Luxury Model Wife (6 page)

Beverly swallowed and nodded. “Your speech is polished and you wear designer clothes even when you’re unpacking storage crates or eating a sandwich. It never occurred to me you were anything but upper crust.”

“I guess you
can
make a silk purse from a sow’s ear if you work hard enough.” Victoria shook her head. “Though I never fooled anyone in James’s inner circle. The truth is, I have no family to speak of and no place to go now that James is gone. I need to sell my house, because it’s ridiculous to live in a mansion alone—but I’m paralyzed by fear. I have no idea what to do with my life. I have no idea where I fit.”

Victoria sipped bottled iced tea to steady herself. Beverly waited with the same patience she’d shown when listening. Empathy radiated from her like a soft ocean breeze, lulling Victoria into a sense of security about sharing her story.

She set down the bottle and continued. “I paid my way through college by working a string of grubby waitress jobs and living with even grubbier roommates. After graduation, I landed a management trainee position in the cosmetics department of a major department store. After I got the job I found out where my mother was living in Ohio and got in touch with her. It had been years since we’d spoken.”

“I bet she was happy to hear from you.”

Victoria left out the fact that her mother had abandoned her as a teen, and was grateful Bev didn’t ask for details about the estrangement. “She was. I missed my mother, as crappy a parent as she’d been. I guess we never stop needing our mothers, do we?”

“I never have. I see my mom every week and we text almost every day. Don’t know what I’d do without her.”

A phantom ice pick struck Victoria’s chest. She wished with every fiber of her being she could have a relationship like that with her mother. “You’re lucky to have that connection. When I got the job as a management trainee, I wanted my mother to be proud of me. I guess I thought if that happened she’d love me enough to stay in touch.”

“And did she?”

Victoria mustered a smile. “As far as my mother was concerned, a management job was as good as becoming President of the United States. She cleaned houses when she could find work—when she was sober. Mom never imagined her only child would actually finish high school, let alone college.”

“Did contacting her end your estrangement?”

Not the way Victoria had hoped. “Mother was especially happy about my success when I started sending the monthly allowance she asked for.” Victoria made a face. “Who says money can’t buy love?”

Beverly reached over and touched her hand. “I’m sorry, Vic. You deserve better.”

Victoria sucked in a breath and let it out slow. “James made up for a lot. His love was like a dream.” She took another bite of her sandwich.

Beverly gulped a Diet Coke. “Is that where you met him, at the department store?”

“Yes. A few months into the job.”

She stared over Beverly’s shoulder, recreating James’s image in her mind. “I always notice a person’s eyes first, and James had the most arresting eyes I’d ever seen. They drew you in and held you captive. When he smiled, he made you feel like you were the only person in the world who mattered. Yet he didn’t flirt and never said anything inappropriate. He was just naturally charismatic.”

“Sounds like he blew you away.” Beverly tilted her chin and made kissing sounds. Both of them laughed.

“Maybe, but he was strictly hands off. James told me he was gift shopping for his wife and I respected that. Everyone seemed to know who he was. Apparently, he was a regular customer. When he left the store, the clerks talked about him like he was a celebrity.”

Beverly nodded. “In this town, he was. West Chester has its share of prominent residents, but I think James topped the list.”

Victoria stopped talking then, realizing she’d said more about her past in the last few minutes than she had in years. Her heart pounded with the revelation, yet something inside her loosened and gave way. Her mood lifted. She felt…better.

“He might have had rock-star status, but James did his own shopping, unlike so many powerful men who delegate gift buying to an administrative assistant. I noticed he paid thoughtful attention to each item he picked out for Lydia. He was extravagant, of course, but that wasn’t what impressed me. What struck me was the care he took to consider her tastes. Lydia’s happiness obviously mattered to him, and I remember thinking how lucky she was. I’d never met a man like that.”

A flashback of her brutal father intruded, but she shook the unpleasant memory away and went on with her story.

“After Christmas that year, James stopped coming into the store. A co-worker told me his wife had died. Months passed, I was promoted to department manager, and my work became more demanding. My life revolved around my new responsibilities.”

Victoria stopped talking and wiped her hands on a napkin. It felt good to talk, better than she expected, but she wasn’t sure yet how much she wanted to reveal to this veritable stranger. She remembered the adage that it was easier to talk to someone you didn’t know well and decided that must be true. Something about Beverly made her want to babble.

“So what happened?” Beverly prompted. She’d finished her sandwich and had thrown out the trash. “You married the man, so obviously the story doesn’t end there. Keep going. Your life is much more interesting than mine.”

When the phone didn’t ring, Pirate stayed quiet, and the store remained empty Victoria decided to keep talking. Having someone listen without judgment had loosened her tongue.

Beverly resettled on her stool.

“After Lydia died, I didn’t see James for over a year. Then, one day, while I was walking through the store on my way to lunch, James and I passed each other. We stopped to chat and he asked if he could join me. We talked for over an hour in the food court and I was late getting back to work. It wasn’t until I saw him weeks later that he asked me for a date.”

“I bet every woman you worked with was green with envy,” Beverly replied.

“We tried to be discreet since James was a widower. We dated quietly for several months before becoming engaged and then had a private wedding. Even after her death, James was considerate of Lydia’s memory. Now, more than ever, I respect him for that.”

Beverly wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, but didn’t that take the shine off your own happiness? Didn’t you resent missing all the excitement and attention a new bride deserves?”

Victoria blinked. “I’d never really thought of it that way.” Probably because, deep down, she never believed she deserved to marry a rich, powerful man. Maybe if they hadn’t been so secretive, the community would have been more accepting.

She wished that part was true. They’d accused her of carrying on an affair with James long before Lydia died. Their marriage confirmed the unwarranted suspicions of her co-workers and his cronies.

Spilled milk.

She continued. “Once we were married, my other relationships fell apart. My friends at work were intimidated by my new circumstances and kept their distance, despite my efforts to keep them in my life. James’s friends suspected the worst and treated me like a pariah. The older wives hated me on sight. They were angry, too, that James had married outside his social circle. They took their anger out on me, since confronting James was unthinkable.”

“That must have hurt,” Beverly replied. Her voice was gentle and, for once, she didn’t fidget.

“I tried to pretend it didn’t, since I really had no other choice. The irony is that the women in James’s social pool would gladly have replaced Lydia with one of their own daughters, despite their alleged shock at our age difference. They would have married James themselves, given half the chance.”

Victoria popped another bite of sandwich into her mouth and savored the textures on her tongue. She swallowed and took another sip of iced tea. “What they couldn’t forgive is that James loved me. And they sensed that I loved him, too. Deeply. I was no more than a common retail store clerk with a mongrel pedigree as far as they were concerned, but I had found both love and money. Being young didn’t help. I had more assets than they could tolerate.” Victoria shrugged her shoulders. “Heard enough?”

Beverly rummaged through the takeout bag, pulled out the Cheetos then popped open the cellophane. “Not nearly. Go on. I love having my illusions about the one percent shattered. It’s good therapy for us plebeians.”

Victoria laughed and then nibbled a cheese curl from the bag Beverly offered. It felt good to relax.
Like a regular girl.
Steve Carlson’s words echoed through her mind.

“What the other wives failed to see when they snubbed me was that I had admired them. On the surface, they seemed interesting and accomplished. I wanted to be friends. But my age only reinforced the negative trophy wife stereotype and I was never accepted as part of the group.”

Beverly
tsk
ed and her mouth tightened into a thin line. “Their stupid loss.”

Victoria smiled at her new ally. “Except for James and his son, I was alone in my new life. But that was okay, I was used to being alone. Until James, I’d never been able to rely on anyone. Certainly not my parents.”

Beverly opened a package of chocolate cupcakes, pulled one out, and began licking the icing off the top. She touched Victoria’s hand with her free one after taking a bite. “How did James die? Will you tell me?”

Something in Victoria’s expression must have alarmed Beverly, because she then reached out to squeeze Victoria’s hand. “Forgive me,” she said. “I had no right to ask. I’m too nosy for my own good.”

What Victoria didn’t say, and could never say, was that with each passing day James’s face became harder to recall. It was like her brain saw his features through a filter that grew increasingly dark. She wanted to keep remembering, but his image kept drifting further away. Emotionally, she was letting James go, and so she held tighter to his earthly belongings. She was healing, despite her best efforts to stay loyal to his memory. The worst of her mourning was done and that made her feel guilty.

“Maybe someday I’ll be able to talk about it.” She needed to forgive herself and let go. She’d been a good wife to James and he’d been wonderful to her. He’d entrusted her with his legacy and she wouldn’t let him down. Giving his earthly possessions a proper send-off was the least she could do for the man who’d given her first and only safe haven, and had loved her unconditionally.

Beverly shook her head. “I can’t imagine what I’d do without Tom. He’s been my everything for fifteen years. We were never able to have children, and so we rely on each other.”

Victoria nodded in understanding. She’d wanted children, too.

She stood, wiped her hands on a clean napkin, and brushed stray crumbs from her skirt. “I’d hoped for at least twenty-five years of marriage with James. I got five. So, for now, I’m not making plans. I just want to finish healing. When I do, I’ll figure out where I belong.” Victoria had barely finished speaking when the front door banged open.

Steve Carlson entered the shop carrying a tall, three-legged wooden hat rack. With the wind blowing in behind him he looked like a wild hunter wielding an unruly sword.

“Scare off any customers yet?” he said.

Victoria sputtered. “Me?”

Beverly laughed out loud and Victoria realized Steve was teasing.

“Nice rack, Steve. Roaring Twenties, hand-carved oak. Great find,” Beverly replied.

Pirate squawked from his new post at the front of the store. Steve’s head turned with obvious surprise.

“Hubba-hubba,” the bird said.

“What the hell is that?”

“A cockatiel,” Victoria told him.

“A cock
what?”

Beverly chuckled, clearly unfazed by her boss. “I told Victoria it was all right to keep Pirate in the store. He’s cute, eh?”

As if on cue, the bird broke into a dance. He hopped back and forth on his perch and screeched. Then he cawed and said, “Kiss off.”

Steve stared at the cockatiel and shook his head. He looked back at Victoria. “Pirate? Really?”

Victoria’s cheeks burned. “Steve, I’m sorry. I should have cleared it with you first.”

Beverly patted Victoria’s arm. “I’ll take the hat rack to my workshop for a look-see.” She met Steve at the front of the shop and gripped the antique by the stem. “This baby has seen a lot of action.”

“You can tell that just by touch?”

Beverly gave a derisive snort. “Observation, not psychometrics, boss.” She picked up the hat rack and headed in the direction of her studio.

“Smart-ass.” Steve called after her.

“Better than no ass,” Beverly countered over her shoulder as she disappeared from the room.

“Give me a kiss,” Pirate demanded.

Steve turned back to the bird. “I thought you said to ‘kiss off?’”

He grinned over at Victoria. “Funny little guy, isn’t he?”

Victoria tried to smile, but mortification had her frozen in place.

“Oh, relax,” Steve said. “The little pecker can stay.”

“Cockatiel,” Victoria corrected. “Are you always like this?”

Steve’s mouth quirked. “I only tease when I’m in a good mood.” He motioned toward the inside of the store. “Has Beverly shown you around? Are you feeling comfortable here?”

“I’m…learning,” she replied. Her heart had been doing a funny dance since he walked in. Steve was alternately sarcastic, irritating, or overbearing, but her attraction to his arresting blue eyes…and that dimple in his chin…and the cut of his chest and hips…annoyed her.

He moved from the door to an old wooden lingerie chest against the far wall they used as a filing and storage cabinet. Behind him was the first of four rows of glass jewelry cases.

He opened the top drawer and rifled through. “Have you seen my receipt books? I can’t find them and I have to run out again.” He pulled another drawer open, closed it, and leaned against the edge of the glass countertop in the row behind him, frowning in concentration. “I could have sworn they were here yesterday.”

“Uh, Beverly and I have been reorganizing the work space. I’ll show you.” Though Steve was tech savvy, he also used old-school methods to keep track of inventory. She squeezed past him and pulled open a third drawer. “See, they’re in here. We discarded outdated paperwork and streamlined the cabinet.”