Garden Of Desire

By Martha Wickham

Abandoned Jeanie Blake is looking for her mother in Chicago. What will find her along the way? Friendship and trust is tested when her and Kelly vacation on the beach.

Love Letter is first lost love for young Patricia. That love can be lost forever when there's no way of recovering it. Healing Water has Frank Healed with his old time motel where people are trying to be healed. Why do children have accidents there?

This book has three short stories. They are Abandoned, Love Letter, and Healing Water.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Martha Wickham
• Release date: Jan 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310863257

Martha Wickham

Martha Wickham is an author from OR. She has written 12 books since 2004. Find more at www.marthawickham.com 

Book preview

A Garden Of Desire: AbanDoned  Healing Water and Love Letter

All stories by Martha Wickham.

Copyright 2004

Abandoned  

Jeanie Blake cooked breakfast for her father, Gary, every morning. He was the only person she lived with and took care of in the city of Miami, Florida. Her parents divorced when she turned five and her father, Gary, took custody because her mother couldn’t support herself and a child. Jeanie never knew what happened to her. She still loved the mother she did not know.

A nutritious breakfast with juice and vitamins started him well on his first day as an assistant welder. He came to the kitchen and sat down to eat.  He said hello and hugged her.

     Can I have five dollars for my lunch today, she asked.

He reached into his pocket and gave it to her.

     Thanks, she replied, grabbed her backpack, and ran off to school.

Gary showed up to work that day looking good. He approached the manager who had hired him. Remember, I Don’t know anything about welding, he told him.

     That’s fine, everyone has to start somewhere. I’ll start you off as an assistant. You can help Tom Banks.

John Dun grabbed Gary’s arm and took him over to Tom. Tom, this is Gary Blake. He is new, and I want you to train him to weld. He can be like an intern.

Tom seemed polite. He can stay here with me all day and learn.  Tom smiled at Gary and shook his hand.

All day long, he watched and helped. He left around lunch time because his manager wanted him to start part-time.

When he got home, Jeanie hadn’t come home from school yet. It was quiet, and he took a nap to relax.

When he woke up, she still wasn’t there. He worried a little about her.  Finally, she came back.

     Where were you? Gary asked.

     At a friend’s house, Jeanie replied.

     Next time, call me and let me know where you are. It’s a boy, right?

     No, it’s just my friend Kelly. We wanted to practice for our theater class. I might be going over there tomorrow too, maybe all month.

They both sat down at the table and ate. Jeanie smiled at him. I’m sorry you didn’t know where I was. I’m going to my room to do homework. Dinner was great. Goodnight.  She got up and left the table.

The next morning when eating breakfast she told him, I think I’ll be at Kelly’s every school night. Let me leave you her number. She wrote it down and left for school. Bye dad, I love you. The front door slammed.

A little nervous about his second day at work, Gary acted confident.  He always wanted to set a good example. That week, repetition brought no surprises.  On the second week, he would be there full-time. He watched and tried to learn everything. He thought it was easy.

Friday night at dinner, Jeanie started up a conversation.  What happened to Mom? she asked.

     She moved to Chicago, Illinois, ten years, ago and I haven’t seen her since.

     Why doesn’t she want to speak to us?

       She must want to; maybe it embarrasses her.  And that’s why she doesn’t call, because I embarrass her? asked Jeanie.

     No, she embarrasses herself. She never had a career or the money to take care of you.

     I Don’t think she cares about me; she never asked about me.  Feeling abanDoned she said, What a jerk! She must have been impossible to get along with.

     Don’t ever talk about your mother like that! Get up and go to your room.  It was the first time Jeanie had gotten in trouble over her mother. She lay in bed angry, hoping the vacation she and her father were going on would go well..

Late that night, she came back out of her bedroom. Her father was still sitting on the couch.

I’m sorry about what I said before. I suppose I never asked about her, either. She hugged him and sat down. I hope our vacation at the beach resort is still on. I really wanted to go. I’ll do all of my chores, plus more. Please say we’re going.

     Alright, we’ll go, he answered.

     Good, you look like you need a vacation. Has the new job got you stressed?

     No it hasn’t, but I’m looking forward to going fishing.

     Out on a boat? asked Jeanie.

     Yes, we’ll rent one.

     "I’m more than excited. I’ll