Licence to Dream Read Online Free PDF Page A

invitation. He said they’d meet some useful people there who might like to use their landscaping services.
    Ben was running late, so Sandy drove to the hotel on her own and he caught up with her there.
    ‘You look gorgeous tonight. I can’t wait to get you home,’ he whispered as they made their way out to their cars.
    She smiled a promise as only Sandy could.
    On the way home a four-wheel drive ran a set of red lights and smashed into Sandy’s car. Ben braked violently, flung the door open and ran towards the wreck, but she was unconscious and trapped.
    ‘I’ve already phoned for an ambulance,’ a stranger said.
    ‘Thanks. This is my wife.’
    ‘Tough.’
    There was little Ben could do to help her and he stood in helpless agony, holding her hand through the broken window as he listened to a man groaning and cursing in the other vehicle.
    It seemed a long time till the ambulance and police arrived, even longer before they managed to free Sandy from the wreckage.
    Ben followed the ambulance to hospital, leaving his car in the first vacant parking bay and running headlong across to the casualty department. ‘My wife? She was just brought in after an accident.’
    ‘The doctors are examining her now. If I could just take some particulars?’
    Impatiently he gave her the information, keeping an eye on the area behind big semi-transparent doors. ‘Can I go in to see her now?’
    ‘Better to wait till the doctor comes out.’
    It seemed a long time until a man in a white coat came out of the rear area. The receptionist pointed Ben out to the doctor who beckoned him forward and led the way into a side room.
    ‘How is she?’ Ben asked.
    There was silence then the doctor sighed and shook his head. ‘I’m afraid she didn’t make it, Mr Elless. She had massive chest injuries from the impact.’
    His words didn’t make sense for a few moments and Ben frowned as he tried to sort through the information. Then it suddenly clicked and he felt anguish welling up in his chest. Sandy was dead! He’d lost her.
      How could that be possible? It hurt so much, he could only wrap his arms round himself and rock.
    ‘Is there someone we can call for you?’
    The doctor had to ask him twice before he remembered his mother’s phone number.
    ‘Can I see my wife?’
    ‘In a little while. We’re just tidying things up.’
    ‘Did the man who crashed into her survive?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Was he drunk?’
    ‘The police are dealing with that.’
    ‘He was drunk, wasn’t he?’
    ‘I can’t tell you that, Mr Elless.’
    When his mother came into the room, she held out her arms and Ben let himself sob. She understood how he was feeling as no one else ever would.
    It was only her strength that got him through the next few days, and the funeral passed in a distant blur.
    ‘It will get better, Ben darling,’ she said to him several times. ‘I promise you it will.’
    ‘Not for Sandy, it won’t.’
    * * * *
    Grandpop had a two-year remission. He and Meriel had some wonderful outings together now she had a car. Then the cancer came back and he started to go rapidly downhill.
    When he eventually died, her biggest comfort was that he had been more than ready to go.
    He’d whispered to her from the hospital bed, ‘Don’t you grieve for me, lass. I’ve been selfish, I know, but I’m glad you stayed nearby till now. Afterwards, though, you go out and make something of your life. Get right away from here and follow that dream of yours. Keep it in focus and you’ll get there one day, I know you will.’
    He didn’t say get away from your mother, but they both knew what he meant.
    Meriel’s grief wasn’t as loud as her mother’s, but it was a loss so agonising she couldn’t see her way past it for a while.
    * * * *
    She applied to emigrate to Australia a few days after the funeral and was one of the lucky ones to be selected. It helped that she’d found herself a job in advance, because the senior partner of her firm knew