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Overview
Julianna Doran experiences her first heated spark of desire in a haunted Hudson River mansion. Though she knows the days of pirate ships are over, she cannot stop yearning for the enticingly handsome and boldly dangerous Brom Vanderzee, the ghostly sea captain she gets but a mere glimpse of while playing with a Ouija board.
Years later, even as Julianna prepares to wed, she still dreams of the achingly forbidden specter of her past. Seizing her last chance to understand her longing heart, she returns to the place she first saw Brom and is granted an exquisite night of passion with him before he disappears again.
Determined not to lose him again, she crosses the boundaries of her world to join him in his, and solidify their love—this time for good.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781626813328 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Diversion Books |
| Publication date: | 02/06/2019 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 337 |
| Sales rank: | 743,003 |
| File size: | 5 MB |
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Pennsylvania September 1899
Elliot Creighton wanted to marry Julianna Doran. He really, truly did! He wanted it more than anything else in the world, even more than he wanted top billing at New York's Majestic Theater or a reserved table on the main floor at Rector's Champagne and Lobster Palace where he could rub elbows with the celebrities of the Gay White Way. However, the sweet but bull-headed letter from Juli in his pocket seemed to dash any hopes of their chances at marriage, at least for the present.
"Dammit, not if I have my way!" the extremely tall, extremely handsome, extremely distraught actor shouted into the brisk autumn wind as he doggedly galloped his hired horse over the fertile Pennsylvania countryside — destination: Julianna.
He could understand her reticence in the beginning, back two years ago when they had first met. He had swooped down on her that night at the Opera House in Lancaster like a hungry hawk after a particularly juicy morsel. She'd been of an age to marry. Twenty-three. But she had led a sheltered life on her father's farm, so, of course, she'd been taken aback by his forward approach. He could kick himself now for having rushed things, but he'd been thunderstruck the moment he spied her out in the audience. All evening, he'd been unable to see any other face but hers. Those glittery-green eyes staring up at him, wide with innocence and a touch of mystery. Her lovely pale skin with the slightest hint of freckles sprinkled across her pert nose like pixie kisses. And her long, thick hair the color of ... The color of what? Elliot squinted up into the last rays of sunlight, trying to decide.
"The color of goldenrod honey finely dusted with cinnamon!" Had he been on stage, he would have been heard to the farthest reaches of the balcony when he cried out the words on one long, pent-up breath.
Then he sighed, still remembering. Juli, when he first saw her, had been like a vision out of some painting by an old master, one of those mystically gifted artists of ancient times who had been endowed with the ability to see auras radiating from special ladies and had painted those subjects accordingly. Indeed, Elliot had seen a heavenly glow crowning Julianna's beauty that first night.
"But it wasn't simply her beauty that attracted me," he mused aloud, frowning. The rest of the thought seemed too incredible to speak aloud. The moment he first set eyes on her, he'd experienced the oddest feeling — as if he had finally found something or someone he had been searching for all his life. He'd felt as if he knew her, had always known her, and had been waiting for her a long, long time.
Except for meeting Julianna, that particular evening had been a total flop. Because of her, he'd muffed lines, missed cues, played Mark Antony like a lovesick schoolboy. There had been many women in his life before Julianna, but never had he allowed any other to affect his acting that way.
After the performance, what else could he do? He had to invite her backstage before she got away. He had to declare himself then and there, for she might never come back to the Opera House or back into his life, if he let her escape. He had to kiss those full, soft lips, to taste their sweetness, even though his actions had shocked and embarrassed her.
"Creighton, you were ever a forward damn bastard!" he snarled at himself. But he was grinning as he said it.
Still, if he had only held off for a bit and played the suitor's role by the script, perhaps he wouldn't be pounding leather right now in this hell-bent dash to keep her from leaving him.
He had been as astounded as he was distressed when he read her letter. A frown etched itself deep into his smooth forehead and he squinted his gun-metal eyes as he thought back over the gist of it. "I'm selling the farm ... I moving to Tarrytown, New York ... unfinished business there at Netherwood ... remember the séance I told you about ..."
The séance! Elliot almost laughed aloud, but it would have been a bitter laugh. Yes, she had told him all about that childish prank and the vision of some ghostly, wounded stranger from another time. She had felt the swarthy shade needed her help.
"But, dammit, that fellow wasn't real!" he cursed. "I am, Julianna, and I need you! I love you, darlin'!"
His emotions raging, Elliot whipped his weary mount to more speed as if haste might make some difference. But he knew better. Julianna was a strong-willed, stubborn woman. If she was set on this plan, neither his love for her nor hers for him would make her change her mind. Still, he had to attempt this last-ditch effort.
New determination swept over him in a scalding wave. "I will have you for my wife, Julianna Doran!" He flung his furious wail to the darkening sky. Then in a softer voice, he added, "Please, darlin', just give me a chance."
The green hills and waving fields of late corn sped past, but Elliot Creighton never noticed the loveliness of the September twilight gilding the fertile land. All his concentration centered on Julianna — reaching her in time and making her love him above all else.
Julianna told herself she should feel sad, but all she could feel was relief. She stood on the porch of the three-room farmhouse where she had been raised, surveying the expanse of the once-fertile fields now parched and brown. The stubby cornstalks leaned this way and that while milkweed and beggar's-lice plants reigned supreme over the ruined acreage.
"Juli girl, you're no farmer," she said aloud with more than a touch of irony in her voice. "You should have admitted it long ago."
Thinking back to more prosperous times, she could almost see her father, his work-hardened hands guiding the plow, as he moved between his long, straight rows of tall corn while her mother hummed at her tasks, hanging clothes from the black boiling pot onto the line to dry in the warm, clean Pennsylvania air. The well-remembered images stirred an ache of loneliness in Julianna's heart. She missed them both; she always would. She realized suddenly that she would miss this place, too.
"Almost as badly as I miss Elliot," she mused with a sigh. But he was gone so often, for so long at a time, that she had almost become accustomed to the dull ache of longing that lived in her heart, her constant companion.
Why, she wondered, when she finally, truly fell in love, had she chosen an actor as the object of her passion?
"Because I had no choice," she stated matter-of-factly. The fact still amazed her that from the first moment their eyes met, she had known with some inner certainty that she and Elliot were meant to be together — to love each other forevermore. But loving was difficult with the great distances that separated them.
"Never mind that for now," she murmured, then she closed her eyes and sighed again. "At last the chance I've been waiting for has come. If only Brom — whoever he is — is still waiting after all these years. I mean to settle that matter once and for all, then I'll be able to get on with my life with Elliot."
Of course, Elliot Creighton was her life, Julianna reminded herself silently.
Squaring her shoulders, she walked down the steps and out into the dooryard. With a resolute yank, she pulled the wooden, handpainted For Sale sign out of the ground. No more need for it. The homeplace was sold to a young couple with dreams far different from Julianna's. Tomorrow she would finalize the papers, collect her money, and leave her old home forever. She realized suddenly that more excitement than sadness filled her heart when she thought of the adventure awaiting her. She felt like a child again, returning to Netherwood for a summer's romp with Lettie and Sarah. But, of course, she reminded herself, they were both gone now.
She stared down at the crude sign in her hands, thinking how difficult it had been for her to make this decision, but how easy it seemed now that the deed was done. After her father's death she had made a determined effort to keep the place up, more for the sake of her parents' memory than for any agrarian instinct on her part. But Julianna Doran, unlike her father's people, who had tilled the earth productively for generations, seemed to be cursed with a black thumb. She took more after her mother's aesthetic stock, with her love of art and music, her tendency to dream and to hope for those dreams to come true. Now, one dream finally had come true. When Juli left tomorrow, she would return at last to Tarry town, New York.
"To Netherwood!" she reminded herself a bit breathlessly.
The sound of a horse pounding up the dirt lane that divided the ragged cornfields drew Juli's attention. She shaded her eyes against the orange glow of the setting sun.
"Who could be coming for a visit this late in the day?" she wondered aloud.
She propped the sign against the sagging porch steps and walked toward the gate to open it, still staring hard at the dark shape of the oncoming rider.
Suddenly, Julianna gave a short, sharp cry of pure delight. "Elliot?" she shouted. "What on earth? Is that really you?"
Flinging the gate open, she ran down the lane to meet him, her arms spread wide as if she meant to embrace horse and rider in one jubilant hug. It had been months!
She had written him that she was leaving, but knowing his hectic schedule, she had never expected him to come all the way from Philadelphia to see her before she left for New York.
Elliot Creighton sat tall in the saddle, his long legs dangling down past the horse's belly. His dark-brown hair, tousled by the wind, fell over his high forehead. As he drew close and reined in, Julianna saw that he was not smiling. His square jaw was tense and his handsome face etched with lines of anguish. Only his slate-gray eyes softened when he looked at her.
"Thank God you're still here!" he said breathlessly, sliding out of the saddle to fold her in his arms. "When I got your letter, I jumped on the first train, then hired this nag in Lancaster to bring me the rest of the way. I was so afraid I wouldn't get here in time, darlin'."
"In time for what?" Juli asked. But Elliot gave her no answer. Instead, he leaned down, kissing her with a hunger heightened by months of longing, a hunger that she returned in kind.
When they parted at last, he said, "You can't go, darlin'. I won't let you leave me."
Julianna stood in the gathering twilight, staring up into his handsome, wellloved face. Elliot, with his sweet smile and soft southern accent, had come into her life two years ago one magical night at the Lancaster Opera House. All through the performance, he had kept staring at her from the stage. She had squirmed in her front-row seat, uncomfortable under his close scrutiny. But it had been a pleasant discomfort. Never before had any man looked at her that way. It was as if some magical link formed between them during the performance, as if they had been searching for each other all their lives. Julianna found it difficult to explain her feelings that night even to herself. But the bond between them was as strong as if they had loved each other through a lifetime ... several lifetimes.
After the final curtain, he had sent a message, inviting her backstage to meet the cast. She had met only Elliot, but that was enough. Raised strictly by her down-to-earth father and her proper New England mother, Julianna had never believed in anything so romantic as love at first sight — at least, not until that night, not until Elliot kissed her.
In the relatively short time they had known each other, her whole life had changed. If this man she loved led anything close to a normal existence, they would probably be married by now. But Elliot Creighton was married already — to the stage. She could no more take away his dream of becoming a famous actor than she could allow him to take away her dream of returning to Netherwood, of uncovering the greatest mystery of her life — her connection with the man named Brom. Was he real or phantom? She still had no idea. She knew only that he had made her a pledge and she had returned his vow in kind. Until she sorted out truth from fantasy, she could make no binding commitment to any other man. Not even Elliot.
"You'll stay, won't you, darlin'?" Elliot persisted.
As they stood gazing into each other's eyes, Julianna felt torn, but she knew she must stand her ground. She gave him her answer even without words. The very jut of her dimpled chin and stubborn tilt of her head spoke volumes on her determination to do what she knew she must — despite what he said, despite how she loved him.
"I've made up my mind, Elliot. I have to go back to Tarrytown, back to Netherwood."
"Back to your ghost, you mean," he answered, scowling.
Juli winced at his expression and his tone. She should never have told Elliot about her strange experience years ago. He didn't understand. He never could. She didn't understand herself how such a brief encounter could have changed the course of her life. But she knew what she had seen and heard, she knew how different she was after that night. And somehow it almost seemed to her that the experience had something to do with her love for Elliot and their future together.
"I'm going," she answered quietly, resolutely. "I must!"
"Forget all that and marry me, Juli!"
Julianna felt tears pooling in her eyes. They had been all through this before. She shook her head firmly. "I intend to, Elliot, but not just yet. You have things to do before you'll be ready to settle down. So do I."
Elliot gave up the argument for the moment. With a shrug of his broad shoulders, he turned from her and tethered his horse to the fence rail. Never in his life had he felt so frustrated, so helpless in any situation. Julianna Doran was meant to be his. He had known it from the first time he saw her. There was something in the depths of her so-green eyes that had spoken directly to his heart that night. Since that moment, every other woman in the world had ceased to exist for him. But Juli lived in her own world, a world cluttered with dreams and ghosts and fantasies far more real to her than the here and now could ever be. Somehow he had to make her realize that their love was the only thing that truly mattered, that they had been born to be together always, as if some ancient sage had scribbled down their entwined fates in the Great Book of Time eons ago.
Elliot sighed, patted his weary horse's neck, then followed Juli up to the house.
"It's now or never," he murmured to himself.
Once they were inside the cozy front room, he moved toward her, his dusty boots thudding heavily on the plank floor. When he came to a halt, he stood barely a foot away from her, so close that Julianna, who was tall for a woman, was forced to tilt her head back in order to look up into his face.
"This doesn't make any sense, Juli," he said quietly. "You love me, don't you?"
She nodded, too choked up with warring emotions to answer.
"Then why are you leaving me?"
"I'm not leaving you, Elliot. You'll be going to New York soon, then on out West in a few weeks. I'll be all alone after you go. Besides, I need to go back to Tarrytown to settle my aunt and uncle's estate. It won't take long. I'll come to New York when I've finished and we'll decide what we want to do then."
"I know what I want to do now," he persisted.
Julianna could feel his dark eyes on her. She tried not to look at him, not to feel what his nearness was doing to her. She took a deep breath, trying to steady her emotions.
"You know I've wanted to sell the farm, but I could never leave before," she continued, "because I had nowhere else to go. It's different now. I don't think my mother's brother and his wife were ever particularly fond of me. They certainly resented the fact that my mother, in their estimation, married beneath her station. But since there were no other relatives to inherit, I've become the new owner of Netherwood." She smiled, picturing the place. "It's a lovely old home on a hill overlooking the Hudson River. I know I'll be happier there than I am here. I'm sure of it."
Elliot caressed her cheek with the back of his right hand, then touched the dimple in her chin. "Admit it, Juli. You and I will only be truly happy when we can be together. That's the way it is when two people love each other."
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Sweet Forever"
by .
Copyright © 1992 Becky Lee Weyrich.
Excerpted by permission of Diversion Publishing Corp..
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