Before the Storm

Before the Storm is the story of a father and son who each find the love of lifetime in very different ways. Julian ‘Mac’ Deveraux is a widower who has contented himself with raising his five children and with his law career.
His son, Julian, is also a lawyer in a prosperous practice with his brothers, and he never dates, but it’s because his heart still bears the scars of his divorce. He knew that there was no way he could ever entrust his heart to another woman because what he’d felt for Maya could never be duplicated and the pain of ending the marriage was too dire for him to contemplate again.
Mac met Ruth at the Atlanta home of his daughter, Paris and the evening couldn’t have gone better. He was taken with Ruth at once. Her sparkling personality and sense of humor were the perfect complement to her beauty and he knew immediately that he wanted to get to know her better on every level. After the weekend in Atlanta, he launched a romantic campaign that no woman could resist. Even Ruth, who was worldly and sophisticated, succumbed to his tender passion and found herself in love before she knew what had happened to her.
Now was the time for serious contemplation for Ruth. As her best friend told her, Mac wasn’t playing around. If she didn’t intend to become Mrs. Julian MacArthur Deveraux, she’d better run because Mac wanted all of her for all time and Ruth isn’t sure that she has what it takes to be a wife. She’d never married and she was so used to her independent lifestyle that she couldn’t imagine being a married woman. But the love that Mac inspired in her couldn’t be denied. On a romantic trip to the Kentucky Derby she accepted his proposal and they began planning their life together.
A chance meeting in Chicago between Paris and her former sister-in-law changed the course of everyone’s life when it was revealed that Maya had a four year old child of whom Julian was unaware. Maya insisted that she had never intended to keep the little girl away from her father, but she had tried to communicate with him to no good end. It fell to Ruth and Paris to arrange a meeting for the reunion, which was going to be difficult given the circumstances of their parting.
Maya was a shy med student from Connecticut when Paris introduced her to Julian. He was totally taken with her and began to pursue her in the gentlest manner possible until she knew that he loved her and that she wanted him to be her first lover. Julian reacted badly to that statement and told her he was going to be her first, last and only lover. They eloped the next day and their marriage was blissful, full of passion and romance. That is, until an old family friend tricked Maya into believing that Julian was cheating on her.
Weeks of arguments escalated into marital warfare. Maya’s insecurity and pain drove her to leave Julian without a word. She went home to Connecticut and found out that she was pregnant. But now things had changed. With Paris and Ruth to help her, she was going to introduce Corey to her father and maybe some of the pain she’d suffered would be worth it.
Julian was stunned to see Maya and surprised everyone when he went to her and took her in his arms. His elation turned to fury when Corey ran into the room and announced that she was ready to meet her daddy.
After Maya and Julian talked, it became obvious that the culprit who’d tried to destroy their love was in New Orleans so they went there to No time was wasted in getting everything straightened out. Maya was relieved that the ordeal was over, but she wanted more—she wanted her husband back.
At Paris’s wedding, Julian let her know that he wanted the same thing. He gave her a stupendous engagement ring and asked her to be his wife again. Everything was going perfectly until Hurricane Katrina showed up and threatened to destroy everything.