Sunshine and Shadows
Page 19
She looked at him, emotions shifting rapidly across her face. "Jay—" she said.
"What I'm trying to say is that it's time to step out from under that shadow, Lisa. Together."
She could not bear—absolutely could not bear—any more of this. She leaped up and began walking rapidly toward her car, but Jay caught up with her on the other side of the thick hedge screening the pool from the street. He grasped her by the shoulders, his hands strong and firm, and turned her slowly so that he could see her face.
"Step out of the shadows, Lisa. Walk in the sunshine beside me. Forever."
She looked squarely into his desperate eyes and saw the love written there; his expression was earnest and pleading. He loved her, and she, in spite of everything, still loved him. He didn't deserve her punishment. If loving was giving, then it was also forgiving. And, suddenly, in a burst of understanding, she knew that she had already forgiven him. Holding on to her hurt and resentment would prove nothing except her own stubbornness, and if she let this wonderful man go, how would she ever forgive herself?
"Forever?" she said, her voice quavering.
"Forever," he replied, scarcely daring to breathe, and then, seeing the wonderful accepting light spring into her eyes, and the tears, he circled his arms around her and gathered her to his heart.
Epilogue
June, 2012
The last few wedding guests had finally been seated in the church. Lisa's sister, Heather, as maid of honor, and the bridesmaids, and Connie as the very excited junior bridesmaid had already started down the long aisle in time to the strains of the traditional wedding march. Lisa was wearing the beautiful satin wedding gown made so long ago for Megan. Adele had insisted on altering it to fit her. Now Lisa waited at the door in the vestibule poised to begin.
To begin. In a few moments she would become Mrs. Jay Quillian, Lisa Quillian. She gazed at the beautiful oval diamond of her engagement ring and felt giddy with the promise of a new life.
Suddenly her eyes swam with unexpected tears of happiness. The scene before her—the pastel dresses of the guests waiting so expectantly, and the shimmering pink roses filling the air with their scent, and the priest in his vestments beyond—blurred her vision. She blinked back the tears. Jay wouldn't want to see her crying on this, their special day.
Sunbeams slanting through the wide clear window behind the altar touched upon the profusion of pink roses, reminding her poignantly of the flower dolls that she and Megan had made together on that summer's day so long ago when they vowed to be each other's maid of honor. If only Megan could be here, she thought wistfully.
Megan, with her sweet and generous spirit, would have wanted Lisa to be happy. And today, on her wedding day, wearing the dress that Megan had never had the chance to wear, Lisa was happier than she had ever been in her whole life. Together, she and Jay had found a sense of purpose. They would go on giving of themselves to those less fortunate, to Connie and to other children like her, and they would do it in memory of Megan.
And as long as Megan is remembered by those who loved her, she can never really die, Lisa thought.
Her silver-haired great-uncle Richard, looking courtly and distinguished in his wedding finery, tucked her arm through his. "It's time," he said.
Slowly they stepped forward as the big pipe organ played the triumphant trill heralding the appearance of the bride.
In front of the altar, Jay waited, his expression exultant, his eyes shining with love and admiration as he took in Lisa in her long satin gown and veil of silk illusion.
"I love you," Jay whispered as she joined him. Lisa felt a surge of pure joy at the words, and her smile was radiant.
Giving him her hand, trusting him with her life, she stepped forward into the warm blaze of sunshine spilling across the altar, and together they left the shadows behind forever.
The End
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Want more from Pamela Browning?
Page forward for an excerpt from
TOUCH THE STARS
The Keeping Secrets Series
Book Four
Excerpt from
Touch the Stars
The Keeping Secrets Series
Book Four
by
Pamela Browning
Award-winning Author
"I have dreamed of making love to you, Juliana, many times. But knowing how you feel about what I do for a living, I have been afraid to care for you too deeply. Yet I think you have stronger feelings for me than you let on."
Stephen plunged ahead, groping for the right words.
"You need not tell me your emotions, Juliana, but I must tell you mine. Please believe me when I tell you that I love you."
Her rapid intake of breath interrupted him.
"Loving is not something I do often," he continued. "But if anything happens to me, I would want you to know that Stephen Andrassy truly loved you."
In her mind's eye, Julie pictured Stephen setting out on the wire over the great Tallulah Gorge, sliding one foot forward, then the other, his balancing pole shifting carefully from side to side. He was concentrating mightily, an expression of intensity on his face, and he would have to walk so far until he reached the other side, so very far.
"I can't bear it," she blurted out. "I can't stand to think about it!"
"About my love?" Stephen said, holding her hands fast. "So now I have made my great declaration and you cannot stand to think about it. Dearest Juliana, do you have any idea how that makes me feel?" He was teasing her.
"No, no, the Gorge! You treat it so lightly, but how do you think I'll feel when you're out there, suspended in space? Stephen, how can you put me through this?"
"It is the way I live. I'm made to walk the wire."
He drew a deep breath and went on. "Juliana, I would like to think that someday there might be a chance for us to have a life together. Do you—do you think it would ever be possible for you to love me?" He tipped a finger beneath her chin and forced her eyes to meet his.
"You care, don't you? Admit it, Juliana! You love me as I love you, do you not?"
"I don't think I could have a future with a man who walks the wire," murmured Julie.
Yet how could she live without this man, this wonderful man, who had so easily become the heart and soul of her shattered family.
Stephen pulled her close until her body touched his. All her senses seemed enhanced, and a quiet exhilaration made her heart leap with happiness. He bent his head until their lips touched, and then she was clasping him to her as though she would never, ever let him go.
But even as their kiss deepened, she knew she would have to say goodbye. He was going to risk his life to walk across Tallulah Gorge tomorrow.
But not before they had one night of total bliss...
Touch the Stars
The Keeping Secrets Series
Book Four
by
Pamela Browning
~
To purchase
Touch the Stars
from your favorite eBook Retailer,
visit Pamela Browning's eBook Discovery Author Page
www.ebookdiscovery.com/PamelaBrowning
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Pamela Browning grew up on the Loxahatchee River where her grandparents lived.
"I learned to swim in that river, to paddle a canoe, and to clean the fish I caught," she say
s. Lots of times, Pamela read a book on a bench under the Australian pines overlooking the peaceful river. She included that bench in Sunshine and Shadows.
"When I was a kid, I wondered why the authors of the books I read never wrote about the beautiful Loxahatchee," she says. "Now I know that they just hadn't found it yet."
She always knew that when she grew up and became a writer, the Loxahatchee would figure prominently in her work. That's why she used it as the setting for Lisa's home in Sunshine and Shadows, the third book of her Keeping Secrets Series.
The Everglades setting for Faith Mission is modeled on an actual school for migrant workers' children that she visited years ago.
"The school wasn't far from Jupiter, Florida, and somehow it seemed right to combine the two settings as a background for Lisa and Jay's story," she says. "The nearby ocean and beach provide an extra touch of romance."
She hopes you'll look for her other books in the Keeping Secrets Series: Through Eyes of Love, Ever Since Eve, and Touch the Stars.
Table of Contents
Cover
Prologue
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
Epilogue
A Note from the Publisher
Excerpt from TOUCH THE STARS (The Keeping Secrets Series, Book 4)
Meet the Author