Tormented Love: A Christian Romance (The True Love Series Book 3) Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Foreward

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  TORMENTED LOVE

  The True Love Series

  Book 3

  Juliette Duncan

  Cover Design by http://www.StunningBookCovers.com

  Copyright © 2016 Juliette Duncan

  All rights reserved

  TORMENTED LOVE is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are all products of the author’s imagination or are used for fictional purposes. Any mentioned brand names, places, and trade marks remain the property of their respective owners, bear no association with the the author, and are used for fictional purposes only.

  THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

  Foreward

  Note from the Author:

  HELLO! Thank you for choosing to read this book - I hope you enjoy it! As a thank you, I'd like to offer you a FREE GIFT. That's right - my FREE novella, “Hank and Sarah - A Love Story” is available exclusively to my newsletter subscribers. Click here to claim your copy now and to be notified of my future book releases. I hope you enjoy both books! Have a wonderful day!

  Juliette

  Chapter 1

  Brisbane, Australia

  Tessa held her breath as Ben, her husband of less than a year, punched redial for the fifth time in less than an hour. She prayed that Jayden, his teenage son, would pick up this time. A muscle in Ben’s jaw twitched as he stared vacantly out the living room window, his chest heaving with measured breaths. When the phone diverted to Jayden’s voicemail, Ben hung up without leaving a message. He’d already left more than they could count.

  Tessa slipped her arms around Ben’s waist from behind and leaned her head on his slumped shoulders. “Still no answer?”

  Ben shook his head slowly and turned around. Since Jayden had run off to be with his mother during their recent ski trip to New Zealand, Ben’s milk chocolate eyes had held a haunted look, and Tessa’s heart ached for him.

  She’d forced herself to remain strong for both their sakes, although she feared Ben might slip back into depression if they couldn’t convince Jayden to come home soon, which was becoming more unlikely with every day that passed.

  Tessa lifted her hand and touched Ben’s face lightly. “He’ll come home, Ben. I’m sure he will.”

  “I don’t know how you can be so confident, Tess.” Ben’s eyes misted over. His Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed heavily.

  “We have to trust God to work this out.”

  Ben inhaled slowly and nodded. “Yes, I know, but it’s so hard. Especially when he won’t even talk to us.” Ben’s voice caught in his throat.

  Tessa forced tears back as she pulled Ben close. The pain she was feeling was nothing compared to the despair and failure tormenting Ben. If only he’d stop blaming himself. Nobody could have foreseen what had happened. Not even Jayden’s best friend, Neil, had known what Jayden and his mum had been planning.

  For a long moment, Ben clung to her. Tessa didn’t know what more she could say. Never in their wildest dreams had they expected Jayden to disappear.

  “Maybe the lawyer will come up with something.” Her voice was little more than a whisper. She wasn’t convinced anything could be done, but Ben was keen to explore any possible option that might bring Jayden home.

  Ben lifted his head, drawing a deep breath before nodding slowly. “I hope so, Tess. I can’t handle this much longer.” His voice choked again.

  Tessa lifted her hand and brushed his dampened cheek with her fingers as she held his gaze. How had their holiday, the one intended to build bridges between Ben and Jayden, gone so horribly wrong? Dear God, please help us. Please bring Jayden home.

  When Ben and Tessa arrived at Preston Iken’s inner city office later that morning, the receptionist showed them into a small corner office furnished with a cherry wooden desk, dark burgundy leather chairs, and shaded table lamps. She offered coffee while they waited.

  They didn’t have long to wait. A slightly rotund older man wearing bi-focal glasses bustled into the room before their coffee arrived. Preston Iken held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Mr and Mrs Williams. Sorry I’m late.”

  Ben stood and shook the older man’s hand. “Thanks for meeting with us, Mr Iken.”

  “Please, call me Preston.” He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “Now, take a seat and tell me what I can do for you.” Preston sat on the opposite side of the desk and opened a notepad.

  Ben drew in a deep breath. Tessa took his hand and squeezed it. Their eyes briefly met as he glanced at her for support before returning his attention to Preston. “We’re hoping you can help us with a very serious matter.” Ben gulped before proceeding to tell Preston of his divorce from Kathryn and how she’d secretly contacted Jayden and somehow convinced him to go live with her. “She’s taken him out of the country—all the way to the States, in fact, and we want him back as soon as possible.” Ben’s chest heaved as his chin quivered. He still couldn’t believe this had happened. “Jayden belongs here. With us.” Ben’s voice faltered. He fought back tears as Tessa placed her arm around his shoulder.

  Preston steepled his fingers, resting his chin on top. “Mmm. Parental child abduction.” He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms, his expression softening as he met Ben’s gaze. “First of all, I want you to know you’re not alone. This kind of thing happens more often than people know. Australia has the highest rate of parental child abduction per capita in the world, not that you’re probably interested in that statistic.”

  Ben pinched his lips and shifted restlessly in his seat. “Not really. I just want my son back.”

  Tessa leaned forward and glanced at Ben before turning back to Preston and giving him a polite smile. “That’s an interesting fact, Mr Iken, but what do you suggest we do about our situation?”

  “Getting your son back isn’t going to be easy—I’m sorry.” Preston straightened in his chair and peered at Ben over the top of his glasses. “Mr Williams, when you and your ex-wife divorced, did you get a parenting order that gave you the legal right to keep Jayden?”

  Ben stiffened as he felt the colour drain from his face. He gulped. “Well, no, but surely that shouldn’t matter.” It shouldn’t matter, but somehow it did. He closed his eyes and wished this was all just a cruel dream and that he’d wake up any second and discover none of it was true. Jayden hadn’t run away with Kathryn. He was alive and well and still at home. But when Ben opened his eyes, Preston’s gaze was fixed on him. It wasn’t a dream. It was a nightmare. Ben held Preston’s gaze, even though he just wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. How could he have been so stupid?

  Ben drew in a slow breath and continued in a carefully measured, monotone voice. “Kathryn didn’t want Jayden when she left. She walked out and left him with me, and I’ve been taking
care of him ever since.” Ben gulped and blinked back tears. “His school’s here. All his friends are here. Australia’s the only place Jayden’s ever lived.” Ben’s voice grew louder as anger over what Kathryn had done welled up within him. “She shouldn’t be able to waltz in and disrupt his life like this.” Ben sat forward. He was getting stirred up, but he didn’t care. What Kathryn had done was wrong. Totally, one hundred percent, wrong.

  Tessa placed her arm around Ben’s shoulders. He shrugged it off.

  Preston scratched his chin and adjusted his thinly framed glasses. “That’s what you think, Mr. Williams. And on the grounds of common sense, I agree with you; but the law says differently, I’m sorry.” He leaned forward, his expression growing serious. “Since you don’t have a parenting order in place for your son, there’s not much preventing your ex-wife from taking him out of the country, even against your will.”

  Ben jolted in his seat. “You’re kidding, right?”

  Preston shook his head and pinched his lips. “Sadly, I’m not.”

  “Doesn’t the fact that Jayden’s a minor make any difference?” Tessa asked.

  “I’m afraid not.” Preston glanced at her as he removed his glasses.

  Ben drew his eyebrows together. “Are you saying there’s nothing we can do to get Jayden back?”

  “That’s not what I meant, Mr Williams.” Preston paused, running a hand over his balding head. “The Hague Convention provides a procedure for attempting to have a child returned in cases like this, but it’s never easy, and unfortunately the success rate isn’t great, especially when court orders aren’t in place.” He crossed his arms and rested his elbows on the table, his expression changing to one of reassurance. “We’ll do whatever we can, Mr Williams, but it’s a complicated matter we’re dealing with. Give me a few days to look into it, and then we can meet again to decide where we go to from here.”

  Preston continued speaking, but all Ben could hear was a sickening whirring in his head. Jayden wasn’t coming home anytime soon. A lump formed in his throat, and he could barely manage a polite thank-you.

  Tessa clutched his hand as they left Preston’s office and entered the lift. She remained silent as he stared vacantly at the city below.

  “I should have got a custody order, Tess. And I should never have trusted Kathryn.”

  How could he have been so stupid?

  Chapter 2

  Tessa rolled over and reached for Ben, but instead of a warm body, her hand found a cold, empty space. She let out a sleepy sigh and opened her eyes. The neon red numbers on the clock flashed three a.m. Tessa dragged herself out of bed, wrapped her robe around herself and tiptoed downstairs.

  A flicker of light in the outdoor work area Ben had claimed for his home office caught Tessa’s attention as she passed through the living room. After filling two glasses with water, she slid the door open with her foot and padded across the grass, still wet from the rain the day before. The full moon, half shrouded in wispy clouds, cast a ghostly silver glow over the entire backyard. Tessa couldn’t help but think that somewhere, halfway across the world, Jayden might also gaze at that same moon.

  She draped her arm gently across Ben’s hunched shoulders as she stood beside him. “Any success?” Tessa knew the answer already, but still, she had to ask.

  Ben shook his head. “No, but he’s seeing my messages on Facebook.” He let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. “He’s ignoring me on purpose, Tess.”

  Tessa leaned over the back of Ben’s chair and wrapped her arms around him. “It might not be Jayden’s doing. Maybe Kathryn’s telling him not to answer.”

  Ben’s body stiffened. “He’d reply if he wanted to, Tess. He messaged Kathryn for months behind our backs.” His breathing quickened. “I’ve a good mind to go over there and drag him home myself.”

  Tessa inhaled slowly. How many times had they had this conversation? She unwrapped her arms and perched on the edge of Ben’s desk, facing him. “And what would that achieve, Ben? If you went over and dragged him back, do you think he’d stay?”

  Ben shrugged before turning his attention back to the computer screen.

  “We need to trust God to bring Jayden home when he’s ready, Ben. Besides, we have a lawyer who’s working on it as well.”

  Ben’s gaze didn’t shift from the screen. “Preston’s been working on it for two weeks and hasn’t done a thing.”

  Tessa crossed her arms and studied her husband. She hated what this was doing to him. There were so many ‘if-only’s’, but the reality was that Jayden had been unhappy at home for whatever reason, and had been taken in by Kathryn’s promises of a better life in America. They both believed that the life Kathryn could offer Jayden would be shallow and meaningless, but how long it would take Jayden to realise that for himself was unknown. They just had to keep praying and trusting God would work in Jayden’s heart, and that one day, hopefully not too far away, he’d decide to return of his own accord. But Ben wanted to confront Jayden and force him to come back. Like that was going to work. In fact, Tessa feared it might drive him further away.

  “We have to keep trusting God, Ben. He can bring Jayden home faster than you, or I, or Preston could ever do. We’ve been praying for Jayden for a long time, and although it doesn’t seem likely right now, I believe God’s heard and will answer each one of those prayers. One day Jayden will wake up to himself and choose to come back of his own accord. I know it’s not easy, but we have to leave Jayden in God’s hands, Ben. He wants the best for him just as much as we do. We have to trust God together.” Tessa held her hand out to Ben.

  Ben slowly broke his gaze from the computer screen, took Tessa’s hand in his and squeezed it. “I’m sorry, Tess. You’re right. I just feel so helpless.” His voice caught in his throat.

  Tessa stood and eased herself onto Ben’s lap. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him close. “It’ll be okay, you’ll see.” As she rested her head on his and prayed quietly for Jayden, tears streamed down her cheeks, dampening Ben’s hair.

  “Come on, Ben, let’s go back to bed.”

  “Give me a minute, Tess, then I’ll come up.”

  As Tessa met Ben’s gaze, her heart ached for him. He wouldn’t be coming back to bed anytime soon, and there was little she could do about it. She leaned down and kissed him gently before pulling back and looking deeply into his eyes. “We’ll get through this, Ben. I know we will.”

  Ben smiled weakly and nodded as Tessa slipped off his lap.

  Tessa glanced at the clock as she entered the house. Too late to go back to bed, especially if Ben wasn’t joining her. She’d take a shower and have a longer quiet time before going to work. Passing Jayden’s bedroom, Tessa paused and peeked inside. Everything was exactly the way he’d left it before they’d gone on the ski trip to New Zealand. Tessa stepped inside the room and turned the CD player on. It wasn’t one of her favourite CD’s, but the heavy metal reminded her of him nonetheless.

  Books with rugby balls for book ends lined his shelf. Scouting medals and science awards hung on the wall. A tennis trophy stood on top of the eight-drawer dresser surrounded by framed photos of their dogs, Bindy and Sparky, and one photo of the three of them taken on one of their beach trips. Tessa picked up this last photo and fought back tears. She remembered the day it was taken. Jayden hadn’t wanted to come and was barely smiling; but at least they were together. Now, they were thousands of miles apart.

  Tessa pressed the photo to her chest and breathed out slowly. Ben shouldn’t be taking the full blame for Jayden leaving. If only I’d been a better stepmother, Jayden might still be here. Perhaps her work colleague, Harrison, was right. If she’d stayed home and gone to all of Jayden’s games instead of working so hard, maybe he wouldn’t have felt so neglected.

  Tessa bent her head as tears flooded her eyes. She’d been so focused on trying to keep Ben positive, she hadn’t thought too much about her role in Jayden’s decision to leave, but she’d fai
led him, no doubt about it. Gulping, Tessa squeezed back her tears. I’m sorry, God. She gulped again and let out a huge breath. I messed up with Jayden. I should have spent more time with him. Done more with him, but I didn’t, and now he’s gone. Tessa sniffed and clutched the photo tighter. Please bring Jayden home, dear God. Please give us another chance to get it right. Tears spilled down Tessa’s face as she curled up on Jayden’s bed and fell asleep with the photo pressed to her heart.

  Later that day, Tessa escaped into her office and closed the door. Trying to focus on work was such a challenge, even though in some ways it helped her get through the day. No-one at work knew about Jayden leaving. How could she tell Harrison of all people that her teenage stepson had run off with his mother? He’d just throw it back at her and say she shouldn’t have been working. Just like he’d told his own mother.

  Tessa sighed as she opened her sandwich and clicked on her personal email account. Since Jayden had disappeared, she hadn’t much interest in normal things like checking emails and staying in touch with people, but the thought had hit her while sorting some invoices that Jayden might have emailed her. Unlikely, but what if he had? She quickly scanned her inbox. Her heart fell. Nothing from Jayden. But there was one from Margaret, her friend from church, and who was also Harrison’s mother. Tessa bit her lip. She should have called Margaret and told her about Jayden. She of all people would have understood, having been estranged from Harrison for years. But it had been hard enough telling her parents.

  She clicked on Margaret’s message and began to read:

  ‘Hi Tessa,

  I’m well, and I hope you and your family are doing well, too. I hope you enjoyed your holiday—you’ll have to tell me all about it. Missed seeing you at Bible study again last night, so thought I’d give you an update on everyone. Sherry gave birth to twins last week. All three are doing well and should be home tomorrow. We’ll also have to vote on a new group leader soon because Yvonne announced her engagement and is moving to Sydney. I know the other women have to give their recommendations too, but I personally think you’d do a wonderful job as our next leader. Your strong faith and cheerful disposition is just what we need. Remember, if you have anything you want to share or anything you want us to pray for, just let me know.