Deanna Talcott - A Ring And A Rainbow

“Hunter…don’t.”

He ought to heed the warning, but couldn’t. “Don’t what?”

Claire pursed her lips. “You know what!”

Inside, he ached to laugh. Claire Dent didn’t pout very often, but when she did it was the prettiest little pout this side of the Mississippi. Reluctantly, Hunter released her.

“I just needed a ‘Welcome back home.’And,” he admitted, “maybe a little hug.”

“I’m not the one to offer it, Hunter. We both know that.”

“Claire, the first half of my life you were my best friend. I don’t want to spend the last half of my life thinking I’ve made you my enemy.”

“I’m not your enemy,” she denied. “I just want to walk out of this awkward situation with some class, that’s all.”

“Fine. I’ll let you,” he said. “But before you walk out that door, let’s resolve our hard feelings. I say we kiss and make up.”

Dear Reader,

From hardworking singles to loving sisters, this month’s books are filled with lively, engaging heroines offering you an invitation into the world of Silhouette Romance…where fairy tales really do come true!

Arabia comes to America in the sultry, seductive Engaged to the Sheik (SR #1750) by Sue Swift, the fourth tale of the spellbinding IN A FAIRY TALE WORLD…miniseries. When a matchmaking princess leads a sexy sheik and a chic city girl into a fake engagement, tempers—and sparks—are sure to fly. Don’t miss a moment of the magic!

All work is lots of fun when you’re falling for the boss—and his adorable baby girl! Raye Morgan launches her BOARDROOM BRIDES miniseries with The Boss, the Baby and Me (SR #1751) in which a working girl discovers the high-powered exec she thought was a snake in the grass is actually the man of her dreams.

Twin sisters are supposed to help each other out. So when her glamorous business-minded sister gets cold feet, this staid schoolteacher agrees to switch places—as the bride! Will becoming The Substitute Fiancée (SR #1752) lead to happily ever after? Find out in this romantic tale from Rebecca Russell.

Rediscover the miracle of forgiveness in the latest book from DeAnna Talcott, A Ring and a Rainbow (SR #1753). As childhood sweethearts they’d promised each other forever, but that was a long time ago. Can these two adults get past their heartbreak to face the reality of a life together?

Sincerely,

Mavis C. Allen

Associate Senior Editor

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To my father,

whose keen mind and limitless imagination

allowed him to see every possibility.

Books by DeAnna Talcott

Silhouette Romance

The Cowboy and the Christmas Tree #1125

The Bachelor and the Bassinet #1189

To Wed Again? #1206

The Triplet’s Wedding Wish #1370

Marrying for a Mom #1543

The Nanny & Her Scrooge #1568

Her Last Chance #1628

Cupid Jones Gets Married #1646

Fill-In Fiancée #1694

A Ring and a Rainbow #1753

DEANNA TALCOTT

grew up in rural Nebraska, where her love of reading was fostered in a one-room school. It was there she first dreamed of writing the kinds of books that would touch people’s hearts. Her dream became a reality. In her writing career, DeAnna has earned the National Reader’s Choice Award, the Holt Medallion, the WISRWA Write-Touch Readers Choice Award and the Booksellers’ Best Award for the best traditional romance. All of her award-winning books have been Silhouette Romance titles!

DeAnna claims a retired husband and three children make her life in mid-Michigan particularly interesting. When not writing, or talking about writing, she scrounges flea markets for vintage toys, attends sporting events and fosters adoptable puppies for occasional weekends away from the animal shelter.

THE LEGEND OF THE DOUBLE RAINBOW

One day the skies parted and an unknown hand drizzled colors of unfathomable brilliance in a wide, sweeping arc. The people wondered at such beauty and gaped in awe at the masterpiece.

Each color soon became known for a virtue, hope or expectation. Red for passion, yellow for inspiration, orange for courage, green for prosperity, blue for love, violet for beauty. None of the colors could stand alone—yet together they appeared indomitable, and even as they faded away they heralded a new lush life of warmth and promise. The people named these colors the rainbow and knew that when the rainbow touched the earth goodness would flow into the soil and bless those who discovered the rainbow’s foothold.

Soon, the unknown hand painted a second sweeping arc across the heavens, creating two rainbows in a single sky!

From then on, those who witnessed such a rare event discovered riches of the body and spirit that knew no bounds and could never, ever be stilled.

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Prologue

“Rain’s stopped,” six-year-old Hunter Starnes announced.

Beside him, Claire Dent, five, huddled on the back stoop of the Starnes’s cabin, her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her skinny legs.

Claire shrugged, and set her chin, fixing her gaze on the wispy dark clouds overhead. Momma and Daddy had been fighting again, and she guessed that was the reason they’d spent the afternoon at the cabin outside of town, talking to Hunter’s mom. She’d heard Momma say Daddy had lost his job again, and Claire knew what that meant: She wouldn’t be able to take treats to school next week for her birthday, and she probably wouldn’t get any presents, either. Her mother would mix water in the tomato soup instead of milk, and they’d have to start eating that pukey oatmeal again, instead of cereal.

Claire kept studying the skies, watching, waiting. “Look,” she said suddenly, straightening. “A rainbow.”

“So? Last time we saw a double one.” Hunter started picking at a scab on his knee, as if he didn’t care about some silly old rainbow.

“You s’pose there’s really a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, Hunter?”

“I dunno. Maybe.” He stopped picking and looked up, out of the corner of his eye.

“If we found a pot of gold, what would you do with it?”

“Me? Heck,” he swore, wiping his hands on his shorts, “I’d buy everybody in Lost Falls ice cream. And you and me? We’d share one of those big sundaes with all the whipped cream and cherries and stuff. Twenty-seven scoops of ice cream. Just for us.”

Claire smiled, thinking of it. “We’d have a party.”

“Heck, yes. With balloons, and a band, and everything. And we’d invite everybody. Even that crabby Mrs. Harris.”

Claire turned to look up at him, surprised. “You’re not still mad at her?”

He shrugged. “Nah. I didn’t mean to step on her stupid old flowers, no matter what she says. I mean, it was the only baseball we had. And since the rest of the guys were afraid to go in her backyard it was up to me to get it back.”

“You’re pretty brave. I wouldn’t have done it. Not for nothin’,” Claire said.

“Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. That’s what my dad says.”

Claire thought about that for a few moments. “If there was anything I ever felt like I had to do, it would be to make sure my Momma had a real nice house, and that she wasn’t cryin’ all the time. And I’d make my Daddy a doctor or somethin’, so people looked up to him, and that way he’d always have a job.”