Chapter Six
Victoria walked up and down the aisles at the grocery store trying to find easy things to make for herself that were higher in protein, calories, and vitamins to keep her healthy.
She hated grocery shopping, especially for one person.
She loved to cook but didn’t enjoy it as much just cooking for herself.
Cole’s words kept sliding through her mind, making her doubts grow. She was glad he didn’t know how truly hard this was for her. Physical labor was something she’d never craved. Her thoughts had always been more toward the feminine side of the spectrum.
She loved cooking, baking, sewing, and keeping house. She dreamed of having a family someday when she was younger. Children, she could pour all the love she had bottled up inside of her onto, and a husband who was there every day and cherished her.
She had so many doubts in herself already, but what Cole had said to her made them so much worse.
Would she be able to make this ranch work?
She didn’t know. If it were up to the heart of a person, she would definitely succeed.
It was also up, in large part, to strength and how much work a person could get done in one day.
“Victoria?”
Victoria jerked, dropping the package of hamburger, and turned.
“I’m sorry?” Her eyes scanned the woman.
“You don’t remember me, do you?”
The woman in front of her looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place where she’d seen her before.
“No, I’m sorry.”
“Trisha Jensen. I was the girl you played with when you visited your uncle.”
Victoria’s eyes widened, and a smile broke across her face.
This woman was at least five inches taller than her.
It looked like her friend had grown where she hadn’t.
She looked like the same bubbly woman she’d known before.
Looking back, Trisha was the only friend she’d kept in contact with the longest.
“Ishy?”
Trisha laughed and hugged Victoria.
“Icky.” They both laughed at the nicknames they’d given each other. Ishy for Trish and Icky for Vicky. “I didn’t know you were back in town. Why didn’t you look me up? My parents still live in the same house, so I would have been easy to find.”
“I’ve thought about it, but I’ve been so busy since I came back. I was going to wait until I got things under control. There is so much I need to learn.”
“I’m about done here. Can you stop for a quick cup of coffee to catch up?”
“That sounds great. I can’t stay long. I have some freezer things I’ll need to get back to the ranch.”
“That’s okay. I have to pick up my kids at my mom’s in thirty minutes.”
Victoria smiled. “That will work.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you at the café down the block.”
“I’ll see you there.”
Ten minutes later, Victoria slid into the booth where Trisha already sat with two coffees.
Trisha reached across the table and held Victoria’s hand.
“I am so excited you’re back. You’re going to stay, right?
“You haven’t changed,” she said and laughed when the other woman nodded her head vigorously. “I’m assuming you’re married from the ring on your finger, and have kids because you mentioned them?”
“Remember that mean kid Ben, that kid that wouldn’t leave us alone and did horrible things to us?”
Victoria’s smile spread, and her eyes widened. “No ... you didn’t? You married him?” she screeched out in a loud whisper.
Trisha laughed. “Yup, married seven years already, and we have three kids, all younger than five.”
Victoria’s mouth dropped open. “Are you crazy?”
“Well, duh. I always have been, but I mostly can’t get enough of my man,” Trisha murmured as she raised her eyebrows up and down.
Victoria waved her hands in front of her. “Nope, I definitely don’t want to go there. Yuck.”
Trisha laughed. “Tell me about you.”
“I moved here a little over a month ago after I found out about my uncle and him leaving me the ranch.”
Trisha teared up and reached across the table and took both her hands. “He knew you loved him.”
Victoria reached for a napkin from the dispenser on the table to wipe the tears that had escaped.
“I just wish he’d told me about his cancer. I would have been here to help him,” Victoria said as she sniffed.
“I imagine that’s why he didn’t tell you. He didn’t want you to see him sick.”
“I know. He had done so much for me over the years. He was more of a parent to me than my own mother. I looked forward to my visits here all year, and when I had to leave, I would cry for days.”
“How is your mother?”
Victoria’s face twisted in a grimace. “She left a day after I turned eighteen, and I haven’t seen her since.”
“Oh, my God. What kind of mother does that?”
Victoria shrugged. “Mine does.”
“I wish you had come back then. Why didn’t you?”
“I had a few more months of high school, and then I received a scholarship to the community college that I couldn’t pass up. Then after college, I got swept up in city life and my career.”
“Which was?” Trisha asked.
“Finance.” Victoria laughed at the surprise on Trisha’s face.
“I remember you hated math.”
“I can’t believe you remember that. I still do, but come to find out, I’m pretty good with numbers.”
“Isn’t that always the way it goes? It’s always what you least expect.”
“Tell me about your family.”
“Unbelievably, nothing has changed except for my marriage and children. That’s the problem with small towns. Everything moves really slow.”
“I’m excited to live here. Slow is exactly what I need.”
“You didn’t like the city?”
“I hated it.”
Trisha looked at the wall clock. “Oh, jeez. I’ve got to go get the kids.”
Victoria stood and hugged her friend.
“I’m so glad I saw you,” Victoria murmured against Trish’s shoulder.
“Me too. Hey, if you’re not busy on Friday night, come to the Stallion Bar on the edge of town. We’re celebrating my husband’s thirtieth birthday. Please say you’ll come. I want you to meet the grown-up Ben, and I’ll introduce you to more people.”
“That sounds like fun. I’ll be there unless there’s an emergency at the ranch.”
Trisha squealed and hugged her one more time. “See you Friday.”