Off the Grid (Amish Safe House, Book 1) by Ruth Hartzler Page A

young man. When Kate approached, the
two stopped talking, and both looked awkward.
    “ Hiya , Katie, this is Samuel Esch.
Samuel, this is Katie Lambright.”
    Kate smiled to herself. Of course, he was
Samuel, the young man Rose had a crush on. “Hello, Samuel.” Kate
turned to Rose. “Rose, do you mind waiting for me, please? I have
something else to do. It’ll be at least thirty minutes.”
    Rose smiled. “ Jah , that will be
fine.”
    Kate nodded to Samuel and then walked away.
Now what to do? Her plan to give the two time together had left her
at a loose end. She stole a glance over her shoulder and saw the
two chatting happily away. Well, it would be worth it. Samuel
seemed just as shy as Rose, and it was obvious he was interested in
her. They’re both just too shy for their own good , Kate
thought.
    Kate had no idea how to kill time, so
decided to go for a brisk walk. After all, she was certain that,
despite the hard farm work, she was putting on some weight with
eating so much good, Amish food. As she was pretending to be Amish,
she could hardly go for a morning five mile run as had been her
habit. Kate figured the walk would do her good.
    After walking around aimlessly for some
time, Kate returned to the buggy parking lot. If Samuel had still
been talking to Rose, she would have headed back the other way to
give them more time, but as it was, there was no sign of Samuel at
all.
    “ Denki for that, Katie,” Rose said as
soon as she approached.
    Kate noted that Rosie’s cheeks were flushed.
“I wanted to give you some time alone. How did it go?”
    Rose blushed furiously. “Sorry you had to go
for a walk,” she said, ignoring the other part of Kate’s question.
She got into the buggy, and Kate followed her. Rose clicked along
the horse, and soon they were trotting down the road.
    “That’s fine,” Kate said, patting her
stomach. “I’ve put on some weight, so I needed to work it off.”
    Rose chuckled. “ Nee , you’re fine,
Katie. It’s the outside of a person that Gott looks at.”
    “I wasn’t thinking about Gott ,” Kate
said without thinking.
    “Oh, you were thinking about menner !”
Rose replied as quick as a flash. “A mann should only care
about your inside person too. What if you were very pretty on the
outside, and uncaring on the inside; then what would happen?”
    “I’ve actually never thought about it that
way,” Kate said truthfully. “Anyway, you haven’t told me what
happened with Samuel. He really seems to like you.”
    Rose shook her head. “ Nee , I don’t
think he does. He’s never asked me on a buggy ride, and if he liked
me, he would. Why, there was even a Singing the other week, and he
didn’t even offer to drive me home from that.”
    Kate thought it over. It was obvious to her
that Samuel was attracted to Rose. “Perhaps he’s very shy; could
that be it?”
    “I suppose,” Rose said. “I just don’t
know.”
    “Why don’t you ask him on a buggy ride?”
    Rose looked at Kate, shocked, and then she
burst into peals of laughter. “Oh, Katie, you are just too
funny.”
    I wouldn’t ask Officer Weaver out on a
date, either , Kate thought, even though I’m an Englischer,
and it’s a perfectly acceptable thing to do . Kate suddenly
frowned. Why I am thinking about him in that way?
     

 
    Proverbs 11: 14.
    Where there is no guidance, a people falls,
but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
    Chapter
11 .
     
    Kate was well aware that criminals often
went to the funerals of their victims. Sometimes it was out of
guilt. Sometimes it was to reassure themselves that the deed was
done. Oftentimes however, they would go just to examine their
handiwork.
    Kate had seen her fair share of funerals,
both while on the case and to honor the fallen. Very few in her
line of work ever avoided going to at least one in the course of
their career. She'd seen everything from simple ceremonies to
elaborate ones with two mile processions and giant cathedrals.
These