Stephen said, "Many people have turned out to rejoice with us about our return to the wire. We have practiced long and hard. We have every reason to find strength in our own courage. Let us all give the best performance of our careers on this very special night."
"Is everyone ready?" Albert asked.
"Yes!" they replied in unison.
"A kiss for luck," Stephen said suddenly, and taking Julie's hand, he pulled her from her place in the shadows. His arms opened to surround her, and for one brief moment he held her so close that Julie heard his heart beating steadily in his chest. It was exactly the reassurance she needed.
Then he released her, but not before she whispered so that only he could hear, "Touch the stars, my darling." It was what she would say to him every time he took leave of her to walk the wire.
Stephen assumed his place at the head of the line. The five performing Andrassys straightened their shoulders and thrust out their chests.
The brass band finished playing the waltz, and then there was silence as an announcer's voice reverberated through the arena.
"And now, the moment you have all been waiting for, the return of the Amazing Andrassys!" The crowd cheered; then the announcer said in a more somber tone, "The Andrassy family would like you to know that they dedicate this return performance to the members of their family who died in a fall from the wire in this arena eight years ago."
The short silence following this announcement was respectful, and then the announcer said, "We bring to you the wonderful, the marvelous, the Amazing Andrassys!" The band struck up a lively march, and the Amazing Andrassys, gleaming in their white satin and silver sequins, began to stride smartly forward in time to the music.
Julie watched with pride as the members of the troupe moved as one into the arena, their motions beautifully synchronized. They were her family, and it was Stephen who had brought them back to the calling that was their tradition—Stephen, whom she had found it so difficult to trust, Stephen, whom she loved and would love forever, no matter what.
Heads held high, arms curved gracefully above their heads, the Amazing Andrassys went out to meet their destiny.
Epilogue
Three years later
Julie sat next to Nonna in a crowded courtroom in Atlanta, craning her head to get a better view. There he was, right in the front row. A flashbulb went off, but Stephen ignored it. Julie knew that her husband's mind was on the ceremony that was to follow.
It was September 17, Citizenship Day, and one of America's newest citizens was about to take the oath of allegiance to the United States. In a few moments, Stephen Martinovic-Andrassy would complete the process that would make him a naturalized citizen of his adopted country. Stephen had chosen to take his oath in Atlanta so that the whole family could attend.
"Can you see, Julie?" Nonna asked in a too-loud voice.
"Yes," Julie whispered back. "Can you?"
"No, I cannot see a thing." The two rather large spectators who were blocking Nonna's view turned and glared at her.
"Here, Nonna, let's change places," suggested Gabrielle, who was sitting behind someone short.
Julie shifted her knees aside so that Gabrielle and Nonna could trade places.
"Is Stephen a citizen yet?" asked Mickey, who sat fidgeting beside Lynda at the end of a benchful of Andrassys. All the Andrassys, even Uncle Bela, were present for this important ceremony.
"Not yet," Michael replied.
A hush fell over the courtroom as the newly naturalized citizens raised their hands to take the oath, and afterward, a judge spoke to them about the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship. Julie was uncommonly moved by the short but stirring ceremony. She couldn't help but think about the changes that had been wrought in her life during the past three years.
Julie had been practicing on the high wire with the performing troupe for the past six months. She had even begun to hope that someday she would feel enough confidence to perform with them. It had been a long struggle, but she was finally beginning to feel comfortable on the wire. Since her marriage to Stephen, and with his encouragement, she had lost much of her fear. This time, when she had gone on the wire, it had been of her own free will. It had been her choice and hers alone.
Marriage had mellowed her; her outlook was different these days. She saw the wire as part of her heritage and part of her future. She would perform with the others, she was sure of it. She already felt part of the act. Since their marriage in New Orleans after the Andrassys' triumphant return to the wire, Julie had functioned as Stephen's right hand, traveling with the troupe and helping him with the tasks involved with training, encouraging, and booking a top high-wire act.
Working together on behalf of the act had brought Stephen and Julie even closer. As husband and wife, their love grew stronger every day. Together they had found so much happiness that their contentment reached out to touch everyone in the family. Already they had known enough joy to last a lifetime, however long that lifetime happened to be. Julie would never regret marrying Stephen. Never.
"Julie, Stephen's looking for you," Eva said, leaning across Albert. With a start, Julie realized that the ceremony was over.
Julie fought the crowd surging up the narrow aisle toward the doors, pushing her way to the front of the room where Stephen, with his usual panache, fielded questions from the reporters who had descended upon him, eager to uncover his feelings about this, his latest accomplishment.
"Mr. Andrassy, how do you feel, now that you are a citizen of the United States?" Julie heard one reporter ask loudly as she grew near.
"Very, very happy," Stephen said. As usual, he was comfortable as the center of attention. Smiling, he turned toward a network reporter who thrust a microphone in his face. His eyes sought Julie over the heads of the crowd, and when he saw her, his face brightened as only Stephen's could.
"And now what? What's next for the Amazing Andrassys?"
"I hope my wife will join our act." He held out his hand, and the knot of people around Stephen shifted so that Julie could reach him to place her hand in his. He drew her close and slid an arm around her shoulders. "This is my wife, Juliana," he said with a proud grin.
"Mrs. Andrassy, is it true that you plan to take your place on the high wire with your husband and cousins?"
"Yes," Julie answered easily.
"When will that be?" the reporter urged, scribbling notes on a lined pad.
There was a long silence, and Stephen waited for her to answer. He did not know what she would say; they had never discussed an actual date for her to begin performing. For one awful moment, he was afraid to hear her answer. But then she spoke, and he was afraid no more.
"When I am ready to touch the stars," Julie said softly as she gazed deep into his eyes, and Stephen, wearing an expression that would be described in the resulting article in People as "adoring," dipped his head and kissed her lingeringly on the lips.
The End
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Missed the first book in this series?
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EVER SINCE EVE
The Keeping Secrets Series
Book One
or
Skip to an excerpt from Pamela Browning's
THE BEACH BACHELORS
Excerpt from
Ever Since Eve
The Keeping Secrets Series
Book One
by
Pamela Browning
Award-winning Author
Derek steered the Corvette around a huge puddle in the middle of the road. Tropical Storm Dondi, downgraded last night from a hurricane, had moved in from the coast and was dumping torrential rains on the North Carolina Piedmont.
He shifted uneasily in his seat, his damp shirt sticking to his back, and wished longingly for the cool, crisp weather of October. This was the last week of an unusually humid September, which meant approximately four weeks to go until relief arrived in the form of the first frost.
He slowed his speed as he approached the L & D Cafe at Dugan's Crossroads. The windshield wipers scrambled frantically, barely able to keep up with the deluge.
Believe it or not, there was a woman actually walking alongside the road in this horrendous weather. He noticed her, tried not to splash her, then cast a backward glance in utter disbelief.
She wore a loose, nondescript raincoat over a white uniform, and she held an umbrella over her head, which didn't help much to protect her from the rain. But her hairstyle, blunt-cut and precise, was familiar. So were the angle of her head and the long elegant sweep of her neck.
"Eve," he muttered, straining for a better view of her. A van loomed behind him, riding his bumper, and the last he saw of her, someone was holding the door of the restaurant so she could duck inside.
Derek had come home to the Myers Park house from his business trip three months ago and found Eve gone. He discovered the bank passbook with its untouched three thousand dollars placed in the exact center of his desk, a silent rebuke.
Still, he'd fully expected Eve to turn up after the abortion and ask for her money. When she didn't, he wondered why. The only way he might have found her was through the Queen City Fertility Clinic, but he didn't try—too many unhappy memories there. He convinced himself that after he'd left on his business trip, Eve had seen the light and had the abortion. He figured she'd find him when she needed the money.
Ever Since Eve
The Keeping Secrets Series
Book One
by
Pamela Browning
~
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Ever Since Eve
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Page forward for an excerpt from
THE BEACH BACHELORS
Sea of Gold
Book One
Excerpt from
The Beach Bachelors
Sea of Gold
Book One
by
Pamela Browning
Award-winning Author
Fragrant honeysuckle, sweet and languorous, dipped in bunches and swirls between the bars of the trellis, separating them. But slowly, their movements seemingly inhibited by the heavy air around them, they moved toward each other, first wanting, then seeking. They met before a great loop of flowers, cool and edged with green, and she saw that his eyes, cupped by their lower lids, now revealed a new sultriness. Her own lids felt heavy, and she wondered what she must look like to him.
Self-consciousness vanished as he dipped his head toward hers through the loop of honeysuckle and caught her mouth with his.
She didn't know which was the more prominent sensation—that of honeysuckle framing their faces, wrapping them in fragrance, or Ponce Cabrera's lips touching hers for the first time. But then there was no question; his lips won, first tentative, finding her out, discovering the contours of her own lips now totally possessed by his.
Then, more confidently, he moved upon her mouth with such tenderness, with such knowing and wanting, that even the honeysuckle faded away into the night, leaving her aware of nothing but the warm moistness of his lips, so amazingly, unbelievably sensual and desirable. This one kiss seemed to lift her into a suspended world, a place where skin tingled, where sensation spread from the confluence of their lips and melted through her, diffusing hotly through her body.
The sweet fruity scent of honeysuckle brought forth a ripeness within her; she burgeoned, swelled, grew impatient for the picking.
His lips released hers, and impatiently he brushed the encircling branch of honeysuckle away. He stood before her now, and his arms went around her in a singularly possessive gesture, pressing the full length of her to his hard, masculine body. Then he was kissing her again, and this was no tentative, romantic kiss; this was a kiss of power and might, of passion and promise, of forthright desire. And she clung to him, not denying her own answering passion, wondering if she had lost her mind. She ceased to smell the cloying scent of honeysuckle—her nostrils, her whole being, filled with the musky male scent of Ponce Cabrera.
"You know I want you?" The question was sharp, direct, and for a moment she buried her face in his broad chest, drawing her hands forward and resting them on his shoulders, noting the little knobs beneath the skin there, protrusions of the bone. There must be other little secrets that his body held, small deviations from the norm; everyone had those little differences, whether they were moles, odd curves or soft convexes where there should have been hollows.
Would she get to know the idiosyncrasies that distinguished Ponce from the rest of the male populace? Would he learn hers? A blanket of intimacies spread out before her, and she wondered if they would pick it up, wrap it around them and cloak themselves in its warmth.
The Beach Bachelors
Sea of Gold
Book One
by
Pamela Browning
~
To purchase
The Beach Bachelors
from your favorite eBook Retailer,
visit Pamela Browning's eBook Discovery Author Page
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Pamela Browning grew up in Florida and has lived in the South most of her life.
Though she often writes about places she's visited in her travels, she returns to the South again and again for the settings of her books.
"There's a perception that all of the American South is pretty much the same. You know, moonlight, magnolias, and Bubba in a baseball cap. The truth is that it's an area of the country with locales as varied as its people."
That's what she wanted to show by creating Peaceable Kingdom, Georgia, placing it in juxtaposition with Venice, Florida, and populating the story with down-home folks as well as the Hungarian-American Andrassy family.
"Variety on the pages of a book makes for an interesting read, and I loved working with all the aspects of Touch the Stars," she says. "I think my readers will agree that it's a book with many perspectives and a lot of heart."
Pamela invites you to visit her website at www.pamelabrowning.com. She hopes you'll look for the other three books in her Keeping Secrets Series: Through Eyes of Love, Ever Since Eve, and Sunshine and Shadows.
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
Chapter 14
Epilogue
A Note from the Publisher
Excerpt from EVER SINCE EVE (The Keeping Secrets Series, Book 1)
THE BEACH BACHELORS
Meet the Author
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