Wonderful, simply wonderful. A story of love, healing, and forgiveness sure to grip the heart of every reader. --Debbie Macomber, New York Times #1 bestselling author In a Drought, It's the Darkest Cloud That Brings Hope It's 1954 and Perla Long's arrival in the sleepy town of Wise, West Virginia, was supposed to go unnoticed. She just wants a quiet, safe place for her and her daughter, Sadie, where the mistakes of her past can stay hidden. But then drought comes to Wise, and Perla is pulled into the turmoil of a town desperately in need of a miracle. Casewell Phillips has resigned himself to life as a bachelor...until he meets Perla. She's everything he's sought in a woman, but he can't get past the sense that she's hiding something. As the drought worsens, Perla's unique gift divides the town in two, bringing both gratitude and condemnation, and placing the pair in the middle of a storm of anger and forgiveness, fear and faith. -- This debut novel is splendid. The story is genuine and heartfelt, with just a touch of the Divine. A story of forgiveness and reckoning, and realizing love does cover a multitude of sins. Thomas will be a go-to author after you read Miracle in a Dry Season . --Rachel Hauck, bestselling author of The Wedding Dress and Once Upon a Prince Charming, whimsical, and intelligently written, Miracle in a Dry Season is a beautiful debut novel! --Ann Tatlock, Christy-award winning author of Promises to Keep In a Drought, It's the Darkest Cloud That Brings Hope It's 1954 and Perla Long's arrival in the sleepy town of Wise, West Virginia, was supposed to go unnoticed. She just wants a quiet, safe place for her and her daughter, Sadie, where the mistakes of her past can stay hidden. But then drought comes to Wise, and Perla is pulled into the turmoil of a town desperately in need of a miracle. Casewell Phillips has resigned himself to life as a bachelor . . . until he meets Perla. She's everything he's sought in a woman, but he can't get past the sense that she's hiding something. As the drought worsens, Perla's unique gift divides the town in two, bringing both gratitude and condemnation, and placing the pair in the middle of a storm of anger and forgiveness, fear and faith. "Wonderful, simply wonderful. A story of love, healing, and forgiveness sure to grip the heart of every reader." --Debbie Macomber, New York Times #1 bestselling author "Thomas's fiction debut offers sympathetic, wholesome protagonists seeking to live faithful, prayerful lives and engaging supporting characters in subplots that explore the overarching themes of forgiveness, redemption, and the wideness of God's love." -- Publishers Weekly "Fans of Karen Kingsbury's feel-good stories of heartfelt lessons will love Thomas's debut. . . . Once in a while a new author comes along with a work that makes you sit up and take notice. Thomas has crafted a tale of this proportion." -- Library Journal starred review Sarah Loudin Thomas (www.sarahloudinthomas.com) is a fund-raiser for a children's ministry and the author of the acclaimed novels The Right Kind of Fool --winner of the 2021 Selah Book of the Year--and Miracle in a Dry Season --winner of the 2015 INSPY Award. Sarah has also been a finalist for the Christy Award, the ACFW Carol Award, and the Christian Book of the Year Award. She and her husband live near Asheville, North Carolina. Learn more at www.sarahloudinthomas.com. Miracle in a Dry Season By Sarah Loudin Thomas Bethany House Publishers Copyright © 2014 Sarah Loudin Thomas All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-7642-1225-3 CHAPTER 1 WISE, WEST VIRGINIA 1954 Casewell's stomach grumbled. He hoped no one in the surrounding pews could hear it. He'd thought to eat some warmed-over biscuits this morning, but the barn cat had slipped into the house and found the bread wrapped in a dish-cloth on the back of the stove. Even though most of a biscuit remained, Casewell knew better than to eat after a cat. His stomach growled a little louder, and he wondered what he could rustle up for dinner. Normally, he'd have Sunday dinner with his parents, but they were visiting his aunt, who had lost her son—his cousin Harold—in the Korean War a good two years ago. She had yet to get her feet back under her, as his mother put it, so they visited when they could. In the meantime, Casewell would fend for himself. He could scramble an egg and fry a potato, but he'd burned more than one pot of beans, and his attempts at biscuits and corn bread never browned right. He'd always assumed he'd leave his parents' house for a home with a wife in it, but at the advanced age of thirty-five, he lived alone in a house he'd built with his own two hands. Pastor Longbourne invited the congregation to bow their heads for the closing prayer. Casewell sighed and did as asked. The pastor could get windy at the close of service, and Casewell thought to pray for a short prayer but decided it wasn't proper. He s