Lurlene McDaniel lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Turn the page for a preview of
the companion novel to
The Year of Luminous Love:
THE YEAR OF CHASING DREAMS
Excerpt copyright © 2013 by Lurlene McDaniel. Published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content in the forthcoming edition.
A LONE HORSE AND RIDER stood at the top of Bellmeade’s long tree-lined driveway. Ciana Beauchamp had noticed the figure as she passed a window inside her house but hadn’t paid it much mind. Horseback riders often passed her property on the road fronting her land. Yet this one had been motionless at the entrance for what seemed too long.
She couldn’t see the rider clearly. Gloom from the darkening cloudy overhead sky had gathered from the west, promising autumn rain. She had been in a funk all day. It was October twenty-fourth. This would have been Arie Winslow’s twentieth birthday—if she had lived.
Ciana’s friend Eden McLauren had gone into town, and her mother, Alice Faye, was banging around in the kitchen. The final harvest was completed, and Ciana should have felt peaceful satisfaction, but she didn’t. She was sad and on edge, and the horse and rider were adding to her tension.
She’d thought about Arie all day, remembering her trip to Italy with Arie and Eden the summer before, concentrating on the good times, glossing over the hurts. She missed Arie as much now as she had on the day she’d left her earthly life. What she wouldn’t give to see her, talk to her one more time.
Through the window, Ciana saw the horse stamp, growing restless. She squinted, trying to see the rider more clearly. Exasperated, she stepped out onto the wraparound veranda of the old Victorian house. The rider urged his mount forward and the horse came up the drive under tight rein, almost as if it knew where it was going. The rider, a man in a cowboy hat, sat tall in the saddle, and as he drew nearer, Ciana saw that the horse was a buckskin, toffee-colored with a black mane and tail. Ciana’s heartbeat picked up, and her lungs seemed to tighten in her chest.
At the front steps, the cowboy removed his hat and hung it on the horn of the saddle. He slid off the horse, grabbed a leather bag, and laid it on the top step. Ripe red apples rolled from the pouch, stopping at Ciana’s feet. “Here’s a gift,” Jon Mercer said.
Almost overwhelmed by the sight of him and the gesture, Ciana felt her chin tremble. She kept her composure, squared her shoulders, and asked, “Who told you about the apples?”
“Arie. It was one of her favorite stories about your grandparents. She said it was how Charles came to court Olivia. Fresh apples were all he had to offer.”
Ciana saw instantly that Arie had shared the story in a final act of kindness when she had realized the truth about Ciana and Jon. “Arie died in April,” Ciana said stoically, feeling old resentments toward Jon rise.
“Abbie let me know. I had asked her to call when … after it was over.”
Ciana felt slighted that Jon would have asked Eric’s wife instead of her. “Arie was my best friend. I would have let you know if you’d asked me.”
“I know. But I asked Abbie instead. Thought we needed the space.” His horse, Caramel, once Arie’s horse, wandered to the grassy lawn and began to graze. “How’s Eden?”
Ciana needed space, all right. “She lives here now with me and Mom. Some changes around here too. I’ve taken in horses to board for their owners. I don’t have an empty stall for Caramel.” She added the last to let him know he couldn’t just walk back into her life or heart without explanations, and certainly not without permission.
“I talked to Bill on my way from Texas. He’ll let me crash at his bunkhouse and board my horse.”
She glanced up at the sky and the gathering rain filled clouds. “Well, you might want to head back before the rains come. They look to be gully-washers.”
Jon propped his boot against the bottom porch step. “Not until you tell me if you meant it.”
“Meant what?”
“That last kiss you gave me. Did you mean it? Did it matter?”
Ciana blinked, conjuring up the heat from that cold March day when he’d loaded his horse and driven away. “Why?”
His jaw muscle tightened. “Because I need to know … why did you kiss me like that when I was walking away and leaving this place? I don’t get it.”
She felt a ripple of irritation. “And I don’t get you. Seven months gone and not one word from you.”
His neck reddened. “I didn’t know what to say.”
His answer was insufficient, annoying her further. “How about a phone call saying, ‘Hi. I’m fine. How are you? I miss you.’ What’s wrong with saying that?”
He swept her face with his green eyes, recited, “ ‘Hi. I’m fine. How are you? I missed you.’ Every minute of every day and night,” he added softly.
She steeled herself from the effect he was having on her. “Why have you come back?”
“Because everything I want in my life is right here.”
Just then the screen door opened and Alice Faye stepped out. “Eden’s on her way and supper is—” She stared. Her face broke into a smile. “Why, Jon Mercer! You’ve come back to us!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Alice Faye beamed at him. “A sight for sore eyes, you are. How’s your daddy?”
“Settled in at the county facility. Safe.”
“Any recovery from his stroke?”
“Not much progress. Doctors say this will be the best he’ll ever be.”
Alice Faye shook her head, perked up and said, “Stay for supper.”
His gaze found Ciana’s. “I couldn’t—”
“Tie your horse up in the barn before the rain starts.” She glanced at Ciana, and the older woman’s expression was challenging. “You’re invited. I’ll go set another place.” The door slammed behind her.
“Mother’s flexing her muscle,” Ciana said, with a note of bitterness. Jon’s look was questioning, but she wouldn’t elaborate. Why had he intruded into her life now, when she’d almost put him behind her? God knows, she had missed him, but she had no idea what lay ahead for her … the fate of Bellmeade, perhaps the fight of her life to keep it from financial ruin, a possible permanent rift between herself and her mother about selling the land. And what of the things he’d said he wanted? How would they fit into the picture?
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I was hoping we could figure it out together.”
On the lawn, Caramel grew restless, sensing the approaching bad weather. “You’d better tend to your horse,” Ciana said.
Jon searched her face, nodded brusquely. “This isn’t over between us, Ciana.”
She wasn’t sure if he meant the discussion or the relationship. She folded her arms, their shared past returning in a flood of painful memories. “Today was Arie’s … would have been … Arie’s birthday.”
Jon’s eyes saddened. “I didn’t forget. Is there a statute of limitations on your forgiveness?”
Ciana winced. His question hit her hard, and she was ashamed of her reminder of the past to him. The simple words were packed with emotional dynamite, and it was unkind of her to have reminded him of what had almost torn them apart. “Eat with us,” she said, offering an olive branch.
He nodded, turned and walked to Caramel, picked up her reins and led the horse toward the barn.
“Sorry,” Ciana whispered, knowing he couldn’t hear her, but knowing she needed to say the words. She fidgeted waiting for him to return to the house, watched the rolling clouds, heard the low rumble of distant approaching thunder. The smell of dampness lay heavy in the air, and dead leaves danced in eddies of swirling wind. The day, once bright and calm, had turned darker, cooler. The winds of change were blowing. An omen? Ciana shivered.
A storm was coming.…
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Lurlene McDaniel, The Year of Luminous Love
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