by Vicki Green
The machines around me start gettin’ louder. Caprice’s voice stops and she drops my hand, the chair screeches and crashes to the floor. The door opens and there’s runnin’ footsteps everywhere around me. What’s happenin’? Suddenly, I take a deep breath. My fingers twitch, and I hear Caprice gasp over the ruckus. Am I being given a second chance? If that’s true, I swear I’ll try to be happy. I’ll try to make a good life for myself, and I’ll do my best to help Caprice become the woman she was meant to be, if she’ll let me. God, thank you for being here, for the beauty of your lands and animals. I promise with my whole heart, I’ll do you right proud if I can stay.
Caprice
I talked more than I have in the last three years. It felt kind of good. I look at him. It’s hard to see him clearly with the tears brimming in my eyes. I pick up his hand. His skin so much rougher than mine but yet softer than I expected. I turn it over and start tracing a pattern on his palm with my finger as I tell him a little about me. I’ve heard Shiloh and him talk about the beauty of the land, how it can be so eye opening and fill your heart. How it can give you happiness? It’s been so long since I’ve felt happy that I’m not sure how to get there again or if I can. I’ve lost so much, in such a short time. The little boy I felt so close to and the anger I felt when my parents took me away from him. Then the guilt of feeling that anger when that horrible man made me watch as he killed them. I’ll never be the same, never feel that love I’ve lost again. I’m not even sure if I can be whole even to live a normal life after what I’ve endured.
Then I look up and at his handsome face. All the people here have been so welcoming, so nice to me, but there’s something about him I can’t place. It’s like he wanted to be the one to take care of me but give me the space I needed because he knew I was so scared, so messed up. He even told me about a doctor in town who specializes in helping people who have been through horrible situations, and all I’d have to do is talk. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to talk, especially about what I went through or if I ever will. Then he told me I had time. I didn’t believe it because the madman was still out there, still playing his game.
I thought what I had gone through was the worst that could happen and it was to a certain extent. Then he took me again, from the one room I finally felt a little safe in, and tied me up in a chair, beat me, and then we waited. I couldn’t move, couldn’t scream out a warning. These people who saved me were walking into their deaths and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I worried about them all but when he shot Trevor, my heart almost gave out. It felt like a piece was being ripped out of me, much like when I moved away so long ago from the one I loved. I never thought I’d feel that again, didn’t think it was possible. How could it? The one person who made me feel that way was already gone. I thought everything that has happened to me failed in comparison to just those few seconds. Then the chair was pushed over and I went crashing to the floor, hitting my head hard and finding out later, breaking my left arm in several places. My injuries seem insignificant when I look at his face. His body still. I have no idea if he’ll survive but I’ve done something I haven’t done since I was a little girl. I prayed.
I startled when the machines went off around him. What’s happening? Is he…. Is he dying? No! I can’t believe he would be taken from me. Not now. Please, God! I stand abruptly, dropping his hand. The chair is loud as it crashes to the floor. I step back quickly as people race into the room. I bring up my hand and start biting on my short and stubby nails. I watch in horror as they work on him. Taking pulses, opening his eyes and shining a small light in them. My heart is beating so fast, and I can’t breathe. Slowly, I walk over to the foot of his bed, backing against the wall. He takes a deep breath and my heart flutters with the sound and movement. Then his eyes open and stare right into mine. He blinks several times and then his full lips turn into a smile. Tears fall from my eyes that I hadn’t realized were there. I smile back and his widen. I want to scream, dance around with joy, and hold him in my arms, but I just stand there, my breathing heavy and my heart full.
I close my eyes, my tears falling rapidly, and say a prayer of thanks. When I open them, he’s still looking at me as if he’s looking into my soul. Maybe there is hope for me. Maybe I was brought here for a reason. Life has a funny way of changing. Sometimes for the bad, and then sometimes for good. I’m scared yet excited for what will come next. Where will I go? What will I do? With the game ended and for those who survived, life begins again. I would kind of like to stay around. Shiloh and Sadie will both be having babies. Trevor has his new farm and has lots to do there with no help. Maybe they’re right. Maybe there is something about the beauty of the lands they talk about. I wonder if he’d let me stay with him, help him? I’m brought out of my thoughts when I notice his smile, the white of his perfect teeth and the blue of his eyes. He nods, slightly, like he can read my mind. Suddenly, I feel relief. How could he know? I need to go tell Shiloh and Colby the news, but I don’t want to leave him.
“It’s okay, Prie. I’m here with you now,” he whispers.
Did I imagine that? He blinks as if to say I didn’t, his smile still adorning his handsome face. I slide against the wall and walk out the door, feeling a renewed strength. A new life. A new chance. One that I won’t ever take likely or for granted. Never again.
The End
Love of Country
Lost and betrayed,
Alone and forgotten,
Until the beauty of the land,
Shows the way home
Trevor Mackay has his own demons from his past but finds solace in his friends and owning a farm he’s always dreamed of. Boarding horses for those in town and giving riding lessons help him cope. However, when a lost young girl enters his life, his demons return to haunt him.
Caprice Greer had a happy childhood from what she can remember. Barely turning sixteen, her world changed. Her life became a game of survival, and she struggled to keep the will to live. Three years later, she finds herself in a different world. A gorgeous, kind man with blue eyes and a beautiful smile shows her kindness and the way of country life.
Will he be able to help her get beyond the horrors of her past and help her get the happiness she deserves? Will he be able to do that for himself as well?
About the Author
Vicki Green grew up in Overland Park, Kansas and currently resides in Olathe, Kansas. Along with her husband and two teenage boys, she shares her home with her cocker spaniel’s Shadow and Mocha. She has been working full time at the same Company for 35 years. Her life has been filled with the most loving and caring parents, who are both gone now but are still in her heart and mind daily.
Vicki enjoys reading Romance books which is what inspired her to begin writing this book. She has always admired Author’s dedication and hard work. She had a dream that played out for over a year, came home one day after work and decided to put it on a word document to see how it read and that became ‘My Savior Forever’, the beginning of her Forever Series, and that’s where it all began.
Website: http://www.vickigreenauthor.com/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/VickiGreenAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rileyks3
Goodreads Author:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7112966.Vicki_Green
