Fringe of Heaven — Lee Belvedere

To Leola Delmar is sounded like just the place to recover from the wounds that Barry Emery had inflicted upon her with his abrupt termination of the engagement shortly before the wedding. Fringe of Heaven might by on the other side of the world -- for New Zealand was a distance from Leola's home in the Northwest -- but, being a thermal resort, it boasted sky-high gushers and rainbow-colored pools and steam valleys -- and the pictures in the travel magazine of the man who ran the resort looked intriguing, too.

Nigel Maitlyne was not a disappointment to Leola. Tall, fair-haired, and big-boned, he possessed a strength combined with gentleness that nearly swayed Leola's determination never to get involved with a man again. But it seemed that she had nothing to be afraid of, for a lovely blonde guest named Astra Leevell claimed all of Nigel's attention, and Leola was left to the admiring company of Nigel's young brother, Alec.

There were other matters taking up Nigel's time. A nearby geothermal project was threatening to diminish the entire Fringe of Heaven area -- an area that Nigel and the Maitlyne family had slavishly built up -- and the geysers were getting smaller and more erratic, almost becoming extinct. Leola grew to love the wild beauty of Rainbow Valley and Magician's Cauldron, even to endure the sulfurous smell permeating the area -- just as she realized that she was about to lose her heart again, this time to a man who knew what he wanted and how to go about getting it.