writing hadn t taken. Then again, maybe we could make an exception just this once. It really was a multiple-exclamation-point kind of day!
Juggling briefcase and laptop, I managed to open my office door and turn on the light before setting both in the nearest chair. I had flown from Philly to Boston first thing Monday morning, and now that I was back just a few days later, I couldn t help but grin as I thought about all I had managed to accomplish in such a short time. Judging by the exuberant note on the door, I had a feeling that news of my success in Boston had preceded my return. I had only been working here at Buzz for three weeks, but I had caught on right away that my bosses were very big on congratulating themselves. No doubt, I was being summoned by them now so they could hear the whole play-by-play directly from me and take credit for their cleverness in bringing me on board in the first place.
It would have been nice to share a quick cheer with my creative team first before heading to Ric s office, but at the moment it looked as though none of them were around. Their desks were all empty; their cubicles quiet. Wondering where they could be, I made my way through the hall, suddenly realizing how empty and still the entire place was. Since the day I started at Buzz, it had been a constant beehive of activity, no pun intended. Now, however, all was oddly quiet, with more than half the staff simply missing. The few employees I passed as I headed down the hall didn t even look up or acknowledge me. Of course, I hadn t really been working here long enough to understand the rhythm of the office yet. Maybe something was different about Wednesday afternoons. Perhaps everyone went on flex time or worked from home.
Then again, I thought, there could be one other possible explanation. Maybe everyone was here but they were hiding in Ric s office, waiting to throw me a surprise party! Considering the size of the ad campaign I d just landed, a celebration would certainly be in order. If that s what was really going on, I was pleased and flattered that they had thought of it-as long as it didn t drag on for too long. Now that Empower had green-lit our basic concepts, it was time for the real work to begin. With only a week to deliver on the next phase, my team and I didn t have much time to spare on frivolities.
As I approached the glass-and-mahogany desk of Ric s ridiculously gorgeous assistant, I was embarrassed to hear my stomach rumble. I hadn t taken the time to grab lunch between the airport and the office, and now I was starving. I could only hope that the festivities would include real food and not just a cake. If someone had thought to bring in little sandwiches or even a fruit platter, I was going to be one happy partygoer.
Pausing at the desk to wait for the woman to get off of the phone, I tugged again at my sleeve, glancing down to make sure it was covering my scars, and tried to keep my face expressionless. Just because I had figured out the party plans ahead of time didn t mean I needed to ruin their surprise.
I could tell she was wrapping up her conversation, and as I continued to wait I tried to remember her name, but all I could recall was that it had something to do with a hotel. What was it? Sheraton? Hyatt? Neither sounded right. I knew it would come to me sooner or later. One by one, I was determined to learn the names of everyone who worked here.
Whatever her name was, she was so beautiful that as I stood there waiting for her to finish her call, I couldn t help but compare my looks to hers. Though I wasn t exactly unattractive, I was far more cute than pretty, with flyaway auburn hair that never wanted to behave, a heart-shaped face sprinkled with freckles, and youthful features that made me look a good ten years younger than I actually was. I always tried to make up for that with a very professional, grown-up wardrobe, but sometimes even that wasn t enough. Standing there next to this beauty queen, I felt like slinking away to the loser section and not even trying.
Finally, she hung up the phone and turned toward me, the expression on her face surprisingly glacial.
You re finally here, she said, as if I had rudely and willfully kept a roomful of people waiting.
At first I thought she was kidding, but when I realized she wasn t, I couldn t imagine where her attitude had come from. My flight hadn t landed until 1:30 and I had come straight here from the airport. Besides, how could I be blamed for showing up late when I hadn t even known that people were waiting for me in the first place?
Before I could decide how to reply, she was on her feet and walking to Ric s office door, moving more smoothly and gracefully in four-inch heels than most women did in flats. She rapped once, opened it slightly, and leaned in to say something I couldn t quite hear. Then, after a moment, she stepped back and gestured for me to go on in myself. As I did, I decided that just for her icy disdain, her piece of cake would be the smallest one, without much icing. Then again, I realized, women who looked like her didn t eat cake. They just stood close and smelled it.
I told myself to act nonchalant as I swung the door wide and stepped inside. As soon as I did, though, my pretense evaporated. No group of excited coworkers was waiting to yell Surprise! This was no party at all. Instead, sitting inside the sleek, cavernous office/conference room were simply Ric and Jon, the brothers who owned the company.
Thank you, Shiloh, Ric said as I stepped inside and she shut the door behind me.
Shiloh. That was it, of course, same as the hotel chain I sometimes used out West.
Have a seat, Jon told me, his voice oddly flat.
Glancing from one serious face to the other, I was suddenly seven years old and coming to the principal s office for having put gum in Skippy O Brien s hair. What was going on?
I hope you weren t waiting long, I said. Literally, I just got in.
Neither man replied, and a nervous flutter began to stir in the pit of my stomach. Buzz s two young directors were the epitome of metrosexual cool, the owners of the hottest up-and-coming advertising agency in Philadelphia.