Oddly, Meg led the way. All I could do was hold her hand and follow.
o0o
“Is that it?” she asked as we spotted something in the distance.
We both stopped, and I wasn’t sure. Everything looked different. All the trees were taller.
Meg started walking again and reached it first. Surprisingly, the planks were still level after all these years, though they were covered in a film of greenish mold and they were cracked in places where the trees had shifted and grown.
“Yes, this is it.” I stepped over a giant root in the ground and my insides stirred with nostalgia. I was only thirteen years old when I hammered those nails. At the time, I’d had no idea where life would take me, or what tragedy would befall the Davenport family.
Meg wandered curiously around the structure, running her fingers lightly along the old wood. “It’s sad that you didn’t get to finish it.”
I nodded and swallowed hard.
Meg craned her neck to look up at the treetops. All I could do was follow her. I was captivated by her beauty, and felt myself falling more and more in love with her with every passing second.
“It would have made a great clubhouse,” she said, moving around to the inside of the four trees and looking down at the ground. “Were you planning to build a floor?”
“We never really decided,” I said.
She looked down at the ground and back up at the treetops overhead, then held out her hand. “Come and sit down with me.”
I joined her. Soon we were lying on our backs, staring up at the sky beyond the branches that swayed in the wind. Meg crossed her legs at the ankles and folded her hands together on her belly. I found myself looking at her, instead of the sky.
“Are you really going to quit your job?” I asked her.
She turned her head to look at me. “I don’t know. I’d like to. I think it’s time for a change. Change is good.” She looked up at the trees again. “I’m imagining that I would like to buy some land on a beach somewhere and build a bunch of cottages, a place where families could go to enjoy themselves and make happy memories.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” I said, feeling very relaxed.
Meg took a deep breath and let it out. “I just want to do something that makes me feel good. I want to help people make the most of their lives and find the kind of joy we all need to feel. Is that crazy?”
She turned to look at me again and I would have said anything in that moment to make her happy, because nothing else seemed to matter but the rapture I felt in her presence. I wanted to prolong it, hold on to it forever.
“We could start with this place,” I said. “I once promised Millicent that we would finish it together. But would you finish it with me?”
Meg smiled. “I would love to finish this clubhouse with you. But I’ll have to insist on a floor, and a good solid roof.”
I grinned. “I will bow to your expertise as an accomplished structural engineer.”
Meg looked up at the sky again. “What is it about this place that makes me feel so at home? I feel unbelievably happy right now, and I don’t know why. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this happy. Not once in my life. I feel so grateful to be alive and to be here with you.”
I rolled to the side and leaned on one elbow, stroked her cheek with the pad of my thumb. “I feel grateful, too. I’m glad I met you, Meg.”
She pulled me down for a kiss, and when our lips met, there was no doubt in my mind that I would marry this woman as soon as possible. She was the only one for me. I knew it with every inch of my being.
And one day soon—one day very soon—I would tell her why I believed she felt so happy here.
Would she believe it?
As I drew back from the kiss and gazed into her lovely eyes, so full of newfound passion and optimism for the future, I knew somehow, in the depths of my soul, that she would.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking the time to read Jack’s and Meg’s story, which is book 11 in my Color of Heaven Series. If you’re interested in reading Katelyn’s story and learning how she became involved with Jack and Aaron—and how Jack ended up jilted by Katelyn and estranged from his brother—I encourage you to read book 10 in the series: THE COLOR OF FOREVER. Up next is a holiday novella entitled THE COLOR OF A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE. Like all the books in this series, it’s based on the theme of real-life magic and miracles that have the power to change people’s lives. It’s a stand-alone title, and I hope you will check that one out as well.
For more information about the other novels in this series, please read on, or visit my website at www.juliannemaclean.com. While you’re there, be sure to sign up for my email newsletter. My subscribers are always first to know about upcoming releases, and I also offer a monthly autographed book giveaway on my website to the members of my newsletter list.
If you read on a Kindle, please visit my author page at Amazon and click the “follow” button to be informed whenever I have a new book out.
You can also follow me on Bookbub if you’d like to know when any of my backlist titles go on sale for 99 cents, or if they are offered for free for a very brief time.
I also invite you to follow me on Twitter or Facebook where I chat with readers every day.
Thank you again for reading THE COLOR OF A PROMISE, and if you enjoyed the novel, please consider leaving a review at Goodreads or your favorite online ebook retailer to help others discover this series.
As always, happy reading, and lots of love,
Julianne
Other Books in the Color of Heaven Series
THE COLOR OF HEAVEN
A deeply emotional tale about Sophie Duncan, a successful columnist whose world falls apart after her daughter’s unexpected illness and her husband’s shocking affair. When it seems nothing else could possibly go wrong, her car skids off an icy road and plunges into a frozen lake. There, in the cold dark depths of the water, a profound and extraordinary experience unlocks the surprising secrets from Sophie’s past, and teaches her what it means to truly live…and love.
Full of surprising twists and turns and a near-death experience that will leave you breathless, this story is not to be missed.
“A gripping, emotional tale you’ll want to read in one sitting.”
—New York Times bestselling author, Julia London
“Brilliantly poignant mainstream tale.”
—4 ½ starred review, Romantic Times
Includes Bonus Content: A Bookclub Discussion Guide
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THE COLOR OF DESTINY
Eighteen years ago a teenage pregnancy changed Kate Worthington’s life forever. Faced with many difficult decisions, she chose to follow her heart and embrace an uncertain future with the father of her baby—her devoted first love.
At the same time, in another part of the world, sixteen-year-old Ryan Hamilton makes his own share of mistakes, but learns important lessons along the way. Twenty years later, Kate’s and Ryan’s paths cross in a way they could never expect, which makes them question the possibility of destiny. Even when all seems hopeless, could it be that everything happens for a reason, and we end up exactly where we are meant to be?
Includes Bonus Content: A Bookclub Discussion Guide
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THE COLOR OF HOPE
Diana Moore has led a charmed life. She is the daughter of a wealthy senator and lives a glamorous city life, confident that her handsome live-in boyfriend Rick is about to propose. But everything is turned upside down when she learns of a mysterious woman who works nearby—a woman who is her identical mirror image.
Diana is compelled to discover the truth about this woman’s identity, but the truth leads her down a path of secrets, betrayals, and shocking discoveries about her past. These discoveries follow her like a shadow.
Then she meets Dr. Jacob Peterson—a b
rilliant cardiac surgeon with an uncanny ability to heal those who are broken. With his help, Diana embarks upon a journey to restore her belief in the human spirit, and recover a sense of hope—that happiness, and love, may still be within reach for those willing to believe in second chances.
Includes Bonus Content: A Bookclub Discussion Guide
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THE COLOR OF A DREAM
Nadia Carmichael has had a lifelong run of bad luck. It begins on the day she is born, when she is separated from her identical twin sister and put up for adoption. Twenty-seven years later, not long after she is finally reunited with her twin and is expecting her first child, Nadia falls victim to a mysterious virus and requires a heart transplant.
Now recovering from the surgery with a new heart, Nadia is haunted by a recurring dream that sets her on a path to discover the identity of her donor. Her efforts are thwarted, however, when the father of her baby returns to sue for custody of their child. It’s not until Nadia learns of his estranged brother Jesse that she begins to explore the true nature of her dreams, and discover what her new heart truly needs and desires…
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THE COLOR OF A MEMORY
Audrey Fitzgerald believed she was married to the perfect man—a heroic firefighter who saved lives, even beyond his own death. But a year later she meets a mysterious woman who has some unexplained connection to her husband…
Soon Audrey discovers that her husband was keeping secrets and she is compelled to dig into his past. Little does she know…this journey of self-discovery will lead her down a path to a new and different future—a future she never could have imagined.
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THE COLOR OF LOVE
Carla Matthews is a single mother struggling to make ends meet and give her daughter Kaleigh a decent upbringing. When Kaleigh’s absent father Seth—a famous alpine climber who never wanted to be tied down—begs for a second chance at fatherhood, Carla is hesitant because she doesn’t want to pin her hopes on a man who is always seeking another mountain to scale. A man who was never willing to stay put in one place and raise a family.
But when Seth’s plane goes missing after a crash landing in the harsh Canadian wilderness, Carla must wait for news… Is he dead or alive? Will the wreckage ever be found?
One year later, after having given up all hope, Carla receives a phone call that shocks her to her core. A man has been found, half-dead, floating on an iceberg in the North Atlantic, uttering her name. Is this Seth? And is it possible that he will come home to her and Kaleigh at last, and be the man she always dreamed he would be?
Includes Bonus Content: A Bookclub Discussion Guide
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THE COLOR OF THE SEASON
From USA Today bestselling author Julianne MacLean comes the next installment in her popular Color of Heaven series—a gripping, emotional tale about real life magic that touches us all during the holiday season…
Boston cop, Josh Wallace, is having the worst day of his life. First, he’s dumped by the woman he was about to propose to, then everything goes downhill from there when he is shot in the line of duty. While recovering in the hospital, he can’t seem to forget the woman he wanted to marry, nor can he make sense of the vivid images that flashed before his eyes when he was wounded on the job. Soon, everything he once believed about his life begins to shift when he meets Leah James, an enigmatic resident doctor who somehow holds the key to both his past and his future…
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THE COLOR OF JOY
After rushing to the hospital for the birth of their third child, Riley and Lois James anticipate one of the most joyful days of their lives. But things take a dark turn when their newborn daughter vanishes from the hospital. Is this payback for something in Riley’s troubled past? Or is it something even more mysterious?
As the search intensifies and the police close in, strange and unbelievable clues about the whereabouts of the newborn begin to emerge, and Riley soon finds himself at the center of a surprising turn of events that will challenge everything he once believed about life, love, and the existence of miracles.
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THE COLOR OF TIME
They say it’s impossible to change the past...
Since her magical summer romance at the age of sixteen, Sylvie Nichols has never been able to forget her first love.
Years later, when she returns to the seaside town where she lost her heart to Ethan Foster, she is determined to lay the past to rest once and for all. But letting go becomes a challenge when Sylvie finds herself transported back to that long ago summer of love…and the turbulent events that followed. Soon, past and present begin to collide in strange and mystifying ways, and Sylvie can’t help but wonder if a true belief in miracles is powerful enough to change both her past and her future....
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THE COLOR OF FOREVER
Recently divorced television reporter Katelyn Roberts has stopped believing in relationships that last forever, until a near-death experience during a cycling accident changes everything. When she miraculously survives unscathed, a long-buried mystery leads her to the quaint, seaside town of Cape Elizabeth, Maine.
There, on the rugged, windswept coast of the Atlantic, she finds herself caught up in the secrets of a historic inn that somehow calls to her from the past. Is it possible that the key to her true destiny lies beneath all that she knows, as she explores the grand mansion and property? Or that the great love she’s always dreamed of is hidden in the alcoves of its past?
“I never know what to say about a Julianne MacLean book, except to say YOU HAVE TO READ IT.” – AllRomanceReader.ca
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Also Coming Soon
THE COLOR OF A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE
The Color of Heaven Series – Book Twelve – October 2016
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Praise for Julianne MacLean’s
Historical Romances
“MacLean’s compelling writing turns this simple, classic love story into a richly emotional romance, and by combining engaging characters with a unique, vividly detailed setting, she has created an exceptional tale for readers who hunger for something a bit different in their historical romances.”
—BOOKLIST
“You can always count on Julianne MacLean to deliver ravishing romance that will keep you turning pages until the wee hours of the morning.”
—Teresa Medeiros
“Julianne MacLean’s writing is smart, thrilling, and sizzles with sensuality.”
—Elizabeth Hoyt
“Scottish romance at its finest, with characters to cheer for, a lush love story, and rousing adventure. I was captivated from the very first page. When it comes to exciting Highland romance, Julianne MacLean delivers.”
—Laura Lee Guhrke
“She is just an all-around wonderful writer, and I look forward to reading everything she writes.”
—Romance Junkies
Other Books for Your Kindle by Julianne MacLean
The American Heiress Series:
To Marry the Duke
An Affair Most Wicked
My Own Private Hero
Love According to Lily
Portrait of a Lover
Surrender to a Scoundrel
The Pembroke Palace Series:
In My Wildest Fantasies
The Mistress Diaries
When a Stranger Loves Me
Married By Midnight
The Color of a Promise (The Color of Heaven Series Book 11) Page 19
