Tormented Love: A Christian Romance (The True Love Series Book 3)

by Juliette Duncan

  They’d have to tell him. Tessa gulped as Ben squeezed her hand. "Well, truth be told, he's actually the reason we decided to get away and spend some time here.” She paused and let out a slow breath. "Jayden ran away and is living with his mother."

  “No! He didn’t?” Elliott looked at her with eyes as wide as golf balls.

  Tessa nodded. “Unfortunately, he did. We've done everything we could to get him back, but nothing's worked. Seems he’s happy in the States with her, for the moment at least, so we thought a change of scenery would do us good. Get our mind off him for a while. Hopefully being here will help us do that. Plus we can help you."

  Elliott gestured at the car in front that turned without indicating before glancing back at Tessa. "Why did he leave? I hope he wasn't still upset with me."

  "No, you had nothing to do with it." Ben leaned forward and cleared his throat. "It's mainly Kathryn's doing, but I do accept some of the blame. I don’t think I was understanding enough."

  Tessa squeezed Ben’s hand.

  "I'm sorry to hear that, Ben. He's a good kid, and God’s working on him. I'm sure he'll come back in time. I’ll be sure to pray for him.” Elliott’s voice was full of concern and compassion. He remained silent for a few seconds, as if he were praying for Jayden right then and there. “But in the meantime, I'm glad you're here—I’m sure it’ll do you both good.”

  Tessa let out a slow sigh. “We hope so.”

  Ben, Tessa, and Elliott soon left the noisy, but vibrant and sprawling city of Guayaquil behind. The downtown high-rises disappeared into the rearview distance, and hillsides covered in colourful shantytowns rose up around them. After about an hour, they turned off the well-paved highway onto a narrow dirt road full of ruts and dried mud patches. Swampy meadows of green grass spread out on either side of the dirt road, with patches of leafy Tagua palms standing nearly forty feet tall, giving it a real tropical feel.

  The mission was spread out on both sides of a dirty brown tributary of water that flowed into the larger Daule River. Several children were running around, laughing and playing with plastic balls when Elliott's jeep came to a stop. Tessa waved to them, and they waved back, staring and smiling shyly.

  "Mayta, Santiago, Juan," Elliott said, calling their names. After talking to them in Spanish, they shed their shyness and ran up to shake hands with Ben and Tessa. The children’s eyes lit up when Ben took a pack of gum out of his pocket and gave them each a piece.

  "We work on both sides of the water," Elliott said. "The living quarters are mostly over here, but on the other side we've built a church and we just finished building a school for the mission. There's still some things that need to be completed though, like the interior and the playground, but most of the heavy-duty work is done. We also keep our supplies and the plane over there in the storage building."

  "How do you get across?" Ben asked.

  "There used to be a bridge, but every time the river flooded, it got damaged, so we stopped repairing it." Elliott pointed to three objects that looked like rafts floating on top of the water, tied to stakes in the ground. "Now we use flatboats to go across."

  The doors of one of the houses opened, and a broad, tawny-skinned woman with the same coloured hair and eyes came out. "Elliott, you're back." She spoke in English but with a strong Spanish accent.

  "Hello, Maria. I've brought our new workers."

  "I can see that. Welcome, Ben. Welcome, Tessa." Maria greeted Ben and Tessa in turn with a warm hug and kiss. "Your brother has told me many good things about you, so I'm glad that we get to meet at last. Come, let me show you to your lodgings."

  Chapter 18

  Tessa held Ben’s hand as they followed Maria to a small house towards the edge of the village. Perched on stilts and made of cane, it reminded Tessa of one of the Three Little Pigs’ houses, and she wondered how safe it was.

  Maria must have seen the look of concern on Tessa’s face. “Oh don’t worry, Tessa. It’s perfectly safe.” She chuckled as she lumbered up the rickety stairs. “See, it’s fine.”

  Tessa sucked in a breath and followed her up. The house was sparsely furnished, with just a bedroom, a bathroom, and a living room which also doubled as a kitchen and dining area. Although the furnishings were simple, the colours of the floor rugs, cushions and wall hangings were so vibrant they took Tessa’s breath away.

  “It’s lovely, Maria. Thank you.” Tessa’s heart expanded at the simple joy flowing from Maria’s face as the dark-haired woman stood there expectantly with her hands clutched in front of her.

  "It doesn't have all the amenities like back home," Elliott said, joining them with a handful of luggage, "but you get used to it. The people more than make up for what the country lacks in resources. They're warm and friendly for the most part, and eager to help."

  “I can see that already.” Tessa smiled again at Maria and then sniffed the air. A strong, spicy aroma wafted through the house. "What smells so good?"

  "Your dinner.” Elliott crossed the floor to the kitchen and lifted the lid of the earthenware pot sitting on the simple two-burner stove. “Maria cooked it for you."

  Maria glanced at her hands coyly. “I thought you’d be tired from your long flight. It's guatita, a traditional Ecuadorian stew made with beef tripe, potatoes and peanut sauce."

  Tessa raised her eyebrows but quickly lowered them. Tripe?

  "I'm pretty sure you'll love it," Elliott said, stepping back and placing his arm lightly on Maria’s shoulder. "I've come to love all different kinds of Ecuadorian foods since I've been here, and guatita is still one of my favourite dishes. And Maria’s the best cook."

  A flush crept up Maria’s face.

  “Well, it certainly smells wonderful," Ben said. "We've haven't eaten since lunch on the plane, so I'm quite hungry."

  "Thank you, Maria." Tessa stepped forward and squeezed Maria’s hand. "We appreciate your thoughtfulness."

  "My pleasure, Tessa. And thank you again for coming.” Maria’s white teeth sparkled as she smiled. “If you need anything else to get settled in, just let me know." Maria waved as she and Elliott disappeared down the stairs.

  “I think I’m going to like it here, Ben. What do you think?” Tessa asked as she began placing her clothes into the single closet in the bedroom.

  “I think I’m going to like it very much.”

  Tessa’s knees weakened as he slipped his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck.

  “Ben!”

  “What?”

  His kisses sent tingles down her spine. She laughed as she turned around and gazed up into his eyes. “Have you forgotten where we are?”

  “No, I haven’t. We’re in our bedroom.”

  Tessa shook her head, but a smile danced on her lips.

  “I just wanted to let you know how much I love you, that’s all.”

  “Oh Ben.”

  Her whole body melted as Ben’s lips met hers.

  Soon after, Ben and Tessa drifted into the kitchen and sat down to Maria’s guatita. “I think I could get used to this. Even with the tripe.” Tessa chuckled before taking another mouthful.

  “This was a great idea, Tess. Just being away from home and all the memories has already made a difference.”

  “I can tell.” Tessa gave him a playful smile, but then his expression changed.

  “But I still can’t help thinking about what Jayden’s doing.”

  Tessa sighed and reached for Ben’s hand. “God’s with him, Ben. We’ve just got to leave Jayden in his care.”

  Ben let out a deep breath. “I know. I've checked the distance between Ecuador and Texas. We’re not that far away from him now. Maybe we should try to see him.”

  “We can try. You never know, he might be ready to see us.”

  Footsteps sounded on the steps, followed by a soft knock. “Tess, Ben, can I come in?”

  “Yes, Elliott, come in. We’re just finishing dinner.” Tessa stood and carried the dishes to the sink.

  Elliott
joined her in the kitchen. “Enjoy it?” He ran a finger around the edge of the bowl and licked it.

  Tessa slapped his hand playfully. “What would Mum say?”

  Elliott shrugged, flashing her a cheeky grin.

  “But yes. It was just what we needed. I’ll have to ask Maria to show me how to make it.”

  “Still can’t cook, hey sis?” Tessa was about to whack him with the dish towel when Ben joined them.

  “She can cook better than me.” Ben came up behind Tessa and rubbed her arms, sending goose-bumps down her body. She hoped Elliott hadn’t noticed.

  “Would you like to meet the others before it gets dark? They’d like to meet you.” Elliott leaned back on the kitchen counter, crossing his legs at the ankle.

  Tessa twisted her head so she could see Ben. “Shall we?”

  “Why not? Lead the way, Elliott. The dishes can wait.”

  Elliott took them around the mission grounds and introduced them to the other workers. Four were non-Ecuadorian. Trevor and Robert Lolarossi were American brothers in their mid-twenties who’d both attended mission school with Elliott in California. Larry and Penny Mykal were an older couple from Toronto, Canada. They’d been involved in mission work for most of their lives and were about the ages of Tessa's parents. They welcomed Ben and Tessa as if they were welcoming their own children.

  Ben accompanied the men on one of the flatboats across the river to inspect the construction work. As Tessa watched him leave, she couldn’t help but wonder how her accountant husband would fit in.

  Meanwhile, Tessa sat down with Penny over a cup of tea while Penny gave her advice on how best to deal with bugs, how not to get sick in the constant heat and humidity, and how they managed to get by with washing their clothes by hand.

  As Tessa listened to the short, grey-haired woman talk with such enthusiasm about life on the mission, Tessa began to realise the extent of the sacrifices Penny and Larry had made to live here, and just how many of the everyday things that she took for granted, Penny had done without for most of her adult life.

  “You sound like you love it here.” Tessa gave Penny a warm smile.

  “Yes, we both do, despite everything.” She let out a small chuckle. “We’ve been in a lot worse places than here, believe me!”

  “Where have you been?” Tessa took a cookie off the plate.

  “Oh, we’ve spent time in Ethiopia, Delhi, Seoul, our own home of Toronto, Salvador, Rio, and now here in Daule.”

  Tessa’s eyes widened. “Wow! That’s amazing.”

  “I guess so, but we’ve been on mission most of our lives. Larry and I met on a youth mission trip to Cambodia when we were in our early twenties. That trip changed us both so much that we decided to become missionaries instead of pursuing our original careers.”

  Tess sipped her tea. “What careers did you have?”

  “Well, I’m a registered nurse, and Larry’s an architect.”

  “I can see why you’d both be in demand on the mission field, but you must have had some challenging experiences.”

  Penny chuckled, her eyes lighting up. “Well, yes, you could say that. We’ve had a few challenges along the way. Maybe one day I’ll tell you about some of them.” She glanced up as footsteps sounded on the porch. Larry entered, followed by Ben.

  Tessa had thought Ben tall, but Larry stood almost a foot taller, the top of his balding head just missing the bamboo ceiling by a whisker.

  “So, what have you two been chatting about?” Larry leaned down and kissed Penny on the cheek.

  Penny’s eyes sparkled. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  Tessa swallowed the lump in her throat as she caught Ben’s eye. Was he thinking the same as her? Would they still be in love like that when they were this couple’s age?

  “Probably just women’s business.” Larry winked at Ben. “Would you like a drink?”

  “Thanks, that’d be great.” Ben smiled and then joined Tessa on the couch, resting his arm behind her, twiddling a lock of her hair in his fingers. How long since he’d been this relaxed? It warmed her heart and confirmed they’d made the right decision.

  Chapter 19

  The following morning, it took Tessa a few moments to remember she was in Ecuador, not Brisbane. Lying in bed with her eyes closed, she breathed in the fresh mountain air wafting in through the thin curtains and relaxed. Bindy and Sparky weren't wagging their tails, waiting to be fed and walked. No vet clinic or city office to rush off to. Such a great feeling, being here with a changed Ben. Tessa lurched forward. Ben. He was meant to be flying to a remote area in a tiny plane this morning. Her heart raced as she turned her head. He was already gone.

  Tessa jumped out of bed, threw on a light robe, and opened the door just in time to see the plane taxiing down the patch of dirt that was the runway on the other side of the river. She waved frantically until the plane disappeared into the early morning mist.

  "They probably won't be back until noon." Elliott had taken the steps two at a time and joined her. "There’s only space for two in the cockpit, otherwise you could have gone too.” Elliott planted a kiss on her cheek. “Maybe you can go next time."

  Tessa pulled back, shaking her head. “No way—you won’t get me in a tiny plane like that!”

  "Oh, come on, sis. Don’t be a wuss." There was a glint of a tease in Elliott’s eyes before his expression grew serious. “Trust me, nothing beats the exhilaration of soaring above the clouds and gazing down on huge mountains from a small plane, especially when you're doing it for a good reason."

  “I’ll think about it.” Tessa shifted her gaze back to the mountains. The sun was just breaking the horizon, dispersing the mist and shedding light over the entire valley. “This is so beautiful, Elliott. I could sit and look at it all day, but that’s not what I’m here for.” She turned her head. “So what have you got planned for me today?”

  "If you’d like, you could help Penny with her medical rounds, and then when Ben gets back, you can both help with building the playground for the school."

  Tessa smiled at him. “Sounds great.”

  Shortly after, Tessa joined Penny in her kitchen where she was busy collecting pill bottles, medicine droppers and syringes. “We need to re-use most of the equipment,” Penny said as she placed the droppers and syringes into a bucket of boiling water.

  Tessa raised an eyebrow.

  “Supplies are very limited.”

  “Oh.” Of course they would be. Tessa gulped as she thought about all the supplies they had sitting on the shelves at the vet clinic.

  The morning sun warmed Tessa’s skin as she and Penny set out to visit their first patient—a mother whose baby had been running a fever for the past ten days. Nearly all of the locals were out and the mission bustled with their chatter and the laughter of children. Half of the men and some of the young women were on the other side of the river with Elliott, Larry, and Robert, setting up desks and bookshelves and putting the final touches on the interior of the school building. The other men had gone off to work in the surrounding rice farms. The older women washed clothes on the edge of the river, beating them out on large flat rocks before hanging the wet clothes out to dry on rope stretched between the trees.

  They all seemed happy. So different to back home where hardly anyone smiled as they went about their daily business. Here, an atmosphere of community permeated the entire mission ground. Young children to wizened grandparents living and working together, happily.

  Several of the locals came up to Tessa and shyly introduced themselves, telling her in broken English how glad they were to have her and Ben with them. Despite the language barrier, Tessa felt she already belonged.

  As Penny made her rounds, Tessa helped by handing her the supplies she needed and making friends with the children she encountered. She soon lost track of how many chocolate bars she handed out to their great delight. For the most part, though, Tessa observed as Penny administered shots, squeezed out drops, changed bandages, handed out pill
s, and applied medicinal salves and ointments. Penny explained things to Tessa as she went along, so that next time she’d be able to participate more.

  After the last patient for the day had been seen, they strolled back to Penny's house for lunch.

  “I really enjoyed this morning, Penny, although it was kind of strange…”

  Penny turned to her with a puzzled look on her face. “Strange? In what way?”

  "Well, usually I’d be at work at a clinic… a vet clinic.”

  Penny’s eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell me?"

  "I work with animals, not people." Tessa chuckled. "Just a slight difference.” She blew some stray hair off her face. “I thought I worked hard then, but after this morning, I’m not sure.” She stifled a yawn.

  "It takes time to get used to the heat. And you’re probably still jet-lagged." Penny gave her an understanding smile as she opened the front door and turned the fans on. “Let me make some lunch and then maybe you should take a short nap before helping with the playground. You don’t want to burn out on your first day.”

  “Sounds divine.” Tessa stifled another yawn.

  Mid-afternoon, Ben and Trevor returned in the plane. Ben waved as he weaved his way through the muddy plot of land beside the school building to where Tessa and the others were assembling the equipment for the playground.

  Tessa brushed the mud off her hands before letting Ben hug and kiss her. She’d never seen him so animated.

  Ben brushed back Tessa’s damp, sweaty hair off her forehead. “We had the most remarkable time, Tess. It wasn't only the breathtaking sights, but the village was so appreciative of the supplies we delivered to them. You should have seen their faces. They couldn't stop thanking God and us enough. I haven't had such a good feeling about something I've done in the longest time."

  Tessa held him at arm's length before pulling him close and returning his hug. Yes, this was the Ben she knew. Only a few short weeks ago, he’d been depressed, distraught, and distracted over the situation with Jayden. His face, which had been heavy with anxiety and worry, was now full of life. Jayden still hadn’t returned, but at least the real Ben was back.