Read Online Seasons of Sugarcreek 03. Autumn's Promise by Shelley Shepard Gray - Free Book Online Page A

they were. And because he was Amish and older and widowed…because she was just nineteen and English and had become pregnant out of wedlock…things between them could never be much more than what they were. She didn’t want to indulge fantasies that could never come true.
    A keen sense of loss rushed over her until she shook it off. Really, it didn’t matter what they were to each other. She didn’t need another boyfriend. And Robert could sure do better than her.
    Finally Robert made a suggestion. “Perhaps you’d like hot chocolate?”
    She wasn’t really in the mood for a hot drink. But perhaps he was? “OK. I mean, thanks, that sounds great.” After checking that the kitten was still happily asleep, Lilly walked by his side down the crowded, busy paths of the market.
    “Do you ever sell things here, Robert?”
    “I used to.”
    “What did you sell? Your furniture?”
    “Oh, no. Nothing that big,” he replied with a wry smile. “Those chairs would have been hard for me to cart back and forth. No, when I was younger, I used to carve smaller, less practical items for places like this.”
    As they passed a booth selling wooden trains, she grabbed hold of the idea. “Toy trains?” she prodded. She really was interested. She wanted to know everything she could about him. The way he rarely spoke about himself intrigued her. The way he never bragged or sought to be the focus of conversation made her want to know every little thing about him that she possibly could.
    He chuckled. “No trains. I leaned more toward coat hooks and bread boxes.” He shrugged. “I did fairly well with that.”
    “But…not anymore?”
    “No. When Grace and I got married, she encouraged me to follow my dreams.”
    “Which was furniture making.”
    His voice warmed. “Yes. Grace, she was right beside me when I made my first table and chairs. She led me to believe that they were good enough to show off and sell, too.” He paused for a moment, looking far off, into his memories.
    When Robert looked at Lilly again, there was a hint of sadness in his gaze. “Grace was so happy when I sold that set, she spun in a circle with her arms stretched out. It was…it was a sight to see.”
    “I bet she was really proud of you,” Lilly murmured.
    “Perhaps she was.”
    Without her hardly realizing it, they’d stopped and were standing at a booth in front of a pair of teenage girls. “Two hot chocolates, Katie,” Robert said, pulling out a pair of dollars.
    One of the girls carefully poured their drinks into Styrofoam cups, the other took the money, then squirted whipped cream on top.
    After exchanging a few words with them in Pennsylvania Dutch, Robert handed a cup to her. “Thanks.” She took an experimental sip. The drink was piping hot and creamy and smooth. She was glad she’d gotten some after all. “Oh, wow. It’s been ages since I’ve had homemade hot chocolate.”
    “You should make some, then, jah ?”
    “I guess you’re right.” She was just about to add something more when she spied Josh and Gretta. “Hey, Josh is my neighbor,” she said when their eyes met. “Robert, do you mind if we go say hi to them?”
    “Of course not.”
    But Lilly noticed that he didn’t rush to see Gretta and Josh the way she did. Was it because he had no need to hurry? Or because he was worried about what they would think about them being out together?
    “What brings you here?” Josh asked when she and Robert made their way over to them.
    “Robert asked me if I wanted to come and I said yes. It sounded like fun.”
    Josh blinked. “I didn’t realize you two knew each other.”
    “Oh, we do. You come to the restaurant all the time, don’t you, Robert?”
    “Only sometimes…”
    Before he could stumble out more words, Gretta spoke again, smiling at Lilly and Robert. “And are you two having fun?”
    “Yes,” Lilly replied. “Very much so.” When Joshua simply stared, she looked from one man to the other. “You do all