Also present were well-wishers and a crowd of reporters and cameras. A1 Coleman was anticipating an exclusive interview with Daniel later, but for now he and his colleagues stayed back a respectful distance.
The door of the penitentiary opened and Daniel stepped out, tall and powerful, a free man for the first time in over seventeen years. A cheer went up from the onlookers, stopping him in his tracks. He looked—stunned. Exhilarated. Maybe even afraid. She could only imagine the complex feelings that must be surging through him.
Lyssie broke the tension by skipping up the steps to present him with a bouquet of autumn blossoms. "Welcome to the world, Mr. Monroe." Her voice was very clear. She and Val had worked this out in advance. "Lots of people are glad to see you."
Daniel's expression softened, and he went down on one knee to accept the bouquet. "You're Lyssie. I've heard a lot about you. Thank you for the flowers." His fingertips skimmed over the petals of the gold and bronze chrysanthemums. "In the old days, I never noticed how beautiful flowers are."
Beaming but suddenly shy, Lyssie scooted back to Val and Rob.
His expression more sure, Daniel rose and walked down the steps to Kendra and Jason, straight into their arms. "Oh, baby, baby, baby," he said hoarsely.
She wasn't sure if he meant her or Jason. Both of them, probably. His powerful body was both familiar and unexpected. They had been lovers once and would be again, she knew in her bones.
To her shock, she began to cry, burying her face in Daniel's shoulder as great wrenching sobs tore through her. "I'm sorry, honey," she gasped. "I... I wouldn't let myself cry in front of you when you were in prison, but now..."
"It's okay, girl," he said with a grin. "If I weren't such a big mean dude, I'd be cryin' myself."
As she and Jason laughed, Luke and Angel came forward, then Val and Rob. After greeting his brother and sister-in-law, Daniel gave Val a hug that swept her off her feet. "Just a bit of a thing," he said fondly.
He turned back to Kendra and said in a voice so low that even Jason couldn't hear, "The first time I met your mama I said I'd marry you, but I never got the chance. I'm not fit for marryin' now any more than a bulldog just off his chain. I've got a lot of learnin' and livin' to do. But a year from now—well, by then I should be ready to ask you a question. Think about it between now and then."
She smiled through the tears that insisted on stinging her eyes. "Yes, Daniel, I'll think about it." She'd think, she'd weigh the pluses and minuses, maybe even make a neat list of pros and cons. She would think about whether they still looked as if they belonged together.
And then she'd say yes.
* * *
Val watched misty-eyed as Daniel and his family moved forward into the crowd of reporters. Lyssie's gaze had the sharp observation of a potential writer. Val could almost see the mental notes her little sister was making. With the improvement in health Louise was showing now that she had better care, Val was unlikely to become Lyssie's guardian, but they were sisters forever.
"It's been six months since I decided to open my own office so I could practice more do-gooder law," Val said quietly to Rob. "So much has changed."
He put his arm around her shoulders. "Pretty much all for the better, too."
For sure. Rob had taken to the Meeting like an eagle to the air. His hard-earned clarity and integrity made him a natural Quaker. She would spend her life working to be a better Friend, but that was another battle worth fighting. "I've been thinking. Now that the weather's getting colder, surely you and Malcolm would be more comfortable living at my place until you finish the main remodeling work at your house."
"If that's an invitation, we accept," he said promptly. "But didn't you say that people who lived together first were more likely to get divorced if they later got married? Maybe we need to do something so we don't become victims of a statistic."
"I've thought of that." With a grin, she stuck out her palm. "Hand over the keys to the Corniche, and let's start looking at dates."
The End
Page forward for a note from Mary Jo Putney
followed by an excerpt from
STIRRING THE EMBERS
The Starting Over Series
Book One
Author's Note
Capital punishment arouses strong opinions on both sides, but just about no one is in favor of executing innocent people. While any thinking person has to assume that sometimes the justice system makes mistakes, the advent of DNA testing has proven how alarmingly often those mistakes occur.
Ever since then public awareness of the problem has been stimulated by stories such as those coming out of Illinois. With the help of energetic journalism students from Northwestern University, more men were released from death row as innocent than were being executed. The stories were so outrageous and horrifying that eventually the governor of Illinois declared a moratorium on executions.
While my characters and plot are fictional, most of the details are derived from real cases. A major inspiration for this book was the case of Michael Austin, imprisoned for murder in my hometown of Baltimore. Austin was convicted by the flip-flop testimony of a lying eyewitness, and a business card that turned out to be totally irrelevant. Not only had several other eyewitnesses described a killer of very different appearance, but Austin had been at work at the time of the murder and had a time card to prove it.
It took twenty-seven years for the truth to set him free.
With the intervention of Centurion Ministries, a New Jersey organization dedicated to helping wrongly convicted prisoners, Michael Austin was released after spending half his life in prison. Anyone interested in learning more about wrongful conviction can find more information on the Internet. One good site is www.justicedenied.org, which has a bibliography of books and articles on the subject.
Page forward for an excerpt from
STIRRING THE EMBERS
The Starting Over Series
Book One
Excerpt from
Stirring the Embers
The Starting Over Series
Book One
by
Mary Jo Putney
New York Times Bestselling Author
Twenty-five years ago
A piercing wail shattered the dawn air. The waiting crowd, safely restrained behind barriers, began to buzz with anticipation. In the command post, Kate Corsi danced excitedly from foot to foot. "Now, Papa?"
Sam Corsi laughed. "Not yet, Katie. That's just the two-minute warning siren."
She tried to stand still, but two minutes seemed like forever. She'd always known that her father's business was blowing up buildings, had even seen movies of his work. But this was different, her very first live shot. She tugged restlessly at the ribbon that held back her blond hair. "Can I push the button?"
"If you're good, someday I'll let you set off the blast, but not this time." Sam Corsi ruffled her brother's dark hair. "Someday the business will be Tom's, and he has to learn what it's like to control so much power."
Tom put one arm around Kate in an apologetic hug. "Your turn will come, short stuff."
The countdown by Luther Hairston was progressing. When he saw Kate watching, he closed one dark eye in a wink without stopping his steady counting.
"All right, Tom," Sam Corsi ordered. "Put your finger on that button and wait for me to say 'now!' Don't push it before I tell you to."
Looking a little sick, Tom set his finger on the button. But Kate knew he wouldn't make a mistake. He was the smartest big brother in the world.
Seven, six, five, four, three, two....
"Now!" her father barked.
Tom pushed so hard his fingertip whitened. Nothing happened, and for a terrible moment Kate's heart stopped.
Then machine-gun sharp bangs rattled from the tall building across the street, and clouds of dust rolled from the empty windows in the lower floors. Next came deep, deep booms that shook the bones. Walls pitched inward and the huge structure slowly collapsed into its base.
Kate shrieked with joy.
Her father swooped her up to his shoulder for a better view. "Take a good look, Katie. This is Phoenix Demolition at work, and we're the best!"
Kate bounced in his arms. "Someday I'll blow up buildings, too."
Sam chuckled. "Demolition is no place for girls. Tom will run the company. If you ask nicely, maybe he'll let you work in the office."
"The times are changing, Sam," Luther said. "That lively little girl of yours might make a fine PDI engineer when she grows up."
"No daughter of mine is ever going to work demolition."
Kate sniffed. Papa was stubborn, but so was she. She'd make him let her into the business.
Because Katherine Carroll Corsi wanted to blow up buildings.
Stirring the Embers
The Starting Over Series
Book One
by
Mary Jo Putney
~
To purchase
Stirring the Embers
from your favorite eBook Retailer,
visit Mary Jo Putney's eBook Discovery Author Page
www.ebookdiscovery.com/MaryJoPutney
~
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with an excerpt from
PHOENIX FALLING
The Starting Over Series
Book Two
Excerpt from
Phoenix Falling
The Starting Over Series
Book Two
by
Mary Jo Putney
New York Times Bestselling Author
Rainey had been jubilant when her agent called to ask her to read for the part of Marguerite St. Just in The Scarlet Pimpernel. Though she loved making small, quirky movies and had built a decent career with them, Pimpernel was the big-time: big budget, big names, and a rousing classic story.
She immersed herself in the script for days before her audition, until she knew exactly who Marguerite was. She even booked sessions with a dialect coach to help her create an alluring French accent, and a movement coach to teach her to curtsy and dance in proper eighteenth-century style.
As she arrived at the studio, one of Hollywood's hottest young female stars was leaving the audition room. Well, she hadn't expected the competition to be easy.
As always on such occasions, the room was full of people evaluating her as if she were a slab of overdone steak. She recognized the film's director, two producers, a famous casting director, and half a dozen executive types.
The director, Jim Gomolko, looked as if he'd bitten into something sour when he told her to go ahead with the test scene. But she'd come prepared. Dressed in a flowing dress with a period flavor, she curtsied gracefully to the executives, using her carefully practiced French accent as she thanked them for their kind consideration.
An expressionless male assistant fed her lines as she performed the scene where Marguerite first meets Sir Percy. She began the scene coolly, for as the most acclaimed actress in Paris Marguerite was used to men wanting to bed her. She'd learned to keep admirers at a distance.
Yet there was something about this Englishman, a hint of steel beneath his languid manners and wicked wit. As the scene progressed she gradually realized that this was a man of surprising depths and passions, one who could keep a woman intrigued....
When she finished her reading, the executives were nodding approval. Gomolko said, "I want you to read again with someone else, Ms. Marlowe."
One of the suits spoke into a cell phone and five minutes later Kenzie Scott ambled into the room. Rainey caught her breath, electrified. Though Scott was rumored to be on board for Pimpernel, her agent had told her the deal wasn't set yet.
Rainey had kept her fingers crossed because she was a great admirer of Kenzie Scott's work. And—well, of his looks, too, she was only human. But even more, she respected his acting. Though she preferred his early work, before he'd become a major star, he brought depth and nuance to even the most macho action roles.
He looked across the room at her as if she was the most fascinating, desirable woman he'd ever seen. Every cell in her body kicked into overdrive. Tall, dark, and charismatic, he was almost supernaturally handsome. He was often mentioned in the same breath with Cary Grant, and not only because of his chiseled features and the faint cleft in his chin. The real similarity lay in his easy, aristocratic British charm. On screen he could project strength, intelligence, wit, vulnerability—all at once if the role called for it. Those qualities were strikingly vivid in person.
Kenzie bowed, a perfect Georgian gentleman despite his khakis and polo shirt. "Mademoiselle St. Just, your performance tonight was brilliant."
With a pang of regret she realized that the admiration in those amazing green eyes was because he was in character. Since he was working from memory, she slid into Marguerite. Recklessly she tossed her script over her shoulder, pages fluttering to the floor while she prayed she'd remember her lines.
She responded to Kenzie's dazzled Sir Percy by playing the scene ardently instead of the coolness of her first reading. They were from different nations, different ways of life. To a loyal daughter of France, this languid aristocrat was all she was taught to despise, while she was an actress, a woman to be bedded, not wed. Yet they both were caught up in a blazing attraction too powerful to deny, no matter how much it cost them.
When they finished the scene, the executives were sitting upright in their chairs. One of the producers muttered, "Jesus, who knew she was so hot?
Gomolko made a rueful face. "You were right, Kenzie, she's Marguerite. You've got your deal. Do you want the part, Ms. Marlowe?"
"Yes!"
"I'll contact your agent right away to work out the details."
As she stammered her thanks, the room erupted with excited talk, leaving her and Kenzie in a small zone of privacy. Now that they weren't acting together, she felt shy with him. Reminding herself that soon they'd be rolling around on a mattress together, she asked, "What did Gomolko mean about the deal?"
He smiled, tanned skin crinkling around his eyes. "I told him I wouldn't take the part unless you were cast as Marguerite."
No wonder the director had regarded her with misgivings—he'd been afraid he might have to choose between the actor he wanted and an actress he didn't want. "Then I owe you quite a thank-you. Why did you want me in particular? We've never even met."
"I've seen most of your work, and knew you were right for Marguerite."
She groaned. "Please don't tell me you saw Biker Babes from Hell."
He laughed. "That movie proved you could handle Marguerite's adventurous side. But I was already convinced. You should have won that Oscar for Home Free."
She thought of the awards ceremony wistfully. Attending dressed to kill and not showing a shred of disappointment when she didn't win had been a major test of acting skill. "There was a strong field of nominees."
"You were the best." He touched her hair with gossamer delicacy. "This red-gold is your natural color?"
She shivered, a little breathless. "Yes, but usually I play drab, worthy brunettes."
"The time has come for you to play a glamorous woman of the world, Raine."
"People who know me well call me Rainey."
He repeated that in his beautiful deep voice. He'd trained at RADA—the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London— which gave him an unfair advantage, she thought dizzily. Earlier he'd been Sir Percy admiring Marguerite, but his expression now made it clear he hadn't insisted on her for this movie solely because of her acting.
So be it. She'd attained success through discipline and unrelenting work, not wasting her time on high-profile affairs to get her name into the gossip columns. But a life without occasional recklessness wasn't worth living. Kenzie Scott was gorgeous, likable, and attraction crackled between them like a high-voltage current. If they had a fling, it would be by mutual choice.
How much simpler life would have b
een if he'd only wanted an affair....
Phoenix Falling
The Starting Over Series
Book Two
by
Mary Jo Putney
~
To purchase
Phoenix Falling
from your favorite eBook Retailer,
visit Mary Jo Putney's eBook Discovery Author Page
www.ebookdiscovery.com/MaryJoPutney
~
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Page forward and complete your journey
with a bonus excerpt from
A HOLIDAY FLING
The Starting Over Series
The Novella
Excerpt from
A Holiday Fling
The Starting Over Series
A Novella
by
Mary Jo Putney
New York Times Bestselling Author
A Note from
Mary Jo Putney
My full-length contemporary romance Phoenix Falling had a couple of appealing secondary characters who were single and a little lonely, so they immediately popped into my mind when I decided to do a contemporary Christmas story for this collection. Greg Marino and Jenny Lyme are both in show business, and they're both genuinely nice people who love their work. But he's American and she's English, he's behind the camera while she's in front, and when their paths had crossed a dozen years before, their careers swiftly took them away from each other. Can this time be different?
The cell phone played the first few notes of "Fur Elise." Wondering if a commercial had come looking for him, he answered, suppressing another yawn. "H'lo."
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