The Christmas Surprise (Bindarra Creek Small Town Christmas Romance) by Charles Linda & Charles Linda

Author:Charles, Linda & Charles, Linda
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Linda Charles
Published: 2023-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

The following morning Victoria stepped out of the shower as her phone buzzed. She grabbed the nearest towel, wiped her hands and checked her phone.

Hi Victoria, can you come out for a quick chat? I’m alone. Simon.

Her body sagged against the bathroom vanity as she stared at the message. So, he’s now hijacking me.

‘I’m alone’. Those two dangerous words lingered in her head. Why? What did that mean? What else was there to discuss other than their son, Matt? Why wasn’t Carol with him? They’d been joined at the hip for months now. Why not this morning?

Stop it, Victoria. You’re better than that.

Still, she fought her instinct to rush out to him, to invite him in, to put on the kettle, but her disloyal feet refused to do her bidding.

She placed her phone onto the vanity and quickly dried herself. Her heart peppered as thousands of questions jammed her brain. It had been a year since their divorce and still there were too many unanswered questions. Questions she couldn’t face to ask. Also, to her eternal shame, her heart dreaded the answers.

Victoria dragged on her jeans and pulled a t-shirt over her head, ran trembling fingers through her wet hair. Once satisfied with the results, she stepped out into the hallway and checked on Matt in his bedroom, who lay on his back still very much asleep.

At the front door, Victoria took a few deep breaths, and then swung the door open. She blinked at the sun’s early-morning glare. Across the street she spotted Beryl hosing her roses.

Simon was leaning against his car bonnet staring at her home. He nodded when he saw her, and with a casual ease she knew so well, he stepped away from the car and moved toward her.

With laser-like precision Victoria studied his every expression, searching for a trigger, a doorway in to the old Simon, the one she had loved and knew like a second skin. Since the first day they met on the school bus, she’d have given him anything and everything. Twelve years later she found it incomprehensible that they were apart.

She stood back as he walked up the small garden path and studied the outside of her home. Apart from the shell of the man she once knew, there was nothing familiar. No special nods, smiles, or glances her way, certainly not the kind that made her feel loved and wanted. The Simon who stood before her was so familiar, and yet, not.

He turned and faced her, his expression a mix of curiosity and surprise. “You really did buy a renovator’s delight. Why Bindarra Creek? Everyone you know is in Sydney.”

Again, her feet refused to move closer to him.

“You know very well why I bought here. I wanted to be debt free. You can’t split a home in half and then expect to buy two homes. Well, you can, but you’d do it with a hefty mortgage. Even if I bought a two-bedroom unit I’d still be in debt.”

Simon slid his hand over the rough wooden window sills that ran down the side of her home.

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