Page 9 of A Chance at Forever
“I’m a sports fan.” He didn’t volunteer anything more about the subject.
She remained closemouthed about her personal life, and Rusty only shared how he and his older sister Rebecca had inherited the family’s ranch. “I sayranchin the loosest sense of the word. We own a few horses, and our foreman watches over the place when we’re not in residence.”
Victoria lifted a dainty eyebrow. “You don’t live here in West Bend?”
“No. My sister and her family live in upstate New York.”
He spoke a little about Rebecca, and they returned to Victoria’s convertible.
“It was nice to meet you.” Victoria gazed up at him and smiled as Bud jumped into the front seat.
The perfection of her smile prompted Rusty to step closer to her and do something he’d been dying to ever since he laid eyes on her. He reached out and tucked those loose strands of dark hair behind her ears. When his hands fell away, his fingers brushed the enticing skin of her neck. “You, too.”
Victoria’s eyes widened in alarm, and she stumbled back into the seat of her car. She hastily pulled the door closed and started the engine. “I wish you hadn’t done that.” Before he could ask why, she maneuvered the Mustang into the street, yanked hard on the steering wheel to execute a U-turn, and sped out of his life without a backward glance.
Bud turned around in the seat and smiled in farewell at him.
Shrugging away his regret for not asking for Victoria Lockridge’s phone number, Rusty climbed into the cab of his truck and headed for his ranch.
Later, he considered the missed opportunity with the only woman to capture his attention in years as he ate a lonely fried fish dinner. Since moving to Marysville, Rusty hadn’t dated anyone. His best friends, Danny Lawrence and Steve Houston, tried to set him up on blind dates, but he adamantly refused them. He could get his own dates, thank you very much. Jonica, Danny’s wife and a colleague at Marysville High School, and Mia, Steve’s wife, often teased him that if he ever met their lifelong best friend, Tori Lockridge, he’d be smitten…
Well, hello, Tori Lockridge.
Rusty threw his head back and guffawed. He decided he would head home to Marysville earlier than he’d planned and jumped to his feet. A wave of dizziness hit him.
And then fever and chills felled him.
Shaking and shivering, Rusty called his childhood friend, Alex Reinhardt, who worked as a biomedical researcher at the University of Colorado. “Alex, it’s back.”
“I’ll be there in twenty. Hang on, buddy.”
Unable to stand, Rusty collapsed on his bed. He placed a second call to his sister. “Becca, I need you.” His teeth chattered.
“I’m on my way. I’ll catch the first available flight out of New York,” she promised.
CHAPTER 3
Victoria railed atherself for wasting so much time with that golden-blond giant of a man, Rusty Sinclair. Twisted up inside with doubt, no longer able to trust her own judgment, worried about her professional and personal life imploding, she couldn’t believe what she’d done.
“It’s all your fault, Bud,” she addressed her canine companion. “Why in the world did you have to plop down on his feet and not obey me when I asked you to come? And how dare Rusty touch me like that?” Only the briefest brush of his fingers caused her skin to tingle. “I’m not falling for a charming man ever again. I don’t care how gorgeous he is. Or how his deep green eyes catch the sunlight. Or how sweet he appears to be. Nope. Not ever again.”
Bud grinned at her.
Home at last two days later, tears blurred Victoria’s vision as she drove down Marysville’s main street. What she loved most about it was that nothing ever changed. Main Street looped around a central park where children played and dogs frolicked. Bud barked a greeting, and Victoria let out a chuckle that was half a sob. The three-storied, red brick courthouse in the distance was still the primary focal point with its white columns, steps, and clock tower.
Looking off to her right, she saw Smith’s Diner. Sweeping the sidewalk was an old friend of the Lockridge family. His hair was slightly grayer, but his steps were spry and his tanned, weather-beaten face unchanged. On impulse, she parked along the curb.
“Hi, Doug! Haven’t you hired anyone to do this for you yet?”
At the sound of her voice, Doug Smith raised his head and stared in surprise before his face split into a huge grin. “Well, as I live and breathe, Victoria Lockridge!” He propped his broom against the red brick façade of the diner and wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug.
“What are you doing in Marysville? When you left three years ago to work for your dad, we thought we’d never see you again.”
“I thought I’d never be back,” Victoria admitted.
“Come inside and say hello to Ma. She’ll fix you a plate to eat, and your dog, too. Are you hungry?”
“Ravenous. I skipped breakfast this morning. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into one of Ma’s juicy burgers.”
