Gansett Island Episodes: Episode 1: Victoria & Shannon by Marie Force

Author:Marie Force
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HTJB, Inc.
Published: 2017-03-21T07:00:00+00:00

* * *

Victoria woke to darkness, low voices and the giggles of little boys trying to be quiet. For a moment, she couldn’t recall why she’d been sleeping in Seamus and Carolina’s sitting room, but then it all came flooding back in a wave of painful memories that took her breath away.

Shannon was gone. Their relationship was over.

As she remembered their heated exchange in the yard and the despair she’d seen in his eyes, it literally hurt to breathe.

She gave herself a few minutes to get it together before she sat up, ran her fingers through her hair and hoped her ravaged face wouldn’t scare the boys. After folding the blanket Seamus had covered her with and putting it over the back of the sofa, she took a deep breath and braced herself to face her friends.

The four of them were seated around the table eating hamburgers and french fries. Jackson had ketchup on his cheek, and Kyle was talking with his mouth full while Carolina gently corrected his manners. They made for such a sweet little family, and Victoria admired Seamus and Caro tremendously for what they’d done for the boys.

“She’s awake!” Kyle cried when he saw Victoria. “Can we be loud now?”

Seamus laughed at the question and the mouthful of food that nearly fell from Kyle’s face as he spoke. “Close yer mouth and chew.”

“I’m so sorry you had to be quiet for me,” Victoria said to Kyle.

“Hope you had a good nap,” Seamus said, studying her with concern on a face that was almost as handsome as his younger cousin’s, even when bruised and swollen. She would always be partial to Shannon’s handsome face, whether they were together or not.

“I did. Thank you so much for letting me stay. I’ll get out of your hair now.”

“You’re not in our hair,” Carolina said. “How about something to eat?”

Victoria placed a hand on her abdomen. “I don’t think I could, but thank you anyway.”

Carolina stood to hug her. “Hang in there, and if you need us, you have friends here.”

“Thank you,” Victoria said softly, afraid to say anything more than that due to her shaky composure.

“I’ll walk you out,” Seamus said.

Victoria waved to the boys and preceded Seamus out the door. When she reached her car, she turned to him. “Thank you for everything. You went above and beyond. I’m sorry that I put you in this position to start with. I never should’ve come to you yesterday.”

“That’s a load of shite. You didn’t do anything wrong. You wanted insight. Who else should you have asked if you didn’t feel comfortable asking him?”

“That’s just it, though. If I didn’t feel comfortable asking him, that should’ve been a sign to me that something was wrong.”

“Maybe so, but your heart was in the right place trying to figure him out. And you suspected there were things he was keeping from you that would matter at some point.”

Victoria ran her hand over the heart that ached from the loss of the man she loved.

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