‘I don’t need three bedrooms.’
‘What about when Seth’s cousins come to stay?’
Victoria gave a half-hearted shrug. ‘They could stay in Dad’s bungalow. He’s keeping it on for the time being.’
Chris lifted her chin. ‘Don’t you like the cottage?’
‘I do, but I’m tired. Can’t muster the enthusiasm.’ Victoria slouched against the wall. ‘I’ll look upstairs later, when I show Seth. My legs are cramping at the moment.’ She rubbed her thighs to reinforce her point.
‘You should drink more. It’s good for the muscles.’ Chris opened the under sink cupboard, rooted around inside, and pulled out a plastic bottle. ‘Rick’s,’ he said, with an air of triumph. ‘From when he was here cleaning.’ He smiled, ran the cold tap and filled the container, handing it to Victoria. ‘So, are you up for a walk? It might help?’ He offered to lift her down from the counter, but she declined, choosing to slide off instead.
‘I’m going to miss you,’ she said, throwing her arms around his middle. The bottle, hanging loosely between her fingers, banged on his bottom.
‘I promise you won’t.’ Chris opened the rear door of the cottage, and hustled Victoria into the garden and onto the stones of Chesil Beach. ‘We’ll still see each other every day.’
Victoria relaxed her hold, and they walked side-by-side. It didn’t escape her notice they were heading towards the gabion baskets.
‘I keep thinking back to the day when Rick called Seth his brother,’ Chris said.
‘Brothers,’ Victoria murmured, more to herself than Chris.
‘Yeah.’ Chris smiled. ‘It’s stayed with me.’
Victoria often thought about it too. It had been a significant moment in her son’s life. A touching one in hers. ‘Seth asked me if that made you his dad.’
‘Do you think that’s how he sees me?’ Chris tugged at Victoria’s waist.
‘I don’t know what good can come of answering that. In two days we’ll be out of the annexe and living in the cottage. His perception will change again.’
Chris halted, bringing Victoria to an abrupt stop. ‘So it is how he sees me.’
‘Yes.’ Victoria swiped a mutinous coil out of her eyes. ‘And I see Rick as a son.’
Chris twirled her on the spot, so she was now facing him. ‘You do?’
‘Yes. I’m going to miss his company. And Seth will too. But we knew it wasn’t forever.’
As swiftly as he’d turned her to him, Chris rolled her into his arm again, and they continued walking.
‘Are we going to the defences?’
He nodded, and his fringe fell forward. ‘We need to put our past to rest and since this is where I got it so wrong, it seems like the place to put things right.’ He brushed his hair to the side. He no longer hid his scar.
Whisked along at speed, Victoria was going to the wire cages, whether or not she thought it a good idea. She gave a nervous giggle. ‘We’re not recreating that night, are we? I don’t object in theory, but it’s ten to two on a Saturday afternoon, and our boys will be here soon. The sight of me naked would damage them for life.’
As soon as they were within touching distance of the defences, Chris stopped, kissed Victoria, and cradled her hands in his. ‘I would love for you to get naked. You’re incredibly hot. But it’s not what I had in mind.’
A blend of relief and disappointment filled Victoria’s veins, leaving her heart drunk on oxygen, and her muscles devoid of strength. She held her breath, counted to five, and then expelled it forcefully through her mouth. Her nerves responded well. Her legs not so much. She leaned against the pebble-filled cage, a gentle chink ringing in her ears as her back connected with the metal. It unlocked more memories than she recalled storing. Good memories. Happy memories. Ones she’d failed to attach to her life with Ben. Now she understood why. They were times she’d shared with Chris. Times that hurt and pain had buried so deep in the caverns of her mind, she’d forgotten they existed.
The summer sun bleached her dark thoughts, and she felt a lightness she’d not experienced in a long time.
She couldn’t stop the smile from taking control of her mouth.
She didn’t want to.
‘You were right to bring me here,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’ Chris frowned, his brown eyes tracking hers. ‘I don’t know what just happened, but it’s made you smile, and it was worth it for that. I could do without the Herculean grip on my hands, though.’ His voice increased in pitch, ending the sentence a tone on from its original note.
‘You’re a Hollywood action hero.’ Victoria laughed. ‘Don’t be such a wimp.’ Before she had time to say anything else, she was gathered in his arms, swept into the air, and carried to the warm beach wall. She dropped the bottle as her smile relinquished control of her mouth to Chris.
After a moment of glorious, sexy, erotic kisses, Chris placed a finger on Victoria’s lips, and spoke, ‘I don’t want you to stay at Hope Cove anymore.’
She felt him apply a gentle pressure to her mouth, which prevented her from speaking, but it wouldn’t stop her from throwing up, which she was certain was about to happen. His words, acting like chemical agitators, stirred the bile in her gut. She pushed his hand away, jumped down from the wall and leaned over.
Nothing came.
Refusing his help, she stood upright, took a gulp of air, and concentrated on preserving her dignity.
‘Victoria. Listen to me. I hadn’t finished.’
There was more? She grabbed the bottle and swigged down the water. How could he do this to her again?
‘Victoria. Look at me. Please.’
‘What?’
‘First of all, I love you. Secondly, I don’t want you to stay at Hope Cove because I want you to live there. I want you and Seth to move into the castle. Properly.’
‘You love me?’ Victoria couldn’t disguise the tremor in her voice. She’d been to hell and back in sixty seconds and her insides were alight.
As she was enveloped in Chris’s embrace, she rested her head on his chest. Her breathing soon synchronised with the comforting beat of his heart.
‘I’ve always loved you,’ he said. ‘And I know I denied it, but I’ve had time to think this through. I did come back for you, because I knew you’d heal me. And look what else you did. You brought my son back to life.’
Victoria shook her head, her face grazing on Chris’s shirt. The noise reminded her of the waves washing over the stones. ‘I didn’t do that. We did.’ She wiped her eyes, lifted her chin, and parted her lips, longing to reconnect with Chris.
They shared the deepest, slowest and most honest kiss of their relationship.
When they broke apart, Victoria said, ‘My declarations of love come with an addendum.’
‘Oh, yes?’ Amusement danced in Chris’s eyes. He moved behind Victoria, draped his arms over her front and nuzzled into her neck. ‘And what’s that?’
‘I love you. And you’re stuck with me.’
‘I’ll take that.’
His laugh, like his purr, resonated through her body. ‘Do you think we’ll get it right this time?’ she said.
‘We’ve already got it right.’ He kissed her cheek, as if proving his point. ‘Remember I once mentioned Follow You, Follow Me?’ He hummed a verse.
‘Genesis? I remember.’
‘YouTube a version with the lyrics.’
‘Why?’ Victoria laughed. ‘You’re not expecting me to learn it, are you?’ She would, of course, given time. Chris’s love of the band was legendary.
And she’d make sure she got the words right.
‘YouTube it. It sums up how I feel about you.’ He gave a playful bite to Victoria’s lobe. ‘Uh-oh. Here comes trouble.’
Victori
a turned to see Rick and Seth running along the beach, with Frank and Olivia close behind.
‘You’ve gone quiet,’ Chris said. ‘What are you thinking?’
‘That there’s a newly refurbished fisherman’s cottage going begging.’
‘And there’s a small flat above the craft centre that’s rapidly turning into a piece of living art?’
‘That too.’ Victoria smiled. ‘Perhaps Dad and Olivia would like to live in the cottage. The whole flat could become a studio then.’ She waved at the older couple, delighted they had found one another. ‘I owe them a lot. Especially Olivia.’
Privately praying to a God she now believed existed, Victoria gave thanks for the people in her life.
‘Hey, Dad!’ Rick shouted his greeting, kicked off his Crocs and headed for the sea. ‘I’m going in. You coming? Last one in’s a gorilla.’
‘Gotta go.’ Chris planted a noisy kiss on Victoria’s ear, and darted across the shingle, discarding his T-shirt before diving into the water.
Victoria, standing very near to where she used to think her soul was buried, watched as the man she loved splashed and kicked and horsed around with his son. Their laughter and pleasure invaded the beach, and captured her heart.
A small, hot hand slipped into hers.
‘Rick says we might be living inside the castle with him and Chris. He says it would be very cool if we did.’ Seth’s grasp tightened around Victoria’s fingers.
Her son initiating any type of contact thrilled Victoria, and filled her with wonderment, but in respecting his comfort zone, she had to maintain a calm exterior. It was a hell of a challenge, when inside, a thousand butterflies were emerging from their cocoons. ‘Do you think it’d be cool?’
‘Yes. Rick said I’d have a big bedroom next to his, and he said you would live in Chris’s bedroom because you loved each other, but it’s a different love to how mums and dads love their children, and we must knock on the door and wait to be told we can come in.’ He stopped, and tugged Victoria’s hand.
Still taking in everything he’d said, she looked down to see his large, enquiring eyes staring back.
‘Are you and Chris girlfriend and boyfriend? Like Livia and Pops?’ A hint of a smile worked its way across Seth’s lips.
Victoria would have missed it if she’d blinked. ‘We are.’
‘Is that why you kiss a lot?’
Digging a heel into the golden pebbles, Victoria created a well large enough for both her and Seth. As she wriggled to get comfortable, she noticed her feet were the same sandy hue as Chesil beach. This time last year, she was as pale as the walls in the EweSpeak office. It was one more reminder that life was good. She patted the space next to her, encouraging Seth to sit down. ‘Do Chris and I kiss a lot?’
Seth nodded. ‘But it’s cool, because it makes you smile.’ He knelt beside Victoria, and put his free hand on top of hers. ‘I like it when you smile. It means you’re happy. I know what happy is.’
Her chest heaved with emotion at her son’s unprecedented and intimate gesture, and she marvelled at his burgeoning understanding of the world.
Her perception too had changed. Real life wasn’t white and sterile. It didn’t come with plans, or rigorously defined algorithms, and chaos often reigned, but disconnecting from it had been a mistake. Even with all its problems, all its risks, and every emotion known to man assaulting heads and hearts, real life was for living.
‘Will Rick call you mom?’ Seth snuggled into Victoria’s side.
Having yet to reflect on the intricacies of family statuses, the question caught her off-guard. She considered Rick’s position. He was fourteen now, and a fourteen-year-old was unlikely to call anyone other than his mother, mum. Particularly a boy with his circumstances. ‘I think he’s happy calling me Victoria.’
Seth made no comment, and his silence concerned Victoria. Huge changes were taking place, and the situation needed addressing. ‘Living together will feel a bit funny for all of us at first,’ she said. ‘Some things will be different. We’ll have to take turns at choosing which programme to watch, and we’ll be expected to help with the chores, but my love for you will never change.’ She kissed the top of his head, the soft, flaxen swirls of hair rebounding the instant she moved away. ‘You’re my son, and I’m here for you. Always. I love you.’
Seth’s skinny elbows and knees dug into Victoria as he reclaimed his hands, unfolded his legs and shuffled onto her lap.
He laid his head on her shoulder, released a contented sigh, and looked into her eyes. ‘Mom.’ He nodded, as if he’d finally found the word, and then he smiled. ‘I love you.’
Epilogue
About the Author
Laura is married and has two children. She lives in Dorset, but spent her formative years in Watford, a brief train ride away from the bright lights of London. Here she indulged her love of live music, and, following a spectacular Stevie Nicks gig, decided to take up singing, a passion that scored her second place in a national competition.
Laura is a graduate of the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s New Writers’ Scheme, a member of her local writing group, Off The Cuff, and an editor of the popular Romaniacs blog.
Laura was runner-up twice in the Choc Lit Short Story competitions. Her story Bitter Sweet appears in the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Anthology. Truth or Dare?, Laura’s debut novel, was shortlisted for the 2014 Joan Hessayon New Writers’ Award. Follow me, follow you is Laura’s first Choc Lit novel published in paperback.
www.lauraejames.co.uk
www.twitter.com/Laura_E_James
www.facebook.com/LauraE.JamesWriter
More Choc Lit
From Laura E. James
Truth or Dare?
Laura E. James
The path to love …
Kate Blair’s sick of unrequited love. She’s quietly waited for Mickey for the past six years and finding a compass-carved heart, with their initials scratched through the middle, only strengthens her resolve: no more Mickey and no more playing it safe.
It’s time to take a chance on real love and Declan O’Brien’s the perfect risk. He’s handsome, kind and crazy about her so it’s not long before all thoughts of Mickey come few and far between.
But old habits die-hard. Kate may have started to forget … but has Mickey?
Visit www.choc-lit.com for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
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More from Choc Lit
If you enjoyed Laura’s story, you’ll enjoy the rest of our selection.
Here’s a sample:
Follow a Star
Christine Stovell
Sometimes your heart’s the only navigator you need
May Starling’s had enough of her demanding career and even more demanding ex. Responding to a ‘crew-wanted’ ad, she fol
lows her dreams of escape only to find herself at sea with red-haired Bill Blythe.
Bill warns May that close-quartered living can create a boiling pot of emotions, but even May is surprised by the heat building up inside the vintage wooden boat. And when May and Bill tie up at Watling’s Boatyard in Little Spitmarsh, May’s determined to test her new-found feelings on dry land.
But May’s dream of escaping her former life is in danger of being swept away when several unwelcome blasts from the past follow her ashore, all seemingly hell-bent on reminding her that it’s never that easy to clear the decks.
Visit www.choc-lit.com for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
Is this Love?
Sue Moorcroft
How many ways can one woman love?
When Tamara Rix’s sister Lyddie is involved in a hit-and-run accident that leaves her in need of constant care, Tamara resolves to remain in the village she grew up in. Tamara would do anything for her sister, even sacrifice a long-term relationship.
But when Lyddie’s teenage sweetheart Jed Cassius returns to Middledip, he brings news that shakes the Rix family to their core. Jed’s life is shrouded in mystery, particularly his job, but despite his strange background, Tamara can’t help being intrigued by him.
Can Tamara find a balance between her love for Lyddie and growing feelings for Jed, or will she discover that some kinds of love just don’t mix?
Visit www.choc-lit.com for more details including the first two chapters and reviews.
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