The Kissing Stars
Page 31
Tess peeked inside, saw filmy emerald green silk and quickly shut the box again as the warmth of a blush stole into her cheeks.
Andrew laughed at her reaction and handed her a gaily wrapped package. It was a carving of a horse, a white horse. “Oh, Andrew, thank you. This means so much. Why, you know I love Regulus almost as much as you.” The white stallion’s strength that awful day had helped pull an unconscious Gabe up the bluff to safety after he’d saved Will from drowning. Tess had been feeding the horse an apple a day ever since. “I will treasure this always.”
Next came Twinkle. Her gift was a small, twelve-inch by twelve-inch watercolor painting of the Kissing Stars. “Just in case you get homesick while you’re living in Austin.”
“Six months,” Tess said, tears in her eyes as she hugged her dear, dear friend. “Gabe promised we’ll be back in six months no matter what.”
Doc appeared to have a tear or two in his eyes, also, as he watched from the doorway. Catching Tess’s attention, he stepped forward and handed her a book. “A gift doesn’t exist that’s as valuable as the present you’ve given me, Tess. You’ve given me my son back, and for that I’m eternally grateful.” He gestured toward the book and added, “I can’t make up for those years with his son that your father and I stole from him, but this might help a little. I thought you’d like it, too. In my own way, I’m trying to do that for Gabe. It’s a daily journal I’ve kept about Will since he was born. Tells a little of what the boy did each day.”
Speechless, Tess could only hug him tight. When he hugged her back, she knew then that all had been forgiven. “I love you, daughter.”
“I love you, too.”
“Let’s get on with the wedding then,” Twinkle chimed in, her eyes bright. “The bridesmaid is already in the parlor waiting to ham it up going down the aisle.”
The Aurorians offered good wishes and a few more kisses before filing from her home. A few minutes later, a French horn sounded the processional. Tess turned to Doc and asked, “Did you see the fellas? They’re out there and ready?”
Doc nodded. “The groom is keeping an eye on the best man and Mack Hunter. Seems Gabe overheard his buddy tell his son something about whiskey and weddings and appropriate behavior for a young man when his parents are getting married.”
“Oh, that Mack Hunter. Just between you and me, I’ll be glad when he goes home. He is a bad influence on my men.”
Doc laughed and held out his elbow. “Let’s go rescue them then, shall we?”
They stepped out onto the front porch. “Oh, my,” Tess said in surprise. What must have been a hundred people filled chairs, benches, and blankets on each side of a ribbon-marked aisle that led to a newly constructed gazebo with a beautiful view of Paintbrush Mountain.
Nervousness fluttered in Tess’s stomach at the sight of all the people, but the butterflies disappeared the moment she got her first look at Gabe. He was so handsome standing before the preacher in his new black suit—a larger version of the one their almost- as-handsome-as-his-father son wore—that he took her breath away. And when he turned to look at her, love, fierce and forever, arced between them. In that moment, Tess was filled with joy. This was her dream. Her family.
“Get along there, Rosie,” Doc said softly.
Wearing a poofed veil of yellow netting, a yellow ribbon around her neck, and an ingeniously designed and beautifully embroidered saddlebag contraption draped over her back, Rosie started down the aisle. Rose petals spilled from the bags with her every waddle, their fragrance blending with that of her rose-scented soap to perfume the air. She took her place before the preacher, plopping down on the feet of both groom and best man, and emitting a loud oink.
The titters of the crowd turned to sighs as the bride followed the bacon down the aisle.
Tess held her husband’s gaze and smiled. Oh, Gabe. I do love you so.
I love you too, darlin’, he told her with a wink.
Tess barely heard the preacher’s words as he began the service. Not until the time arrived to repeat their vows did she focus her entire attention on the moment. She stood before God, her friends, and family and repeated the vows she’d sworn to this man what felt like a lifetime ago.
Then it was Gabe’s turn. He squeezed her hands and said, “I, Gabe Cameron, take you Tess Cameron, to be my wife.”
Cameron. Gabe Cameron.
Tess’s heart overflowed.
Dear Readers,
I’m often asked what I like best about being a writer. Depending on my mood, I have different answers to that question—going to work in sweats and fuzzy house shoes always ranks right up there.
Of late, making research trips has been one of the perks of my job that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. I always visit the places I write about and since I’ve always set my stories in my home state, I’m usually revisiting a place I’ve already been. However, for all the traveling I’ve done across Texas, before I wrote The Kissing Stars, I had never made it to Marfa.
Growing up in Texas I’d heard the legend of the Marfa Mystery Lights, unexplained balls of light that supposedly appeared hovering over the desert of far West Texas with some frequency. Then while researching one of my other books, I came across a reference to ghost lights dating back to the late 1800s. The idea that ranchers saw the lights before electricity or automobile headlights could explain away their existence intrigued me and sparked the idea for this book.
During the week between Christmas and New Year’s in 1997, my husband and I loaded our children into our car for the long drive across West Texas to the Davis Mountain area. I had been told the lights appeared in the desert near Marfa shortly after sunset some two hundred days out of every year. Now, I’m not much of a believer in the paranormal, and I certainly never expected to see any strange phenomenon as we drove to the marked viewing area on a bitter cold December night. My purpose was to get a feel for the land where my story would take place. Imagine my surprise when minutes after the sun sank below the horizon, seven balls of light appeared in the distance.
We watched the Marfa Mystery Lights for the better part of three hours. They blinked on and blinked off. They moved together and separately, falling into lines at times and at others moving in no apparent pattern. We saw as few as two and as many as fourteen shining at the same time.
What were they? I’m certain there must be a scientific explanation, but after those magic hours in the West Texas desert, I honestly don’t want to know what it is.
The memory of that evening and the fun my family had together while watching those intriguing lights dance across the sky is something I’ll always treasure. I’ll never forget the sound of my ten-year-old daughter’s voice saying, “Look, Mom and Dad. The stars are kissing.”
My fifteen-year-old answered, “That’s ‘cause they’re trying to keep warm. Let’s go, please? I’m freezing. Next time, Mom, set a book in Hawaii, would you?”
Happy reading!
GERALYN DAWSON
Don’t miss any of Geralyn Dawson’s historical romances now available in digital format.
THE BAD LUCK WEDDING SERIES in order:
THE BAD LUCK WEDDING DRESS
THE BAD LUCK WEDDING CAKE
SIMMER ALL NIGHT (Bad Luck Abroad trilogy #1)
SIZZLE ALL DAY (Bad Luck Abroad trilogy #2)
THE BAD LUCK WEDDING NIGHT (Bad Luck Abroad trilogy #3)
HER BODYGUARD (Bad Luck Brides trilogy #1)
HER SCOUNDREL (Bad Luck Brides trilogy #2)
HER OUTLAW (Bad Luck Brides trilogy #3)
Other historical romance titles available in digital format:
THE WEDDING RANSOM
THE KISSING STARS
Coming soon:
THE TEXAN’S BRIDE
CAPTURE THE NIGHT
TEMPTING MORALITY
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Geralyn Dawson is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over twenty-five novels written in a variety of sub-genres including historical romance,
contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and women's fiction. She is a three-time Finalist for Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA award and a recipient of Romantic Times magazine's Career Achievement Award. Her novel THE WEDDING RANSOM was named one of Romance Writers of America's Top Ten Favorite Novels of the Year.
Geralyn is currently writing romantic women's fiction for Ballantine Books under the pseudonym Emily March. The first novel of March's Eternity Springs series, ANGEL'S REST, was named a Top 100 Book of 2011 by Publishers Weekly magazine. It, along with the next two books in the series, HUMMINGBIRD LAKE, and HEARTACHE FALLS each earned coveted starred reviews from Publishers Weekly magazine. The fourth book of the series, LOVER'S LEAP will be published December 27th, 2011 with NIGHTINGALE WAY to follow in Fall 2012.
Visit her website: www.emilymarch.com
Sign up for her newsletter: www.emilymarch.com.
Join her on Facebook: facebook.com/emilymarchbooks
Follow her on Twitter @geralyndawson and @emilymarchbooks
Table of Contents
Title page
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
EPILOGUE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR