Читать книгу Together In Paradise - Travis Jr. Slone - Страница 11

Thomas and Janie locked up the doors back at the house, and made their way to the garage. With Sarah’s mother off on a vacation of her own, it would be a quiet week there at the estate. They finished loading up the car, and Thomas buckled Janie into her car seat. After pulling out onto the long winding driveway, it was finally time for their week-long escape to paradise.

A few minutes later, the pearl colored Range Rover eased up to the gate, and Thomas gave a few parting instructions to the guard.

“You have a good weekend,” he said before advancing to the main road. “We’ll see you when we get back.”

“Enjoy your trip Sir,” replied the guard while waving good-bye. “We’ll keep an eye on the mansion.”

With that, Thomas turned onto the main road, and began the hour-long drive to the nearest airport. They cruised the roads carefully in the driving rain, trying to avoid any mishaps that would delay their arrival at the terminal. They seemed to be the only travelers on the desolate country road, which wasn’t unusual for a Saturday morning.

The radio played quietly as Thomas and Janie talked about what they would do on their trip. Then, as they passed a sign signaling that the highway was only 4 kilometers ahead, the cell phone suddenly rang in Thomas’s bag. He went to grab it from the center console, but it slipped out of his hand and tumbled to the floor near his feet.

He slowed the car as they approached a bend near the top of the hilly stretch of road, and attempted to reach the phone with his hand. Unfortunately, it was slightly out of reach, so he glanced down quickly to pinpoint its location before trying again. As he looked, he saw the phone’s glowing screen on the front. It was his wife, Sarah.

Knowing that she was probably calling about the message he had left, he was momentarily frozen by the thought of missing the call. With nowhere to pull over on the side of the road, he tried again to reach the phone. Finally, he felt it with his outstretched fingertips, and lifted his gaze back toward the road... but it was too late.

“Daddy, watch out!” screamed Janie from the back seat as she pointed to the black sports car drifting into their lane.

But before Thomas could react, they were struck head on by the vehicle, and violently propelled off of the nearby cliff. The cars twisted and tumbled over and over until reaching an abrupt stop at the bottom of the rocky valley. As the mangled metal frames lay side by side, one thing was clear: their lives had changed course, and the family trip would have to wait.