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Bullet wounds, torture and oppression
aren’t the only things that keep a man—or a woman—from being whole.
Debt. Honor. Pain. Solitude. These are things wounded war
veteran Adam Wegener knows all about. Love—now, that he is not good at. Not
when love equals a closed fist, burns, and suicide attempts. But Adam is one
who keeps his word. He owes the man who saved his life in Iraq.
And he doesn’t question the measure of the debt, even when it is in the form of an emotionally distant, beautiful woman.
And he doesn’t question the measure of the debt, even when it is in the form of an emotionally distant, beautiful woman.
Yasmeen agreed to become the wife of an American veteran so
she could flee persecution in war-torn Syria. She counted on being in the
United States for a short stay until she could return home. There was one thing
she did not count on: wanting more.
Is it too late for Adam and Yasmeen?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PROLOGUE
YASMEEN
Damascus, Syria
Summer 2006
The seductive fragrance of Damascus roses drifted through
the open window and flirted with fifteen-year-old Yasmeen’s olfactory senses.
The potent flowers in her neighbor’s yard delivered the best awakening. She
loved beginnings, especially early, mid-summer mornings like these. Stretching
across the bed, her imagination raced with possibilities for the promising day.
Thursday. The day her older brother’s friends visited and
stayed well into the evening. Yasmeen ticked off potential visitors in her
head, dashing young university students who loved to talk politics with Fadi.
Today, she would do her best to discover the name of the quietest member in the
group, the thin one with round-rimmed glasses. On her nightstand, the sketch
she worked on during the last visit waited for his name, and more details
around the eyes.
Peeling off the covers, she tip-toed to the window. Lively
noises matched her optimistic mood. Nightingales sang greetings. Clanging
dishes and pots resonated from surrounding houses beyond high walls. Mothers
called out for their daughters to get breakfast ready. Men’s deep voices
describing fresh fruits and vegetables with tempting traditional phrases
drifted above hidden alleys. One vendor claimed his cucumbers were small as
baby fingers, and likened his ripe apples to a virgin bride’s cheeks. Another
boasted his plum peaches shed their covers without enticement, and his shy
eggplants hid well in a moonless night.
Yasmeen succumbed to the enlivening chaos spilling in from
her bedroom window, her own special and personal opening to the world. Tilting
her head back, she exposed her face and neck to the sun, allowing its
invigorating rays to paint her cheeks.
Today, her mother told her she would be allowed to take a
coffee tray into Fadi’s room once all his friends arrived. What would she wear?
She should tell her best friend Zainab to stop by earlier than usual to go
through her wardrobe. She could help her decide. Perhaps one of Fadi’s friends
would notice her. More than one? Why not?
Draping her arms on the windowsill, she looked at the
neighbor’s yard, counting the blooming roses, a ritual she performed each
morning since the season started. In the north corner of the largest flowerbed,
two violet buds grabbed her attention, their delicate petals about to unfold.
Once they came to full bloom, their deep purple color would dominate the
landscape.
A knock sounded at her door.
“I am awake.”
Her father walked in. “Good. We have work to do.” He held a
hammer in one hand and a couple of boards in the other. “Move aside, Yasmeen.”
He approached the window.
She stepped away and pointed at the boards. “What do you
need those for?”
Her father closed the windowpanes, locked them, placed one
board across the frame, and hammered it in place.
“What are you doing?”
“This window is not to be opened again, child.”
She could not believe her ears. “Why?”
“Neighbors moved out last night.” Her father nailed the
second board in place. “Mukhabarat took over their house.”
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Lilas Taha is a writer at heart, an electrical engineer by
training, and an advocate for domestic abuse victims by choice. She was born in
Kuwait to a Syrian mother and a Palestinian father, and immigrated to the U.S.
as a result of the Gulf war in 1990. She earned a master’s degree in Human
Factors Engineering from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. There, Lilas met
her beloved husband and true friend, and moved with him to Sugar Land, Texas to
establish a family. She is the proud mother of a daughter and a son. Instead of
working in an industrial field, she applied herself to the field of social
safety, working with victims of domestic violence.
Pursuing her true passion for creative writing, Lilas brings
her professional interests, and her Middle Eastern background together in her
debut fictional novel, Shadows of Damascus.
Website: www.lilastaha.com
Author Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/LilasTahaAuthor
Blog: http://lilastaha.blogspot.com
Twitter: Follow @LilasTaha https://twitter.com/LilasTaha
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lilastaha
Email: info@lilastaha.com
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/Lilas_Taha
Facebook page for the book: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shadows-of-Damascus
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Damascus-Lilas-Taha-ebook/dp/B00HUZUG8Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389749986&sr=8-1&keywords=Shadows+of+Damascus
Publisher: http://www.soulmatepublishing.com/
