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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781490741857 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Trafford Publishing |
| Publication date: | 07/18/2014 |
| Pages: | 270 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.61(d) |
Read an Excerpt
Child of Dreams
... a fictitious story of two women with physical disabilities
By Barbara Roose Cramer, Joanne James
Trafford Publishing
Copyright © 2014 Barbara Roose CramerAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4907-4185-7
CHAPTER 1
As Continental Airlines Flight #789 began it's descent over Buffalo Springs, Colorado, Jill Goodwell-Casey looked first at her husband of only a few hours, Tom, who was sleeping soundly in the seat next to her. She peered out of the window of the giant aircraft that carried her and Tom, and approximately 415 other passengers to their destination. The flight had departed from Portland International Jetport in a serious thunderstorm with severe lightning. Although the rain had subsided throughout the flight, the skies remained cloudy and overcast. The flight had been lengthy, and, although she tried to sleep, she could not make herself relax. As she watched the city taking shape below her, she closed her eyes for a moment to recall the last twenty-four hours.
She and Tom had boarded the plane in Portland, Maine at 6:30 a.m. after only a few hours of sleep. Their wedding had taken place in Booth Bay Harbor, Maine, at the beautiful Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic church, at 3:00 p.m. the previous day. Jill's mother, Loren, dressed in a light blue organza knee length dress, had been her maid of honor, and Tom's friend, Darin Van Gordon, had stood beside him as best man. Both lieutenants in the Coast Guard, they had worn their dress white uniforms. Jill had been stunning—everyone said so—in her white organza strapless gown, with a sweetheart trumpet train. Her hair, which had grown much longer in the past year, had been set in an upsweep with a beautiful headpiece of pearls and clear crystals, attached to an elbow length, three-layered beaded veil. She had felt like Cinderella and, after the reception at the Booth Bay Harbor Inn where 300 family members and friends had joined in the celebration, Tom had made her feel like a real queen as they made love over and over in the comfy king size bed at the Inn.
Tom had carried her across the threshold into the bridal suite, kissing her as he did so. She chuckled as he set her down on the bed and started to kiss her again, first on the cheek, then on the neck and then softly on the lips. She had stopped him from proceeding further, stating that she had a surprise for him and had immediately retreated into the bathroom. There she had taken off her beautiful gown, hung it up carefully on a white satin-covered hangar, touching it gently before hanging it over the shower rod. She removed the rest of her white under garments and opened up her overnight case. She took out a sexy sheer black negligee, a black garter belt, black stockings and black high heels. Making love was not new to Jill and Tom. They had been intimate during most of their relationship, but this was her wedding night and she wanted it to be extra special. They had abstained from having sex for the past two months—much to Tom's dismay—so as to be much more desirable to one another on their wedding night. She had been planning this surprise for weeks.
* * *
Jill opened her eyes, realizing that instead of landing, the plane seemed to be circling the airport, and she wondered if there was trouble with the aircraft. She had been so busy reminiscing that she had not heard any messages from the captain. She glanced over at Tom, who hadn't stirred, and decided to wait for an announcement. Fifteen minutes went by, and finally the oft-spoken words of "this is your captain speaking" came over the intercom system of the aircraft.
"Ladies and gentleman", he said, "this is Captain Ray Waters. We don't want to alarm you, but there has been a minor mishap at the Buffalo Springs Airport, and we have been asked to circle for another fifteen minutes or so, after which time we should be able to land and get you all to your destinations safely. Please do not be alarmed, it is a minor incident, and the runway is being cleared as I speak, but please do keep your seat belts securely fastened. It's raining here, so hopefully you brought your rain gear."
He thanked everyone for their attention, and things seemingly returned to normal.
Jill closed her eyes once again and, smiling, thought back to the previous night.
She had vainly looked at herself in the full-length bathroom mirror and smiled at what she saw. She had taken the pins from her brownish blond hair, fluffed it up with her hands, letting it fall over her slim shoulders. She placed a small amount of her favorite perfume, Crystal Passion, in a couple of sexual hot spots, turned off the bathroom light, and walked into the bridal suite.
"Here I come, ready or not," she said in a sexy voice.
She walked across the room in a sexy strut and got onto the bed where Tom still lay fully clothed.
"Oh my gosh!" he exclaimed, eyes wide open, looking up at this full-bodied, sexy woman. "Is this the woman I just married or some call girl sent over by the Paris Point Escort Service? Wow Jill, you're gorgeous!"
"Just who would you like me to be Lieutenant?" She asked, kissing him on the cheek, then kissing his nose his lips, and, then, as she had so many times before she took his Lieutenant's cap off the end table and placed it atop her head.
"I can be either one", she said, batting her baby blues at him and pulling up the long black negligee to her waist. She got to a sitting position on top of him, placing her legs to either side of his chest. He touched her face, then her breasts, as she began to unbutton his white Coast Guard jacket, his shirt, and his pants. She kissed his chest, tongued his nipples and kissed him on the lips as she began helping him out of his clothes.
* * *
Jill jumped just slightly when the captain's voice again came over the aircraft's intercom. As she listened to the deep voice she felt a moment of disappointment for the interruption and that she wasn't able to finish the rest of her mental replay of the night before. She smiled and chuckled, as she looked over at Tom and gently shook him on the shoulder. As she awakened him, she was thinking about what surprises tonight's stay in the bridal suite might hold. She leaned over him and lightly kissed his cheek.
"We've been cleared to land," the captain said. "Please make sure your seat belts are securely fastened and your luggage is placed securely under your seats. I'm sorry for the delay. If any of you have connecting flights we will do our best to see that you make those flights on time. Once again, thank you for flying Continental Airlines."
Jill looked at her handsome husband, his dark black hair in disarray. She took his hand, leaned over and gave him another peck on his right cheek.
"We've arrived, Lieutenant Casey," she said smiling.
"What time is it, Jill?" he asked somewhat groggy. "How long have I been asleep?"
"It's honeymoon time, sleepyhead", she said kiddingly. "We were delayed a few minutes, but we're safely on the ground now. It's raining pretty hard so let's hope our rental car is available and we get our luggage quickly. The Sky City Hotel bridal suite is calling our names."
Tom unbuckled his seatbelt, stood up and, as he looked at his beautiful wife, he thought, "I have loved her from the very first time I saw her coming off that cruise ship in Portland, and I will love her for the rest of my life." He smiled as he assisted her to a standing position, then embraced her, kissing her lovingly.
"I love you, Mrs. Casey", he said to her, his eyes twinkling, oblivious to all the passengers around them, "are you ready for the next ten days?"
"I am Mr. Casey, sir!" she said saluting him. "I certainly am."
CHAPTER 2The parking garage attendant at the Sky City Hotel waved the newly weds, Mic and Jennifer Collins through the parking gate, gave them a parking pass, and noticing the handicapped license plate directed them to an empty space close to the elevators. He also took down their license plate number and vehicle description.
'There is an empty and wide space right over to the left", he said cordially and added, "Nice Chevy". He chuckled as he read all of the gibberish written on the windows of their beautifully restored blue and white 1957 Chevrolet. "Love Forever", "Have a Hot Night In Buffalo Springs", "Jennifer loves Mic" and more. Jed Manning, the parking garage attendant, thought how sweet young love must be. He and Joyce had been married almost thirty years when she had passed on, and he remembered, yes, young love had been sweet for them once too, but that was a long time ago.
Jed Oliver Manning had been working at the Sky City Hotel for a little over two years. He had been just three years from early retirement as a mail carrier for the US postal service when his wife Joyce, had been killed in a freak car accident. She had died instantly from the impact, and he had gone in and out of consciousness while firefighters worked for two hours to unpin him from the wreckage. His left leg had been shattered; he had several broken ribs and severe cuts and bruises. He and Joyce had been coming home from a birthday party in Fountain, Colorado, and, while driving on Nevada Avenue just a few blocks from their Buffalo Springs home, a young man on a motorcycle had passed them at excessive speed. He had barely missed their front bumper as he passed, but clipped the rear bumper of the truck in front and to the right of them. The truck driver had lost control, spun around 360 degrees, hitting the Manning vehicle on the right side where Joyce was seated, killing her instantly. The motorcyclist was thrown from his bike and had suffered fatal injuries. The driver of the truck, a young woman in her early thirties, and who later on admitted to trying to dodge and get away from the motorcyclist, had suffered a broken arm and sustained severe head injuries. No charges had been filed against her, but the motorcyclist, although dead from his injuries, had complete insurance coverage, and his insurance company had paid well, but not nearly enough to cover all of Jed's medical expenses.
After Joyce's funeral, several surgeries to repair his shattered leg, a year of physical therapy and an immense number of medical bills, over and above what insurance policies covered, he was finally discharged. He had been placed on temporary disability leave. Later on, he tried working part time, but his busted-up leg just wouldn't allow him to walk his mail route any longer, and he had chosen to go on permanent disability. He would never again walk his postal service route—the one he had walked for over twenty-five years. He would never speak to the numerous friends/ customers he had made over the years, and he found that being alone and without Joyce was more than he could handle. He needed a fix for both his pain and for the loneliness, and his only out, he found, was to use illegal drugs.
Soon he was addicted to drugs and alcohol and had started hanging out in low-life bars with low-life people. Finally, however, he had realized that he needed help and had willingly signed up for a weekly drug and alcohol abuse program. He had been going to therapy now for almost two years. During that time, his counselor had assisted in getting him the part time job at the Sky City Hotel. He found that sitting most of the time on the stool in the attendant's booth was something he could physically manage, and it also gave him a chance to meet a variety of nice folks, like the young couple he had just directed to a handicap parking space. The problem, however, was that in the past few months the pain in his leg had once again become almost unbearable.
"Oh, if only Joyce was here to straighten me out", he thought, but, sadly, he knew that was impossible. He wasn't sure at this point that anyone could straighten him out.
* * *
Mic Collins steered the car directly into the handicap parking space, making sure to give Jennifer enough space on the passenger side of the car to transfer herself into her wheelchair. He turned off the ignition, placed the car keys in his pocket, and leaned over to kiss his new bride.
"Happy Mrs. Collins?" he asked, touching her cheek.
"Very." Jennifer answered, her eyes sparkling," I'm very happy."
* * *
Jennifer Benson and Mic Collins had been married at 3:00 p.m. that afternoon in a small church in Billingham Colorado, seventy-five miles from Buffalo Springs. Jennifer had walked down the aisle on full leg braces, supported by one crutch while holding on to and balancing herself on her father's arm. Her father had held her small bouquet of purple and white roses so she could support herself on his arm, but no one noticed. Instead, all those gathered were in awe of this young woman who had always used a wheelchair due to a childhood disease and who was now walking down the isle on her wedding day.
Both she and Mic knew that she would tire readily and wouldn't be able to stand during the entire wedding and reception. After the ceremony, and after they had walked back up the aisle as man and wife, Jennifer sat back down in her wheelchair. She removed the sidearms, which enabled her to spread the skirt of her beautiful, white, satin gown across the entire framework of the wheelchair. Friends had assisted Mic in getting her down the stairs into the basement's fellowship hall where the reception had been held.
It had been a beautiful day despite the rain, and at 7:00 pm they had changed their clothes, Jennifer into a light lavender skirt and short-sleeved summer sweater, and Mic into beige slacks and a light blue shirt. Friends and family members helped lift Jennifer and her wheelchair back up the basement stairs and then down the front steps and out of the church. Through a barrage of birdseed and rice, family hugs and best wishes, they had gotten into their Chevy and sped away. Jennifer's mother, standing next to her husband and son, held tightly to her daughter's beautiful satin gown, and cried quietly as she watched her daughter drive away to begin her new life.
* * *
Jeannette Benson had always wanted a daughter, and she had been blessed with two daughters and a son. Sadly, however, the younger daughter, Lilly, had been diagnosed with leukemia when Jennifer was sixteen and her brother Karl, twelve. Lilly had only lived two years before succumbing to the disease. Friends and family commented often on how hard it must have been for the Bensons to cope with having one daughter with a debilitating disease and another die from cancer. Not only could the pain and suffering of losing a child and having a handicapped child be a hardship, but the financial obligations must have been devastating. Everyone asked how could one family have been so unlucky?
Jeannette never considered herself or her family unlucky. She knew that God was in charge of all things, and that He had been in control when He had blessed their family with precious little Lilly so late in Jeannette's life, and also when she had been taken away, way too soon. Lilly Marie had given their family so much joy in her three short years, and Jeannette had been so thankful for even that short period of time. Not that she didn't grieve, because she had, and often. Not just for Lilly and Jennifer, but for herself as well. She also believed that Jennifer had contracted poliomyelitis for a reason. In Jennifer's twenty-one years, she had watched her daughter touch more people's lives than most young women could have done in an entire lifetime. Jeannette believed wholeheartedly that Jen's disability was all a part of God's plan.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Child of Dreams by Barbara Roose Cramer, Joanne James. Copyright © 2014 Barbara Roose Cramer. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing.
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