As Geoff returned to her side she felt a rush of love that impelled her to clasp his hand tightly and squeeze it. How had she ever had the good fortune to find—or be found by—a man with so many wonderful dichotomies in his nature? He was tough and tender, strong and gentle, all of the traits a woman sought and cherished in a man, and yet on a deeper level, he had an affinity for human nature that allowed him to mirror a person’s soul in his work. There was a depth of understanding in him that made him all the more mysterious to her, all the more attractive.
As the party continued, Honor convinced her father-in-law Chy Starhawk, an Apache medicine man, to share his gift for prophecy with the crowd. With his long hair hovering like a white cloud around his shoulders, the shaman turned first to Geoff and Randy. A mysterious smile deepened the grooves of his sepia-colored skin.
“There is brightness around you both,” he said, studying them for a moment. “Like the light of day glowing through an overcast sky. It’s the brightness of a promise, of believing in things you can’t see with your eyes.” He hesitated, as if caught in the awareness, but not fully understanding it. “I see the sparkle of sunlight on deep green water.”
“Maybe the brightness has something to do with this.” Geoff took a small box from his shirt pocket and offered it to Randy, an expectant smile on his face.
Randy drew in a sharp breath as she opened the box. Nestled in lush white velvet was the most exquisite emerald ring she’d ever seen. Her hand flew to her mouth, trying to contain the surprise that trembled there.
“It was my grandmother’s,” Geoff explained, lowering his voice to an intimate level as he drew her into his arms. “My father gave it to my mother when they were engaged. I wanted you to have it. I’m sure they would have too.”
Randy could feel the ring’s brightness in her heart. It was as piercingly sharp as her feelings for him, and she wanted to believe that its rich light was a symbol of the love that would sustain them through everything, even the darker times that were in store for every relationship. In truth, she was still frightened of loving Geoff Dias, but she knew he harbored fears too. The loss of his parents had made him wary of a deep and committed bond, and yet he was willing to risk taking that step now, willing to risk everything. If he could open his heart to the dangers of loving a woman, then surely she could surrender hers to the fearful sweetness of trusting a man.
The light would sustain them.
The light was love.
A Biography of Suzanne Forster
Suzanne Forster, the New York Times bestselling author of more than forty romance novels, was on a career path to becoming a clinical psychologist until a life-altering car accident changed everything. While recovering, she tried her hand at writing to pass the time and quickly found that it was her true passion. Before she was ready to return to school, her first manuscript had won second place in a contest sponsored by the Romance Writers of America for unpublished writers. Before she knew it, she sold her first novel, Undercover Angel (1985), and embarked on a new path.
Throughout her career, Forster has made unconventional plot choices for the romance genre, such as setting her novel The Devil and Ms. Moody (1990) in the gritty world of motorcycle gangs, an idea her publisher resisted for years. The hero, Diablo, an intimidating yet tender rogue in black leather who rides a Harley-Davidson, was given the WISH (Women in Search of a Hero) Award by RT Book Reviews. For her Stealth Commandos trilogy she chose mercenaries and bounty hunters as her heroes. Child Bride (1992), the first in the trilogy, became her publisher’s top-selling series romance that year. The romantic thriller The Morning After (2000) appeared on several bestseller lists including the New York Times.
RT Book Reviews has twice honored Forster’s work, first in 1990 with a Career Achievement Award in Series Sensual Romance, and again in 1996 in the category of Best Contemporary Romantic Suspense. In 1996 she was also a nominee for the Romance Reader’s Anonymous Award for Best Contemporary Author. Her mainstream debut, Shameless (2001), won the National Readers Choice Award. Forster’s 2004 novel Unfinished Business was made into a movie, called Romancing the Bride, for the Oxygen Network.
Forster lives in Southern California with her husband, and has taught women’s contemporary fiction writing seminars at UCLA and UC Riverside.
Suzanne at five years old, smiling with her beloved family dog, Duchess. Suzanne was the youngest of four children, and Duchess was passed down to the children as they grew up.
Suzanne sitting on her grandfather’s knee outside their home in Olympia, Washington. Known in the community as the unofficial poet laureate of Olympia, her grandfather was a prolific writer and performer of poetry, actively performing at church, community events, and special occasions. The family never had a Sunday dinner without him reading a new poem.
A family Christmas photograph from Suzanne’s childhood. Suzanne, age seven, is at the far left, standing by older sister Carolyn, brothers Michael and John, and her parents. Suzanne credits her father’s side of the family with sparking her artistic ability, as her father was a writer of eloquent letters and her grandfather a prolific writer of poetry.
Suzanne with husband Allan at their wedding in the mid-seventies. The two married in a wedding chapel in California, and then took a three-week trip up the coastline to Vancouver, British Columbia, stopping to spend time with Suzanne’s family in Olympia, Washington.
Suzanne at her college graduation, photographed by her mother. Suzanne graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of California at Irvine in 1978, and went on to a post-graduate degree in psychology. She wouldn’t begin writing until her psychology career was derailed by a car accident; in order to pass the time while recovering, she began to write some of her first stories.
A photograph of Suzanne with husband Allan in their first apartment together in Westminster, California. After they married in the early 1980s, Suzanne and Allan had a ready-made family, including Suzanne’s son, Kenny, and Allan’s three children from his first marriage. At the time of the photograph, Suzanne was working on her first book, Undercover Angel.
Suzanne at her first book signing at a small independent bookstore in California. The signing was held for Wild Child, Suzanne’s second release through the Loveswept series, and was a success—over one hundred copies of the book were sold.
Suzanne, left, with close friend and fellow author Meryl Sawyer at the RT Book Lovers Convention in Atlanta in 1990. The two are celebrating The Devil and Ms. Moody, which garnered myriad awards that year, including the Career Achievement Award for its author.
One of Suzanne’s favorite photographs: she and Allan in Hawaii, preparing to take a helicopter tour of Maui. Suzanne frequently mined her vacations for material for her books, and later used a lunging helicopter in her romantic suspense novel The Morning After.
Suzanne, left, spending time with her son, Kenny, her grandchildren, and extended family.
Suzanne wearing a biker jacket in reference to The Devil and Ms. Moody, her award-winning motorcycle romance novel. Her husband, Allan, bought the jacket as a gift in honor of her biker romances that swept award ceremonies in the 1990s and essentially established her as a star in the genre.
Suzanne holds up a copy of The Morning After during a signing at Borders. The novel was the first book to hit the New York Times bestseller list, an experience that Suzanne called “thrilling, amazing, and unexpected.” The romantic thriller also hit top spots on lists at USA Today, Waldenbooks, and Barnes & Noble.
Suzanne and her writing group, brainstorming at the beach. From left to right: Olga Bicos, Lou Kaku, Jill Marie Landis, Lou Herter, Suzanne Forster, and Meryl Sawyer. Meeting monthly, the group discussed craft and story ideas. With rare exceptions, the meetings sparked ideas for nearly all of Suzanne’s books.
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text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 1993 by Suzanne Forster
cover design by Karen Horton
978-1-4532-2035-1
This edition published in 2011 by Open Road Integrated Media
180 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
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