Page 21 of A Chance at Forever
“Creative planning,” Carter explained. He sank onto a comfortable recliner. “The place looks fantastic, Tori.”
“Yeah,” Derek echoed. “Guess who’s staying for the next two weeks?”
“Dad?” Victoria lifted a questioning eyebrow. “Since when do you take a two-week vacation?”
“Since my daughter moved clear across the United States. Well? Aren’t you going to give us the grand tour?”
“And feed us,” Derek added, rubbing his stomach. “I’m famished.”
An hour later Victoria placed sandwiches and a bag of potato chips in front of her family and joined them with a glass of iced tea. She didn’t know why they had come to see her, but she was grateful for their company. They had arrived at one of her lowest points.
“I’m impressed, Tori,” Richard declared. “You and your friends did an excellent job of restoring the McFarlands’ place.”
“It’s mine now, Dad. The moment I entered the main room I felt like I was home.” She winced as she saw a shadow of pain cross his face and laid a comforting hand on his forearm. “I stayed with Jonica and Danny for a few days before the house was ready. Our former home is the same.”
She wanted to say she’d felt her mother’s spirit alive in that house, but she changed her mind. Among them, Richard had suffered the most from the loss of the woman he had loved more than life itself. He lived celibate and alone, refusing to look at another woman. Richard and Catherine had seen many of their youthful dreams come to fruition except one. Growing old together.
Derek coughed and broke the tangible silence. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m bushed. I need sleep!”
After showing her brothers to their respective bedrooms, Victoria helped her father get settled in his. She was in the midst of telling him good night when he said, “Sit down, Tori, and tell me about the house.”
Since this was Richard’s first visit to Marysville in ten years, Victoria described every detail she could remember. They spoke deep into the night, drawing strength from each other as they shared memories of happier days.
As Victoria finally stood up to leave her father alone, she kissed him on the cheek and whispered, “She’s here, too, Dad. I feel her.”
Early the next morning Richard went alone to visit his wife’s grave. He was gone so long his children began to grow concerned for his welfare. When he eventually joined them, he wore a contented smile. “Cat and I had a lot of catching up to do. Ten years is a long time.”
*
Rusty pulled acomfortable T-shirt over his head. He flexed his muscles and ran a hand through the thick layers of his hair. Standing at his bedroom window that overlooked the lake, shrieks of laughter arrested his attention. He glanced down at the McFarlands’ dock and watched a father and his three sons cast their fishing rods into the water. All three boys wore cut-off jeans, but only two were bare-chested. The shortest one sported an over-sized T-shirt and a backward baseball cap on his head.
A chuckle escaped Rusty’s dry throat as the third boy yanked too hard on his fishing rod, and an angry trout slapped him in the face. The boy shrieked like a girl and fell backward on the dock. His father and brothers laughed and helped him to his feet.
Rusty’s amusement soon faded. His eyes turned bleak when he remembered his youth and similar fishing expeditions with his parents. Days long gone. Days before his mother and father were on their way to see him play…
His thoughts trailed away when Becca wrapped a throw blanket around his shoulders. “What are you watching so intently down there?”
“A father and his boys fishing off the dock.” His voice sounded hollow.
Becca glanced out the window and let out a small chuckle. “Rusty, I think your illness has affected your eyesight. You definitely need glasses for more than reading if you think the one wearing the baseball cap is a boy.”
“What?” Rusty squinted as he focused his gaze on the smaller figure.
He, no,she, pulled off the cap and revealed long dark hair up in amessy bun. And, as if on cue, Bud bounded out of the trees and raced toward the family on the dock. He almost knocked Victoria over in his enthusiasm. Rusty guessed the golden retriever had gained a good ten pounds since he’d last seen him. When Victoria turned toward him, Rusty moved out of her line of sight. He saw her frown, give a slight shake of her head, and say something to one of her brothers.
A surge of energy coursed through him, and he laughed out loud. What were the odds of Victoria Lockridge moving into the empty house next to his? “Becca, help me into the exercise room.” He flung the blanket off his shoulders.
She frowned in concern. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. You’re barely able to stand on your feet.”
“It’s the only thing that helps. Please.”
Still voicing her misgivings, Becca lent her support as he shuffled toward the bedroom down the hall that served as a home gym.
*
Sunburned but happy,Victoria met her brothers downstairs for a game of Scrabble after she took a refreshing shower later that night. Richard had turned in early. She’d experienced a strange feeling as they’d fished, and sure enough, when she’d peeked out the front door, Rusty’s old truck sat in the driveway of the Victorian next to hers. For all of a New York minute, she’d considered inviting him to their fish fry by the lake. No. That would be inviting disaster. Besides, she still planned to give him a piece of her mind as soon as the opportunity arose.
They were well into the game when Carter began, “We’ve been here for a week now, Tori, and you haven’t asked once about Alan.”
