Faith and Hope in Lancaster (The Amish of Lancaster County #1) by Daisy Fields Read Free Book Online

airplane like a bird, trusting modern technology to deliver her safely. Forget the community—what would God say?
    “We’ll take it!” announced Pamela grandly, thrusting one of her many credit cards at the saleslady. “All of it!”
    “No, Pamela, I cannot let you—” Miriam began, but Pamela brushed off her protests.
    “You can, and you will!” she said, smiling broadly. Her teeth were white and perfect and straight, rich-people teeth, Miriam noticed. “We took you in as a host daughter, and it is deeply important to us to give you the real New York City experience. Not to mention, you look incredible .” She gave Miriam an appreciative look. “Do you want to change or wear that out of the store?”
    Miriam’s bare skin was already sprouting gooseflesh in the overly air-conditioned shop. She didn’t much care for the recycled air, but not sweating horribly was a nice change. She envisioned herself on the bustling streets of the Big Apple, dressed like another of the English girls. Fitting in.
    Possibly even having boys look at her.
    The idea caused her face to burn. But it refused to go away. Yes, have boys look at her and think she looked amazing, the way Pamela said.
    “Yes,” she said, beaming. “I will wear this out of the store!”
    “Wonderful,” said Pamela, nearly clapping her hands in glee. “Next stop, makeup!”
    They strolled to the escalator, laden down with plastic bags full of beautiful clothes, clothes that Miriam could hardly believe belonged to her. Part of her still felt guilty at accepting the gifts, but she could see how much Pamela wanted to do this for her. As though Miriam really were her daughter. Plus, she rationalized, it wasn’t like Pamela and David couldn’t afford it. They wouldn’t even notice the money was missing.
    “Will you teach me how to apply makeup?” she asked shyly, as they strolled along the street toward a store named Neiman-Marcus. It was funny, but she didn’t feel exposed in so little fabric, not when nearly every other girl they passed was dressed similarly. If anything, she felt at home.
    Pamela’s eyes grew even huger than they had at seeing Miriam in her new clothes. “ Will I?” She linked her arm with Miriam’s. “Will I? I’ll tell you what I’m going to do! I’m going to teach you all my secrets for looking beautiful! Not that you’re not already, but I will teach you how to look like a model or a movie star.”
    Miriam’s heart began pounding with excitement. This—this was it, this was what she had daydreamed of, back when she was baking for the local market, when she was helping her mamm with the wash. When she was avoiding the attention of the boys in the community, the glances of budding interest. On some level, she’d been afraid it would trap her there.
    And she didn’t want to be there. She’d wanted to be here. Here, wearing beautiful clothes, styling her hair to frame her face and pinning it with small, glittering barrettes shaped like flowers, her eyes and mouth made up with glossy colors. Knowing she was turning boys’ heads as she walked—as she was doing now.
    One boy, tall and handsome with skin the color of chocolate chips, sat at an outdoor table in front of a café, sipping on a soda. He jumped up as they passed and called out, “Hey, Ms. Roth! Ms. Roth!” His voice was deep and rich, self-assured. It struck a chord in Miriam.
    “Mikey!” Pamela said, breaking into a huge smile. “Mikey, so lovely to see you! This is my host daughter Miriam. She’s Amish, and she’s come to live with us for a while. We’re showing her what life’s like in the Big Apple.”
    Mikey returned her smile before turning to Miriam. He took her in with big brown eyes, big, soft eyes that made her want to melt. She didn’t think she should feel things like that, but she did, and honestly, she didn’t care. No boys in the community back in Lancaster County looked like that. They were all pale, with light-colored eyes. But she