by Debbie Mason
“Cookies? Those caramel-filled chocolate ones your mom served at tea?”
“Yeah, they’re Chance’s favorite, too. She felt bad about Uncle Earl punching you. So do I. I wish I’d been there. I can usually calm him down.”
Vivi picked up three framed photos. “Your mom has nothing to feel bad about, and neither do you.” Natalee followed her to the master bedroom. “Does Earl lose his temper a lot with your mom?” Vivi set the photo of Kate knitting on top of the pine dresser, placing the one from their wedding beside it.
“Only when he’s drinking. I know what you’re thinking, Vivi.” Natalee drew her gaze from the photos, “but he’d never hurt her. And my mom, even when, well, even when she wasn’t herself, wouldn’t put up with that.”
“Glad to hear it. There’s never an excuse for abuse—not a bad temper, not alcohol or jealousy.” She added the last part as an afterthought. Casting a sidelong glance at Natalee as they walked from Chance’s bedroom, she watched for a reaction. She didn’t get one. But she did when she placed the framed photo of Chance, Kate, and Natalee on the fireplace mantel. Someone had taken the shot from the water. The three of them were on the dock, Natalee bent over laughing as Chance tossed Kate into the water.
There was nothing left of that vivacious, happy young girl in the photo. And Vivi thought it was a shame her sister’s death had stolen Natalee’s light. The tears rolling down Kate’s sister’s cheeks tugged at Vivi’s heartstrings, and she found herself wanting to help Natalee as much as she did Chance. “I think you should come work for me at the Chronicle.” And while she may have made the suggestion as a means of distracting Natalee, it didn’t escape her that having the younger woman around would make it easier for Vivi to get a better read on Natalee’s relationship with Zach while discovering how deeply involved he was with his father.
She swiped at her cheeks. “Why are you doing this?”
“I could use some help at the paper. I think it’d be good for you. I’ve found the best way to deal with grief is to do something you love, and your mom and Chance said you used to love to write.”
“I do, but that’s not what I meant. I thought you’d want to get rid of any reminders of Kate, but you put up pictures of her and visit with my mom, and you don’t mind me coming around.”
“Of course I don’t mind you coming around. Chance loves you, Natalee, and he will always love your sister. I don’t want him to forget her and what they had. I just want you both to realize your lives didn’t end when Kate died. You can love again, be happy again. It won’t be the same, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be just as good.” She’d said too much, revealed too much of her hopes for her future with Chance. She slung her arm over Natalee’s shoulders. “Come on, let’s go eat some cookies before Chance gets in here.”
Natalee gave her a winsome smile. “I think I’ll take you up on your offer. I’d like to work at the Chronicle.”
“Great. You can help me figure out how Nell and her friends keep hijacking the paper.” Vivi pulled out a stool for Natalee and snagged two cookies from the china plate.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t very nice to you when we first met. You make Chance happy, and that makes it…” She focused on the cookie in her hand. “All I ever wanted is for Chance to be happy. You must be getting excited about the wedding.”
“Uh, what wedding are you talking about?”
“Yours and Chance’s. Nell just put up a contest on the Chronicle’s Facebook page for followers to pick your wedding cake. The Superman one is pretty cute.”
And just when Vivi didn’t think her day could get much worse, she heard Chance’s muttered curse from behind her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chance sat sprawled in a rustic wooden chair drinking a beer with his brother in the backyard of their childhood home.
Gage glanced to where Nat tossed a ball with Annie while Lily pushed a pink-tutu-wearing Princess around the grass in a doll carriage. “I was surprised to see Nat,” his brother said.
“Vivi invited her to come along. Didn’t think Dad would mind.”
“Of course he doesn’t.” His brother’s gaze went to where Vivi, wearing a black bikini top and denim shorts, sat on a blanket with Madison and Connor under a tree. “Couldn’t help but notice your girl was giving you the cold shoulder. What did you do now?”
Overreacted. He couldn’t help it. He’d had what he thought might be a panic attack when he heard Nat congratulate Vivi on their upcoming nuptials. His brain had shut down. Too bad his mouth didn’t do the same. And now she wasn’t talking to him. That surprised him and worried him. Vivi wasn’t the silent type. If she was pissed at someone, they heard about it. “I went off on her about all the wedding crap in the paper and on Facebook.”
“Why would you… Okay, I get it. But you have to know it’s Nell’s doing, not Vivi’s. Our aunt has you two pegged for book number four, I guarantee it.”
That choking feeling from earlier returned. “She better find herself another couple. It’s not happening.”
His brother clinked his bottle to his. “Welcome to the club, big brother. That’s what we all said.”
“Yeah, well, she can’t bulldoze me. I’m going to have a chat with our dear, old aunt and set her straight.”
Gage chuckled into his beer bottle. “Good luck with that. Speak of the devil, here she comes.” His brother nodded at the sliding glass doors, spewing his beer when Nell walked out wearing a white T-shirt with Superman and Lois Lane hanging from two pink wedding bells.
“I’m going to kill her,” Chance muttered, putting down his beer bottle.
“Looks like you’ll have to get in line.” Gage grinned, watching Vivi stride across the lawn.
Chance shot out of the chair. His aunt didn’t swim, and the pool was in pushing vicinity. He made it in time to insert himself between Vivi and Nell. “Relax, Slick. I’ll take care of it.”
“Really? You’re telling me to relax? Aren’t you the same man who lost it when you thought I was planning our wedding behind your back? Guess you didn’t get a good look at her T-shirt. Maybe you should turn around.” And there it was again, only instead of seeing the hurt in her expressive violet eyes, he heard a hint of the emotion in her husky voice.
“I saw it, Slick. Let’s go—”
“Calm your nerves. I know you’ll never get married again, Chance. So does Vivi. She’s one of those feminist gals anyway. She probably wouldn’t marry you if you wanted her to.” Nell glanced at the patio doors and dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I want Paul and Liz to think I’m focused on you two so they won’t be prepared for my next move.”
Vivi snorted, but Chance thought Nell might be telling the truth. It was something his aunt’s diabolical little mind would come up with.
“Just give me a couple more days,” Nell continued. “Liz will be pea green with envy when she sees next week’s issue. Sophia ordered some wedding dresses for you, Vivi, just—”
Vivi lunged for his aunt. Chance grabbed her around the waist, ducked a shoulder into her middle, and got her in a fireman’s hold. “McBride, put me down,” she yelled as he headed for the patio doors.
“Chance, you skipped a step. You have to marry the girl before you carry her across the threshold,” his aunt chortled.
“Nell, do not even think about taking my…” Chance saw the camera flash in the glass door, wincing when Vivi cursed out loud.
“Honey, little kid’s ears,” he reminded her as he stepped into the kitchen.
“I don’t care. She’s—”
“Got a good one, Vivi. We’ll just Photoshop your bikini top a bit. Your girls were peeking out.”
Vivi groaned against his back, then slapped him when he started to laugh. “It’s not funny, McBride. I’m going to—”
“Vivi, what’s wrong? Did you hurt yourself, honey?” his father asked as he walked into the kitchen.
“No, but I’m going to hurt your aunt, and if your son doesn’t put me
down, I’m going to hurt him, too.”
His father cast him a worried look. “Maybe you should put her down, son.”
Chance turned his head and said under his breath, “Remember your girls. We don’t want my dad to have a heart attack.” She stiffened, then wiggled around, her fingers brushing against his back as he imagined her rearranging her bikini top. “Don’t worry about her, Dad.” Chance walked through the living room to the bedrooms. “A mild case of heatstroke. She’ll feel better once she lies down for a minute.”
“Put on the fan, and I’ll get her some water,” his father called after him.
“I’ve got it under control.” He closed the door to his old bedroom, locking it to keep his worrywart of a father out. He shouldn’t have joked about the heatstroke. Dr. Paul would be hovering over Vivi for the rest of the day.
“Put me down.”
His hands at her waist, he made sure her slide down the front of him was slow, luxuriating in the feel of her warm, vanilla-scented body. He realized his mistake when she pinned him with a killer glare. If he didn’t make it up to her fast, he’d better make that memory last because Vivi Westfield was in kick-ass mode.
Her lush lips set in a flat line, she sidestepped him and headed for the door.
“Honey, come on. Don’t go. We need to talk.” He grabbed her hand.
“Don’t honey me. I heard all I want to hear from you.” She went to unlock the door.
“I wouldn’t if I were you. My dad thinks you have heatstroke. He won’t leave you alone.” He moved behind her, flattening his open palm on the door above her head.
“What? Did you inherit a manipulative gene from your aunt or something? You people are crazy.” She pressed her forehead to the door.
“Crazy about you,” he said, moving her hair over her shoulder to kiss the back of her neck.
She shivered. “That’s not fair.”
“The kiss or me telling you I’m crazy about you?” He placed his hands on her narrow waist, stroking her flat stomach with his fingers while continuing to kiss her neck.
“Both.”
He brought his mouth to her ear, nuzzling his jaw in her hair. “I don’t play fair. I’m sorry I was an ass. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You didn’t.”
He nipped her earlobe. “I did so.” Taking a step back, he turned her to face him. He wanted to look into her beautiful eyes when he told her what he’d been fighting, what he’d been running away from since she’d come into his life all those long months ago. He opened his mouth to tell her, but he couldn’t. He wanted to, but physically, he couldn’t. It felt like someone had their foot on his throat. “I don’t want to lose you.” The pressure eased. “I am crazy about you. Don’t give me the silent treatment again, okay? It freaks me the hell out. If you’re pissed at me, tell me. If I hurt your feelings, yell at me.”
She lost the angry look in her eyes and brought her hand to his face. “You won’t lose me. I love you. Even when you’re being a superjerk.” She reached up on her toes and kissed him.
* * *
Chance followed Vivi to the picnic table. “How did we get stuck at the kids’ table?” he said for her ears alone.
She glanced to where the adults sat in a semicircle near the pool. “If I had to take a guess, they don’t want you anywhere near Paul and Liz. They’re actually talking and making goo-goo eyes at each other.” He heard the amusement in her voice.
“Nah, they haven’t said more than two words to each other.” He ignored her goo-goo-eyes comment because he’d seen a couple of those and thought they might be worse than them talking. “You’re the reason we’re at the kids’ table. They’re afraid to let you near Nell with a knife in your hand.”
“You’re hilarious.” He nearly bumped into her when she stopped in her tracks. “Hey, wait a minute. Evie and Connor don’t count as kids yet. What are they doing at our table?”
He nudged her. “Get moving, our burgers are getting cold.”
Connor and Evie were strapped into baby seats on the middle of the picnic table. Vivi slid onto the bench opposite Nat, Lily, and Annie while Chance took the seat beside her.
“Hey, guys, how’s…” Vivi began, and Evie’s lip quivered. Connor squinched up his face like he had gas. Vivi put her head on the table and groaned. “They hate me.”
Lily reached over and patted Vivi’s head. “They don’t hate you. I think it’s your voice.”
“What’s wrong with my voice?”
Annie and Nat tried not to laugh while Lily explained her theory, which Chance was interested to hear. “Most ladies talk like this when they talk to babies.” Lily raised her voice to a feminine, high-pitched tone. “But you talk like this,” she said, deepening her voice.
“I do not sound like a man,” Vivi said in an offended tone of voice. Evie started to cry, and Connor whimpered. Vivi eyed her burger, pinching off a small piece.
Jesus. Chance covered her hand with his. “You can’t bribe them with food like you do Princess,” he said, struggling not to laugh.
“Why not? They have teeth.”
Lily sighed. “Auntie, they’re babies.” She leaned over and got a bottle, handing it to Vivi.
She eyed the bottle and the baby, then tried to get Evie to open her mouth. “Good baby, drink your bottle.” She mimicked Lily’s voice.
Annie’s and Nat’s eyes bugged out, and they shoved their burgers in their mouths in an effort, he figured, to keep from howling with laughter. Chance rocked Connor’s seat to keep the baby from crying, and also in hopes that Vivi wouldn’t realize it was him and his silent laughter shaking the bench.
“Here, I’ll show you how,” Lily said when Evie’s face got red, and she looked ready to let loose.
“That’s it.” Vivi picked up her plate. “I’m going to take my creepy-man-voice out of here and eat with the adults.”
With a hand on her arm, Chance stopped her from sliding off the bench. He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “You don’t have a creepy-man-voice. You could make a fortune as a sex-phone operator. I could listen to you talk all day.” It was true. When she’d opened her mouth the day he met her, he’d been a goner.
She patted his face. “Thanks, but I’m still going to sit with the adults.”
“It’s not her voice,” Annie said, once Vivi left. “Evie and Connor know they make her nervous.”
Chance thought his niece might have a point. Twenty minutes later, he could commiserate with Vivi. But it wasn’t nerves that had his stomach roiling. It was the memories. His father, who’d been talking to Ethan and Gage, happened to look over at the same time Lily handed Evie to Chance. His dad got out of his chair and walked over. Chance saw the worry on his father’s face. He remembered, too.
Today marked the first Father’s Day Chance had spent with his dad since the one when Kate shared her news. He could see her, glowing with a secret smile on her sweet face. She’d handed him and his dad the small wrapped packages. They’d opened them to find pink baby booties with pink, foil-wrapped chocolate cigars.
Evie looked up at him with a gummy smile and patted his face. With her blonde hair and butterscotch eyes, he imagined his Emma would have looked like her. And that’s when it hit him, how long it had actually been. Emma would be coming close to her fifth birthday.
“Here, son. Let me take her.”
He held his father’s gaze. “I’m good, Dad.” And for once, it wasn’t a lie.
“Uh, you might be, but I don’t think Vivi is. Honey, stop jumping around and she’ll calm down,” his father called out.
Chance turned to see Vivi running on the spot, hands in the air clutching a cookie and a bottle of water, while Princess barked and nipped at her bare feet. Vivi gave a panicked yelp and eyed the chocolate cookie.
“Slick, don’t you dare give her that cookie…”
She didn’t. Instead, she poured her bottled water on Princess’s head.
Tough, my ass. The woman was afraid of flying, babie
s, dogs, and pretty much anything with four legs. But she wasn’t afraid to tell Chance she loved him.
* * *
Wrapped in a towel, Vivi blew Princess dry. If she’d known dumping water on the dog’s head would turn her into the obedient, mild-mannered animal sitting docilely in the bathroom sink, Vivi would’ve done it the first day they met. Guess all she had to do was show Princess who was boss. She turned off the blow dryer and ran her fingers through Princess’s newly shorn coat. “That’s better, now you can see.”
Vivi had stepped out of the shower to find Princess waiting for her. She’d thought the dog was eyeing her toes, then realized she wouldn’t be able to see them with all that hair in her eyes. Feeling bad for dumping water on her, Vivi had decided, with no small amount of trepidation, to make it up to Princess by snipping her overlong bangs. When that went well, Vivi got a little scissor happy. The first thing to go was the stupid topknot—no more bows for Princess. And that led to a few more snips to even her out. Well, that’s what Vivi told herself anyway. It’s possible she was just killing time in hopes Chance had gone for his swim and would leave her alone.
Yes, it was hot, and she’d smelled like beef jerky and wet dog as he had so sweetly pointed out. But swimming in the dark water? She’d settled on a shower instead. Not even Chance’s teasing attempts had been enough to get her to cave. She wasn’t a chicken. Swimming this late at night with only…
An ice-cold finger tracked down her spine. She was an idiot. What had she been thinking letting him swim at night alone? She calmed herself with the thought this was not just any man, this was Chance McBride with his warrior’s body and a mind trained for danger. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to check on him. She picked up Princess, who gave a couple of happy yips and licked Vivi… right on the lips. She lifted the dog to look her in the eyes, which she was surprised to find weren’t serial-killer eyes after all. They were soft and sweet.
“We’re friends now, but not that kind, so no more licking.” Princess whined. Vivi sighed and turned her cheek. “Okay, get it out of your system.” Once Princess had delivered a sandpapery kiss to her cheek, Vivi patted her and headed for the living room.