Cloudburst
Authors: V.C. Andrews
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Storm Warning
The gentleness in Donald March's eyes seemed to disappear, like a coin in a magician's hand.
“As your guardian with a parent's responsibility, I want to tell you that we should not permit ourselves to be attracted to someone solely on the basis of his or her looks. Now, Ryder certainly comes from a respectable family, famous parents, money and all that goes with it, but anyone can see that there are turbulent waters running under the surface of his handsome face. I don't want you to be drawn down into them, not now, not ever,” he said.
“That won't happen,” I said as confidently as I could manage, even though in my heart of hearts, I wasn't absolutely sure of that.
He smiled again.
“All young people feel they're immortal, infallible, with nothing but time ahead of them. Take Kiera, for example. By the time I realized what was happening, she was too wild to be reined in. You have to consider the advice of older, wiser people, especially those who care about you very much.”
“I'm not Kiera,” I said, perhaps a bit too sharply.
V.C. ANDREWS
®
CLOUDBURST
V.C. Andrews® Books
The Dollanganger Family Series
Flowers in the Attic
Petals on the Wind
If There Be Thorns
Seeds of Yesterday
Garden of Shadows
The Casteel Family Series
Heaven
Dark Angel
Fallen Hearts
Gates of Paradise
Web of Dreams
The Cutler Family Series
Dawn
Secrets of the Morning
Twilight's Child
Midnight Whispers
Darkest Hour
The Landry Family Series
Ruby
Pearl in the Mist
All That Glitters
Hidden Jewel
Tarnished Gold
The Logan Family Series
Melody
Heart Song
Unfinished Symphony
Music of the Night
Olivia
The Orphans Miniseries
Butterfly
Crystal
Brooke
Raven
Runaways (full-length novel)
The Wildflowers Miniseries
Misty
Star
Jade
Cat
Into the Garden (full-length novel)
My Sweet Audrina
(does not belong to a series)
The Hudson Family Series
Rain
Lightning Strikes
Eye of the Storm
The End of the Rainbow
The Shooting Stars Series
Cinnamon
Ice
Rose
Honey
Falling Stars
The De Beers Family Series
Willow
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Twisted Roots
Into the Woods
Hidden Leaves
The Broken Wings Series
Broken Wings
Midnight Flight
The Gemini Series
Celeste
Black Cat
Child of Darkness
The Shadows Series
April Shadows
Girl in the Shadows
The Early Spring Series
Broken Flower
Scattered Leaves
The Secrets Series
Secrets in the Attic
Secrets in the Shadows
The Delia Series
Delia's Crossing
Delia's Heart
Delia's Gift
The Heavenstone Series
The Heavenstone Secrets
Secret Whispers
The March Family Series
Family Storms
Cloudburst
Daughter of Darkness
| Pocket Star Books |
Following the death of Virginia Andrews, the Andrews family worked with a carefully selected writer to organize and complete Virginia Andrews's stories and to create additional novels, of which this is one, inspired by her storytelling genius.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2011 by the Vanda General Partnership
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
First Pocket Star Books paperback edition November 2011
V.C. ANDREWS® and VIRGINIA ANDREWS® are registered trademarks of the Vanda General Partnership
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Designed by Esther Paradelo
Cover design by Anna Dorfman
Cover photo by John Ricard
Manufactured in the United States of America
10Â Â 9Â Â 8Â Â 7Â Â 6Â Â 5Â Â 4Â Â 3Â Â 2Â Â 1
ISBN 978-1-4391-5503-5
ISBN 978-1-4391-8116-4 (ebook)
Chapter 5: Getting to Know You
Chapter 7: Meeting the Marches
Chapter 19: An Unwelcome Visitor
CLOUDBURST
Prologue
J
ust like there are all kinds of noise in our lives, there are all kinds of silence as well.
Mrs. Caro, my foster parents' cook, is from Ballyvaughan, a small coastal village in County Clare, Ireland, and she says, “When the sea is calm, it's like the world is holdin' its breath, darlin'. It's so peaceful your heart seems to go into a slumber, and you feel so content. To me, that's the sweetest silence.”
I knew that silence, too. When my mother and I were sleeping on the beach or when we sat quietly and just stared out at the ocean, I heard the same silence, and Mrs. Caro is right. It is sweet because it brings a feeling of peace and even hope to your heart.
Another silence is the silence just before sleep, when you put the lights out. Even in the Marches', my foster parents', home, this enormous mansion in Pacific Palisades, California, with all of the servants moving about and the army of workers on the property, it can get quiet enough at
night to hear your own thoughts or hear the door in your mind begin to open to permit your dreams and nightmares to tiptoe into your head.