Clean Inspirational Romance: Escape to Paradise (Inspirational Happy Sweet First Love Second Chance Romance) (Contemporary New Adult Love Inspired Holiday Short Stories)

by Johanna Jenkins

  “That may be true, Father,” I say, “but, this is the path I have chosen. I won’t go back.”

  To my surprise, and to the shock of the men that surround me, father steps back and lowers his gun.

  “And, you are happy here?” he asks me. “Happier than you were at home?”

  Slowly, I walk down the porch steps and put my hand on Abel’s shoulder.

  “I am, Father,” I tell him. “I am happy here.”

  For a moment, I see tears form in my father’s eyes as he looks at me. I trust that Abel sees it too because he slowly lowers his rifle. Even so, my heart pounds as I look at my father. I know that drink causes his moods to turn very quickly.

  For half a second, I imagine him lifting his rifle once more, pointing it at Abel and pulling the trigger. My hand tightens on Abel’s shoulder as I feel my body begin to shake once more.

  My eyes widen in surprise as Father suddenly drops his gun at his feet so that it makes a small thump on the grass. He looks down at it for one moment then looks back up at me.

  He opens his mouth as though to speak but appears to think better of it. He closes it again, turns his back on me and stumbles down the hill.

  The tears that have threatened to fall from my eyes finally flow freely down my cheeks. I see Abel drop his gun and turn to me, wrapping me fully in his arms.

  I return his embrace still looking over his shoulder at the place where my father disappeared. I know in my heart that I will never see him again.

  Chapter 8

  “Will you be all right?” Abel asks me as we lock ourselves in the bedroom for the night.

  “I will be,” I answer him. “I needed to see him. I can’t explain why but, I do not think I would have been able to move on if I hadn’t.”

  “And do you feel as though you can move on now?” Abel asks. He sinks down beside me on the bed and takes my hand in his.

  I know what he’s asking. It’s more than what it was before. Much more than ‘will you be all right’. He wants to know if we will be Abel to have a life together. He wants to know if I can finally be free of the past if I can devote myself as fully to him as he has devoted himself to me.

  I know I can’t answer right away. Images of my old life are still playing in my mind. Images of my mother dying in her bed. My father losing himself more and more in drink. I thought these might disappear when I confronted father for the last time. But, still, they remain there, just behind my eyes.

  I look up at Abel unsure of what to tell him.

  I look into his green eyes and I see the question linger there. I think of his letters, the words which kept me alive while I endured my Father’s beatings and insults. I think of the way he welcomed me here, created a home for me. The way he accepted my past without hesitation. The way he sought to protect me. The way he is still concerned more for my comfort and well-being than his own.

  In this moment, I know that this man has given me his whole heart and now, I must give him mine. Not out of obligation, not because he insists upon it, but because I love him. Everything inside me is crying out for love of him.

  Slowly, I lean forward, and, still looking in his eyes which are widening with surprise, I kiss my husband fully on the lips.

  Not a moment passes before he has enveloped me in his arms, pressing his lips back against mine with a passion.

  That is the answer he needed. With this kiss, I have given this man whom I love the last piece of my heart.

  And, as I melt into him, I know that, tonight, we will begin to put the last ghosts of the past to rest. Tonight, we will take our first steps towards starting again. Together.

  THE END

  Bonus Story 5 of 10

  Turn the World Around

  The sunlight crawled on the floor next to the bed in her eight-year-old daughter Jill’s room. It was early in the morning and Connie was walking around the different rooms of the house nervously, ‘checking on things’ she told herself. She had a job interview today; she’d woken just after 4 and couldn’t get back to sleep, so she got ready instead. She was already sipping her second cup of coffee.

  Suddenly, she got startled from the alarm that set off in the bedroom. It was for her Jill, who had to get up and get ready for school.

  After waking her up, and almost dragging her to the bathroom, it was a little past 8 before they were both ready to go. Jill was still rubbing her eyes, being drowsy and all, but fortunately not having the strength to grumble. They both got in the car and before Connie started the engine, she looked at her daughter in the mirror. Jill was her jewel, the only reason she was still trying to survive. She would turn the world upside down if she had to, to give her daughter a decent life.

  So she needed a home, and for that she needed a job. On the way to school, Connie couldn’t stop thinking about debts and the imminent danger of losing the house. Payments were due.

  The caffeine was making her jittery. She noted to herself never again to have two cups before midday, while she was parking outside the school. Jill was now fully awake, and before getting out of the car, she moved closer to her mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

  Connie couldn’t feel happier, and more content, after that little sign. As long as we have each other, everything will be fine—that was her motto, her way of life. However, she was already late for the first interview and had to hurry if she wanted to get there in time. The road was full of cars with anxious people heading to their jobs. Many of them looked less-composed than her. She was anxious, though. She had given this job interview a lot of thought throughout the week.

  After she split up with her no-good husband, who had gambled away all their savings, she and Jill were living from a small amount of money she had inherited from her parents. That was barely enough to last for a couple months. Her ex was supposed to pay alimony, but he was constantly broke from gambling debts, so Connie could not rely on him. Connie hoped that she would find a job by the time the allowance had been spent, but so far she hadn’t. Although she had sent her resume to many companies, only a few of them replied, leaving Connie with the crippling fear of homelessness. The thought that Jill might be homeless was especially unbearable.

  But then this offer for an interview arrived, and a new hopefulness filled her. She was determined to get that job.

  ***

  It was mid-morning when she completed the interview. Everyone was pleased with her resume, but there were other applicants to interview, and moreover they said that it was a standard procedure to wait for a month before hiring anyway.

  In other words, ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you’. She wished they could just say ‘no thanks’ and be done with it.

  She only had five days before getting evicted from the house, and no job in sight. With a heavy burden in her mind, she decided to go to a coffee shop nearby and take some time off to think her next move. She got a decaf.

  She didn’t want to return back home without having found a solution. Many ominous thoughts came to her mind, some confusing, some hopeful. She thought long and hard about everything, from moving to a friend until she found a job, to asking her ex-husband for money. It was then that all the bad memories rushed back in; all the things he’d said to her, lowering her self-esteem throughout the years. But now, she felt like he was right; she wasn’t able to live alone away from him.

  After a while, a local newspaper that was forgotten on the table next to hers caught her attention. She started idly reading it, trying to distant herself from all the troubles, when she suddenly saw an ad about mail-order brides. At first, she wasn’t exactly sure what it was asking for, but before long she clearly understood. It was an advertisement for women desperately looking for a husband, including an appropriate fee. She felt sick, and disgusted, for all the women who followed that way of life and was ready to throw the newspaper away. Yet, she was desperate too, and also out of options, in need of a solution sooner rather than later.

  Before deciding, she went to the bathroom. She look
ed at her reflection in the mirror. She was a young, blonde woman, in her late twenties, with a frail, thin figure, brown eyes and a warm smile. She was good looking and above all else a survivor—and now she had to do exactly that. Survive. Getting married wasn’t her first option, especially so soon after getting a divorce; but asking for help from her ex was out of the question, and asking a friend for help would put a burden on the friend, which Connie did not want. At last, she felt her mind void of any thoughts before leaving the coffee shop. She had decided.

  ***

  Roy Coleman—a landlord, a wealthy young man, and a lazy person in general. He wouldn’t do something if he could escape it; it was how he was raised and how he planned on living the rest of his life. He was the only son of Bobby Coleman, an almost legendary Texas businessman who had created an empire, most of his wealth revolving around land and agriculture. Just about everything involving agriculture in Texas probably had some connection to Bobby Coleman.

  At the age of thirty, Roy’s life was about to change. His father had recently passed on, and today was the day the lawyer summoned him and to hear his father’s last will and testament. Roy arrived at the reading calm and composed, completely unlike a usual bereaved son. Roy’s business partners, also present, looked more upset at Bobby’s passing than Roy did.

  Roy was so confident about the will’s content that almost decided to not appear in the reading. But his lawyer advised him against doing that, since it would look like he declined his father’s last wishes, allowing contestants to challenge him in court more easily.

  Feeling more obliged than really wanting to attend, Roy was yawning throughout the procedure and considered more than once to ask the man to hurry to the part where he gave everything to him. Even so, his father had been a plump ranter; he would waffle for hours at a time, rambling about things that didn’t matter to Roy. His will was a bit like that, too.

  Roy was eager to get his inheritance. He intended to hire new, cheaper managers, and live off his father’s company forever, never having to work again.

  Lost in thought, Roy didn’t foresee one fact; his father was above all else an insightful man who loved his land more than anything in the world. So, for the will to take effect, the deceased made a very specific demand, which the lawyer now read: “If my son is not married by the time this will is read, then the deeds to my land will be divided among my business partners.”

  Roy got so mad, so fast, that got the lawyer and the others present startled.

  Cursing his father’s tricks, the first thing he did after leaving the office was to call his lawyer and ask if they could do anything to change the will. Roy’s lawyer worked hard, and found a loophole in the contract: if he could prove that Roy was engaged before his father died, then he could still claim the inheritance upon getting married.

  Roy was bursting from joy after hearing this news. He ran back to his father’s lawyer’s office and informed him about the facts. He said he had been engaged for some time now and was planning to get married before the end of the month. But, since his father’s death he was so devastated that he decided to delay the ceremony. His announcement surprised the business partners, they had no grounds to dispute. Since Roy had gotten engaged before his father’s death, he could take full control of the company as long as the marriage occurred within a reasonable time.

  The fact that he was not really engaged was almost a side issue, a minor problem that could easily be solved. One of his friends had once told him about the mail-order bride service, one which with a fair amount of money could get him married in less than a month. It was the perfect scheme for him, fulfilling his father’s wishes while also obtaining a new “toy”. He even got excited at the idea of “buying” himself a wife. She would be his property and not able to go against his wishes.

  He grinned with confidence while returning to his house, a ranch big enough able to house three families, and thought of all the different possibilities of his new married life. One benefit was ensuring that his wealth would remain to his heirs, his own blood, after he died. He’d toyed with the idea of marrying and having a family for a while, but had never done anything about it. The incentive was never enough; he had always preferred not to commit to a woman.

  But now he had that incentive. If he wanted his father’s company and all the money that entailed, then he would have to marry.

  ***

  Connie was finishing up packing her things when she raised her head and saw the empty apartment. She had been able to stop the eviction, fortunately, but with a pretty high price. The mail-order bride service replied to her four days after she applied, informing her that she had a very interesting offer waiting. A man from Texas asked for a woman who could immediately move to his residence and get married to him by the end of the month.

  Before deciding, she read the mail many times, sometimes aloud. Something in her voice made the whole idea feeling ridiculous, but she couldn’t pull back now. Jill needed a father and a steady home; she already had a difficult time getting over the fact that her parents had divorced. At the age of 8, she couldn’t quite figure out what was going on by herself, but after she stopped seeing her father around, she started asking questions.

  She wouldn’t cry, or complain, but after Connie explained the situation to her, the little girl hugged her without saying another word. Connie could only imagine how bad she looked, for Jill to comfort Connie, and not the other way around. Now, for the second time in a year, her daughter was the mature one trying to look happy every time her mother asked if she was okay with the sudden change of plans.

  A loud honk snapped her out of her thoughts. She lifted one of the boxes in front of her, and called Jill. She came in, running, with a small backpack in hand. Connie smiled at her.

  “Are you ready, little pumpkin?”

  She took a quick look around and nodded.

  “Nice. So, let’s go or else we will miss our flight.”

  Little Jill ran ahead with Connie behind, warning her to be careful. She then took out her keys, and pulled the door. Before completely closing it, she saw all her memories waving goodbye at her. But, something deep inside didn’t let her cry. It is our best option, she thought many times before closing the door with a decisive clank, letting go of that part of her life.

  She moved out of the building and gave the key to a man who was working in the transport company. A taxi was waiting for them next to the truck. Jill had already got in. Their trip to the airport was short, only about twenty-five minutes. However, they were late and had to ask the taxi driver to hurry. Jill’s eyes looked empty, devoid of any emotions; she was probably trying to hold her tears because she knew that if she cried, she would make her mother sad.

  But Connie moved closer to her, and whispered to her hear, “It is okay to let your tears go. My mother once told me that tears are the bad memories that hurt us, and we have to let them free to make ourselves feel happy again.”

  The little child gave her a puzzled look before she suddenly squeezed her face behind her mother’s back, sobbing. Connie was proud of her little girl for being so strong. However, it moved her too, how quickly everything happened. She couldn’t give up though, not yet, not before being certain that her new husband would be a better father.

  After a while, Jill had calmed down, right on time for the airport. She climbed onto the seat and watched the planes come and go. It was so strange for her to see them so close that it made her laugh. Every time one of them flew above the car, she would point at it and burst into laughter. Soon, Connie was joining in the laughter. When they got off, they were laughing like going to a vacation. They hastily moved in the airport and Connie took care of the check-in process before finding the gate they were supposed to go to. Their flight to Texas was leaving in half an hour, and they were running between the crowds, having the most fun they had since the old days, long ago before the divorce.

  ***

  The flight was short, but Jill hadn’t been to a plane
before; Connie had to reassure her that it was safe. They had a quick snack on the plane and before they knew it, they were waiting for Mr. Coleman to meet them at the airport. She had seen a photo of him, from the website, but she was a bit nervous. With Internet these days, you can never be sure what is real and what is not, she thought.

  Suddenly, like he had read her thoughts, a thin man appeared before them. The first thing that Connie noticed was his light blue eyes; they were deep, and charming, a look from him making her feel special. With a tingle, her stomach turned to knots and she sensed her face going red. She didn’t expect him to be so handsome, with a sophisticated behavior and a soft voice. He offered his hand to them and, after a polite handshake, showed the way towards the car.

  While he was turning his head, she saw the color of his hair changing from dark brown to brick-red. But Connie also saw something else on Roy’s face; a fleeting shadow, a… disapproval that wasn’t there in the photos she’d seen. Nevertheless, she blamed it to the emotional tension she had gone through last week and thought that it was probably her imagination. Hurrying to catch up with them, she started smiling without giving the matter a second thought.

  In the airport parking lot, was a huge, black, and very expensive jeep. Roy gently opened the passenger doors and helped them get comfortable. Connie took a moment observing Jill’s face; it was a mix of confusion and, partly, joy. They weren’t accustomed to so much luxury in their everyday lives, so it was a surprise to experience it so suddenly.

  Connie wanted to say something, but it was Jill that made the first move. “What does this button do?” she said, a little bit hesitantly.

  “Why don’t you push it and see for yourself?” replied Roy, with a slightly cute tone.

  She immediately pushed it and a television turned on behind Connie’s seat. It was already tuned in to a kids’ program, playing one of Jill’s favorite shows. He had turned from a total stranger to her newest hero. She expressed her joy with a loud, and long, giggle. Roy was radiating joy after hearing this. Connie smiled too. It seemed Jill was feeling safe for the first time in a while.