Patrick E. Craig – Romantic Excerpt – Part 2 of 2

Shannon here: Amish romance author, Patrick E. Craig shares an excerpt from his latest title, The Amish Heiress. Comment or answer the question at the end of any post dated July 29 – 31 to enter the drawing for a copy. Deadline: August 8th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Patrick:

Excerpt From The Amish Heiress by Patrick Craig: 
Rachel lay still and quiet, her eyes half-closed and her dark hair spread out against the white sheets. The nurse stood holding a bundle in her arms. Rachel could see the tiny arms waving and her heart filled with a love she had never known before. She reached up. The nurse put the baby down beside her and Rachel took the newborn into her arms. She could see Gerald in the small face and she thought back to all that had happened to her in the last year. Then the door opened quietly and Daniel stood there, his face aglow. The nurse nodded to him. “I’ll let you speak with her for a moment while I go clean up. Do not excite her. She is very tired. It was a hard labor.”
The nurse left and Daniel came and looked down at Rachel. Without thinking he reached out and stroked her brow.
Rachel looked up at him. “The baby is well, Daniel.”
Daniel nodded.
“You have been so good to me, Daniel. Why have I been so blind?”
Daniel touched her lips and silenced her. Then he knelt down beside the bed. He took her hand in his. “Now, Rachel, you will listen to me for once in your life.”
Rachel stared at him.
Daniel went on. “I have loved you since we were children. God has put you in my way, and there is nothing I can do about it. You are going to marry me and this baby will be my son. His name will be Levon King and he will be Amish and his children will be Amish.”
Rachel started to protest. “But, Daniel, I am not good enough for you to love me. I am ruined. I cannot be a good wife to you. I can’t give you what I should, my purity…”
Daniel looked at Rachel. “I, too, am ruined, Rachel.”
“What do you mean, Daniel?”
Rachel could see Daniel struggling with himself. Then he spoke, so quietly she almost could not hear.
“I killed a man.”
Rachel’s eyes opened wide. “Daniel…when?”
“When I came to rescue you there was a man waiting in your room. We fought and I killed him. I violated the deepest tenant of our faith. So, we are both broken. But don’t you see? That is where du leiber Gott wants us to be—having nothing in ourselves and putting our lives in His hands. Rachel, He has given you to me and me to you. We are broken and hopeless, both of us faithless. But it is His plan for us to be together for the rest of our lives, depending on Him and helping each other to walk each day in faith and love. Now, say that you will marry me, and let me be a father to this boy.”
Daniel reached over and tenderly touched Rachel’s face. Then quietly and gently he leaned down and kissed her.
Rachel felt a stirring in her heart that she had never felt before and her arm went around Daniel’s strong shoulders and then she was kissing him back with all the strength and passion and love that was in her.
About Patrick: Patrick E. Craig is a lifelong writer and musician who left a successful songwriting and performance career in the music industry to follow Christ in 1984. He spent the next 26 years as a worship leader, seminar speaker, and pastor in churches, and at retreats, seminars and conferences all across the western United States. In 2011 he signed a three-book deal with Harvest House Publishers to publish his Apple Creek Dreams series. The books are historical Amish fiction and include A Quilt for Jenna, The Road Home, and Jenny’s Choice. His current series is The Paradise Chronicles and the first book in the series is The Amish Heiress will be published by P&J Publishing on August 10. 2015. Patrick is represented by the Steve Laube Agency. Patrick and his wife Judy make their home in Idaho and are the parents of two adult children and have five grandchildren. Learn more and connect: www.patrickecraig.com
About the book – The Amish Heiress: Rachel Hershberger’s life in Paradise, Pennsylvania is far from happy. Her papa struggles with a terrible event from the past, and his emotional instability has created an irreparable breach between them. Rachel’s one desire is to leave the Amish way of life and Paradise forever. Then her prayers are answered. Rachel discovers that the strange, key-shaped birthmark above her heart identifies her as the heir to a vast fortune left by her Englischer grandfather, Robert St. Clair. If Rachel will marry a suitable descendent of the St. Clair family, she will inherit an enormous sum of money. But Rachel does not know that behind the scenes is her long-dead grandfather’s sister-in-law, Augusta St. Clair, a vicious woman who will do anything to keep the fortune in her own hands. As the deceptions and intrigues of the St. Clair family bind her in their web, Rachel realizes that she has made a terrible mistake. But has her change of heart come too late?
Purchase Link for the Apple Creek Dreams books: http://tinyurl.com/n6sfagg
The Amish Heiress is available for pre-release: https://www.createspace.com/5623860
Question for readers: Has there been a new arrival close to you lately? Friends or family – tell us about the new baby.