Forsaken by Leanna Ellis

painful if not worse. She placed a tentative hand on Levi’s elbow. “I’m sorry, Levi. I shouldn’t have said—”
    â€œIt’s all right. I know you loved him too.” He leaned toward her, just a slight inclination, but she felt the heat of him pressing against her. “Would that I could make you smile again.”
    Never before had he referred to the changes Jacob’s death had brought. Never had he dared. But it was her fault for speaking his name, and she glanced away, tears prickling her eyes, then stared at her own plate full of tempting foods that she could not seem to eat. Mamm would think she was sick. Rachel would think she was in love.
    She’d learned over the last two years that Levi’s features closed up tight and became unreadable when his brother was mentioned. If Hannah said his name at home, Mamm said, “You must move on, Hannah.” If she whispered his name around Grace, her friend patted her arm, hugged her quickly, then directed her attention to Amos or Levi or any of the other available men—anything to distract and discourage looking back, wishing, or regretting.
    It’s the Lord’s will. That was the Amish way. And she believed it too. Or had. Until Jacob died.
    Children romped around the front porch, their clomping and laughter a good interruption. A couple of the older girls rushed toward the kids to quiet them and help them with their plates. Noah’s little sister, Esther, who had just learned to walk, teetered forward, but an older girl’s quick hand pulled her back from the edge.
    Grace murmured something to the others at the end of the table about Ruby Yoder. Ruby had once shared with Hannah about an English boy she’d met, and Hannah suspected Ruby had run away to be with him. The district would not have shunned her, as she was not yet baptized, but it would have caused an uproar in her family and her parents much pain. Still, Hannah admired Ruby for following her heart and wished she too had gone away with Jacob.
    â€œHannah?” Levi’s hand touched hers beneath the table. Just a brief encounter but it caused a fluttering in her belly, like a new butterfly taking flight for the first time.
    Hannah blinked and lifted her gaze to meet his. Something about this Fisher brother made her feel unsure. Would she have ever felt this way about him if Jacob had lived? Guilt acted on her like a splash of ice water in the face.
    â€œAre you okay? I didn’t mean to upset you.”
    â€œI’m fine, Levi.”
    He studied her for what felt like a full minute before he accepted her words. “Are you going to the barn singing tonight?”
    She shook her head, lifted a fork, and forced down a bite of buttery noodles. “No, I…uh…think not.”
    Tonight, she would go see Jacob.

Chapter Six
    Hours after arriving in Promise, Pennsylvania, Roc drove around the area, speaking with Mike on the phone, who said there were no leads on the missing Pennsylvania teenager other than she was blond, blue-eyed, and Amish. But the Amish didn’t take photographs so no pictures could be compared to the body in New Orleans. The parents had provided hair samples from Ruby Yoder’s brush for DNA testing. Still, the girl could be off having the time of her life or regretting her decision to leave home.
    Animals discovered by police or citizens on the side of the road or in ditches with their throats chewed convinced Roc he was in the right place and on the trail of whoever had killed Emma.
    Roc unpacked his car and carried his bag toward the room at the back of the B&B, passing through a small courtyard, which had a hot tub and gazebo. A Chihuahua sat on the lap of a red-headed teenage girl, yapping until she shushed it. But the girl never looked up, just kept her nose in a book. She was surrounded by wilted, brown plants, which didn’t seem any better suited to the cold weather than Roc, but the teen seemed