Fifteen
years and many heart-wrenching experiences after their disastrous first
meeting, a reformed rock star and the woman who idolized him as a teenager get
a second chance to prove songs of the heart are the sweetest music of all.
EXCERPT: The Rock Star
Spotlights flashed in
rainbows across the stage. Red. Green. Blue. Crisscrossing until they merged
into one white-hot light on Geoff Chastain’s face, evoking memories of other
times. The screams of thousands of teenaged girls washed through his memory as
he pulled the microphone from its stand.
The first notes of his
daughter's favorite song filled the auditorium and his breath caught, jagged,
in his chest. Pain pulsed through Geoff's heart with each beat of the drum. He
nearly dropped to his knees, longing to crawl back into the self-imposed exile
where he had existed since his daughter died.
The faces of the kids in
wheelchairs looked up at him with bright expectation. The whispers of the
singers waiting in the stage wings curled around him in concern.
Daddy, promise you won’t let the music die. His daughter’s last request haunted Geoff. He never
suspected life would become so desolate he would forget to eat and sleep, let
alone lose touch with the music that had always flowed so easily from his soul.
A singer moved from the
wings to stand beside him. Her presence drifted around him in silent
encouragement. Her sweet contralto coaxed him to sing with her.
Focus, he
ordered his brain, staring at the woman. Waves of auburn hair framed her face,
then tumbled halfway down a lush body barely covered in spandex and sequins. A
woman designed to stir a man to action.
Geoff's voice rasped with
disuse on the first verse; the woman's harmony covered it. As he started the
second verse, an image of his daughter swam before his eyes and Geoff's throat
closed. The woman picked up the melody without missing a beat, as if they had
planned this duet.
He grasped at her hand and
drew a deep breath. Her soft scent filled his nostrils, drawing his attention
away from the pain. Giving him the strength to dig deep inside where the music
had lain in silent mourning.
Geoff's voice mingled with
hers on the chorus, then soared as he soloed the third verse. Their voices
chased each other through the final refrain, then their eyes met and held on
the last triumphant note. Awed silence hung for a moment before applause
erupted and the crowd was in motion.
A sea of well-wishers
swarmed onto the stage. Not the frenzied near-riots of years ago, but the
exuberant cheer of celebration. Smiles and congratulations wrapped warmly
around Geoff as men pumped his hand and women kissed his cheek.
But the mysterious
auburn-haired woman who saved his musical butt had disappeared.
BLURB:
Super-mom Tallie
O'Shea took on eight adopted children and built a legacy of compassionate
justice with her policeman husband. When
he is gunned down, she doesn't think it's an accident. Then a former lover
shows up and the lies from her past start unraveling. As dangers explode around
her, can Tallie set things right before everything she loves is destroyed?
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