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

  “I lived my life for the future, that’s why I have no regrets, but I do wish I had lived for the moment more, just got on a random bus and go around and meet new people.”

  “You can still do that. Get on a plane and fly somewhere, talk to strangers about life just to get a slice of their life, I can’t take back what I did.”

  “But you can change and repent, and mean it. There’s always forgiveness if you sincerely look for it.” Elise turned to see Tristan staring at her intently.

  “I admire you Elise. You are strong and brave, and kind too. You built up your life and worked to get everything you have. I’ve never worked for anything.”

  “You worked at the continental didn’t you? And you work for us, although you are messy and tardy sometimes, you can fix that too.”

  “Yeah, I guess I can.”

  “Tristan… Tristan… Tristan Millard isn’t it? I was at a hotel opening for your father,” someone said from behind them. Tristan froze at the sight of a chubby gentleman who approached them.

  “Tristan, surely you remember me, I’m John Vaineville, I was your father’s associate for the Hotel Adriatic in Spain. How is old Denver Milliard by the way?”

  Tristan could taste the bile in his tongue. He turned to look at Elise, who was looking at him searchingly, and he could only look on as she turned on her heels and left.

  Milliard? He was Tristan Milliard, son of Denver Milliard? This means he didn’t just work in Hotel Continental, their family OWNED Hotel Continental, along with 10 other 5-star hotels around the world. She didn’t understand. What was he doing working as a baker at a local shop when he could be anywhere in the world doing whatever he wanted?

  The truth was that Elise was not angry with Tristan, but with herself, it was her fault. She felt like a fool, nearly falling for some playboy millionaire. Her parents had taught her better.

  Elise shook her head, shaking the thoughts away. She had gone through the weekend as usual, going to mass and saying nothing to Aunt Jem, who was also conspicuously quiet then. Elise didn’t want to think about it. She had nothing more to say and she did not expect Tristan Maine or Milliard or whatever he called himself, to come back to work and that would be that.

  As usual, she opened up at 7:00 am, and walked through the whole place. She almost didn’t go by Tristan’s work area, but the business woman in her said it was her responsibly. She was surprised to see his station immaculate. There wasn’t a single speck of flour out of place. Then she saw the simple pink box with the white ribbon sitting on his chair. She looked it over and found a card that said ‘Elise’ on it. She opened it and found a cupcake with ‘4give me’ written on it in icing. Elise couldn’t help but smile. Tristan must have baked this as an apology before he left. Elise could hardly suppress the tinge of pain she felt. She might never see him again and there was so much they had to say, or so it felt like it to her.

  Elise brought the cupcake to her office and took a bite. It was delicious, Tristan really did have a gift. Before she realized it, there was a tear falling down her face.

  “I would have expected that someone eating something so delicious would be smiling not crying.” It was Aunt Jem. Elise didn’t even notice her come in.

  “Just some regrets Aunt, nothing terminal. This is really good.”

  “Tristan was a really good baker. I’m sorry for what happened dear. I never thought you’d find out this way.”

  Elise’s eyes widened. “You knew? You knew he was a Milliard and you didn’t tell me?”

  “I know his mother, we were friends when we were younger. She wanted help, she told me that her son and her husband didn’t get along and that Tristan wanted to find work and maybe stand on his own without her husband knowing what was happening, she wanted to help her son find a better path than the one he’s been taking without his father taking over everything. I volunteered our little shop. Denver Milliard probably hasn’t even heard of it. So I hired him. I tried to talk him out of going to that party at Milestone, someone was sure to recognize him, but he insisted, and I thought, what was the harm?” Aunt Jem looked apologetically at Elise. “I had no desire to make you feel like a fool.”

  “Why did he pretend then? Why make up a lie about himself when he can have anything he wanted?”

  At that moment, she saw Tristan behind Auntie Jem. He came into the office and looked at her.

  “I’ll give you two some privacy,” said Auntie Jem, leaving the room.

  “I wanted to work without being a Milliard. My whole life, I’ve had people falling to my feet, wanting to please, or mollify me. I was the heir to a business empire, but the only thing I was ever really good at was baking, and I loved it. But it wasn’t what was expected of me. So I partied, I didn’t know what to do with my life. I went out with women whose names I didn’t even bother to remember. But I decided to change Elise. So I came here, to work without the burden of being a Milliard and you treated me like any other worker. What I said at the party was true, I really do admire you.” Elise couldn’t look at him, or think of a reply, she just waited for him to finish.

  “I was never sure of what I wanted before I discovered I could bake, then I knew that’s what I wanted to do, but I didn’t know how to go about it. I came here looking for direction, but I found more than that.”

  “What exactly is it you think you’ve found here Mr. Milliard?”

  “Inspiration, motivation, and hopefully, love.” At that last word, Elise looked into his eyes and she felt warmth flood her. “When I saw you dancing with that man at the party, I panicked, I felt like I was losing my one chance to be a better person, my one gift from God that could make my life worthy of happiness. All I ask now is a second chance Elise, a chance to make you happy.”

  There was a long heavy silence after he said this.

  “Well, Mr. Milliard, you have a wedding cake to bake.”

  Prologue

  Six months have passed since the Saldana-Cane wedding, and Tabitha’s AngeliCakes was a booming business. Most business analysts said it was because of the business acumen that Mary Elise Coleson had, while food critics said it was the expert work of Tristan Milliard, heir to a million dollar hotel empire. But Aunt Jem knew the truth; it was both.

  Elise and Tristan worked together and were very much in love. Elise worked hard and it rubbed off on Tristan, while Tristan allowed Elise to relax once in a while. Their betrothal was expected to be announced later in the month, and Aunt Jem couldn’t wait. They were a match made in heaven...

  You've Got a Way With Me...

  Joanne Sawyer

  Introduction

  Melissa George came home from London for the worst possible reason, because her father had been diagnosed with cancer. After being driven by her career, she finally returns and gives her time to family. She was met by her mother, her brother, and her childhood friend, Jordan James. But her father’s situation is worse than she was led to believe, and Melissa finds herself in the brink of despair, despite her father’s reassurances of a blessed afterlife. But her faith in God and her father’s love allow her to come to grips with all these surprises, along with Jordan, who goes out of his way to help her sort through her feelings and make her happy, becoming her shoulder to cry on...

  She Was Exhausted...

  Melissa George was dozing on the train. She’d been in transit for about a day and she was exhausted. She wanted nothing more than to get home and fall into a nice warm bed her mother was sure to have ready. She was coming home. There was no major holiday, her job at a prestigious hotel in England almost never allowed for that, but her father falling ill was something she had not anticipated. After working for nearly 2 years abroad as a VP and interior designer without a break, she finally used her vacation time to be with her ailing father. Her dad had been struggling with his weight as he was nearing his seventies, he had high blood pressure and he’d already had a stroke when she was just 17, but they never guessed cancer would come up. Her father had lung cancer d
espite the fact that he had never smoked a single cigarette in his life.

  It had surprised everyone, especially her mother. Melissa knew the people dearest to her needed her and she had to rise to the occasion.

  The train finally stopped in their town. There was a nip in the air, but the snow wouldn’t be coming until maybe a month from now. Melissa tied her beautiful auburn hair into a ponytail and checked her look. For a woman who’d just spent 3 hours on a train, she looked pretty good. She scanned the crowd, looking for a familiar face, maybe her mother, or her brother Malcolm. She’d been looking around for a few minutes, but she saw neither her mother nor her brother at the station.

  “Melissa, hey! Over here!” She turned and was quite surprise. Standing in front of her was the most attractive man she’d ever seen. He had black hair and dark brown eyes that made her want to melt into them. He didn’t look familiar to her at all.

  “I’m sorry, do I know you?” she asked politely.

  “Are you kidding me? It’s me, Jordan. I spent like half my childhood at your house,” the man said. It finally started to dawn on her. Jordan James was her brother’s best friend. She remembered what her brother had said about him before, how they went to separate colleges but ended up coming back home and working together, her brother as an engineer and Jordan as the landscaper. They even built their own little firm together and from what she recalled, their business was booming.

  “Oh wow Jordan. I didn’t recognize you now, you look so different!”

  “Yeah, I used to have braces, and horrible acne. How long’s it been, six years?”

  “That’s right, six years since I last saw you. I hear you and Malcolm are working together?”

  “Yes we are, and we’re doing pretty well too. Where are your bags?”

  “My bags?”

  “Your brother asked me to pick you up. They just brought your dad home from the hospital, so they’re a little swamped.”

  A wave of sadness flowed through her. She should have been there and helped them. Why did she have to take so long? Her little mental exchange was apparently evident to Jordan, because he suddenly said, “Hey, it’s not your fault. No need to feel guilty about it. Where are your bags again?”

  They had both brought her bags to his pickup and were now driving down the familiar road to Melissa’s childhood home.

  “So… how’s your life right now? Is there a Mrs. James waiting for you at home?” Melissa asked as they drove.

  “No, not yet. I’m not quite ready to go down that road, you know?”

  “I guess I understand, the same goes for me as well, I need to focus on my career before getting into any kind of relationship,” she said with a smile. But the truth was that Melissa was a bit lonely. Not physically, to tell the truth, she was still a virgin. She believed in saving herself before marriage, and her faith was a strong factor in her life. She had had boyfriends but they never did THAT. Melissa was lonely for some affection. She lived alone in London and didn’t have many friends. She was just too focused on her career to have any sort of social life.

  But she was home now, she was sure to get all the affection she needed.

  “So uhm, how about you? Is there some lucky Londoner waiting for you at home?” asked Jordan.

  “Oh no, I was a little too busy to go out. I spent most of my nights indoors or at the hotel, and I don’t really have a social life in England. But you know, no regrets,” she said with a smile, “How’s your business going with Malcolm.”

  “It’s going pretty great, we have a lot of loyal local customers, and we’re branching out, at least we were. I’m sort of handling most of the business right now.”

  “Malcolm is so lucky to have you as a friend and partner. Other people wouldn’t be so lucky.”

  “Well, he’s pretty lucky with what he’s got.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ll see when you get there. He told me he wanted to tell you in person,” said Jordan, winking at her with a glint in his eye.

  They drove through some woods and finally, the big white house slowly came into view.

  Melissa didn’t realize that she missed her home as much as she did; an overwhelming feeling of relief came over her as she saw her old home, or maybe it was the memories she had here that triggered it. There’s no place like home.

  As the car pulled up, they both saw the front door open, and Melissa saw her mother running out to meet them. Malcolm stopped at the door, there was someone else behind him, but Melissa wasn’t sure who that person might be.

  Melissa got out of the car quickly and met her mother with a fierce hug.

  “Oh mama, I missed you so much!”

  “And we missed you my little rose. Your father’s been asking for you since we told him you were coming. Oh Mels, you look so beautiful.”

  Melissa smiled after hearing that familiar nickname. She hasn’t heard anyone call her Mels in two years.

  “Hey sis, Good to finally see you,” said Malcolm coming up toward her and enveloping her in a big bear hug.

  “You too, Mal. I missed you.”

  “By the way,” Malcolm said as they pulled away from their embrace. “I have someone to introduce to you.”

  Melissa saw a woman standing behind Malcolm. She was petite and she had a sweet smile, blonde hair, and blue eyes. She was lovely.

  “I’d like you to meet Sally, my fiancée!”

  How is this?

  Melissa was stunned. She didn’t know what to say for a good 10 seconds, and then she snapped out of it and said, “Oh wow. How is this? Hello!”

  It was obviously a bit awkward, but their mom helped them breeze through the awkward situations, as she always knew how to do it.

  “Well, there’s plenty of time for us to get to know each other over the week. Melissa, Sally just helped me whip up a wonderful lunch, she’s quite the cook. And you can cook us up some of your famed roast beef, oh Sally, Melissa makes me look bad with her roast beef. You know Mels, your father has been dying to have a taste of your cooking for months now,” and all of a sudden, Mrs. Agatha George stops dead in her tracks. A simple figure of speech has struck too close to home. Everyone was immersed in icy silence. Malcolm was the first to snap out of it.

  “Hey, let’s all go inside. Dad’s been waiting for you Mels, you’re all he talks about recently.”

  They all shuffled inside, Sally holding Mrs. George’s hand, who was still pale and dazed, and leading her to the house, Melissa following behind them, eyes downcast, with Jordan and Malcolm bringing up the rear, carrying Melissa’s bags with them.

  “You can go right in, he’s been expecting you,” Sally said, pointing to the downstairs parlor that they must have converted into her father’s sick room.

  Melissa braced herself for what she was about to see. She knew cancer and what it could do to someone, but she wasn’t entirely sure she could bear to see it reflected in her father, the man she had leaned on and idolized all her life. Breathing deeply, Melissa finally reached out and turned the knob.

  Inside, she saw a respirator and some other hospital equipment that measured her father’s pulse and breathing. There was a white bed and tray holder where the chaise lounge and coffee table used to be, and, propped up on some pillows, was her father.

  Melissa couldn’t help stop herself from gasping. Her father was just a shadow of the man she remembered. What a nasty disease cancer was, it reduces your loved ones into vestiges of their former selves, until finally, nothing remained but a left over imprint on a mattress, and even that eventually fades.

  “Dad,” was all she could say, trying to control the tears that threatened to flow.

  “Hello, rose petal. Come over here, let me look at you,” her father said, smiling as she came closer. When she was by the bed, he reached out a bony hand toward her. She took his hand and the tears started to fall.

  “No, don’t cry petal. You’re so beautiful. My little girl’s a grown woman now. Hey come on, how can I ta
lk to you if you keep bawling like that?”

  Melissa fought to control the tears that she couldn’t keep from falling. “Oh daddy. I’m sorry I took so long,” and she kissed her father’s hand, washing it with her tears.

  “I’m sorry I might go sooner than we wanted, too, but everything is part of God’s plan. However, I did get to spend 34 wonderful years with your mother, and I got the chance to raise the two amazing kids. I couldn’t ask for more.”

  “I could. I want more time daddy. I was going to bring you to England, take you and mama to see the Big Ben and Buckingham Palace and see some shows on the West End. I had it all planned.”