Page 22 of A Chance at Forever
Derek glanced at his brother, then at Victoria whose hand froze a moment in midair. Her face grew rigid. Slowly, she placed the letter she was holding on the board and shrugged her shoulders. “Why would I?”
“I thought you were in love with him.”
“Infatuated is a better description.”
“He’s garnered all the public sympathy he needs to make you look like a fool,” Carter informed her. He had her full attention now. A hot flush added to her sunburn. She stared at him. “And that’s not all. He’s dating Rilynn Parker, the star of a new sit-com premiering this fall.” He waited for her to say or do something, to show the slightest bit of emotion. “Say something, Sis. Tell me the truth about what happened between you and Alan. I’ll take care of him, I swear I will.”
“And so will I,” Derek interjected.
Lord, would this nightmare never end? Victoria drew upon all of her self-control to school the fiery anger coursing through her. Part of her wanted to blurt the truth and see Alan humiliated and fired from Calvin Klein. But the other part, the part that had found a future she looked forward to and feared would be destroyed by the sex video, balked at the idea.
Victoria channeled her anger for the right effect. “Look, of course I don’t like what Alan is doing. You know how egotistical he is. He can’t stand the thought that I dumped the wine on him and Fangirl and walked out. Let him have his fifteen minutes of fame. My only concern is for the company. Has the video of what I did hurt the business?”
Carter shook his head. “No. We’re in great shape. In fact, we’ve narrowed down our fashion designer to two candidates. Dad has been hearing gossip and doing his best to ignore it, but he’s already lost his patience with Alan. He’s ready to do something about him.”
“I’ll talk to Dad. I can’t believe this nonsense hasn’t died down after all these weeks.”
Carter stared into her troubled eyes. “Derek and I don’t believe you’ve shared the entire truth, Tori. You know you can trust us to have your back, right?”
She offered a triumphant grin. “Yep. Oh, and I just won the game.”
Derek punched Carter in the arm. “See what happens when you blabber?”
The siblings laughed and ambled into the kitchen for cups of coffee and pieces of chocolate crème pie.
After breakfast in the morning, Victoria invited her father to stroll with her along the edge of the lake. Bud trotted next to them until a furry creature, a squirrel or a rabbit, caught his attention, and he took off on his own adventure. The early rays of sunlight glinted on the water. Victoria linked arms with Richard. His familiar scent and presence at her side comforted her.
They spoke about the possibility of opening an outlet in Marysville before the conversation turned personal.
“Are you ready to talk to me, honey?” Richard asked.
His quiet question destroyed her resolve to remain strong. To her shame, she burst into a flood of hot tears and buried her face against her father’s broad chest. He wrapped his arms around her and murmured soothing words of love and support. When the tempest passed, she wiped the tears from her cheeks with the palms of her hands.
“I made a horrible mistake, Dad. When I first met Alan, he dazzled me. He was so different from Jeff. I was flattered by his attention, but I was nothing more than a joke to him. Another notch in his belt. I dumped the wine on him because he told me in apublic restaurantthat he’d been cheating on me. I would have preferred a text message to tell me we were over.” She turned toward the placid lake. “He used me. Humiliated me. Getting involved with him was the worst mistake of my life.”
Richard stiffened, and a fierce expression crossed his face. “I’ll kill him. No. First, I’ll break every bone in his body, then I’ll kill him.”
Victoria panicked. She hadn’t been completely honest with her father about the matter of the sex video. “Dad, on Monday I’ll be back in the classroom where I belong, and none of this will matter anymore. Please, let it go. For my sake.”
“This goes against my better judgment, but I’ll drop it. For now.”
Victoria expelled her breath. “Thanks, Dad. Race you back to the house?”
“You’re on.” Though he’d turned fifty-eight in March, Richard was in great physical shape. He took off at a fast sprint with Victoria on his heels.
As they approached the backyard, she saw Rusty watching them before he disappeared inside his house. Victoria’s heart rate kicked up a notch, though she’d slowed her pace to long strides. She ignored her reaction to him. She had to deal with Alan.Again.
CHAPTER 7
Upstairs in herbedroom, she called his landline phone. After their last conversation, Victoria had deleted his number from her cell phone.
“Richmond.” He sounded impatient.
She wasted no time getting straight to the point. “You’re on the verge of losing everything. My father is sick of the gossip and sick of you. Stop dragging my name through the mud. You walked away with a hundred thousand dollars. If you open your mouth one more time, Alan, Iwillruin you. I’ll survive the fallout, but you won’t. I promise, you won’t.”
Her threat sickened her. The words pouring out of her weren’t hers. They belonged to some other version of herself she didn’t recognize.
For once he didn’t sound so cocky when he replied, “Got it, Mouse.”
