Romance: New Beginnings (Young Adult and Adult Romance, Christian Christmas Fiction book as a Love Story) (Second Chances Trilogy 3)

New Beginnings

(Second Chances Trilogy, Book 3)

Morris Fenris

Changing Culture Publications

Copyright 2014 Morris Fenris, Changing Culture Publications

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author.

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Prologue

Sometimes the darkest hour is simply the end of the tunnel just before sunrise. Tragedy can either break you or make you, the end result is up to you. And always remember, the sun will shine again. It may not be visible from where you are, but above the clouds, it
is
shining!

Chapter 1

San Diego, California, January 27th…

“Dani, if you don’t hurry, you’re going to be late for preschool,” Grace hollered from the kitchen. She paused to listen for the sound of little feet coming down the hallway, frowning when all she heard was silence.

Putting the last clean plate back in the cupboard, she wiped her hands on a dishtowel as she went to investigate. “Dani?” she called, pushing the door to her daughter’s bedroom open and looking around for her.

“Shush,” came the whispered demand, and Grace looked around again, still not seeing her.

She crossed the bedroom, bending down to look under the bed. Still no little girl. “Dani? Where are you?” she whispered back.

“In the closet,” came back the reply

Confused and growing slightly alarmed, Grace carefully opened the closet door, peeking around the corner as she did so, afraid of the mischief her four-year old might have gotten into in the time between breakfast and getting dressed for school.
She’s only been alone for fifteen minutes. Tops! Really, how much mischief could she have gotten into in that little amount of time?

She pulled the door open a little further and felt her heart melt at the sight that greeted her. Dani had pulled the extra blankets down from the shelves, using her stepstool from the bathroom. The stool still sat in front of the shelves, tipped over on its side, and the blankets were piled around her little munchkin.

She had draped them haphazardly over the lower hanging rod in her closet, creating what she assumed was a four-year olds version of a tent. Squatting down to look her daughter in the eye, she whispered, “What are you doing in here?”

Daniella had her body turned slightly away from her mother, and fidgeted before she answered, “I don’t want to go to school today.”

Grace looked at her, wondering what had changed between breakfast and her trek down the hall. She replayed the events quickly in her mind. Daniella had hurried through her breakfast, excited to get to school today because they were going to visit the butterfly house. She’d hollered about her missing rainbow-colored tennis shoes and Grace had told her they were on the back step…

She peered at her daughter again, noticing that her right hand seemed to be scratching something beneath the blanket. Giving Daniella a smile, she softly asked, “Dani, what have you got under there?”

Daniella got a mulish look on her face and turned to protect whatever was behind the blanket that was hanging down.

“Come on, now. Let momma see what you’ve found.” Grace started to reach for the blanket, but Dani grabbed hold of her hand.

“No! You’ll make her leave and she’s mine.”

Grace closed her eyes on a sigh and silently asked the Good Lord for patience. Opening her eyes, she took a breath and then calmly asked the million-dollar question. “Who and what is she?”

“I’m going to name her Arianna,” Daniella told her mother, a glint in her eye that promised a tantrum of huge proportions if she didn’t get her way.

“Arianna? And what kind of animal is Arianna?”

“Promise you won’t make me get rid of her?” Daniella begged, batting her eyelashes and pushing her bottom lip out in a pout worthy of an Oscar.

“Honey, you know I can’t do that. She might belong to someone else…”

“But, they didn’t take care of her ‘cuz she was lost. I won’ts ever lets her gets lost.” Dani made a big production of drawing a big X-shape across her chest. “Please, can’t I keep her?”

Why me?
Grace searched for a soft voice and then stated, “Well, first things first. Why don’t you come out of the closet and introduce me to your new friend?” Grace stood up and then, hearing a noise, looked to see Jane standing in the doorway.

“What’s going on in here? I thought Dani was going to the butterfly house today?”

“I’s don’t want to go no more.” Daniella slowly crawled from the closet, keeping her arms around a squirming bundle wrapped in the blanket.

“What have you got there?” Jane asked, going down on one knee and slowly peeling the blanket back to reveal the large brown eyes of a very young golden retriever puppy. “Oh! She’s so precious! Look at those big brown eyes.”

The puppy, glad to have its head free from the fabric began to lick everything in sight. Jane’s hand. Daniella’s face. When it found the lobe of Daniella’s ear, it began to chew on it, obviously trying to find some sort of nourishment. The puppy was only a few weeks old by the looks of it. Grace bent down for a closer look and then sighed as she caught the aroma that only came with newborn puppies.
Yep, this little darling still needed its momma.

“Ouch! Bad Arianna!” Daniella told the puppy, pulling it away from her face and giving it a stern look. “We don’t bite. Ever.”

The two women exchanged a look and hid their smiles, “Daniella, I think she’s trying to find something to eat.” Jane ran her hands over the little puppy and then smiled when he immediately tried to suck on her finger. When Dani pulled the puppy tighter into her arms, the puppy’s tummy was revealed and Jane bit her lip, already anticipating the argument she knew was coming. “Dani, I think the puppy’s hungry. He’s not very big and probably still needs his momma.”
How did one explain nursing and such to a four-year old? Ugh!
Grace looked at Jane seeking some sort of help.

“She, Aunt Jane! Didn’t you hear me? Her name is Arianna.”

“Sweetie, I heard you, but this puppy is a boy.” Jane saw the storm cloud form on Dani’s young face and hurried to explain, “I don’t think he’d like being called by a girl’s name, do you?”

Dani looked at the puppy for a moment and then smiled, “Okay, I’ll name him Max!”

Grace looked at her daughter and then up at Jane once again.
This is not going to end well!

Jane quickly caught her silent plea for help and stepped in. “Hey, Dani, why don’t you come and show Aunt Jane where you found the puppy?” Jane asked, holding out her hand, smiling when Daniella put her own little one into it. Grace watched her daughter go with Jane, once again thankful for her presence in their house.

Jane was a widower, like Grace, and had come to California right after Christmas to follow her dream of living by the ocean and becoming a chef. Both of her dreams had come true, in ways no human could have ever orchestrated without a little divine help!

Not only was Jane the new chef, in charge of designing the entire menu for a line of restaurants, but she had finally put her fears of loving aside and followed her heart. She was currently engaged to a FBI agent, Samuel Drackett, and the pair were planning on marrying in a few weeks’ time at the beginning of March.

“Aunt Jane, I can keep him, can’t I?” Daniella asked, throwing a look at her mother that said ‘she’ll let me keep the puppy.’

Jane laughed and then told her, “You know better than that, sweetie. Your momma has the final say. And don’t you bat those long eyelashes at me – I’m not going to change my mind. Now…can you show me where you found this little guy?”

Daniella started to pout, but then the puppy squirmed and her attention was rerouted. Luckily! Nodding her head, she smiled up at Jane, “I can show you. I went out to get my tennis shoes, ‘cause they gots muddy yesterday after it rained, and momma washed them off with the house. I heard him crying by the fence. He was all muddy, but I wiped him all off and he stopped crying.”

“Do I want to know what you used to wipe him off with?” Grace asked from behind the duo, closing her eyes as her daughter gave her the answer.

Daniella looked over her shoulder and primly told her, “I used my bath towel from last night. It was still a little wet, but now it’s all muddy. It’s gonna need a good washin’, momma.”

Grace nodded as Jane bit her lip to keep from laughing. “Show me where you found the puppy, sugar,” Jane asked as they exited into the backyard.

Daniella pointed to a spot by the back fence. Jane and Grace both approached the fence to see a large hole dug beneath it. As they watched, another squirming yellow ball of fur crawled beneath the fence. “Huh? I’m thinking your neighbor has a litter of puppies trying to escape.”

Grace nodded, “I’m not even sure who lives there. There used to be an older couple, but after he died, their kids moved her up to Oregon to be closer to them.”

Jane scooped up the second puppy, only to hear Daniella behind her, “Goody! Two puppies! Can I keep them both?”

Grace shook her head, “Honey, you can’t keep either one of them. We’ve already discussed how lonely a puppy would be when it had to stay here all day by itself. Besides, these puppies belong to the neighbor and I bet the momma dog is wondering where her babies are.”

“Why don’t we go knock on the door and see if the neighbor is home?” Jane suggested, crossing her fingers that Daniella would be more interested in seeing the rest of the litter than throwing a morning tantrum.

Daniella looked at the puppies longingly one last time and then slowly nodded, “Do you think the momma dog is really sad her babies crawled away?”

“I’m sure she is. Maybe we can meet the momma dog when we give the babies back,” Grace offered, hoping the neighbor was home and hadn’t already left for work. She glanced at her watch and cringed. The only way Daniella would get to see the butterfly house was if Grace drove her directly there.
I’ll have to call the school and let Mr. Simpson know that’s what we’re doing. Just as soon as I return these two puppies!

Chapter 2

Grace, Jane, and a very reluctant four-year old traipsed across the front yard, walking up to the neighbor’s front door and knocking. It was almost 8 o’clock, and Grace hoped they were awake at least. While they waited for someone to answer the door, Grace felt bad for not having come over and introduced herself earlier.
I’m a terrible neighbor! They lived here for months and I don’t even know their names!

A few moments later, a little girl around nine years old opened the front door, but just a crack.

Grace smiled down at her, and asked, “Is your mommy home?” She took in the little girl’s appearance, wondering at the sight of her badly tangled blonde hair, dirty pajamas, and large fearful eyes.

The little girl didn’t seem inclined to answer, so Grace got down on her level and asked again, “Sweetie, can you go get your mommy for me?”

When the little girl shook her head, Grace became a little concerned. “Is your mommy here?”

The little girl nodded her head, but still didn’t answer. “I really need to talk to her.” Grace pointed to where Daniella and Jane stood, holding the squirming puppies, “These little guys got under the fence this morning.”

The little girl’s eyes grew big and she opened the door wider.

“Do these little guys belong to you?” Grace asked softly.

The little girl nodded and then whispered, “Momma’s gonna be upset they dug under the fence.” She wrung her hands as she finished talking and looked so worried Grace grew even more suspicious.

“What’s your name, sweetie?” Grace asked softly, giving her a warm smile of encouragement.

“Emily.”

“That’s a very pretty name. This is my little girl Daniella, and this is Jane.”

“How comes she’s not in school, momma?” Daniella asked, peeking around Grace’s legs to get a better look at her neighbor.

“Shush!” Grace scolded her before she turned a smile back to Emily and asked once again, “Go get your momma for me.”

“I can’t. She’s too sick to get out of bed this morning. That’s why I’m not in school today. She needs my help.” Emily stated the fact that her momma was sick as if it were a common occurrence.

Grace and Jane exchanged a concerned look and then Grace asked, “How about you let us help you put these little guys back in the yard and fill in the hole so that your momma doesn’t have to do that while she’s not feeling well. Would that be okay?”

Emily thought for a moment and then unlatched the screen door, “Okay. But we have to be quiet, momma’s got a bad headache this morning.”

Grace nodded at her and held the door open for Jane and Daniella to enter. They followed Emily silently through a very well organized living room and out through a sliding door in the dining room.

A large golden retriever greeted them and Jane helped Daniella hold the puppies down so she could sniff her babies. The puppies immediately started crying and squirming to get loose. Daniella put her puppy down and it started rooting around the momma dog’s legs.

“They’re hungry,” Emily said as she picked one of the pups up and carted it over to a large children’s swimming pool on the covered porch, depositing it there with its siblings. Jane followed her lead, took the other pup over, and then watched as the momma dog stepped carefully into the pool and lay down. Within seconds, the tiny puppies had settled in and were nursing happily.

“Well, now that we have the puppies taken care of, why don’t we see if your momma needs some help?” Grace dusted her hands off and gave Emily another warm smile.

Emily looked doubtful and was about to argue when Jane asked, “Emily, have you had breakfast yet?”

Emily shook her head, looking between the two women as if she was unsure who she should be giving her attention to.

“How about I see if I can round us up some pancakes? I bet your momma has the right ingredients.” Jane winked at her, pleased when the little girl smiled tentatively back at her.

“I guess that would be okay. I’m not allowed to use the stove or the oven when she’s not around. Usually when mommas this sick I just eat cereal, but then I couldn’t get the lid open on the milk this morning.”

Grace and Jane exchanged a look and then Jane took over the conversation. “Emily, that’s a very good rule your momma has. The oven and the stove can get things really hot, and you could get burned. I tell you what, I’m going to go wash my hands up and see if I can find what I need. Why don’t you take Grace in and introduce her to your momma?”

After pausing to consider what was being offered, she finally nodded and led Grace back through the house, to a small bedroom at the back of the house. Grace did her best to look at her surroundings, and was pleased to see that everything was in good repair and the house looked like it had recently been cleaned. Whatever was wrong with Emily’s mom was most likely a recent event, or she had some kind of domestic help.

“Momma?” Emily whispered, pushing the door to the room open. Grace followed her inside the small room and looked around. It was a very small room, most likely the smallest one in the house. The only furnishings were a small bedside table and the bed. It looked more like a guest bedroom than a room occupied by someone who lived in the house.

Grace noticed there was very little light in the room, just the sliver that peeked out from under the bathroom door. The curtain over the window was pulled shut to keep the sunlight out.

“Emmy?” a female voice said weakly before ending in a strangled cough.

Emily hurried to the bed where a woman lay, gasping for breath with her eyes closed. Grace followed close behind her and was shocked to see a woman, not much older than she was, but without any hair. None.

Grace took in the rest of the woman’s appearance, her heart dropping into her stomach as the past came back to haunt her.
Oh, my! She has cancer!
“Miss…,” Grace broke off, not having thought to ask the woman’s name.

The woman paused when she heard the strange voice and slowly opened her eyes, “Emmy, who’s this?” She made a feeble attempt to sit up in the bed, protecting her child upper most in her mind, but her body was incapable of obeying.

Grace took a step nearer the bed and smiled warmly, “My name is Grace Powers. I live next door to you. Your new arrivals dug a hole beneath the fence between our two houses. I was just returning them when Emily mentioned you weren’t feeling very good. I don’t mean to pry, but I wondered if there was anything I could do for you.”

Victoria tried to push herself up in the bed once more, but her strength just wasn’t there.
Stupid drugs!
Grace saw her struggling and hurried to assure her it was unnecessary, “Please, don’t wear yourself out.”

Jane stuck her head in the door right then, “Hi. I’m Jane from next door.” She glanced at the bald woman lying in the bed, and then forced her eyes to look away. Finding Emily’s eyes, she directed her comments to the little girl, “I’m about ready to pour the batter into the pan. Do you want to come help me?” Looking back to the woman in the bed, she offered, “I offered to make Emily some pancakes for breakfast. I hope you don’t mind, but I searched through the kitchen cupboards.”

“No, I don’t mind.” Emily looked at her mother who slowly nodded her head, “Go on, sweetie. I’ll just talk with Grace for a moment.”

Emily hugged her mom and then left the room as Jane closed the door. Grace took a breath and then asked, “Cancer?”

Victoria nodded, “Yeah. I had my last chemo session yesterday. I’m in full remission, but they insisted on doing the chemo and radiation as a preventative.”

Grace spied a folding chair propped against the wall and retrieved it. Unfolding it, she situated it next to the bed and sat down, “What type of cancer?”

“Breast. They…,” Victoria paused, not having had to explain about having her entire left breast removed to anyone but the medical staff. It was an odd conversation to be having, let alone with a virtual stranger.

Grace nodded her head, “I understand. My mom had pancreatic cancer while I was finishing high school. She didn’t make it.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

Grace was amazed at the compassion she saw on the sick woman’s face. “Thanks. I’m glad you’re in remission.” The room grew silent for a moment and then Grace asked, “Is Emily your only child?”

Victoria smiled, pride evident on her face as she bragged on her little girl, “Yes. Do you have any children?”

“A little girl who’s four. She’s in your kitchen right now, most likely trying to figure out a way to convince us both she needs to have her very own puppy.”

Victoria’s eyes dimmed, “Gosh, I forgot all about the puppies. Could you get Emily for me?”

“Was there something you needed done?” Grace offered. “I could call your husband or…”

“I haven’t fed or watered Shelby this morning, and I’ll have to find something to stick under the fence. Maybe there’s a loose brick… And, there is no husband. Never has been.”
Never would be! Not now! No man would want her now!

“I’m sorry! Uhm… it looked like Emily might have already fed the momma dog, there was plenty of food in her bowl when we put the puppies back. As for the fence, I already filled it in. We’ll block it up with something a little stronger this afternoon when the guys stop by.”

“Guys?” Victoria asked.

Grace smiled, “Yeah, my boyfriend and Jane’s fiancé. Between the two of them, they should be able to puppy proof the fence between our yards.”

Victoria closed her eyes as the pain wracking her body and head became too much to push away.

Grace watched as her skin took on a grey tinge and the skin around her mouth and eyes grew tight.
She’s in so much pain!
“Victoria, do you have something you can take?”

“I can’t,” she gasped, fighting to push the pain away as she’d done so many days in the past. “Not with Emily at home. Usually I take her to school and then if I need something, I have a few hours for it to wear off. I knew I couldn’t drive her today, so she’s missing – again. She’s missed so many days of school this year…”

Grace watched the weary woman, remembering how sick the chemo had made her own mom. The cancer had been bad; but the chemicals used to treat it had been even worse. Causing mind-wrenching body aches, joint swelling, and overwhelming nausea. All combined together they were horrid. And then came the massive headaches. Worse than any migraine, and almost untreatable without completely being knocked unconscious.

She watched Victoria and knew instantly she was near her breaking point. She needed to take something to make the pain go away while her body absorbed the load of chemicals it had received yesterday.

“Victoria, I know you don’t know me, but I would be happy to run Emily to school for you. That way you could take your pain meds and get some relief before this afternoon.” She could see the woman about to refuse and then softly laid a hand upon her arm, “Please. We both know you need to rest. And Emily’s pretty worried about you. Who’s going to care for her if you get so ill they have to put you in the hospital?”

“She sleeps in the room with me. We’ve already been down that road when I had my surgery. I’m a registered nurse. Before I got sick, I worked on the oncology ward, treating women just like myself. I never in a million years thought I’d be on the receiving end.

“When I had my surgery, several friends tried to get Emily to leave the hospital with them, but she adamantly refused to go. My co-workers did what they could – setting up a cot in the employee lounge, but Emily refused to leave my side, so they set up a cot in the room for her to use.”

“What about school?” Grace asked.

“She goes when I can take her. The bus doesn’t come here because we’re too close to the school, but I can’t let a nine-year old walk two miles each way!”

“She seems very intelligent,” Grace offered, wondering which school the young girl attended. Simpson Preparatory Academy, along with three public schools, was within the two-mile distance Victoria had mentioned.
It would be great if she went to the same school as Dani.

“She is. They were talking about trying to move her ahead in her studies, but now, she’ll be lucky if she can move to the next grade.” Tears filled Victoria’s eyes as the impact her illness was having on her daughter was once again revealed. “I hate this!”

Grace was close to tears as well. Having done the single mother thing and just come through a horrible scare with her own daughter, she could understand where Victoria’s emotion was coming from. Her heart had stopped when there had been a possibility that Daniella might have leukemia. When the tests had come back negative, she’d been so relieved and thankful, she would never forget that moment. It was as if her life had been given back to her.

“I don’t have time right now, but I would love to spend more time talking to you. Why don’t I take Emily to school today, and pick her up this afternoon as well? That will give you a chance to let the chemicals wear off.”

Victoria looked at the woman sitting beside her bed and decided she must be some sort of angel sent to save her and her daughter. She was so used to doing everything on her own; she didn’t have any idea of how to accept the kind offer without breaking down in tears.
You don’t have to do this on your own today!

Unable to keep the emotion at bay, she let the tears fall from her eyes and nodded, “Thank you. I know I shouldn’t do this, but something tells me I can trust you.”

Grace nodded her head, lying a gentle hand upon her arm, “You can. I’ll watch over Emily as if she were my own. I promise.”

Victoria nodded, “I believe you.”

“Which school does Emily attend?” Grace asked, already trying to calculate how late Daniella was going to be now.

“Simpson Preparatory Academy. At least for right now. They said they would do what they could to help with her missing so many days, but I…”

“Hey, you’re in luck. Daniella just started pre-school there this term. I can take Emily to school today and I’ll let her teacher know what’s going on.”