Legend of Last Chance Beach by @JoanReeves #RomanceGems

I desperately need a vacation. A beach vacation please. I have the perfect place picked out.

Have you heard of Last Chance Beach?

There are many legends about this beautiful island. This is my favorite one because it explains why it's called Last Chance.

Legend of Last Chance Beach

Many years ago, when travel was done by rails and sails, a pampered young woman, an acclaimed beauty, spurned each man who sought to claim her hand. Her wealthy merchant father grew angry at her refusal to marry and provide him with a grandson to inherit the kingdom he'd built.

He cajoled her with sweet words, bribed her with jewels, pleaded illness and declining years, but nothing gained her agreement to give her hand in marriage.

Angered by her obstinance, the father declared he would marry her to a man of his choosing. The spoiled beauty, possessing much of her father's attitude, declared no man would own her, but the one she chose.

Neither would yield.

One day, a young man from far away visited the father to ask for free passage on one of the man's ships so he could return to his home. In exchange for passage, the young man would use his talent as a writer to record every detail of the ship, the crew, the passengers, and the voyage.

The father left the room for a few minutes, and his daughter sneaked in to see the visitor.

He stood, tall and handsome, with a smile that showed dimples. His dark eyes bewitched her. Neither could look away.

Her heart pounded and her skin heated. She stepped toward him. He stepped toward her.

The beauty knew the man she'd waited for had appeared. Their hands touched. "It's as if I met you before—in my dreams," he murmured. They had but a minute to exchange names.

For a week, the young man dined with them each evening and told them of his family and home far away. The young couple could not take their eyes from each other. Her father finally noticed his daughter's infatuation with the impoverished young man. He leapt from his chair. "No! I forbid it." His daughter ignored him.

The father shouted at the young man. "Leave here at once." The young man stood but went to the beauty's chair. He knelt on one knee. "I'll return for you."

The father shouted for servants. "Take him to the nearest ship that sails on the morning tide." 

"I'll wait for you," the beauty shouted as she was carried away and locked in her room. She wept because she knew the young man who had touched her heart would be imprisoned in the ship's hold. He might well perish.

The daughter schemed and bribed and gathered information about the man to whom she'd given her heart.

When she was ready, she ran away and made her way to his country. He was not at the home he'd told her about. He had not returned to his family.

Filled with despair but not giving up, she searched through other towns and ports, hopped from island to island, but it was like looking for a grain of sand on an ocean beach.

Out of money, she landed on an island not far from the mainland. A newly constructed lighthouse helped guide ships into the ports that had been established. 

A minister's wife befriended her immediately and invited her to stay with them. "This fair island is a haven, my dear. We rescue people, their bodies and their souls. That's our mission—to give people another chance, perhaps their last chance—for life and happiness."

That night, the minister, his wife, and the beauty gathered in the parlor before dinner. "We have one other guest," the minister said. "He has a bit of difficulty getting around. He washed ashore here some months ago. He'd been held hostage on a ship. When the ship went into a safe harbor during a storm, he escaped and jumped overboard. You can imagine how the stormy ocean battered his body. It's a miracle he survived."

The sound of wood on wood preceded the parlor door opening. The beauty saw a crutch.

Her gaze rose and collided with the startled gaze of her beloved.

She flew into his arms, knocking the wooden crutch aside. They clung to each other, at last where each had longed to be.

Fate had provided them their Last Chance to find each other.

* * * * * 

I hope you enjoyed this little story. One day soon, maybe you can vacation on Last Chance Beach.

Author Spotlight: Judith Hudson

The Romance Gems Spotlight is shining on Judith Hudson this month. Judy has a wonderful romance series called Fortune Bay Books.

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I'm off to Last Chance Beach!