Shunned and Dangerous (An Amish Mystery) Read Online Free PDF

right and wrong . . . not a particular person.”
    Yet even as the words left her mouth, she couldn’t help but silently acknowledge the protective feelings the conversation had stirred up inside her heart.
    For Jakob.
    Any response Diane may have considered was negated by the sound of footsteps coming from the opposite side of the dining room, the six guests who were currently staying at Sleep Heavenly ready for breakfast. Claire would have to tell her aunt about Harley’s fate after the meal.
    “Good morning,” Diane said in greeting as she stepped aside to afford each guest easier access to their spot at the table. “I hope everyone slept well?”
    “We’ve vacationed in many places over the years, wonderful places I shall always remember fondly.” Carolyn McCormick took the chair to the right of her husband, Will, and draped a white linen napkin across her lap. “But honestly? I’ve never felt a greater sense of peace drifting off to sleep than I do here.”
    The Arizona couple had checked in to Sleep Heavenly two days earlier and both had worn a smile ever since.
    “I feel exactly the same way.” Roger Claymore gestured toward his wife, Callie. “Why, I just said to Callie last night that Heavenly is so quiet at night you could hear a pin drop one county over.”
    “It’s nice to know
someone
got some sleep around here.”
    All eyes turned toward the end of the table and the thirty-something couple from Chicago. “Was there something wrong with your accommodations?” Diane rushed to ask while simultaneously sending the platter of pancakes down the far side of the table, followed by the pitcher of syrup.
    Megan Reilly paled at the question then rushed to correct an impression she obviously hadn’t meant to give. “Oh. No. The room is wonderful, Diane! And that bed is the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in.” Shaking her head ever so slightly, she peered at her husband, Kyle, and laughed. “My husband’s lack of sleep was because of me, and my constant tossing and turning.”
    “You’ll get no argument from me.” Kyle made a face then reached for the juice Claire poured. When he was done, he draped an arm over his wife’s shoulder and planted a quick kiss at her temple.
    Megan extracted three pancakes from the platter that had reached her hands. “As for why
I
was tossing and turning? That’s because all I want to do is find the ideal house for all of us, right here in Heavenly. The kids have spent the first few years of their lives in an apartment with not a lot of room to play. Here, there’s room, but I want it to be perfect.”
    Swapping the now-empty juice pitcher for the coffeepot, Claire took a second lap around the table, filling each and every ceramic mug indicated by its owner. “I would imagine, in this economy, you’d have lots of homes to choose from,” Claire said. “In fact, if I remember from a walk I took last week, there are a few nice homes for sale about four blocks from here. And they all have big yards.”
    Kyle handed the platter to a waiting Diane, then took the pitcher of syrup from Megan and poured a liberal amount over his pancakes. “That’s exactly what I’ve been saying. And we’ve seen some really nice houses.”
    “True,” Megan agreed between bites of her breakfast. “But most of my must-have features have been spread out over different houses. If we build something new, all those must-haves and wish-we-coulds would be in one place.”
    “So then build,” Will McCormick mused through the steam that rose from his coffee mug.
    Diane disappeared into the kitchen only to return seconds later with a plate of crisp bacon in one hand and the basket of rolls in the other. “New home developments are rare in Heavenly. In fact, there are only three I can think of off the top of my head.”
    Megan’s eyes lit up. “Three?”
    “Two here on the English side of town. One on the Amish side.”
    “That must be the one from yesterday morning,” Kyle