Susanna's Dream: The Lost Sisters of Pleasant Valley, Book Two Read online

  PRAISE FOR THE PLEASANT VALLEY NOVELS

  Naomi’s Christmas

  “[Perry] never disappoints.”

  —The Mary Reader

  Hannah’s Joy

  “An enjoyable Mennonite romance starring two fascinating individuals . . . Fans will enjoy this warm tale of love and belonging.”

  —Genre Go Round Reviews

  “Amish book lovers . . . you are ferhoodled if you don’t go out and pick up a copy of Hannah’s Joy RIGHT NOW.”

  —The Mary Reader

  “The characters in this book are great . . . As usual, I loved my visit to Pleasant Valley.”

  —Night Owl Reviews

  Katie’s Way

  “Superb . . . Magnificent Marta Perry provides another engaging Pleasant Valley tale.”

  —Genre Go Round Reviews

  “Katie’s Way stands alone, but readers will love . . . all of the novels in the order they were published . . . Great characters and a bit of mystery . . . A delightful novel!”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  “A great story of friendship, second chances, and faith . . . Wonderful.”

  —Reviews from the Heart

  “While this is a love story, it’s also a very complex story . . . I highly recommend this book and this series to anyone who loves Amish romances.”

  —Night Owl Reviews

  Sarah’s Gift

  “Perry’s fourth Pleasant Valley book places her well-rounded characters in a sweet, entertaining romance.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  “Perry’s narrative keeps a nice pace as things develop credibly . . . between Aaron and Sarah; the legal challenge makes for more than merely romantic tension. Minor characters are also clearly sketched and differentiated.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “The latest Pleasant Valley inspirational Amish romance is a superb contemporary that focuses on the role of a midwife in modern America . . . Another powerful Pleasant Valley tale.”

  —Genre Go Round Reviews

  Anna’s Return

  “Those who enjoyed the first two series titles will eagerly await this third entry, which does not disappoint. It will also appeal to fans of Amy Clipston and Shelley Shepard Gray.”

  —Library Journal

  “Perry crafts characters with compassion yet with insecurities that make them relatable.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  “A story of forgiveness, redemption, and mistaken ideas . . . Full of wonderful characters . . . A wonderful book!”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  “In today’s fast-paced society, it’s a joy to sit back and enjoy a book that can combine romance, faith, and a bit of a thriller . . . I look forward to reading more of Ms. Perry’s books.”

  —Night Owl Reviews

  Rachel’s Garden

  “Sure to appeal to fans of Beverly Lewis.”

  —Library Journal

  “A large part of the pleasure of this book is in watching Rachel be Amish, as she sells snapdragons and pansies to both Amish and ‘English’ at an outdoor market, taking in snatches of Pennsylvania Dutch.”

  —The Philadelphia Inquirer

  Leah’s Choice

  “What a joy it is to read Marta Perry’s novels! Leah’s Choice has everything a reader could want—strong, well-defined characters; beautiful, realistic settings; and a thought-provoking plot. Readers of Amish fiction will surely be waiting anxiously for her next book.”

  —Shelley Shepard Gray, New York Times bestselling author of Hopeful

  “A knowing, careful look into Amish culture and faith. A truly enjoyable reading experience.”

  —Angela Hunt, New York Times bestselling author of The Offering

  “Marta Perry has done an exceptional job describing the tradition of the Amish community . . . A wonderful start to what is sure to be a very memorable series.”

  —Romance Junkies

  “I loved Leah’s Choice by Marta Perry! More than just a sweet Amish love story, it is a complex mix of volatile relationships and hard choices. I couldn’t put it down. I highly recommend it!”

  —Colleen Coble, author of Butterfly Palace

  Pleasant Valley novels by Marta Perry

  LEAH’S CHOICE

  RACHEL’S GARDEN

  ANNA’S RETURN

  SARAH’S GIFT

  KATIE’S WAY

  HANNAH’S JOY

  NAOMI’S CHRISTMAS

  The Lost Sisters of Pleasant Valley

  LYDIA’S HOPE

  SUSANNA’S DREAM

  SUSANNA’S DREAM

  The Lost Sisters of Pleasant Valley

  BOOK TWO

  MARTA PERRY

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) LLC

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

  USA • Canada • UK • Ireland • Australia • New Zealand • India • South Africa • China

  penguin.com

  A Penguin Random House Company

  This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

  Copyright © 2014 by Martha Johnson.

  Excerpt from The Forgiven by Marta Perry copyright © 2014 by Martha Johnson.

  Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

  BERKLEY® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

  The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-63879-8

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Perry, Marta.

  Susanna’s dream / Marta Perry. — Berkley trade paperback edition.

  pages cm. — (The Lost Sisters of Pleasant Valley ; Book two)

  ISBN 978-0-425-25375-5 (pbk.)

  1. Amish women—Fiction. 2. Sisters—Fiction. 3. Amish—Fiction.

  4. Amish Country (Pa.)—Fiction. 5. Christian fiction. 6. Love stories. I. Title.

  PS3616.E7933S87 2014

  813'.6—dc23

  2013037391

  PUBLISHING HISTORY

  Berkley trade paperback edition / February 2014

  Cover art by Shane Rebenschied.

  Cover design by Annette Fiore DeFex.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes contained in this book.

  Version_1

  Contents

  Praise

  Titles by Marta Perry

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  List of Characters


  Glossary of Pennsylvania Dutch Words and Phrases

  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

  EPILOGUE

  Recipes

  Three Bean Salad

  Church Beans

  Aunt Erna’s Banana Fudge Bars

  Reader Letter

  Special Excerpt from The Forgiven

  About the Author

  This story is dedicated to my dear sisters-in-law,

  Molly, Barb, Arddy, and Christine.

  And, as always, to Brian.

  LIST OF CHARACTERS

  Lydia Weaver Beachy, wife of Adam Beachy; their sons: Daniel, eight, David, six

  Diane Wentworth Weaver, Lydia, Chloe, and Susanna’s deceased mother

  Eli Weaver, Lydia, Chloe, and Susanna’s father, also deceased

  Susanna Bitler, Lydia and Chloe’s birth sister, adopted by Jonah and Elizabeth Bitler, both deceased

  Chloe Wentworth, Susanna and Lydia’s birth sister, raised by their Englisch grandmother, Margaret Wentworth

  Seth Miller, Englisch, son of Lydia’s Amish neighbor Emma Miller

  Emma Miller, Seth and Jessie’s mother

  Jessie Miller, Seth’s younger sister

  Dora Gaus, Susanna’s partner in Plain Gifts, Nathaniel Gaus’s mother

  Nathaniel “Nate” Gaus, Dora’s son, owner of Gaus’s Bulk Foods

  GLOSSARY OF PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH WORDS AND PHRASES

  ach. oh; used as an exclamation

  agasinish. stubborn; self-willed

  ain’t so. A phrase commonly used at the end of a sentence to invite agreement.

  alter. old man

  anymore. Used as a substitute for “nowadays.”

  Ausbund. Amish hymnal. Used in the worship services, it contains traditional hymns, words only, to be sung without accompaniment. Many of the hymns date from the sixteenth century.

  befuddled. mixed up

  blabbermaul. talkative one

  blaid. bashful

  boppli. baby

  bruder. brother

  bu. boy

  buwe. boys

  daadi. daddy

  Da Herr sei mit du. The Lord be with you.

  denke. thanks (or danki)

  Englischer. one who is not Plain

  ferhoodled. upset; distracted

  ferleicht. perhaps

  frau. wife

  fress. eat

  gross. big

  grossdaadi. grandfather

  grossdaadi haus. An addition to the farmhouse, built for the grandparents to live in once they’ve “retired” from actively running the farm.

  grossmutter. grandmother

  gut. good

  hatt. hard; difficult

  haus. house

  hinnersich. backward

  ich. I

  ja. yes

  kapp. Prayer covering, worn in obedience to the Biblical injunction that women should pray with their heads covered. Kapps are made of Swiss organdy and are white. (In some Amish communities, unmarried girls thirteen and older wear black kapps during worship service.)

  kinder. kids (or kinner)

  komm. come

  komm schnell. come quick

  Leit. the people; the Amish

  lippy. sassy

  maidal. old maid; spinster

  mamm. mother

  middaagesse. lunch

  mind. remember

  onkel. uncle

  Ordnung. The agreed-upon rules by which the Amish community lives. When new practices become an issue, they are discussed at length among the leadership. The decision for or against innovation is generally made on the basis of maintaining the home and family as separate from the world. For instance, a telephone might be necessary in a shop in order to conduct business but would be banned from the home because it would intrude on family time.

  Pennsylvania Dutch. The language is actually German in origin and is primarily a spoken language. Most Amish write in English, which results in many variations in spelling when the dialect is put into writing! The language probably originated in the south of Germany but is common also among the Swiss Mennonite and French Huguenot immigrants to Pennsylvania. The language was brought to America prior to the Revolution and is still in use today. High German is used for Scripture and church documents, while English is the language of commerce.

  rumspringa. Running-around time. The late teen years when Amish youth taste some aspects of the outside world before deciding to be baptized into the church.

  schnickelfritz. mischievous child

  ser gut. very good

  tastes like more. delicious

  Was ist letz? What’s the matter?

  Wie bist du heit. how are you; said in greeting

  wilkom. welcome

  Wo bist du? Where are you?

  CHAPTER ONE

  The

  shop was too quiet. Susanna Bitler straightened one of the paintings she had on consignment from an Englisch artist and moved on to the display of quilted place mats. Her partner in Plain Gifts, Dora Gaus, might return from her doctor’s appointment in time to close, but Susanna certain-sure didn’t need help.

  A rainy weekday in September always meant few customers in the shop. Still, it didn’t normally feel lonely, crowded as it was with baskets and candles, place mats and wall hangings, hooked rugs and table runners, all of them handmade by local craftspeople. The bright colors and myriad of textures would cheer anyone, wouldn’t they?

  Unfortunately, being alone gave her too much time to think. Susanna smoothed the skirt of her black dress, a reminder of her mother’s death less than a month ago. She must stop feeling sorry for herself. Her mother would have been the first one to tell her so. Mamm’s death had been God’s will, and she wouldn’t have wanted her mother to linger in pain. Still . . .

  The sound of footsteps on the shop’s small porch ended the stream of thoughts that might well have her in tears if she wasn’t careful. Susanna turned toward the door, arranging a welcoming smile on her face.

  The bell tinkled as the door opened, and the smile froze despite her efforts. It wasn’t a customer. Her visitor was Nathaniel Gaus, Dora’s son. A nice enough man, from all Susanna knew of him, except that he always seemed to regard his mother’s young partner with a vague disapproval that Susanna found unsettling.

  “Nathaniel.” She moved toward him, more than usually aware under his observant eyes of her limp that was the remnant of a childhood accident. “Wilkom. I’m sorry, but your mother isn’t here this afternoon.”

  Odd, that he wouldn’t have known. He must have forgotten, occupied as he was with his own business. Dora had lived with her son since the death of his wife twelve years earlier.

  Nathaniel slapped his black hat against his leg to shake off the raindrops that clung to it. With his fair hair and beard, blue eyes, ruddy skin, and broad shoulders, Nathaniel probably looked like the popular Englisch image of an Amish man, but he wasn’t a typical farmer. He owned Gaus’s Bulk Foods, a thriving store here in Oyersburg.

  “Ja, I know.” Nate came closer, so that she had to tilt her head to see his face. “I don’t think I’ve talked to you since your mamm’s funeral, Susanna. I hope you are doing well.”

  “Denke. It’s been . . . a difficult time.”
She blinked, taken aback by the tears that seemed to come too readily when someone spoke of Mamm. “May I take a message for your mother?”

  A slight frown wrinkled his forehead. “No, that’s not necessary. Actually, I came to speak to you.”

  Susanna stiffened, thoughts jostling in her mind. “Was ist letz?” She couldn’t imagine Nate seeking her out unless something was wrong.

  “Nothing’s wrong.” But his tone seemed to argue with the words.

  He glanced around the shop, his gaze skimming the pottery, the hooked rugs, and all the other things that she’d just been thinking made Plain Gifts so cozy and welcoming. Nate’s look was assessing instead of admiring, she thought.

  “The shop isn’t busy,” he observed.

  Susanna tried to quell the defensive feeling that sprang up at what she felt was the criticism in his tone. “Now that school is in session, many of our shoppers come on Saturdays. And I’m certain-sure business will pick up again as we get closer to Christmas.”

  As a businessman, he should understand that, but Nate probably didn’t have such cycles in his bulk foods business. Folks always had to eat, but they weren’t always looking for gifts and crafts.

  “I suppose.” The frown settled between his straight brows. “That’s why Mamm is always so tired around the holidays.”

  Susanna wasn’t sure whether that was a complaint or not. What was he driving at?

  “Ja, I suppose we both work extra hard then. We could always get a girl in to help out if needed.”

  His frown seemed to deepen. “Mamm has family to keep her busy, especially at the holidays. It’s different for you.” He stopped, the color deepening in his ruddy cheeks, as he seemed to hear what he’d just said. “I didn’t mean—”

  “It’s true that I don’t have any kin here in Oyersburg now that my mother has passed. And that certainly gives me more time for the shop.” She kept her normal, quiet tone, but Nate’s attitude was beginning to bother her. Why didn’t he just come out and say whatever he wanted to say? “What is it you wanted to talk with me about?”

  He blinked, as if startled that she would be so blunt. “Ja, well, the point is that my mamm isn’t getting any younger.”