Lamb to the Slaughter (Serenity's Plain Secrets Book 1) by Karen Ann Hopkins

been alone, none of it probably would have even happened. But then, I would never have escaped either.
    “There was a young woman named Abby who rented the house with several of her girlfriends. She would sit and chat with me the entire day on that porch, bringing me sandwiches and lemonade. I was immediately smitten with her carefree and out going manner. I found myself working extra fast so that I could quit early and spend time walking with the English girl in the park or grabbing a bite to eat at the Diner.”
    I stopped and saw that Serenity was hanging on my every word. For a brief second, I wanted to end the story, worried about what she’d think of me once she knew. But the expression on her face told me there was no backing out now.
    “Within days of meeting the young woman, I was being intimate with her—the first time for me. Maybe it was that she was my first or maybe deep down I didn’t want to be Amish. I don’t know, but the day I finished the porch, I went home to tell my parents that I’d fallen in love with an English girl and that I wasn’t going to marry Rosetta. I was leaving the Amish to be with her.”
    I glanced at Serenity. She was pressed back into the seat with a thoughtful look on her face. When she spoke, her voice was soft and sweet. “What did your parents say?”
    “Father went into a rage and Mother wouldn’t speak to me at all. As a matter of fact, she never spoke to me again afterthat day. Father continued to shout at me the entire time I was packing a few personal belongings and walking out to Abby’s waiting car. I was immediately shunned by my family and the other members of the church.”
    “What exactly does it mean to be shunned?” she asked with eyes wide.
    “Different communities handle shunning in their own way, but for ours, it means that you aren’t welcome to have a meal with church members any longer, even family. Although parents will sometimes help a child out financially after they’ve been shunned, they will not receive aid in return. In most cases, as with mine, the parents don’t want to corrupt their other children with the rebellious one, so they’ll have little or no contact with the shunned child.”
    “But your sister ate with you at the school house.” Serenity said.
    “That was different. It was a community event to raise money. The rules are looser in such a situation. She wouldn’t invite me to her home for the holidays or her children’s birthdays.” I probably said it harsher than I should have, but those first few years on my own had been rough, especially for a young man who was used to the close company of a large family.
    Serenity asked quietly, “What did Rosetta do?”
    My chest tightened. Thinking about Rosetta was always difficult, but talking about her was even worse.
    “From the gossip I’d received from Lester afterwards, she was torn up about it for a few months and then she began courting another Amish boy. She married a year later than our intended wedding date.” Seeing her lips begin to form words, I guessed what her question would be. “She moved toOhio with her husband a few years following their marriage. I haven’t seen her since.”
    Timidly, Serenity asked, “What happened to Abby?”
    I wasn’t expecting that question. It was the most difficult part to remember. But I’d told Serenity too much already not to finish the story.
    “I’d say it was just a month after I’d moved into the house with her that I began pestering her to marry me. Marriage and a family wasn’t a goal for her. She had wild oats to sow and I’d become a hindrance to her freedom. One stormy night after I’d begged her not to go out with her friends, she told me she didn’t love me—that she’d never loved me.” I couldn’t keep the bitterness from my tone. “She said she was sorry for fucking up my life, but she wasn’t going to do the same to hers. Last I heard she was living in Indianapolis, working as a nurse in a big