The Promise of Palm Grove

This book would not have been possible without two very special ladies with incredibly generous hearts.

Thank you to Clara for spending one afternoon showing me all around Pinecraft. Thank you for chatting with me in gift shops, introducing me to ladies, and letting me ask you far too many questions. I loved every second of our time together.

~and~

Thank you to my lovely editor, Chelsey Emmelhainz, for your expertise, encouraging words, and enthusiasm for all things Pinecraft! Thank you, too, for making this, my twenty-fourth novel with Avon Inspire, feel fresh and exciting and new. I'm so blessed to be working with you!

We can make our plans,
but the Lord determines our steps.

P
ROVERBS
16:9

We are not put on this earth to see through one another,
but to see one another through.

A
MISH PROVERB

B
everly Overholt dreamed in color now.

Pinks and yellows, blues and reds. Green, purple, indigo, orange. So many vibrant colors, so much promise.

So very different than her dreams had been when she was in Sugarcreek, Ohio.

As Beverly swept the front porch of the Orange Blossom Inn, her home for the last three years, she took care to carefully clear away each stray piece of Spanish moss that had fallen from the oak trees dotting the yard. And as she did so, she reflected again that God was so good. He was so good because He reminded her in dozens of ways each day that change was possible.

Every morning, He gave her the beautiful sunrises over the Gulf of Mexico, warm weather, and gentle rains. Flowers and blue skies, palm trees and always, always the hint of happiness.

In more ways than she could ever name, the Lord promised new beginnings. Renewal. Paradise.

Even for someone like her, who for so long had been struggling to make something beautiful out of the ashes of her life.

Back in Sugarcreek, for a time, Beverly had thought the Lord's decisions would revolve around her dreams. She'd grown up a little sheltered, a little spoiled. When she'd decided the time had come for her to marry, she'd carefully chosen Marvin Ramer out of all the eligible men in her church district. He'd seemed delighted to have claimed her interest. Then, just a few months later, Marvin asked her to be his bride.

And because it had been what she'd anticipated, she'd accepted. She hadn't been head over heels in love, but she hadn't expected to be. Instead, she'd yearned to fall in love with Marvin over time. She'd known he would make a good husband, and she knew she could be a good wife to him. That was important.

Her family had been happy. His family was thrilled. Their friends were pleased. She'd been gratified. She'd also gone to sleep every night imagining that she'd spend the rest of her days as his wife.

But then he'd found someone better: Regina Miller, her best friend.

It had been devastating.

Little by little, her world had unraveled. Her parents wondered what she'd done wrong. Her friends snickered behind their hands. And everyone else, after a few disruptive days of shock, had resumed their lives.

She, on the other hand, had suddenly been all alone.

And that was how her dreams had faded from beauty and brightness to something far different. Lingering in her consciousness as looming, shadowy, haunting shades of gray.

Lost in thought, lost in the memories that she usually kept firmly locked away in a corner of her heart, Beverly rested her
hands on the top of the broom. She gazed at the front yard, with its green lawn and dotting of citrus trees, and recalled Marvin's expression when he'd told her that he didn't love her anymore . . . and that maybe he never had.

“Beverly? Beverly, what in the world are ya doing?”

Blinking, she righted herself. Remembered she was in Pinecraft now. At her inn.

She forced herself to smile brightly at the group of ladies coming her way. Two were on shiny red bicycles, the other three were simply standing. All were wearing brightly colored short-sleeved dresses, the colors of rainbow sherbet, along with white
kapps,
just like her.

And all of them were gazing at her with more than a little bit of amusement.

Hastily, she leaned the broom against her building's white siding and trotted down the worn wooden steps. “Sorry, I guess my head was in the clouds. Did you all say something?”

“We've only been calling your name for the last two minutes,” Wilma Schwartz, one of her closest neighbors, said. “What were you thinking about? You looked like you lost your best friend.”

Thinking that was far too close to the truth, Beverly forced a smile. “I wasna thinking about anything worth remembering.” Noticing that all five of them were looking especially bright-eyed, she asked a question of her own. “What are you all doing today? Having
kaffi
break?” The six of them got together at the Cozy Café at least once a week.

“Goodness, Beverly, you really did get up on the wrong side of the bed,” Sadie Fisher teased. “It's Wednesday. What do you think we're about to do? The bus is due to arrive any minute now.”

“Already?” Panic set in. “Boy, I really lost track of time this morning.”

“Do you want to join us or would you rather walk over on your own in a little while?”

Meeting the Pioneer Trails bus was a major social event in Pinecraft. Several times a week, especially during the busy tourist season, the buses pulled in with great fanfare. Everyone greeted them, anxious to see who was coming to beautiful Florida. Though she used to worry that she would one day spy Marvin and Regina arriving, or Ida and Jean—Marvin's sweet sisters, who she'd been so close to—that had never happened in the three years she'd been living in Pinecraft.

Instead, she typically greeted guests who had made reservations to stay at her inn.

And in the rare times when no guests were arriving, she enjoyed standing in the background and watching everyone else embrace their friends and family. She also loved watching the absolute glow of happiness that transformed most of the newcomers' faces when they stepped off the bus and felt the wonderful warmth of Florida. Being in sunny Sarasota was always a welcome change from the long winters of the Midwest.

“I've got guests coming. Of course I'll join ya. Let me go put away this broom and close up the
haus
.”

“Hurry, now, we're going to get ice cream at the creamery, too.”

“You're going for ice cream? What's the occasion?”

“It's
Mittvoch,
” Wilma said with a complacent smile.

Yes, indeed, it was Wednesday. And Wilma's statement was one of the many reasons Beverly so loved living in Pinecraft. The sun shone, flowers surrounded her, new people arrived all
the time . . . and ice cream wasn't something to have only a few times a year.

Here, ice cream, like life, was something to be enjoyed as often as possible and without a smidgeon of guilt. It was things like this, she believed, that now kept her dreams bright and soothing, beautiful and full of hope.

It was what kept her thoughts firmly on the future instead of the dark memories of her past.

“Let me go get my purse,” she said. “A strawberry ice cream cone sounds
wonderful-gut
.”

“W
E'RE ALMOST THERE
!” Mattie practically crowed into Leona's ear. “The bus just turned on Bahia Vista. Oh, look! There's a sign for Yoder's Restaurant. We've got to go get a slice of pie there as soon as possible.”

Leona Weaver shared a smile with Sara, who'd been her seat partner for the last sixteen hours during the long journey on the Pioneer Trails bus from Walnut Creek, Ohio, to Sarasota, Florida.

While most of the thirty-five people on the bus had fallen asleep around midnight and slept a good five or six hours, Leona and her cousin Sara had been too excited to do much except whisper to each other, attempt to read their novels, and stare out the windows.

Or, in her future sister-in-law Mattie's case, give a constant commentary about what she saw and when she saw it.

Though she had a feeling some of the other people on the bus were wishing that Mattie would have kept some of her observations to herself—starting about eight hours ago—Leona couldn't fault her sweet friend's enthusiasm.

The fact was, they were on the trip of a lifetime and for the
first time in just about forever, it was only the three of them for two whole weeks. Two weeks of no chores around their homes, no part-time jobs. And two whole weeks without Edmund.

Edmund!

Her fiancé. Her private reason for the vacation. The reason that her stomach was in constant knots.

“There's the sign for Pinecraft Park!” Mattie exclaimed, startling her out of her thoughts. “Leona, you'd better start getting your things together.”

“They are together, Mattie. Settle down.”

Mattie smiled back at her sheepishly. “I'm sorry. I'm just so happy that we're all here together.”

“You don't need to apologize. I'm just as thrilled to be here,” Leona replied. And she was. Though, she wished she was a little
less
thrilled about getting a break from Edmund. Somehow, some way, she was going to have to learn to adjust to his overbearing ways.

“We are just about there, girls,” a grandmother said from three rows up. “Now, tell me again where you are staying?”

“The Orange Blossom Inn,” Leona said. “I can hardly wait to get there.”

“I've never heard of it.”

“It's on Gardenia Street,” Sara said. “My older sister stayed there for a week last year. She said it was cozy and pretty.”

“I bet it will never be the same after the three of you stay there,” another woman teased. “You girls look like you're ready to enjoy yourselves, for sure and for certain.”

Leona grinned at Mattie and Sara. “We are ready. I'm hoping it's going to be the best two weeks of my life.”

“You mean, until you marry Edmund,” Sara corrected.

“Oh.
Jah.
Of course I meant that,” Leona replied quickly,
just as the bus pulled to a stop and a resounding cheer erupted around them.

As she followed her girlfriends down the aisle, each step bringing her closer to the sun and the beach and the many expectant people standing outside, Leona wondered what she was going to do.

How in the world she was going to learn to always put Edmund's wishes first but still retain some happiness in her heart?