The Silent Daughter

About this book

She teaches children to find their voices.His daughter hasn't spoken in a year.Alma Riehl has been the Sycamore Bend schoolteacher for eight years. She is patient, perceptive, and quietly content with her life-or so she tells herself. At thirty and unmarried, she has made peace with the fact that the men in her community see the schoolteacher, not the woman.Then Niles Kauffman enrolls his seven-year-old daughter mid-term.Effie hasn't spoken a word since her mother died. She carries a sketchbook everywhere and watches the world with wide, knowing eyes. Niles is gruff, impatient, and grieving in a way that looks like anger. He wants his daughter fixed. Alma knows it doesn't quite work that way.Day by day, through quiet routine and small creative moments, Alma reaches Effie in ways her father cannot. A drawing shared. A word written on a slate. A whispered syllable that changes everything.And as Effie begins to heal, Alma sees the man beneath the carpenter's rough edges-a father who would tear the world apart for his child, carrying guilt he refuses to name.He didn't come to Sycamore Bend looking for love. Neither did she. But some things grow in the silence between two people who have both been waiting longer than they knew.The Silent Daughter is a tender Amish romance about healing, patience, and the quiet courage it takes to let someone in. Guaranteed happily ever after.Perfect for readers who love: - Single dad and schoolteacher romance- A child who brings two hearts together- Grumpy hero meets patient heroine- Healing and emotional depth- Amish community and plain living- Sweet, clean Christian romance- A guaranteed HEA