The Great Gift (Contemporary Romance - Urban Life) Read online

  THE GREAT GIFT

  By

  MISTY WRIGHT

  First published in United States of America

  Copyright © 2012 MISTY WRIGHT

  This Kindle book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright laws and Treaties. Any authorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people, places, or events are not intentional and are the result of coincidence. The characters, places, and events in this story are fictional.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author/publisher.

  This book has been produced for the Amazon Kindle and is distributed by Amazon Direct Publishing

  DEDICATION

  I am grateful for ~

  The Inspiration for this book; Jonny, Colins, Tony, Dennis whom inspired me to write, and not forgeting my beloved husband, Edward for his patience and graciousness, my 3 beautiful kids, Elysia, Elgin and Elnus for sharing their own little stories during their bedtime.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Prologue

  The Old Man Who Stood at the Coffin

  Five Japanese Businessmen

  The Young Lady

  Alyssa's Best Friend

  Felt Like Being in the Middle of a Tug of War

  Margaret Stanton

  The Ascent

  Crossing the Arena

  Epilogue

  About The Author

  Buy My Other Products

  Buy Other Products From This Publisher

  My Recommendations

  Contact

  Prologue

  Using powerful, deliberate steps, a young man with a straight back marched up to the open casket. For a long moment, he stared at the dead woman lying in the coffin. Eventually he lifted his gaze and studied the small group who had gathered to pay their last respects. He seemed detached and uninterested. It was as though he wanted to be somewhere else. Somewhere that would keep his mind active and alert.

  A woman hung her head and started to sob quietly.

  "I refuse to fight with my only brother. It was your choice to be here, not mine." She tightly clutched the book she was holding, as if for comfort. She seemed to be deciding something.

  "At last you see it all my way," said Jake. His smirk betrayed him as someone full of deceit who had to have everything his own way. "I choose what I want and when to do it."

  The woman looked him in the eyes. "The suit you're wearing is as black as your nature. Here, read this before you go. You owe it to Mother."

  "I owe her nothing. Her death was all her own fault. I warned her not to stay at The Oasis, but she didn't listen." Jake grabbed the book from his sister and threw it on the floor next to the coffin. He then swiveled on his heels and stormed out of the funeral chapel.

  The Old Man Who Stood at the Coffin

  Using powerful and deliberate steps, a young man with a straight back marched up to the open casket. For a long moment, he stared at the dead woman lying in the coffin. Eventually he lifted his gaze and studied the small group who had gathered to pay their last respects. He seemed detached and uninterested. It was as though he wanted to be somewhere else. Somewhere that would keep his mind active and alert.

  He stood at ease and returned his attention back to the viewing. He leaned over and stared closely at the old woman. She appeared to be asleep. No pain, totally at peace. A middle-aged woman with fresh tears cascading down her cheeks had slowly followed in the man's footsteps. For several seconds she stood next to him with her head bowed. When she spoke, her voice was a mere whisper.

  "Why did you come, Jake?"

  "I had to. I needed to see for myself." His voice sounded scornful, bordering on hatred.

  "Why did you come?" she repeated.

  "Don't talk to me," he snapped. "In a few minutes I'll be gone, never to return." He squared his shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "You'll never have to see or hear of me again."

  "As per usual, that suits me." An old man leaning heavily on a walking stick shuffled forward. "Not here, not now," he mumbled through a cupped hand.

  "Who are you to tell me what to do?" said Jake. He had swiveled his head and was looking through murderous eyes.

  "Jake, please don't speak like that."

  "Shut up, Bernice, I'll speak any way I like."

  "You shouldn't have come; there's nothing for you here," Bernice said.

  "I'll be the judge of that."

  "I hope you didn't come for money."

  "Why I came has nothing to do with you," said Jake.

  Bernice hung her head and started to sob quietly. "I refuse to fight with my only brother. It was your choice to be here, not mine." She tightly clutched the book she was holding, as if for comfort. She seemed to be deciding something.

  "At last you see it all my way," said Jake. His smirk betrayed him as someone full of deceit who had to have everything his own way. "I choose what I want and when to do it."

  Bernice looked him in the eyes. "The suit you're wearing is as black as your nature. Here, before you go, read this. You owe it to Mother."

  "I owe her nothing. Her death was all her own fault. I warned her not to stay at The Oasis, but she didn't listen." Jake grabbed the book from his sister and threw it on the floor next to the coffin. He then swiveled on his heels and stormed out of the funeral chapel.

  Bernice stooped and picked up the book. For several seconds she studied the leather- bound cover for damage, then dusted it off. She held it tight against her chest and stepped into the sunlight. She glared at her brother, who was lighting a cigarette.

  "I see you're into a healthy lifestyle," she said.

  "What's it to you, and what would you know or even care?"

  "I know you should've given Mother and Father a chance before you turned your back on them and The Oasis."

  "Poppycock. I decided I didn't want to live in a prison."

  "The Oasis was no prison. It's all in Mother's book."

  "In the book?" Jake pulled off his tie and shrugged a shoulder.

  "Give it five minutes," insisted Bernice. She had a glisten in her eye that made Jake hesitate for a heartbeat.

  The old man who had stood at the coffin with his head bowed emerged from the graveyard and stood on the top step of the quiet funeral chapel. His expression was as wrinkled, old and worn as his face.

  "Stop smirking," yelled Jake, lifting his fist into the air. "Old man, if you want to fight I'm ready."

  "Come, sit in the privacy of the room overlooking the grounds," said Bernice, stepping in his way.

  "The only destination I'm interested in is the local hotel for a drink," said Jake.

  "Please, we have much to discuss." Bernice's face took on a look that was soft and pleasant. The tone of her voice could melt any man's heart.

  Jake slipped out of his pinstriped suit jacket and vest, and then flung them over the arm of an outside table. "I'll give you five minutes, and not a second longer."

  Bernice smirked as they walked next to each other along a narrow path that snaked through the manicured gardens. She was the first to ascend the two steps of the small white building. She held the door open for her brother, then clicked it shut behind her. She watched Jake as he studied the small room. The room was full of leather-bound law books, and each one was in mint condition. He paced the floor like a caged lion for a good two minutes.

  "Sit down and read the first page," said B
ernice, shoving the book she was carrying under Jake's nose.

  "What if I don't want to sit?"

  "Sit. I insist."

  Her soft, gentle voice and feminine facial expressions had been left on the other side of the door. The look she gave him was as cold as a wet blanket in the snow. Jake pulled a second cigarette from his pocket and placed it in his mouth, ready to light it. Bernice took it, and threw it in a small rubbish bin beside the mahogany-colored desk.

  "You can't smoke in here," she quipped.

  "Don't tell me what to do. I need something to settle my nerves. I don't like it here. I want this moment to be dealt with so I can get back to the city. It's where I belong. If you stopped to analyze what I just said for five minutes, you'd know I was right."

  "Is that why you smoke?" The tone of her voice was confrontational.

  "That is none of your business," said Jake.

  "I guess that was a fair comment."

  "I'm rapt to the back teeth that we finally agreed on something."

  "Brother, even though we don't get on, I'm happy you decided to come. You might not think it, but your presence means a lot to me."

  Jake answered in a flat voice. "I'm thrilled to be here," he said.

  "Why do you have to be so cynical?" asked Bernice.

  "That's my business, and mine alone."

  Bernice sighed heavily, and she looked away. Her shoulders slumped and her eyes welled with tears.

  "What did you expect?" said Jake.

  "Twenty years without as much as a single visit. Couldn't you have at least come once?"

  "Who would want to come to The Oasis? Tell me, who? Only an insane person would want to visit such an isolated, dirty, boring hole in the ground."

  "It was a lovely place," said Bernice. "If you'd only given it the chance it deserved, you would have found it therapeutic. If you came and stayed for a week, you wouldn't want to leave."

  "Spare me the grief. It's a boring, horrible place. I grew up there just like you."

  "We had great times, you and me, waiting for the leaves to fall off the trees so we could kick them high in the air. Not to mention the clouds we traced into shapes with our finger."

  "If you say so," said Jake, interrupting. "I dreamed every night about leaving that dry, dusty, forsaken land. When I left, I never looked back." He dropped the book he was given on top of the desk and stared at his sister. "If you had come with me, you would feel the same way I do now. The city and the nightlife made me rich. It's exciting beyond belief."

  Bernice picked up the book and thrust it at his chest.

  "Read it. You owe the dead woman that much. If you've forgotten who she is, the woman was your mother."

  "Again, let me tell you that I owe her nothing." Jake glanced at the wastepaper basket and lobbed the book through the air. It missed the bin and landed heavily on the floor. He glared at his sister as she started to sob.

  "Maybe it was an omen? You missing the bin, I mean," said Bernice.

  He snorted, retrieved the book from the carpet and grinned maliciously as he attempted to throw it in the bin a second time.

  "If this is the last thing I ever say to you, then so be it. The city and the money, as far as I'm concerned, will never replace the splendor of The Oasis, the morning glory that fringes the white clouds every new day, the birds and the cattle, and the peace that the place brings."

  "Forget the wise old words. Tell me one thing before I leave. The old man hobbling up to the coffin, who was he? He looked like a local street bum."

  "He was no street bum. He came to say a few last words and to relive old memories." Bernice walked over and picked the book out of the bin. She cut in front of her brother's path as he headed for the door. "Sit down and read." Again, she shoved it into his ribs, forcing him to hold the book.

  "Tell me one good reason why should I read it."

  "It contains all of Mum's memories."

  "I don't care," he snapped.

  "You should."

  "She was never there for me," said Jake.

  "You walked off and never returned."

  "Out there in the middle of Australia, she was never a mother to me. I'm happy I left home at an early age. The city helped me grow up."

  Bernice shook her head as the door to the room was quietly opened. A man in a gray two-piece suit and loud tie walked in.

  "Excuse me sir, are you Jake Stanton?"

  "Who wants to know?"

  "I'm the solicitor in charge of the family fortune."

  "Go away, you're not needed."

  "Sir, there is the case of a diary, the one you are holding. The book was left to you in the dead woman's will."

  Jake massaged his temples. "What is it about this stupid book?"

  The solicitor lowered his voice. It changed from friendly to authoritative. "The will clearly states that both you and your sister must read the diary in this room before the will can be read by either of you. Failing to read the diary, both of you forfeit your share. In other words, you're automatically cut from the will."

  Jake's city nature slipped into overdrive and he kicked a chair across the room. He pointed directly at his sister's blue eyes. "I'll give a further five minutes and not a second longer."

  He sat, opened the leather-bound book and started to read.

  *

  The small but quaint church that looked over the tranquil bay was picture-perfect. The ten bouquets of freshly picked red roses tied neatly at the end of each pew were exquisite. The flower girl and bridesmaids looked superb.

  The bride glanced at the long, narrow window at the side of the church altar and watched a brown leaf fall from the large oak tree. She marveled at the way the gentle sea breeze helped it to float gently to the ground. She looked away from the window and stood facing her childhood sweetheart with an expression that radiated love and devotion. Her long white silk dress included a lace veil that hid her nervousness.

  The minister's eyes sparkled as his debut wedding was drawing to a close. He inhaled deeply and, using a tone of voice that was gentle and soothing to the ears, said, "Alyssa and Bill, I now pronounce you man and-"

  "Hold it. Stop the wedding service," said a young woman standing in the exact center of the main doors that led into the church. Her words cut deep into Alyssa's spirit as she turned away from her future husband to glare at the person who had interrupted her day. The one hundred onlookers, the same ones that had made a ruckus over her four-thousand dollar wedding dress, were gobsmacked. The old church was barren of sound. Alyssa's heart skipped a beat and she wondered if the priest had heard. A rude mix of deep and high-pitched chatter erupted from the guests, and everyone stared at the barefoot woman in a torn sky-blue dress. She was standing next to Alyssa just inside the main door, and was holding a baby and sweeping a young girl closer to her left hip. Three kids fanned out from behind her. Alyssa scanned the sullen group, and then turned her attention to her future husband.

  "Bill, do you know this woman?" Alyssa's voice was alarmingly calm.

  "I've never seen her before in my life," he whispered back.

  Alyssa watched the woman boldly storm up the dull red carpet. She abruptly stopped at the foot of the altar and gave an angry stare at each member of the bridal party in turn. Her expression was that of a long anticipated storm. She seemed to study the wedding dress for several seconds, then snorted and focused her full attention on the groom. Without breaking eye contact with Bill, she spat at the slate tiles he was standing on.

  "Excuse me?"

  "Bigamy is against the law, darling," said the woman in the sky-blue dress.

  "Excuse me," said Alyssa, echoing Bill's remark. "Who are you? And what do you want?"

  The tall, thin woman swept her long blonde hair from her face.

  "I'm here to stop this farce of a wedding," she said.

  Alyssa's best friend and bridesmaid, Kaite, stepped forward and shoved a white knuckled fist in the woman's face. "You might want to reconsider that thought, si
ster," she yelled through a locked jaw. "Leave before this scene turns ugly. You certainly have not been invited."

  The woman pointed a finger at Bill. "I'm that man's wife, and I can prove it."

  Alyssa folded her arms. "Let's see the proof."

  Bill started to fidget and was looking at the many faces of the congregation. They all had the look of an angry lynch mob. He let go of his bride's hand and folded his arms.

  "Let's see this so-called proof," he snapped.

  The woman snatched a photo of Bill and herself on their wedding day from a sobbing four-year-old girl and shoved it at Alyssa's face. She then unfolded a copy of the marriage license and handed it over to the priest. The shocked look on his face said it all.

  Five Japanese Businessmen

  Alyssa shuddered as she lay on the bed, staring at a dirty smudge mark on the ceiling.

  "Kaite, when Bill and I met, he was the perfect gentleman. He was an amazing man, easy on the eyes and I was happy. He didn't have to work too hard to sweep me up into his fantasy world." She sighed, jumped from the bed and walked to the window.

  Kaite rolled her eyes. "Alyssa, that was two years ago today. The falling leaf must've been a bad omen. Get over it."

  "I can't."

  "Tell me something: did lover boy pay you any money for ruining your day? That dress cost you an absolute fortune, let alone everything else he made you buy."

  "No."

  "Do you know where he is or what he's doing?"

  "No," said Alyssa.

  "Then stop moping about in this tiny, shoebox-sized flat and let's go out and have some fun. I can hear the nightlife calling from the center of Melbourne already, and the sun has yet to say goodbye to another day."

  "I don't feel like doing anything."