At I Heart Lesfic, we believe the world could use a bit more kindness after one of the hardest and longest of years. Many authors have signed up to help IHL spread kindness in the world.

Today, the wonderful Luci Dreamer is here to share a story. Also, Luci is giving away 1 ecopy of The Burden of Happiness. Below the guest post, you’ll find more details about the giveaway.

Take it away, Luci.

You Deserve It

I hate having to rely on others. Growing up, having to count on people came at a price, so I figured out how to do almost everything on my own. I’m much more comfortable doing things for others and will only accept help if I can repay the favor in an immediate, concrete manner.

But recently, I found myself literally stranded at an airport. I was an hour and a half from my final destination and the company I’d rented a car from had closed hours before I landed. Oh, the downside of tiny airports…

There was nothing within walking distance, no taxis would take me as far as I needed to go, all the hotel rooms were booked so I couldn’t just wait until the morning to get my rental car. As someone who has backup plans for backup plans, I was at a complete loss. So, I did the last thing I wanted to do. I called someone for help.

Now, I’d met Mitch only once. He’s our realtor who recently sold us a property in northern Michigan. I was trying to get to it to receive our appliances that were scheduled to be delivered the next day. I called him, hoping he’d have some advice, or knew of a car service I could pay an arm and a leg for to get me to our newly purchased home. After he stopped laughing and teasing me for being so ‘Southern California’, he said he’d be down in an hour and a half, hour and fifteen if the traffic was light. It should be, it was already past ten o’clock at night. I tried to tell him it was too late and I’m sorry I called and bothered him, but he wouldn’t hear of it. “I’m coming to get you, okay?” I finally just said okay and thanked him again.

An hour and twenty minutes later, he rolled up to the airport departure/arrival area—there was only one area for both. I’m not sure if it was exhaustion or relief or disbelief—probably a combination of all three—but I started to cry. This man had just driven over an hour to pick me up in the middle of the night. How would I repay him? How could I convey to him how hard this was for me to ask for his help without sounding ungrateful?

But I found that his help hadn’t begun with driving down to pick me up. When he dropped me off, I found that he’d brought all of the boxes that had been shipped to the new house into the garage. And there were well over a dozen.

When I turned to him and told him, teary-eyed again, how I don’t think I could repay him for his kindness, he said, “You don’t pay back kindness, you just accept it because you deserve it.”

GIVEAWAY

THE BURDEN OF HAPPINESS

by Luci Dreamer

Available in Kindle Unlimited

Sarah Leeds is haunted by horrible events in her past she can’t move on from. When a visit back to her hometown doesn’t bring the closure she’s yearned for, she wonders if she’ll ever be made whole again. But a chance meeting with a kind woman dealing with her own past makes Sarah want to find a way to reclaim her life.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Luci seeks solace in deserts, loves to build stuff and sneaks off into her writing shed every chance she gets. She’s perpetually entertained by her son and is lovingly put up with by her wife.

CONNECT WITH LUCI DREAMER

Twitter / Website / Instagram

Thanks so much for stopping by today.