Christian Romance: Heaven on Earth... [4 Beautiful Christian Romance Stories]

by Joanne Sawyer

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  The four-hour flight was already tiring, but the three-hour drive was utterly exhausting. She didn’t know if she already fell asleep in the car that picked her up, all she remembered were the constant jolts and dust and bugs. She was just so tired and the road was so bumpy she could hardly start a conversation with the rather attractive man who came to fetch her from the airport. He seemed quite surly in his manner, but Karen guessed it was just because they had never met before. She smiled at him when she saw him holding up a sign that said “Dr. Johnston” and he just looked at her for a while, only realizing she was Dr. Johnston when she pointed at the sign. He shrugged and wordlessly took her carry-on, and he was equally silent as they waited for her luggage. She tried to start a conversation by asking about the town, all he said was, “It’ll be a bit too small for a doctor’s liking, but we make do.” and had then turned his head away from her, closing off any further conversation.

  And now here they were, nearly 4 and a half hours after meeting each other and Karen was sure she had they had not exchanged more than 20 words. The surly silence that had followed after her first question was enough to discourage her to broach any subject again for the entire ride. Karen tried to sleep but it was nearly impossible with all the jostling the car took in the dirt road.

  It was late in the evening when they reached Brickwater County, and it was probably after midnight when they finally got to where she was supposed to stay, the town of Vignon. It was a smallish town, and in the late afternoon, there was not much to see. The streets were dimly lit, and they weren’t paved at all. She couldn’t see much of the town other than the few, broken down houses they had passed on their way to the clinic she was supposed to stay in. The grave man got up and took out her luggage and grunted at her, and Karen guessed he meant for her to follow him. What is his problem? Karen could only shake her head in disbelief and follow him into the smallish white building. It was made of concrete and was obviously freshly painted. There was a small wooden fence around it and a concrete porch with benches right in front of the door. The man opened the door and they both stepped inside. When he turned on the light, Karen found herself in a small white room with green curtains. There was a table and some chairs on the right hand corner, and a little room with a consultation table with a partition that separated it from the room. On the far end of the room was a small door. The man gave her a key and pointed at the door. “Go see if you like your new apartment.” She took the key and headed to the door, unlocked it and turned on the light. Inside, there was a small twin bed, an old wood closet with a mirror and a small table. There were two more doors, one led to a bathroom and the other to a pantry with various foodstuffs, like bread, cheese, and canned goods, a coffee maker, a toaster and a microwave oven.

  “This is all we could manage to rustle up in two weeks. Hopefully, you’ll find all this to your liking? Well, I suppose the others will be coming over tomorrow morning, to welcome you. Well Dr. Johnston, goodnight.”

  And before she could get a word in, or even just ask him his name, he had closed the door behind him and she could hear him lock up the front doors to the clinic.

  Karen glanced at the clock; it was already 1:25 am, and she was so exhausted. So she washed up, put on her pajamas and fell to sleep immediately.