by Nicki Day
It was no secret that Vicky’s father ran out on them when she was only a baby. Supposedly he had been a spoiled rich kid from Winter Park, a popular ski and resort town on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
The rumor said that he had spent a summer in Dove Creek working off some community service hours after unintentionally setting a forest fire. The damage hadn’t been great and no buildings were destroyed in the blaze, but the presiding judge had wanted to send a strong message to anyone who thought they could behave so carelessly. So, after a summer of working on updating the town’s water treatment facility, the handsome stranger swept Connie Browning off her feet with grand gestures of romance and promises of a better life.
All that had changed once Connie got pregnant and his community service hours were completed. He soon left town without a word to her mother and it wasn’t until later that a representative of the family came to pay Connie a visit. His family had offered Connie a generous nest egg to help raise her unborn child.
While her mom never spoke of it directly with her, Vicky had heard from the gossiping gals in town that life hadn’t been easy on her mother. She’d given birth to her unwed and shortly thereafter began dating one of the much less desirables that lived on the outskirts of Delores County. He’d been a heavy drinker and spent his spare time either skirting around on her mom or beating her up. Both physically and mentally Connie Browning had been beaten down by two men before she reached the age of twenty one years old. Being forced to grow up too fast had jaded her to both men and life. And ever since she’d distanced herself from getting too close to anyone.
Throughout the years growing up in Dove Creek everyone knew and understood Connie’s overprotective nature with her daughter. Whether it was pity or empathy, they understood why she behaved like a hawk protecting her young. Vicky understood it as well. The problem seemed to be that Connie didn’t realize that her daughter wasn’t a little girl anymore.
“Mom, can we not get into this right now. Please? Come on, it’s Christmas. At least it will be in three days. Can’t we just enjoy the holiday without all of this other stuff?”
“Honey, it’s important we get it out. You can’t hold things in like that. I know from which I speak.”
“I know you do, Mom. And I love you for worrying about me so. But I keep telling you that I’m fine and you don’t believe me. I don’t know what else you want to hear.”
“I want to hear how you feel. I want you to know that I’m here for you. I love you, baby.”
“Mom.” She took a calming breath. “I know that you do. And I love you, too. You’ve been the best mom I ever could have asked for. But I really am okay. My marriage didn’t work. Maybe I should be sad. Maybe I should even be mad. I don’t know. I’m not, though. If that makes me strange then so be it, but I can’t pretend to be something that I’m not.”
“Okay.” Connie held up her hands in mock surrender. “Okay, I’m just trying to help.”
“I know. But in the process you’re driving me crazy. I love you. But I am okay. I actually am better than okay. I don’t think I was truly happy with Brian. And obviously he wasn’t happy with me either.”
“He should have never cheated on you. He took a vow.”
“So what if he did? If I can move on and get over it, you have to let me,” she pleaded.
Connie dropped her head down, looking at the floor while she shook it from side to side before lifting it back up to face her daughter. “You’re right. Gee….” She wiped at tears that began spilling from her eyes. “You’re absolutely right. I’ve been so worried about you that I stopped listening to you. I’m sorry, baby.”
“It’s okay, Mom.”
“No, it isn’t. I mean look at us. You’re finally home for Christmas for the first time in over a decade and I am doing nothing but dwelling on things that I should let you leave in the past.”
“Really, it’s okay.”
Smiling, Connie tilted her head to one side. “When did my little baby become so grown up?”
“A long time ago, Mom. You just never noticed because you were always trying to put bricks on my head to keep me from growing up.”
“It was worth a shot wasn’t it? Once I saw you growing so fast I couldn’t help but want to keep you my little girl.”
“Maybe.” Vicky stood up from the table. “Mind if I warm this up later? I’m not that hungry right now and I could use a walk.”
“Want some company?”
Vicky smiled. “Maybe tomorrow. I won’t be long. I just want to get some fresh air and walk through some of my achiness. It was a long car ride today.”
“You got it, sweetheart.”
Kissing her mom, she put on her coat and headed out the front door. She had no idea where she was going, only that she needed to get out for a while. Their talk with had gone better than she’d expected, and now she wanted and needed some time to herself.
The twinkling lights of the city Christmas tree caught her eye. She looked over at it and recalled so many fond memories. Lost in nostalgia, she crossed the street and walked toward the park. Before she even realized what was happening she found herself mere steps from the park.
A subtle breeze whispered off the foothills. Snow flurries danced along the sidewalks and roads. With only silence surrounding her, the town felt almost abandoned. One that hadn’t had a resident in quite some time. Only the hum of streetlights sounded as she made her way to the tall evergreen. If it hadn’t been for the lights shining through the windows she would almost swear she was the only person in town.
Crossing the wide-open lawn of the park, she came upon the tree and looked up at the lights glittering in the cold winter night. The different hues of blues, reds, greens and yellow flickered as they moved with the blowing winds. The branches swayed slightly and a sense of peace washed over her. She closed her eyes and smiled.
This was Dove Creek. This was home.
Chapter Four
Michael stood in the shadows of the city park and looked from afar at the woman who had crept up on him in his moment of solitude. She wore a knit cap atop her head and was bundled up in a thick winter coat. He couldn’t see her face, but something about her seemed familiar.
He could barely make out any features from the angle he stood. She stood with her back to him, with only a hint of her profile visible. She appeared to have a small button nose and long curly dark hair.
As he looked on and studied her more closely he started to notice similarities in her that reminded him of a girl he once knew. A girl who for many years had made him feel things he didn’t think possible of a teenage boy.
No. It couldn’t be her.
He remained quiet, not wanting to startle whoever she was. A normal person would have greeted her or made his presence known as soon as she set foot in the park. Instead he had been spying on her like some sort of peeping tom for the past few minutes. If she caught him now his homecoming would most likely be fraught with him having to explain his creepy actions to the county sheriff’s deputies.
A bunny ran out from behind a tree and stood only feet away from the woman. He watched in amusement as both he and the small rabbit were staring at this woman without her being any the wiser.
He no sooner had the thought when she turned her head and spotted the little fur ball. She bent down and extended her hand to the animal.
The light from the street wasn’t enough to illuminate her face, and the twinkling bulbs of the tree cast her in a silhouette, making it nearly impossible to see anything more than he already had.
He still didn’t even know why he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Creeping around in parks and watching women from a distance wasn’t exactly his forte. Something about her kept his interest and prevented him from moving. Maybe because she reminded him of that girl he knew so long ago. Or maybe because she looked so peaceful he didn’t want to disturb her. Then again, he knew the more probable reason was that he had spent far too long in the sandbox and an
y woman could turn his head with very little effort.
Slowing inching toward the animal, the woman spoke softly, “Come here. It’s okay.”
As soon as he heard her voice he knew exactly whom he’d been watching and what it was that had kept him from speaking out. She didn’t just remind him of that girl he once knew. She was that girl. She was Vicky.
My Vicky. Damn.
A rush of emotions came back to him in an instant as he recalled the last time they had spoken. The argument had been ugly. They both had said some shitty things to one another, things that he regretted to this day. His lack of maturity had been his downfall with her, and the hell of it was, he’d been crazy about Vicky Browning.
He closed his eyes and drew in the cool winter air as he recalled that summer, the summer she’d hooked him. In a very short time she’d become the center of his world. Since their breakup he had never been able to find a woman that got to him the way that she did. And here she was, standing before him with only a few yards between them.
His mother told him, not so subtly, that Vicky had gotten married some years back. He’d been in Iraq at the time and he’d read it in one of her letters while sitting in a foxhole in the desert. At first he scoffed at the news, telling his mom in his return letter that he’d long since forgotten about her. That hadn’t been the truth though. For years he thought of her, even missed her.
The bunny scampered away when she got too close and she stood watching it disappear into the tree line on the far side of the park. Her face was turned toward the street lights and for the first time he finally got a good look at her.
Damn if she didn’t look even prettier than he remembered. Her button nose was reddened from the cold. Her plump and round lips were separated only slightly as he watched her warm breath seep out into the cool winter night.
He still couldn’t believe it was really her. He didn’t come home often himself, but from what his mother told him years before, she hadn’t been home at all since she went off to college.
The first few times he’d been home after joining the Marines he’d hoped to run into her. It obviously hadn’t been in the cards and after a while he stopped wishing. He knew he fucked up with her. He’d said and done some shitty things when they’d had that fight. Still, he was only a stupid kid. How in the hell does any eighteen year-old handle the news of becoming a dad? He didn’t know how to act. It was ultimately that stupidity which cost him the one thing that mattered to him. Her.
Without even realizing it, he let out a sigh and caught her attention.
“Who’s there?” she asked.
Way to go dumbass. He’d been so lost in thought he hadn’t even been paying attention to his actions. She always had a way of distracting him. Apparently that hadn’t changed.
Stepping out from behind the tree, Michael waved his hand. “Hi, Vicky.”
“Michael?”
“The one and only,” he answered while stepped closing toward her.
Her mouth hung open as they both stood staring at one another. He tried as best he could to not focus too much on that mouth that had given him so much pleasure in his younger days. Forcing himself to remember that he was no longer a horny teenager who couldn’t keep his hands off of her, he looked up at her and smiled.
“It’s been a long time.”
“Yeah…I guess it has.”
He wasn’t a man of many words, but he wasn’t a moron with the ladies either. He knew how to talk to women. In fact, he had a few on again off again girlfriends back home at Twenty Nine Palms. Still, he stood here silent and all but frozen in place as he looked into the eyes of the only girl he’d ever uttered those three little words to.
“So, how have you been?” he asked, trying desperately to kill the awkwardness of the moment.
“Umm… okay I guess. You?”
“Not bad.”
“How were things in the Marines? Are you still in?”
“Yeah. Going on my fourteenth year. Gunnery Sergeant Michael Barnett at you service, ma’am.”
She smiled. “That’s great. I know how much being a Marine always meant to you.”
“That’s right. Ever since I heard about my dad’s service during Vietnam I knew there was nothing else for me.”
His words came out sounding more harsh than he’d intended. He dropped his head down and shook it from side to side. The phrasing had been far too similar to something he’d shouted at her in that final argument back so many years ago.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s okay. You don’t owe me any explanations.”
She gave him an out, reminding him of the polite nature he always knew her to have. That in and of itself made him feel like an even bigger ass than he already did.
“No, it’s not okay. I know how that sounded.”
“Michael, really. It’s not a big deal. But, it’s getting late and I should be going.”
“So soon?”
“Yeah. I just came out here for some fresh air and to get away from my well-meaning mom.”
He grinned. He’d always liked Connie, but he knew how much she fretted over her only child. “How is your mom?”
“She’s good. I’ll tell her you asked about her.”
“Yeah, please tell her I said hello.”
“I definitely will.” She nodded and shifted in the snow. “Well, it was nice seeing you again, Michael. Please tell your mother I said hello as well.”
He watched while she turned away and every part of him wanted to grab her and spin her around. Was it wrong to want to kiss a married woman? Whether it was or not he didn’t care. He’d somehow managed to forget over the years how pretty she was. Age had only improved the perfection that he remembered her as.
Fuck. Don’t go.
“I’m sorry,” he blurted out.
Several feet away, she turned back to face him. “What?”
“I never apologized. I should have. And I didn’t.”
“Michael, it was a long time ago. You don’t have to apologize.”
“Yes I do.” He took several steps forward. “You deserved an apology that night. I don’t know why I didn’t say it then. Or even the next day. But, I was sorry. I am.”
She smiled and tilted her head to the side. “Oh, Michael, thank you. But, really… it was a long time ago. Any hard feelings we had toward one another are in the past. At least I hope they are.”
“You always were too good to me.”
“We were young. It was a scary time for both of us. Let’s just forget about it.”
“Okay. But, I am sorry.”
With a somber smile and nod of her head, she replied. “I’m sorry, too.”
He held out hand, extending it to her. “Friends?”
Laughing, she shook his hand. “Friends.”
He shook his head and took in the sweet sound of her laughter. “You always did have an adorable laugh.”
“And you always knew how to sweet talk the ladies,” she added.
He winked at her. “You know what they used to say about us Barnett boys.”
“Oh, I remember.” Pulling her hand away she looked back toward her mother’s street. “I really should be going though.”
“Sure.”
“Good night, Michael. It was nice seeing you again.”
He nodded and smiled as she turned to walk away. It struck him how gorgeous she was, even after all of these years. How he had been so stupid as to screw things up with her, he had no idea. Testosterone and stupid machismo had been his worst enemy when he was met with adversity. Now a grown man, he would have done anything to redo that part of his life.
Get over yourself, Michael. She’s a married woman now.
Turning to sit on a bench, just across from the city tree, he kept his eyes on her. All bundled up in her coat he could still see the gorgeous body that was hidden beneath what she wore.
What he wouldn’t give for just one more night with her. Damn, but she could set him on fire. T
he things she could do to him, the way she made him feel. Her voice, her touch, the way her mouth felt against his. Fuck but he missed it.
He never realized just how much until he stood mere inches away from her. Now that she was married and a grown woman, he couldn’t help but long for simpler days when they had only one agenda, each other.
Chapter Five
Vicky watched her mom buzz around the kitchen with the energy of a hundred toddlers. It was sweet to see her so happy and joyful for the holiday season. She knew she’d always loved the Christmas season. Seeing her on such a natural high was no surprise, though she had a pretty strong feeling her returning home had added an extra kick in her mother’s step.
“These pies smell great, Mom. But what are you going to do with them all?”
“Oh, didn’t I tell you?” Connie wiped her hands on the apron she wore. “We’re delivering pies to some of the less fortunate this year.”
“What? When did you start doing this?”
“Just this year. Times have been tough for a lot of folks here in Dove Creek. The weather wasn’t good to us last summer and those with crops didn’t fare so well. It’s something we came up with last month at one of our church meetings.”
She smiled and raised her brow. “Only in Dove Creek.”
“Now, Vicky, don’t you go starting.”
“Sorry, Mom. It’s a good thing you’re doing. Really it is, but it does make me realize how far away from Denver Dove Creek really is.”
“Oh? How so?” Connie asked.
“Well, I don’t know. I mean times are tough all over. That doesn’t mean others would go to the lengths that you would. You’re a special woman, Mom. You have such a kind heart. You’d be surprised how many people out there in today’s world wouldn’t give two shi… err…” She stopped herself when she saw her mother’s disapproving glare. Connie had never cared for what she referred to as potty mouth, claiming that a woman didn’t need to use such language to speak her mind. “What I mean is most people wouldn’t take the time to help one another out. Much less spend all day baking.”