Blind Promises by Diana Palmer Page B

first of many innovations, I expect. I think that I have never felt such pleasure as I feel at this moment, not only because such a device will assist me, but because it will assist so many others like me.”
    She burst into tears. She couldn’t help it. Such a statement, coming from the hard, cold man of her early days there, brought such joy that she couldn’t contain it.
    “Dana,” he whispered, drawing her gently closer, rocking her. “Doesn’t it please you to have reformed me?”
    She could hardly speak at all, she was so choked up. “Oh, yes, it pleases me,” she said fervently. “Gannon, what a beautiful thing to do!”
    “Contamination,” he whispered wickedly. “Being around you is making a civilized man of me. How do you like that?”
    “I like it very much,” she replied, pressing closer.
    “So do I,” he murmured. His hands smoothed down her tumbled hair. “It is, at least, a beginning. For now, Pratt has left me a device that we marketed last year. Come, I’ll show you how it works.”
    She dabbed at her red eyes, following him to the desk, where a computer was sitting, along with a printer.
    He sat down in front of the machine, booted up the system and fed a disk into it. Immediately, a mechanical voice began reading to him what was obviously a marketing report. He leaned back in his chair, grinning in her direction.
    “What do you think?” he asked, interrupting the program with a light touch on the keyboard. “It gives me access to any company information I might need, at the
     
    104
     
    Blind Promises
     
    Diana Palmer
     
    105
     
    touch of a finger. Even the disks have been coded with raised letters so that I can choose those I need. This terminal”-he tapped it-“is connected to the main computer at my office. With it I can access any information I need to send information back. Memos, letters and such. I can even contact other computers with the serial interface and a telephone modem.”
    “Science fiction,” she whispered, awed.
    “The tip of the iceberg,” he returned. “The computer revolution has done more for the visually and au-dially impaired than anything else to date. And this is the bare beginning. Within ten years the entire industry as we know it will be so improved that this machine will seem obsolete.”
    “But I thought your company specialized in electronic equipment?” she murmured, standing close.
    “It did. Now it’s going to specialise in sensory aid devices for the blind and deaf,” he said firmly. “And the first order of business is going to be finding ways to cut costs and make that equipment easily affordable for the people who need it.”
    “Oh, Gannon,” she whispered, choking,
    “Come here, waterspout,” he chuckled softly, drawing her down into his strong arms. “Don’t cry all over me-you’ll short-circuit my computer.”
    “I’ll try,” she promised, cuddling close. “Gannon, you’re a nice man.”
    “I suppose I can get used to being called that,” he sighed. “But bear with me, it’s very new.”
    “Yes,” she agreed, laughing softly at the newness of being in his arms. “It is.”
    “How about getting me a cup of coffee while I go through this report?” he asked. “As much as I hate having you out of my arms for that long…”
     
    “I’ll be right back,” she promised, getting to her feet. She left him with the computer and walked dreamily into the kitchen to get his coffee.
    Apparently his good humor even extended to Dirk, because later that week he invited his brother down to help him work out some details on the new sensory equipment. Dana took the opportunity to go into town and shop, with Lorraine’s guidance, for her wedding dress.
    Dana’s eye was caught by a striking brunette who was going through the boutique’s collection of evening gowns, and she noticed Lorraine suddenly stiffening.
    “Layn Dalmont!” the older woman gasped.
    As if the tiny sound caught her attention, the willowy brunette