Second Chance Love

One The sky darkened as April drove her dark red 1997 Buick LeSabre along highway 101 north into Oregon. It was a two-lane highway and she was used to highways being four lanes or more. She felt closed in and alone on this one. She knew it was a scenic route in daylight, but it was getting darker and she was tired. Her eyelids drooped a bit and she shook her head to force herself to stay awake. The radio was off since she had lost any stations a few miles back other than static for the most part. Her shoulder-length brown hair swung, brushing her cheek as she did. The shorter cut felt strange, but she would get used to it. After having long hair for almost two years this was quite a change. She frowned as she concentrated on the road, glancing from side to side. The wooded areas lining the road hadn't been helping much as twilight started to settle in. The trees were tall and angled over the road blocking off what little light there was. Plus, there were very few street lights on this road. She kept looking for the sign she had been told to expect. Tanis Lee was the name of the ‘quaint little hamlet in the hills'. She had that line memorized from the brochure that was laying on the passenger seat. Sighing, April moved her shoulders and rotated her head again to ease the small cramps in her shoulders and neck. She spotted a small pull-off on the side of the road and decided to stop to check her progress on the map she carried. Most people depended on GPS these days, but hers had already rerouted her four times and not in the right direction. Stopping would give her a minute to rest as well. She pulled onto the small dirt expanse at the side of the road, set the brake and relaxed before turning on the inside car light. She considered closing her eyes for a short nap but decided against it. She was running late as it was and if she closed her eyes now there was no telling when she might wake up. Yawning, she opened the map to locate the last truck stop where she had gotten gas. Carefully, she used her finger to trace what she thought had been her route from the station to where she was now. April frowned again as she found what she believed was her current spot, then looked up. She was just in time to see a large black pickup truck go racing by her location and on down the road like a bat out of hell. ‘Glad I wasn't still on the road when that came by' April muttered, then turned her attention to the map again. According to that, she had maybe another two miles to the Tanis Lee turnoff. She folded up the map and dropped it on the other seat, half on top of the brochure. For a moment, she looked at the picture of the bed and breakfast she was going to be staying at for the next two weeks. It looked peaceful. Idyllic. An old white two-story clapboard house overlooking the sea that sort of spread across the landscape. Two weeks of peace, quiet and sea air. This little hamlet was far enough on the west coast to be close to the sea and far enough north to be above California, just over the state line. April smiled as she took a sip of water from the bottle she had with her before pulling back onto the road. Quiet was exactly what she needed after everything that had happened. The sky had darkened even more during the few minutes she had been parked at the side of the road, so April flipped her lights on just to be safe, then resumed her journey. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she studied her reflection for a brief minute. Dark brown hair cut almost into an old Page Boy style framed an oval face. She looked ordinary, except for her eyes. She had inherited her violet-blue eyes from her dad. Most people said they were striking in color. She smiled as she thought of her father, then she sighed as she remembered the reason she was making this trip alone. This trip had been a gift. It was to have been her honeymoon. Honeymoon. What a laugh that was. Her mind drifted back to that day at the small chapel in her hometown.