Clean Inspirational Romance: Escape to Paradise (Inspirational Happy Sweet First Love Second Chance Romance) (Contemporary New Adult Love Inspired Holiday Short Stories) (2 page)

Chapter 2

Victoria was struggling to escape from the fogginess enveloping her brain. “Where am I?” she muttered. Her voice sounded hoarse and weak. “Tom, Tom, where are you?”

An unfamiliar voice said, “It’s alright, dear, you’re in the hospital. Try to relax. You need to rest.”

As she finally managed to open her eyes, Victoria met the gaze of a kind, middle-aged woman in a nurse’s uniform.

“You’re at the hospital,” the nurse said. “You’ve been asleep for a few days. Now try to be still. You have a few injuries. Do you have any pain?”

As Victoria gradually regained awareness and consciousness, she began to feel sharp stabs of pain running throughout her entire body.

“My head hurts. And my legs, oh my legs,” she groaned.

“Okay, so that means we’ll have to increase the dose of painkillers in your drip. Just to make you more comfortable.”

“What happened? Where’s Tom?” Victoria whimpered, trying to remember why she was here in hospital.

“There was a car accident. I’m afraid you sustained a nasty head injury and your left leg was fractured in two places. You also have a lot of bruising and a few cuts to your lower back.”

“But where’s Tom?” Victoria repeated, feeling as though she wanted to scream, but couldn’t.

“Doctor is on his way. He’ll tell you what happened to Tom. In the meantime we need to keep you still and relaxed. We also have some visitors waiting in the hall to see you as soon as you’re able to cope with that.”

“Who is it?” asked Victoria, suddenly realizing that Katie had been staying at Dan and Natasha’s home on the night of the accident.

“It’s your friends, Dan Kingsley and his wife, and your daughter Katie. They are very eager to see you, but first here’s the doctor to see you.”

Victoria saw a clean-cut elderly man approach her with a few more nurses accompanying him. From the look on his face, she already knew what he was going to say.

“I’m afraid that we lost your husband. He died on impact. There was no pain. . I’m so sorry.”

And then she sank into the blackness once more.

***

When she awoke it was morning, and the breakfast trays were being handed out in the ward. The smell of toast and coffee permeated the air, but the last thing Victoria wanted was breakfast. All she wanted was Tom.
Tom, Tom, oh God, Tom. Please God, please let this be a bad dream.

But on seeing Natasha and Katie arrive by her bedside, it dawned on Victoria that this was not a bad dream. It was very real.

“Mommy, Mommy,” Katie was crying, as she tried to hug Victoria gently without making her groan in pain. “I love you, Mommy.”

“I love you too, Katie,” Victoria whispered, still weak with underlying pain and the impact of the accident. “There, there, don’t cry. Mommy will get better soon.”

She stroked Katie’s hair as Natasha tried to suppress her own tears of grief. “I’m so sorry about Tom, Victoria. Dan has been beside himself with worry. He’s called your parents, and they should be here later today to see you. They are coming as soon as they can get a flight from Florida.”

“Thank you so much, Tash. I really need my Mom right now.”

“Here, you should try to eat something,” Natasha said, moving the breakfast tray over her bed. “Look, just have a nibble of this toast. Would you like some jam on it?”

“I can’t eat, Tash. But I will try some of that coffee.”

It was lunchtime by the time that Victoria’s parents arrived. Natasha and Katie had stayed by Victoria’s bedside, watching her peacefully sleep for a few hours during the morning.

“Grandpa! Grandma!” Katie exclaimed excitedly as Grandpa picked her up in his strong arms. “I’ve missed you so much.”

Victoria awoke from all the commotion. It suddenly dawned on her that Tom was really gone, and that nothing could bring him back. Tears of grief and anger overwhelmed her as her mother sat down on the bed to comfort her.

“Oh, Mom, Mom, Tom’s gone forever. I’ll never see him again.” Large sobs racked her body at the thought of what lay ahead for her and Katie.

Her mother stroked her hair as she quietly said, “Don’t worry about anything, Victoria. You have all of us here to love you and take care of you and Katie.”

“When can I go home?” Victoria wailed, wanting nothing more than the comfort of her own bed, rather than the sterile atmosphere of the hospital ward.

“Well, we spoke to the doctor, and he said you would have to stay another week. And then you’ll need crutches to walk on until they take that plaster off in about six weeks’ time. Dad and I will stay with you until then, or longer if you need us.”

“Thanks, Mom. I do need you, all of you. But what about Tom’s funeral? When is the funeral? I need to say goodbye.”

“We’ve organized all of that. The funeral is in a few days. We’ll come and pick you up for the service, and then you need to come back here for a little longer after that.”

Victoria nodded allowing the reality of Tom’s death to sink in. It was then that she remembered the cross he had given her, the one she had promised to never take off. Reaching for her neck, she felt it in her hands. It was the last gift he had ever given her.
I will never ever take this off Tom, never ever.

Chapter 3

It took Victoria almost five years to work through  the grief, pain, and loss of losing Tom. Katie grieved with her, but together they became more closely connected through their pain. The church that they had belonged to when Tom was alive rallied around to support them, and Victoria found comfort in doing some voluntary work in the church Op Shop.

Life had changed dramatically during those years. Victoria’s parents had stayed with them for six months after Tom’s death. And then a few months ago, the Kingsleys had moved to Australia to live in a place called Surfers Paradise in Queensland. Natasha had written to say how beautiful it was living in the Sunshine State, and that she would love for her and Katie to visit.
Come and escape to Paradise,
she had teased in her last letter.

“What do you think about going for a holiday to Australia?” Victoria asked Katie one day in winter, thinking of how warm and sunny it would be over there right now.

Katie’s eyes said it all. At thirteen, she had grown into a very adventurous spirit, full of curiosity about the world and her place in it. “Oh, Mom, that would be so awesome. Miranda loves it over there, and she’s almost been begging me to come and visit. She said the beaches are just out of this world with big waves, and she’s even learning how to ride a surfboard.”

“Hmm, that sounds like fun. Maybe we should get out of this cold weather and go for a holiday. You know, we haven’t really been anywhere since Tom died.”

“I know, Mom, but you’ve been too sad to do anything.”

“I know, Katie. We’ve both been sad. But I think it’s time we got happy. Tom would have wanted us to be happy.”

Katie nodded, remembering her fun loving father with affection. “Dad loved being happy, Mom. Remember how he was always joking around and playing tricks on us. He was so funny, Mom.”

Victoria remembered Tom and his infectious laughter, and his great looks which Katie had inherited. Tom had light sandy colored hair and bright blue eyes, just like Katie. Every time she looked at her daughter, Victoria saw Tom. They were so alike in many ways.

“Okay, then, I guess I better call Tash, and tell her to expect visitors.”

“Oh, Mom, you’re the greatest. When can we go?”

“As soon as I can organize our passports and flight, darling. Why don't you email Miranda?”

“Great, I’m going to start packing,” said Katie, adamant that she wasn’t going to leave things to the last minute.

***

“Welcome to Paradise,” Tash said as they arrived at the Gold Coast Airport.

It was a beautiful November day complete with a clear blue sky and warm sunshine, unlike the cold weather they had left behind in Georgia. Within five minutes of leaving the airport, they were confronted with breathtaking views of golden sand beaches and huge white-frothed waves crashing onto the shore. Bikini-clad women with bronze tans were packing the beaches and the ocean was specked with muscle-toned men on surfboards.

“This looks like heaven,” murmured Victoria, as Natasha drove them along the beach road to the house that she and Dan had bought soon after arriving in Australia.

“Wait till you see our house,” Miranda said, happy to see Katie at last. “Our bedrooms face the ocean and you can hear the surf at night crashing onto the shore.”

Katie was impressed. “Good, we can go swimming every morning before breakfast.”

“Well, actually,” Natasha said interrupting the girls conversation, “Miranda has joined the local surf club, so she gets surfing lessons every morning, as well as swimming lessons.”

“That sounds fantastic,” said Victoria. “You’ll love that, won’t you, Katie?”

Katie could hardly wait to hit the surf. “We don’t have to wait till tomorrow morning for a swim, do we?” she asked, keen to escape the high humidity of the Australian weather.

“Of course not, silly,” said Miranda. “The first thing I’m going to do when we get home is to head to the beach. I practically live there.”

“Yes, and don’t forget the suntan lotion and a hat,” cautioned Natasha. “We don’t want Katie getting sunburnt.”

As they pulled up the decorated concrete driveway of Natasha’s home, Victoria let out a gasp. “Tash, this isn’t a home, this is a mansion. Wow, I had no idea you had such a huge place.”

“Well, thanks to Dan’s new boss, we found this house was selling for a lot less than it’s worth. Apparently it was part of a property dispute in a divorce case. So we grabbed it.”

“You were so lucky that Dan was able to get a transfer here with work. How is his work going?”

“Well, as C.E.O. of a multinational corporation, he’s pretty busy. But he has settled in now, and really loves his job, and the Aussie lifestyle. Everyone here is so relaxed, and laid back.”

“I can see that,” Victoria said. “It definitely looks relaxing here with all this sun, surf, and sand.”

“Well, you can always sell your place, and move here near us,” Natasha suggested. “You haven’t worked for five years, Victoria, and if you wanted a job here, Dan could find you something in the office. I work there three days a week helping out at reception. Keeps me busy when the kids are at school.”

“You’re right. I hadn’t wanted to work after Tom died. But now it may be time to think about my future. Katie and I were so lucky that Tom had a huge life insurance policy, so I didn’t have to worry about money or having to work. We paid out our mortgage and still had enough money in the bank to survive without me working.”

“Tom was a good provider, Victoria. And he would have wanted you to have no worries, and to be happy.”

“I know,” Victoria admitted. “He always said that if anything happened to him, he would want me and Katie to move forward and not pine away. But it has been so difficult for us to do that.”

“Maybe now it’s time to start living again, Vicky,” Natasha said as they took the luggage up to the guest room which overlooked a wide expanse of deep blue ocean.

“Yes, I guess you’re right, Tash. Tom always said that life is for the living. And I’ve been a walking zombie for too long now.”

“Yes,” Natasha agreed, “you have been like a walking zombie Now, just look at that ocean. It looks so alive and inviting. Maybe it would be a good start to a new beginning if you and I went for a swim.”

Chapter 4

On her first night in this new country, Victoria dreamt about Tom. He suddenly appeared to her as though floating in clouds, looking young and vibrant and more alive than ever.

Victoria,
he was saying,
I want you to be happy. And Katie too. I need you to move on with your life now. I know you’re lonely and you’re only thirty eight. You can’t spend the rest of your life living without a love of your own. Victoria, I know you and what’s best for you. Please, just go and be happy. You’ve been sad for far too long.

She awoke with a jerk, suddenly realizing where she was, and that Tom had really visited her.
Oh, Tom, Tom, I’ll always love you. But I’ll try to move on. I really will, if that’s what you want.

It was very early in the morning and the sun was just rising in the east. Victoria watched as its golden and orange rays spread across the sky as if to greet a brand new day. She could hear the girls talking and giggling, and getting ready to go to the surf club. Natasha arrived with a freshly brewed coffee, and a gift wrapped in shiny paper.

“What’s this all about, Tash?” Victoria asked curious at what was inside that package.

“Open it and see. I thought you might like to join us at the surf club this morning so it’s just something you might like.”

Victoria opened her present to find an exquisitely designed floral one-piece swim suit with a matching sarong. Natasha flashed a smile at her as she said, “It’s a designer label Aussie swimsuit and I’ve got one almost the same. I noticed your two-piece yesterday was a little dated, so I got you this to cheer you up.”

“It’s gorgeous,” said Victoria. “Of course I’ll wear it to the surf club. Maybe, I’ll even take some surfing lessons myself. It sounds like it’s just what I need to get me started for the day.”

“Well, finish your coffee, and we’ll go!”

The local surf club was a five minute drive along the beach, and at six o’clock in the morning it was already alive with activity. People who didn’t have their own surfboards were lining up to rent them, and Victoria and Katie joined the queue.

As they neared the end of the line, Natasha nudged Victoria on the arm. “There’s someone I want you to meet today. His name is Nick and he runs this club. He is the surfing instructor, and he also owns the Coconut Beach Bar and Café next door. He does a lot of community work in this area, trying to get young street kids off drugs, and teach them how to surf, and all about Jesus. On Sundays he runs his own church service and ministry from the Beach Bar, and he has gotten a lot of kids off the street and into surfing and Christian music. Miranda just adores him. All the kids do.”

“Wow,” Victoria said. “What an amazing man. He sounds really nice. I would love to meet him.”

“Well, here he is,” she said.  He was a tall, handsome, tanned male with shoulder-length blonde hair and he stood at the end of the
Surfboards for Rent
line. “Nick, I want you to meet my friend from Georgia. She’s just here for a month, but is excited to learn how to surf. Nick, this is Victoria. Victoria, this is Nick.”

Victoria could hardly get a
Hello
out. All she could see was that Nick was wearing a gold chain with a gold cross. A gold cross that was almost identical to hers. Nick noticed Victoria’s cross as well, and smiled as he reached out to gently shake her hand.

“Well, it seems as if we have something in common already, Victoria."