Bethy's Heart's Hideout (Amish Circle Series Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

because they were owned by someone who was, in her mind, one of the worst kinds of people she had ever met. She couldn’t believe that she had let herself be taken in by someone who was so false and dishonest; so far from everything she was looking for in a man.
    No self-respecting Amish man would have spent the night with her in such a way. They would have respected her and her familye and taken her home even if they had fallen asleep. Or, at the very least, they would have understood why she was so upset instead of acting like it was no big deal. It was a huge deal! For Mark not to understand and to try and make jokes about how she needed to lighten up was a total outrage.
    He could say anything about her, she realized. He could speak with local people and tell them that she had let her have his way with her, that she had not behaved in a seemly and appropriate way and they could very well take his word for it. Her shame would spread throughout the settlement. Now, when anyone came into the store she would have to wonder if they were whispering about her. She would wonder if they were talking about her behind her back and whether they only came to the store to gawk at the foolish Amish girl who had let a stranger take advantage of her even though they had only recently met.
    She began to cry. All she wanted was to be able to leave and to start over. If she was lucky, she would be able to get far enough away that anything that boy had to say about her wouldn’t follow her. She wondered if he really knew who she was. He could have thought she was any one of a number of local girls. If she was lucky, maybe he wouldn’t say anything and then her reputation would be safe. She would just have to make sure that she never saw him again.
    Elizabeth broke into a run as she tried to get home as quickly as possible. She knew she was in trouble. She had stayed out all night without letting her parents know where she was or (fortunately) who she was with. She knew that she would have no trouble staying away from this strange and troubling young man in the future and was almost hoping that her daedd and maemm would demand that of her. It would be a relief to have a real and tangible reason to avoid him in the future.
    She thought about which way she could get home quickest. The field was actually located in the opposite direction from her haus and it had taken them a little while to get there using a horse and buggy. Elizabeth knew that by the time she reached home, the sun would be fully up and her parents would be well aware of her absence. She wasn’t mistaken.
    Not only were her parents waiting for her, her friends were as well. Grace, Jane and Hannah were all sitting with her father in the kitchen. Elizabeth knew that her maemm had already headed in to the store so that she could open it up for the day. Elizabeth hated the fact that she had made her parents and her friends worry about her as much as they had. This was just one more sign that she needed to keep her head on straight and ensure that she kept to the rules set out by the Ordnung . If one lived a righteous and forthright life there was less regret for themselves and the people they cared about.
    She was expecting her daedd to be waiting for her with an angry look on his face and recrimination on his lips but that was not what happened. He quietly sat back and let her friends have the first words and they cut straight to Elizabeth’s heart. These were the girls that she loved like schweschders and the fact that they were beseeching her to stay wounded her deeply. Grace spoke first.
    “Elizabeth, please do not go. You’ve always been a gut friend to me. Without your wise counsel, your bruder and I may never have realized how we felt for one another. I have been looking forward to becoming your schweschder if Gott determines that Jacob and I should be married. I love you, Elizabeth. Please, don’t leave me before we see what the future has in store?” Tears were