Crossing the Line Part One (A Novella) (6 page)

Nick rubbed the back of his neck. Before
Victoria could open her mouth to tell him that she'd find someone
else, he surprised her. "I'm sure the guys can handle the work here
tomorrow."

"You don't have to do that." The thought of
being in his truck, next to him, for a full day sent tingles up and
down her spine.
Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

"I don't mind. It'll be nice to get away for
a day." He arched a brow and sent her stomach spinning again.

"Thanks, Nick. I appreciate it."

"What time do you want to leave?"

How about now?
"Um, how about 8:00am?
I'd like to get an early start."

"No problem. I'll meet you here and we'll
head out." Nick nodded toward Wes, then made excuses to head to the
back.

Victoria glared at her dad. "What the heck,
Dad? You put him on the spot. I could've rescheduled."

"Nonsense. It'll be good for you two." He
patted her on the back. "Your mother wants you and the girls over
for dinner." Wes steered her out the door. "Don’t be late!"

She hated it when he steamrolled her,
effectively cutting off her protests. How did he get everyone to do
just what he wanted? Then again, maybe it was just what she
needed.

§§

Victoria walked into her parents' kitchen to
see her mom boiling pasta. "Hey, Mom. Need any help?"

Halle sat on a stool at the bar, chopping
vegetables for the salad. She waved at Victoria with a smile

"Sure, sweetie. Boil some tea for us. Extra
sweet, the way your dad likes." Cecilia's dyed blonde hair,
artfully styled in a French twist, had a few hairs that errantly
escaped. Her dark blue eyes matched Addie's, and she shared Addie's
fiery nature, although she kept hers wrapped up. She ran her hands
down the red and white polka dot apron the girls had made her a few
years ago and reached to Victoria for a hug. "Where are the
girls?"

"They spotted Addie in the living room on
the Wii. We won't see them until dinner's ready."

Cecilia's lips quirked. "I don't understand
their need for that stuff. Those girls should be in here learning
how to cook."

Halle laughed. "Mom, really? Have you seen
Addie cook?"

"Honestly." Cecilia huffed and returned to
stirring the pasta and starting on her sauce. She always cooked
from scratch.

Victoria reached into a cabinet and pulled
out a pot and filled it with water. After that, she grabbed two tea
bags and set it all to boil. She stood next to the stove, aware
that if she walked away she'd forget about the pot and it would
boil over. "So, how's work going, Halle?"

"Good. Busy all the time. Trevor's been
really busy lately too, not getting home until the sun comes up, if
then." Halle sprinkled some of the chopped bell peppers into a
bowl. "I swear my blood pressure rises the moment I walk into that
place."

Cecilia shot Victoria a look, then said,
"That's not good, darling. I think you should take some time for
yourself. Stop bending over backward for that job. Try something
new. Like yoga, or a gym. Maybe a knitting class."

Halle gave her mom a perplexed look. "You
want me to knit? I can barely sew a button, but you want me to
knit?"

"Okay, maybe knitting is a bad choice."
Cecilia told her. "But you shouldn't let your life revolve around
work."

Or your husband, Victoria thought.
Especially when his life definitely didn't revolve around Halle. He
hardly came to family dinners, always stating some type of work
emergency. He'd never been with them on one of the family vacations
and seemed to like to do his own thing.

"Honey, I'm home." Her dad strode into the
kitchen carrying a bouquet of sunflowers. He kissed Cecilia and
waved to his daughters.

"Oh, they're beautiful, Wes. Put them in a
vase with water and set them on the dining room table."

"Sure thing." He kissed her again.

Victoria melted at the look of love in her
parents' eyes. It made them glow with happiness. It struck her in
that moment. She wanted that, so badly, and Roger would never have
given it to her. When she glanced at Halle, she saw the same
longing on her face and it pierced her heart. Her sister deserved
so much more than Trevor.

She glanced down, cursed when she saw the
pot of tea boiling over. She picked it up and carried it to the
sink and made the tea.

For dinner they sat in the formal dining
room with cell phones placed in a basket on the side table. Cecilia
forbade any form of technology at the table, preferring to have
actual conversations.

Helena remained quiet, talking to her
grandfather only when he pestered her. Addie sat on the other side
of Helena and relentlessly tried to make her niece laugh. Lucia sat
at the other end of the table with Halle, Victoria, and Cecilia.
Victoria listened, but kept an eye on Helena. Lucia had no problems
talking, and kept up easy conversation with Halle and Cecilia about
boys and school.

By the time dinner was over, the girls were
back in the living room with Addie, boxing it out on the Wii.
Victoria figured now was the time to broach the subject about
Helena to her mom and Halle.

"Mom, I wasn't sure if you noticed Helena's
behavior lately. I don't know what to do." Victoria brought the
plates to the kitchen and scraped off the leftovers into the
garbage can. "She's been so hostile lately, and when she's not
argumentative, she's numb. Uncaring on the outside, but I know
that's not how she really feels. I can't tell if it's from the
divorce, or the kids at school, or maybe both."

Cecilia stopped washing the dishes and
turned at the despair in Victoria's voice. She wrapped her daughter
in a hug.

Victoria closed her eyes and held on
tightly. Her mother always knew that a hug could take the edge off
of any kind of pain. When her mom pulled back, she looked Victoria
in the eye. "Helena was as close to Roger as anyone could get. She
always followed him around, from the time she could walk, even if
he ignored her. That was her way of spending time with him. She
loves her dad and that stopped her from seeing how miserable you
were."

Victoria sighed. "I didn't want them to see
how miserable I was."

"In any case, right now all she's thinking
about is her dad is gone, and she's probably blaming you."

Victoria opened her mouth to speak, but her
mom shook her head. "It's not your fault, we know that. But Helena
is a hormone fueled pre-teen who has to blame someone, and right
now, that's you. She'll get over it in a little while. She'll see
how her dad really is. Now, as for the kids at school, I can't say.
But that can be serious. You need to talk with her teachers. If you
need me to go with you, I can."

Halle laughed softly. Victoria had forgotten
she was there. "You asked for advice, Victoria. I'd say you got
it."

"I did, didn't I?" Victoria smiled at her
mom, even though some of it was hard to swallow. "Thanks."

"That's right. Now finish these dishes. I'm
going to spend time with my granddaughters. Expect Addie to be
coming to help."

The next
morning, Victoria met Nick outside her office at eight a.m. He
waited with two cups of coffee and she wondered if he knew this was
the straight line to her heart, the IV that kept her going
sometimes. She'd stayed up most of the night, worrying about Helena
because of her attitude, and Lucia because of her desire to go on
the date Friday night.

"Morning." Nick flashed a smile that made
her forget all about her worries, including her lack of sleep. He
held the cup out for her.

"Do you ever wear anything other than jeans
and a t-shirt?" When she realized how bitchy she'd made it sound,
she took the coffee. When his fingers brushed hers, she let out a
silent gasp. "Thanks. And you don't have to answer that. I'm just
tired."

He leaned against the side of his beat up
truck, grinning suddenly like he loved getting up early and going
antique shopping.

"Why the heck are you so happy?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" He stood. Flashed that
grin again that made her weak in the knees. "I get to chauffeur a
beautiful woman around all day, and help her pick out old furniture
for clients."

Surprised laughter burst from her. "Old
furniture? I'd love to hear what my clients say about that."

He opened the passenger door for her. "Well,
let's get to it. I'm sure there's plenty to find at the flea
markets."

Victoria slid in, making sure her sundress
didn't expose anything, and noticed that the truck smelled like
vanilla. Her eyes swept the cab of the truck and knew he cleaned
it. The truck was immaculate. Not a fast food wrapper or empty can
in sight. "Did you clean just for me?" She asked when he got in and
started the truck.

"I may or may not have decided that you
might run screaming if you saw the state of my vehicle, so I may or
may not have thrown some stuff away."

"Well, maybe I'll thank you or maybe I
won’t. Since you might or might not have cleaned it."

They both looked at each other and started
laughing as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Victoria sipped more of her coffee. "Thanks
for taking me. My dad is being ruthless in his efforts, but I
really couldn't reschedule some of my clients."

Nick nodded. "It's cool. I figured that by
the look of panic on your face when he said he couldn't take you.
It was the least I could do," he took his eyes off the road for a
quick second and winked. "It's going to be such a hard day."

"Ha." Victoria felt a wave of heat hit her
cheeks. Her lips stretched into a wide smile. She hadn't felt this
happy in a long time. It was nice to enjoy the attention of a man
without there being huge expectations. Without wondering if you
said the right things or made him feel flattered enough. With Nick
it was easy. Almost too easy.

"So, where to first? I kind of need to know
where we're going."

Victoria thought about it. "Let's try the
flea markets on the north highway first, and then if I can't find
everything there we can go to the outlets in the next town."

He nodded like he did this everyday. "Okay,
so what put that frown on your face this morning?"

"What?" She glanced over at him. "What
frown? I didn't have a frown."

"Yeah, you even had that wrinkle in your
forehead, like the morning you came in after the girls fought."

For a moment she sat, speechless. "You
noticed that?"

"Hard not to." He looked at her, then back
at the road. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Victoria was shocked. Never had Roger
bothered to ask if she wanted to talk about how she felt. What did
he want to know? Was he just being nice or looking to strike a
conversation? Or did he
really
want to know how the other
half lived? What it was like to live with children? "You don't want
to hear about the drama in my life." She picked at the sleeve
around her coffee cup.

He turned down the radio that was barely
audible to begin with. "Sure I do."

Her heart melted. This was too good to be
true. Why would he care to hear about her struggles? And did she
really want to tell him?

"Were the girls fighting again?"

His question snapped her out of it. "Oh, no.
If you really want to know…" He nodded. "…Helena's been having some
trouble accepting the divorce. She misses her dad, even though he
never really spent time with them, and doesn't now. She's also
having some trouble with kids at school." She watched the scenery
outside the window go from town proper to fields. They passed a few
farmhouses.

"What kind of trouble?"

Victoria twirled her hair around her finger.
"I walked in on her and Lucia fighting about it. It seems some kids
are making fun of her for being in the math club, which I don't
think is a big deal. But kids can be so cruel."

"Have you talked to her about it?"

"I've tried. She's so defensive lately.
Right now, I'm her enemy and my advice means nothing."

"What about your sisters? Would they talk
with her?"

She immediately turned and looked at him.
She was surprised he would come up with that piece of wisdom. With
him being a bachelor, she didn't think he'd be able to offer sound
suggestions when it came to parenting. "Yeah, they have. Addie
spends a lot of time with them, especially if I get caught up at
work. Halle does what she can, but she's always working." Victoria
noticed him tense at Halle's name. "What is it?"

"Nothing. Maybe the kids teasing her has
triggered the stuff with the divorce or made it worse. My dad ran
off when I was seven, and I know it's a tough thing to deal
with."

She shifted in her seat. A thin thread of
pain laced his voice, but she couldn't see any evidence on his
face. "That's awful."

He shrugged and wouldn't look at her. "Yeah.
It was hard watching my mom deal with it. But I'm sure you've
already heard this from people around town."

"Actually, I haven't. I've only heard about
you from my dad and he's always spoken highly of you. How is your
mom now?" She was ready to find out more about him and stop talking
about her problems.

"She's fine, I guess. We worked hard to make
sure she was." He kept his eyes on the road, gripping the steering
wheel until the whites of the knuckles pressed through. "Anyway,
what about Lucia? Is she handling it well?"

He effectively blocked her from inquiring
anything else about his past, about who he was. She could handle
that for now. "She seems to be okay, but she holds it in. I know
she's hurting, but she puts on a brave face because of Helena. She
wants to go to the movies Friday night with some boy named
Jack."

"Dating? That's a tough one. How old is
she?"

"She's only twelve and in her first year of
middle school. That's why I told her no. I want them to wait about
ten or fifteen years before they start dating. I'm not ready."