An Angel by Her Side — Ruth Reid

With the help of the angel Elias, one willfull schoolteacher is about to learn a lesson in what it means to carry a cross for the person she loves.

Twenty-nine-year-old Katie Bender's dream of marriage ended when her fiance died seven years ago. She's content as the Amish settlement's schoolteacher, that is, until a tornado destroys the schoolhouse and several of the area's farms. Supplies are low and the needs are great. Rebuilding the schoolhouse is a low priority. But Katie knows a lot about surviving tragedy and she simply won't accept that her days of teaching are over.

Seth Stutzman is a master builder who is in town to install beehives on his brother-in-law's property and to offer him healing and support following his wife's recent death. Beehives aren't his passion, but they're his livelihood since making a fatal error while working on a neighbor's barn. Seth arrives just as a tornado is wreaking havoc on Hope Falls. In spite of his construction error, he finds it difficult to avoid joining the work crew.

Both have valid reasons for avoiding each other. But what God ordains is impossible to resist. Celestial influences change the course of their decisions as they gain the patience and grace toward community members and each other. Seth and Katie can no longer deny that the sparks flying between them just might be love.