A Promise Is A Promise — Fay Risner

Home Health Nurse Hal Lindstrom is assigned Amish widower John Lapp. She offers to stay with his children while he is in the hospital. Fifteen year old Emma takes care of the household. Her two younger brothers are handling the dairy operation. Hal soon realizes that Emma is suffering from depression. Noah is withdrawn, and Daniel is so troubled he sleepwalks outside, looking for his dead mother. Drawn to this needy family, Hal discovers they have a secret swept under the proverbial Amish rag rug. The more she tries to help them the deeper she is sucked into the family's problem. Finally, Emma makes Hal promise to stop trying to unravel the family's tragic secret before it's too late. Hal agrees. When her future happiness is at stake, she wishes she hadn't but a promise is a promise.