Autumn's Promise
Seasons of Sugarcreek #3
by Shelley Shepard Gray
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AUTUMNS PROMISE
Chapter 1
“I’m pregnant,” Lilly Allen’s mother announced at breakfast. Calm as could be—just as if she was asking for someone to pass the bacon.
Lilly almost choked on her juice as she stared at her mother in shock. “What?”
“You heard me. I’m pregnant,” she said again, her voice overly bright. “The doctor said I’m four months along. By Valentine’s Day, we’re going to have a wonderful new addition to the family.”
Ty, all of ten, grinned. “Now I won’t be the youngest anymore!”
Their mother laughed. “You sure won’t. Now you’ll be a big brother. I’m really going to be depending on your help, too.” She looked at all of them. “I’m going to need all of your help.”
“We already have a crib, don’t we?” Ty chirped. “The one we bought for Lilly?”
Her mother’s smile faltered. “Yes.”
As Ty continued to chatter, Lilly felt her world flip on its side. Her mother was four months along? It was the beginning of September, which meant she got pregnant in May.
Right after Lilly had miscarried.
Waves of nausea coursed through her. Warily, Lilly looked her dad’s way. He was eating his bowl of corn-flakes like he didn’t have a care in the world. As Ty kept chattering, she glared at him. “You knew about this, didn’t you?”
Slowly, her father set his spoon down. “Of course,” he said.
Her older brother Charlie scowled. “How come you two waited so long to tell us?”
With a helpless—almost sheepish look—their mom shrugged. “At first I just thought I had the flu. Then, well, I put two and two together.”
For the first time in what felt like forever, Lilly stared at her mom. And as she did, she started seeing all the changes that should have been obvious. Her mother’s cheeks were fuller, and her usually neatly tucked-in T-shirt was gone. Instead she wore an oversized button-down loosely over a pair of knit slacks.
She should have noticed the signs. After all, she’d been in that same condition just a few months earlier.
Beside her, Charlie was frowning. “I’m glad I won’t be here to deal with it.” Tossing his napkin on the table, he turned to Lilly. “You should have applied to college. Now you’re going to have to take care of it.”
“The baby,” their father corrected.
“Whatever,” Charlie retorted.
As their dad chastised Charlie, Lilly zoned them out. Her brother was right. She was going to be expected to help. It was inevitable.
She couldn’t imagine a worse chore. The last thing she wanted was to be around a baby. It still hurt to see a baby in the grocery store. And even on TV.
Now she was expected to be excited about living with one?
Abruptly, she stood up. “I’ve got to go to work.”
“Right now?” Her dad looked at his watch. “You’ve got over an hour before you have to be at the Sugarcreek Inn.”
“I told Mrs. Kent I’d come in early,” she lied. “I’m, um, already late.”
From the book AUTUMN'S PROMISE: Seasons of Sugarcreek, Book Three by Shelley Shepard Gray. Copyright © 2010 by Shelley Shepard Gray. Reprinted by permission of Avon Inspire, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Autumn's Promise
An Amish man finds forbidden love in the continuation of Shelley Shepard Gray’s beguiling Seasons of Sugarcreek series.
Widowed for three years and still mourning his wife, 25-year-old Robert Miller suddenly loses his heart to a lovely waitress. But can he convince Lilly, an Englisher, to join his Amish community?
Lilly was pregnant and alone when she came to Sugarcreek and took a job to support the child she sadly miscarried. But from tragedy came a burgeoning independence Lilly has come to covet. To join Robert’s faith, Lilly would have to leave the modern world behind. And how could she ever live up to the memory of his wife? Autumn’s Promise is a riveting story of how our heart’s desires are not so easily fulfilled.
Hardcover : 304 pages
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers ( August 03, 2010 )
Item #: 13-167631
ISBN: 9781616647025
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 x 0.68inches
Product Weight: 12.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Excellent as always 
October 23, 2010
I have read almost every thing this author has written as with all the others this story is gripping your attention to the end. I enjoy all amish fiction and am looking forward to more by her.
Reviewer: Jane W
Need to finish this story 
September 23, 2010
The book is good, she draws us in. There are so many now writing about the Amish it is hard to decide which author to read. You can't read or buy all of them. She does need to finish this series because she leaves you hanging with a charachter not closed with his story. I enjoyed her books. Personally I think she and Beverly Lewis are the better of the writers. Beverly has written so many she is kind of getting redundant. These have more of a genunine knowledge rather than a researched one.
Reviewer: Lilly
I loved it!
September 11, 2010
Author Shelley Shepard Gray takes us back to Sugarcreek, Ohio in Autumn’s Promise, the last in the Seasons of Sugarcreek series. Lily Allen and Caleb Graber, are on separate searches to find out what is next in life for them.
Lily has faced pain and loss and now her parents expect her to be happy about her mother’s unexpected pregnancy. As she overcomes her own emotions about the pregnancy, Lily finds herself in love with Robert Miller, an Amish widower. Can an English woman marry and Amish man? Can an Englischer become Amish? Lily doesn’t know what the future holds, only that she truly loves Robert. The story takes us through what can only be called an impossible love story.
Caleb, a 16 yr. old Amish boy, is looking at his future and he doesn’t like what he sees. He resents the thought of working on the family farm or being stuck working in the family store. He finds his rumschpringe to be fun, but it’s still not enough. When he seems to finally have a plan and the support of his family, his impulsive actions upset everyone. We see how Caleb struggles and finds the answers to his questions of what he is supposed to do.
Gray is a wonderful storyteller. Her love for the Amish shines but does not allow her to paint them in an unrealistic light. The entire Sugarcreek series is well-written. They are gentle love story’s that pull you right in.
I hope Shelly Shepard Gray remembers that there are four seasons and writes one more book about the characters in Sugarcreek. I think Caleb has a story to tell in the future!
Reviewer: Dawn
Great Conclusion
August 30, 2010
I enjoyed the first two books in this series and was anxiously awaiting this conclusion. Wow! I was not disappointed. I couldn't put it down until I finished and I really felt satisfied with the close.
Reviewer: Lois
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