Read on

Shelley’s Top Five Must-See Spots in Pinecraft

HONESTLY, I fell in love with everything about the tiny village of Pinecraft, nestled in the heart of Sarasota and nearby Siesta Key! Here are five places to start your journey:

       1. Yoder’s Restaurant. I’ve been to a lot of Amish restaurants. I’ve eaten a lot of coconut cream pie at each one. But nothing has compared to this well-known restaurant. The line to get in is always long, usually at least a thirty-minute wait. But the long lines allow everyone to chat and make friends.

       2. The Produce Market at Yoder’s. The market next to Yoder’s is full of beautiful Florida-fresh produce. We couldn’t resist picking up two pints of strawberries and five oranges. Just to snack on—in between servings of pie, of course!

       3. Pinecraft Park. It’s the social center of the community! The night we were there, kids were playing basketball, men and women were playing shuffleboard (women have their own lane), and there were at least another forty or fifty people standing around and visiting.

       4. The bus parking lot. Behind the post office is a large parking lot where everyone meets to either board one of the Pioneer Trails buses or to watch who is arriving and leaving.

       5. Village Pizza. It’s located right behind Olaf’s Creamery. You can order a pie and take it right over to one of the picnic tables outside. The pizza is delicious. Eating pizza outside in the sunshine in February in the Florida sun? Priceless.

Scenes from Pinecraft

Photographs courtesy of Katie Troyer, Sarasota, Florida

The Pioneer Trails bus arrives in Pinecraft.

Siblings and friends at Big Olaf in Pinecraft.

Enjoying a Song Fest at Pinecraft Park.

Playing bocce in Pinecraft Park.

A Sneak Peek from the Final Book in the Amish Brides of Pinecraft Series, A Christmas Bride in Pinecraft

Coming Fall 2015 from Avon Inspire

BEVERLY OVERHOLT froze in shock the moment she turned the corner onto her street and spotted the pulsing red and blue lights in front of the Orange Blossom Inn. Lights that looked at first like the Christmas decor that lit some of her English neighbors’ houses, trees, and shrubs.

Then reality set in. The lights weren’t Christmas decorations. They were coming from the three police cars that were parked at the curb in front of the inn.

Immediately, instinctually, Beverly started praying.

The prayers continued as she started forward on the sidewalk, asking the Lord to give her strength to handle whatever had just happened at the lovely three-story Victorian that was not only her place of business but had also become her home.

And though those prayers were undoubtedly giving her some strength, one thing was becoming very apparent. Even the Lord’s help wasn’t going to make her calm, cool, or collected. No. She was on the verge of turning into a nervous wreck.

Unable to tear her gaze from the large crowd gathered in front of the inn, she picked up her pace, racing past all of her neighbors’ houses without a scant look at their merry decorations.

She was quickly winded, and even the canvas bag on her shoulder had started to feel like it weighed a hundred pounds. All the Christmas gifts she’d bought that morning now felt like heavy burdens. To make matters worse, the tote kept painfully thumping against her hip with each step.

And when it wasn’t clashing with her hip, it felt as if it was attempting to pull her arm from her shoulder. She was tempted to drop it on the ground and simply pick it up later.

Just as she stopped, prepared to divest herself from that bag, her best friend snatched it from her hands.

“I’ve got this, Beverly,” Sadie said in that forthright way of hers. “You go on ahead.”

“Danke,” she murmured, reverting to Pennsylvania Dutch, as was her way when she was anxious. “Do you know what’s happened?”

“Nee. I just noticed the police lights a moment ago. You go on ahead. I’ll bring this bag inside and meet up with you.” She reached out and grabbed Beverly’s arm as she started forward. “Oh, and do try not to panic, dear. Just because you see a couple of police cars parked in front of the inn, it don’t necessarily mean that there’s something wrong.”

If her heart didn’t feel like it had permanently lodged itself in her windpipe, Beverly would have stopped and given her best friend a look of pure disbelief.

Of course something was wrong! She felt it as surely as if there were loudspeakers lining the street, proclaiming the truth of it.

Something mighty terrible had happened at the inn.

In the three years that she’d lived in Pinecraft, Beverly had never seen such police presence. This was a safe community. Peaceful.

Well, until now.

Luckily, her friend’s words of wisdom enabled her to refocus. Falling apart now wouldn’t help anything and would serve only to make things worse. She had to be strong.

Picking up her stride, she walked into the gathered crowd, then abruptly drew to a stop when the inn finally came into full view.

What a sight it was!

One of the windows was broken, the front door was wide open, uniformed officers were scattered around the lot, and yellow police tape kept the onlookers at bay.

As she looked from one officer to another, panic set in. She couldn’t determine who to approach.

She continued to scan the crowd for familiar faces, for anyone to give her some indication about what had happened. Most folks, unfortunately, merely looked shocked.

Then she spied Zack Kaufmann. She’d gotten to know him and his family well a couple of months ago when he’d been courting one of her guests. “Zack?” she called out as she made her way over to him.

He stepped forward. “There you are! The police have been waiting for you.”

She pressed her lips together to keep them from trembling, drew in a shaky breath, then said, “Zack, what happened? Do you know anything?”

“As far as I can tell, it looks like you’ve had a break-in.”

“A break-in?” It didn’t even make sense. She’d never heard of any sort of crime happening in Pinecraft. Why, some people always left their doors and windows unlocked!

Zack looked as if he was attempting to figure out a way to reassure her, when he spied someone approaching from behind her. “Oh, gut,” he murmured. “Officer Roberts, this here is Beverly Overholt. She owns the inn.”

“Runs,” Beverly absently corrected. Until recently, she’d believed she’d owned the inn. Now she knew that Eric Wagler was the actual owner. She just managed it for him.

Immediately, a new dread coursed through her. Oh, how was she going to tell Eric what had happened? And when she did, what was he going to say? Would he blame her for being careless?

“Miss Overholt, are you all right?” Officer Roberts asked. “You’re looking a bit pale.”

With a shake of her head, Beverly made herself focus back on the scene in front of her. Pulling her shoulders back, she strengthened her resolve. “I’m all right.”

“Sure?” he held out a hand, as if he feared she was about to collapse at his feet.

“Positive. However, I will admit to feeling mighty confused. What in the world has happened?”

“You had a break-in, ma’am.”

“I see.” She’d been hoping Zack was wrong, but as the officer confirmed it, she felt slightly ill as visions of what that meant settled in her brain. Someone uninvited had entered her home. Most likely had stolen from her. Had obviously damaged the place if the window was any indication.

Zack grabbed ahold of her arm. “Easy now, Miss Beverly.”

“Yes. Let’s go sit down,” Officer Roberts said. Snapping his fingers, he called out, “Hey, Morris? Is the front room clear?”

“Yep, we’re good.”

The policeman lightly rested a hand on her shoulder. “Come with me, Miss Overholt. We’ll go sit inside and I’ll fill you in on what we know.” Looking at Zack, he said, “Do you want to join her?”

Zack nodded. “For sure. Give me a minute and I’ll bring over my fiancée, Leona, as well.”

Beverly sighed with gratitude as Zack trotted off. She didn’t particularly want to sit with the policeman by herself. And though Zack and Leona were both only in their early twenties, she considered them both to be good friends.

Zack paused. “Bev, want me to bring Miss Sadie in, too?”

Noticing that Sadie was now crying uncontrollably, Beverly shook her head. “Nee. She has my tote bag, but I, um, would rather it just be the four of us for now.”

“Gotcha. I’ll grab the bag from Sadie, then Leona and I will be right there.”

“Danke, Zack.”

Beverly followed Officer Roberts up the front stairs of the inn. For the first time in memory, she wasn’t looking at the pretty flower beds she’d spent hours tending or the colorful welcome mat directly in front of the door. She wasn’t feeling pride about the neat and attractive way she kept the inn. Instead, she was noticing the broken glass littering the porch and the scratches surrounding the frame of the front door.

But then, as she crossed the threshold, Beverly couldn’t refrain from gasping. The main gathering room was in complete disarray. Furniture had been knocked over; her pretty framed prints were off the walls and lying in pieces on the floor. One of her prized hurricane lamps had been shattered.

“Ack! Oh, but this is terrible.” Tears pricked her eyes. “Who would do such a thing?”

Officer Roberts looked just as dismayed as she felt. “I’m sorry, Miss Overholt, but I have no idea.”

“Beverly. Please call me Beverly.”

“Oh, my goodness,” Leona whispered as she came in with Zack. After a brief pause, she reached for Beverly’s hand. “Let’s sit down.”

Beverly did as Leona suggested and squeezed her friend’s hand as Officer Roberts perched on the edge of the chair across from her and fidgeted, as if he was extremely uncomfortable.

“Beverly, I’ve learned that in cases like this, it’s best to be blunt. Two hours ago, we got a call from a neighbor that she’d noticed one of your front windows was broken and that things didn’t look right. We drove by to check things out, and saw that the front door was cracked open. We entered, but whoever did this was long gone. Do you have any current guests?”

“Nee. I don’t have any guests right now.” At Eric’s urging, she’d given herself a week’s vacation. Why had she done that? If she hadn’t left the inn, no one would have dared to come inside.

Or had someone been watching the inn? Had they known it was empty? It was such a disconcerting thought that she couldn’t bear to dwell on it.

“Good to know.” He punched something in his phone, then continued. “I’m sorry to tell you that the majority of the inn looks like this room. Whoever was here spent a lot of time causing extensive damage.”

“I wonder why.” The destruction all seemed so unnecessary.

“We’ll do our best to find out, ma’am. But in the meantime, when you’re ready, we need you to walk through the inn and tell me what you notice missing.” He continued talking about fingerprints and motives, police reports and pawnshops.

But Beverly was done listening. She really couldn’t take any more. Someone had ruined her livelihood, stolen her belongings. She felt as betrayed and dismayed as she had when she’d discovered her fiancé had fallen in love with her best friend all those years ago. And angry. She was so angry.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to push those thoughts away. This wasn’t the time to examine those painful wounds.

“Are you going to be all right?” Zack asked. “Do you want me to get you a glass of water or something?”

“I’m fine,” she said at last, and tried to mean it.

Because she had no choice.

“Your insurance should cover the damage,” Zack said quickly, as though thinking that not having to worry about financial repercussions would ease her mind. It didn’t, though.

Insurance could never replace the most valuable thing the burglar had stolen today—her sense of security.

“Do you want me to call Eric for ya?” Leona offered. “I don’t mind.”

She looked at Leona and shook her head. “Nee. I’ll do it.”

“Who’s Eric?” the officer asked.

Beverly said, “He’s the owner of the inn.” During the last few months, he’d also somehow become the best friend she’d ever had.

Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.