“Yes, you could, Melody…if you dare. I think you need some time off.” Her voice lowered. “I know that things haven’t been too good for you here. Sometimes, if you can’t find a comforting place in your own hometown, it’s time to venture somewhere else. Go there, Melody. Go to the Brennemans’ and relax and learn to smile again. It will do you and the baby a world of good.”
A world of good.
The kind words had rung in her ears the rest of the day. They were so different than everything else she was used to hearing. Most folks barely looked at her.
None directly spoke of her circumstances.
Yet, did she really imagine that people would speak of her, to her, frankly?
Plain and simply, she’d been raped by an Englischer, held apart by her family, and now was looking forward to forever being a symbol of foolish behavior in the eyes of everyone in her community. As in, “Don’t go walking alone like Melody did. Look what happened to her.”
As in, “Look what happened to Melody. Now she’s going to have to carry that burden for the rest of her life.”
As in, “Melody, you’ve shamed us.”
Consequently, she’d retreated into herself. If others wouldn’t have a care for her feelings, then she would.
That night, Melody had clumsily knelt by her bed and prayed. “What should I do?” she’d whispered.
Tightly, she’d closed her eyes. With bated breath, she’d strained to hear words of guidance. And then, like the gift that it was…she heard the Lord’s voice.
Just as clearly as if he’d been standing at her shoulder. Go, Melody. Go and learn to smile again.
“Miss? You going to get up anytime soon?” the driver asked. “We’re here.”
She stood up with a start. Out of the window to her right was the Brenneman Bed and Breakfast, looking just as lovely as Mrs. Sheridan described.
“Oh! I’m…I’m sorry. I’ll get my things and hurry out.”
To her surprise, a woman sitting in front of her picked up the suitcase and carried it out of the van. The driver helped her down the step and took her payment easily, not even counting it before slipping it into his black wool coat.
“Merry Christmas,” he murmured before closing his door and pulling out of the driveway.
Leaving her alone. Staring at the wide front steps. At the garland that was roped around the porch railing. Suddenly, everything seemed to be too much. The trip, the traveling, the stress. The cold. A wave of dizziness fell over her.
The front door opened. A pretty woman just about her age stepped out and stared. “May I help you?”
The world was tilting. Threatening to go black. “I’m Melody Gingerich.”
Blue eyes narrowed. “And?”
“I…I came to stay for Christmas,” she murmured. In a haze, she did her best to concentrate, but the woman’s reaction was truly puzzling.
“You came to do what?” the girl asked, her voice sounding high pitched. Almost angry.
“I have a certificate.”
“For what?”
As the girl’s eyes continued to stare her down, Melody fumbled for a better explanation. But truly, all ideas fled her mind. She didn’t know what to say. How to explain about everything she’d been through. Everything she’d done.
Then it didn’t matter. Because her knees gave way, her world spun, and her suitcase fell to the ground with a thud.
Seconds later, she felt the cold icy snow cradle her cheek…as her world went black.
About the Author
SHELLEY SHEPARD GRAY is the author of the Sisters of the Heart series: Hidden, Wanted, and Forgiven. She lives with her family in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time.
www.shelleyshepardgray.com
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Books by Shelley Shepard Gray
Sisters of the Heart Series
HIDDEN
WANTED
FORGIVEN
Seasons of Sugarcreek Series
WINTER’S AWAKENING
SPRING’S RENEWAL
AUTUMN’S PROMISE
Credits
Cover photograph of landscape © Shutterstock Images
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
AUTUMN’S PROMISE. Copyright © 2010 by Shelley Shepard Gray. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST AVON PAPERBACK EDITION PUBLISHED 2010.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gray, Shelley Shepard.
Autumn’s promise / Shelley Shepard Gray.
p. cm.—(Seasons of Sugarcreek; book 3)
ISBN 978-0-06-185237-4 (pbk.)
1. Amish—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3607.R3966A95 2010
813’.6—dc22
2010015010
EPub Edition © July 2010 ISBN: 978-0-06-200678-3
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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