Page 19 of A Chance at Forever
“Love you, too, Dad.”
CHAPTER 6
Before Jeff arrivedto escort her to the concert, Victoria packed a picnic basket with ham and cheese sandwiches, a bag of potato chips, a plastic bag filled with homemade chocolate chip cookies, and a thermos of lemonade. She’d taken a shower and dressed in a pair of light green capris and a matching sleeveless blouse.
When Bud heard the doorbell, he yipped with excitement and ran around Jeff’s legs as he stepped inside the main room.
“Hey, Bud! I’m happy to see you, too.” His eyes caressed Victoria. “And your beautiful mistress.”
She wished he would stop looking at her as if the sun rose and set with her. It didn’t. She couldn’t offer him anything except friendship, but she felt Jeff would attempt to wear down her defenses.
He took the picnic basket from her. “I’ll carry it. Want to walk to the town square? It’s a nice evening.”
“Okay.”
When he tried to hold her hand out of an old habit, Victoria rebuked him. “Stop, Jeff. You said we’d be going to the concert together as friends.”
“No hand holding, huh?”
“No hand holding, no kissing, no putting your arm around me. No touching, period.”
“Look, Tori, you’re not fooling me. That Alan guy did more than just cheat on you. You know there’s nothing you can’t tell me that I wouldn’t understand, right?”
Victoria shivered in the cool summer breeze. She regretted agreeing to spend any time in Jeff’s company. He’d continue to press her for details until the whole sordid truth poured out of her. Guilt tormented her. Jeff had wooed her with soft, gentle kisses and vows of love, had treated her with nothing less than the utmost respect, had wanted to consummate their relationship while they were in college, but she had resisted his every attempt to seduce her.
One smoldering glance from Alan’s blue eyes sent her straight into his bed.
She didn’t have the heart to tell Jeff her relationship with Alan was none of his business. So, Victoria decided to tell him a partial truth. “I’ve been hurt, Jeff. To be cheated on, well, it was more than I could handle. Can you blame me for being skittish around men?”
His eyes hardened. “I’d like to get my hands on him. I’d teach him a lesson he wouldn’t forget. But, Tori, I’m not just any man. I’m the one who loves you. You don’t have to be afraid around me.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. Right now, I need boundaries.”
Jeff glanced down at her. “I get it. No affectionate gestures between us.”
Relief swept through her. “Thanks. Let’s enjoy the concert with our friends and forget about everything else.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He tipped an imaginary Stetson, and she smiled.
*
Steve noticed thedistance between Victoria and Jeff as they lounged on a blanket at the concert and felt torn between relief and concern. Relief because he wanted Rusty to have a chance with Victoria. Concern because Victoria wasn’t acting like her old self. Her laughter sounded forced, and tension emanated from her. She looked haunted.
When the concert ended, the couples packed up their things and headed to Farrell’s on a corner adjacent to the park. The old-fashioned ice cream parlor drew a crowd from the concert, so they ordered their favorite cones and returned to the park to enjoy them. Victoria relaxed during their good-natured bantering. Though Jeff was solicitous toward her, their weird and awkward behavior bothered Steve. He said as much to Mia when they parted ways with their friends.
“Baby, I don’t get it. Did you feel that strange vibe between Tori and Jeff?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what’s going on?”
Mia’s blue eyes slid away from Steve’s. “Not exactly. But it doesn’t look like they’re picking up where they left off.”
“No. It’s worse than that. Tori is different.”
“Different how?”
“Subdued. Sad. Lost, even. Anything you want to tell me?”
