Ava Troyer, young, beautiful and Amish, is given a puppy by Zeke, her English admirer. Aunt Rachael absolutely loathes dogs, and has a fit as the new puppy howls and barks in the barn. Rachael is so upset she grabs her head with her hands, trying to block out the sound. Isaac declares he will decide whether the puppy stays or goes, stunning their aunt into an uneasy silence. She secretly invites Jed, the young man that is trying to decide if he is Amish or English, to a Valentine’s Day dinner, hoping to create a spark with him and Ava and to get the “foolish young girl’s” mind off of Zeke.
John, the youngest of the three brothers, leaves the tense household on his bike, nearly freezing as he pedals furiously to town on that cold night. He barges in on his brother Abe (Abram) and Abe’s girlfriend Bliss, totally oblivious to his brother’s plans for the evening. Abe tries to find a quick way to escort John somewhere else, anyplace but there with him and Bliss.
The next morning, Ava maintains her determination to take care of the puppy and to be extra nice to her Aunt Rachael and yet is stunned by the old woman's reaction.
Roger Rheinheimer spent the first eighteen years of his life in northern Indiana. His father was the only doctor for a small town of 1200, and had a hitching rail on a side street by his office for the Amish patients. His father bought an eighty acre farm, and Roger and his older brother worked it, raising cattle and growing crops.
While he was still in high school, Roger learned woodworking skills from Elmer Schlabach, his Amish mentor. They built houses in the old-fashioned tradition, from hand-mixing the concrete for the foundations to hand-nailing the shingles. The only phase they did not do was the electrical. To this day, Roger enjoys using his wood crafting skills, making acoustic guitars and furniture.
Roger earned an undergraduate degree in Behavioral Psychology from a small private college in the Shenandoah Valley, took a Creative Writing class, loved it, and published a short story called My Brother. He was a regular contributing writer to the college newspaper.
Roger has two novels in print and ebook, Amish Snow and Yield Spread: a novel.
Crystal Linn is a free-lance writer and award-winning poet who teaches a variety of creative writing classes. Her third book, Poetry for Friends, is scheduled to be released in the spring of 2012. She lives in the greater Seattle area where she enjoys reading mysteries, writing poetry and sailing with friends and family.
