The Promise of an Angel (A Heaven On Earth 1)

Advance Praise for
The Promise of an Angel

“
The Promise of an Angel
is a fantastic read! This page-turner kept me up late at night as this unique and refreshing story unfolded. Fast-paced and with an ending that brought a happy tear to my eye, fans of Amish fiction are going to love this first novel in the Heaven on Earth series by debut author Ruth Reid.”

—BETH WISEMAN, best-selling author of
Seek Me With All Your Heart
and
Plain Proposal

“Ruth Reid’s
The Promise of an Angel
is a beautiful story of faith, hope, and second chances. It will captivate fans of Amish fiction and readers who love an endearing romance.”

—AMY CLIPSTON, best-selling author of the
Kauffman Amish Bakery Series

“Ruth Reid captivates with a powerful new voice and vision.”

—KELLY LONG, best-selling author of
Sarah’s Garden
and
Lilly’s Wedding Quilt

The Promise
of an Angel

Ruth Reid

© 2011 by Ruth Reid

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc., books may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ ThomasNelson.com.

Scripture quotations taken from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Reid, Ruth, 1963–
The promise of an angel / Ruth Reid.
p. cm. — (Heaven on earth ; 1)
ISBN 978-1-59554-788-0 (trade pbk.)
1. Amish—Fiction. 2. Michigan—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3618.E5475P76 2011
813'.6—dc22

2011006178

Printed in the United States of America

11 12 13 14 15 16 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

Dedicated to my grandmother, Florence
Gunderson, who thirty-five years ago gave me my
first briefcase to store my stories in, and to my
mother, Ella Roberts, who stayed up late to type
all those stories. You both are godly women who
greatly influenced my life—I am blessed.

For He shall give His angels charge over you,
to keep you in all your ways.

P
SALM 91:11

Contents

Pennsylvania Dutch Glossary

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 Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Acknowledgments

Reading Group Guide

About the Author

Pennsylvania Dutch Glossary

abvoahra
: serve

ach
: oh

aemen
: amen

aenti
: aunt

bloh
: blue

boppli
: baby

daed
: dad

denki
: thank you

drauwa
: trust

Englischer
: a non-Amish person

es
: is

fasavvahra samling
: sour the gathering

fashprecha
: promise

fraa
: wife

gayl
: yellow

geh
: go

greeya fatt
: get away

guder mariye
: good morning

guder nacht
: good night

gut
: good

haus
: house

himlish-engel
: heavenly angel

Ich
: I

Ich veiklich
: I truly

jah
: yes

kaffi
: coffee

kapp
: a prayer covering

kumm
: come

kumm mitt mich
: come with me

leddich
: unmarried

mamm
: mom

mammi
: grandmother

maydel
: girl

meidung
: shunning

meiya
: tomorrow

mich
: me

muscht
: must

nacht
: night

nau
: now

nay
: no

nett
: not

onkle
: uncle

Ordnung
: the written and unwritten rules of the Amish

Pennsylvania Deitsch
: the language most commonly used by the Amish

redd-up
: clean up

rumschpringe
: running-around period that begins when the person turns sixteen years old and ends when the young person is baptized into the Amish faith.

saund
: sound in doctrine

shiklich
: appropriate, suitable, proper

shul
: school

vass
: what

veiklich
: truly