Vicki's Gift: Rose Island Book 4 by Kristin Noel Fischer

Author:Kristin Noel Fischer [Fischer, Kristin Noel]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: KNF Books
Published: 2020-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

PART 3

Seven Years Later

Chapter 20

Vicki

On my thirty-fifth birthday, Jillian left her kids home with Keith and came to the beach to watch the sunrise with Bianca and me. As the sky turned orange and yellow, my sisters and I sat on a blanket, sipping coffee I’d brought from the bakery.

“Finally.” Bianca clapped her hands and sprang to her feet.

I followed her gaze to see the lights flick on in our favorite food trailer.

Grabbing her wallet, she shouted, “I’ll be right back. I assume y’all want eggs, sausage, and cheese?”

Jillian and I both nodded before returning our attention back to the sunrise. Streaks of pink now broke through the orange and yellow, bathing the sky in a softness that seemed too beautiful to be real.

Jillian yawned. “You’re awfully quiet.”

I didn’t dare glance at her for fear she might read my thoughts. Instead, I shrugged. “I could say the same thing about you.”

“Yeah, but you’re a morning person, and I’m not.” She set her takeout coffee cup in the sand, twisting it back and forth so it would remain upright and not tip over. Then, she laid back on the blanket and closed her eyes. “Because it’s your birthday, you can be as quiet as you want. For me, I’m taking a nap so I have enough energy to eat my breakfast tacos when Bianca returns.”

I smiled. “Were you up all night again?”

“Yes.” She murmured something else about her newborn before tossing an arm over her eyes. I let her sleep, knowing she needed it.

Gazing at the sanderlings running back and forth with the tide, I thought back to that day nearly seven years ago. It’d been colder then, but I’d sat on this very blanket, in this very spot, writing the hardest letter I’d ever written in my life.

While I tried to make things work with Seth after my brother died, I just couldn’t do it. Seth insisted I was overwhelmed with grief and not thinking clearly. Because it was partly true, I let him believe it.

He also thought I was jealous of Scarlet. I wasn’t. I knew Seth loved me more than he loved Scarlet.

Truthfully, I was afraid he might want my help with the baby. What if I panicked with Seth’s baby like I’d panicked with Travis in the hospital all those years ago?

Since then, I’d perfected my ability to avoid all babies. Oh, I smiled at them when they came into the bakery, and I always praised their cuteness, but I never held them or allowed myself to get too close.

I followed the same policy when Jillian and Keith welcomed a new daughter into their family last month. While I bought the baby an outrageously expensive gift, I creatively sidestepped the question of whether I wanted to hold her.

“Who’s hungry?” Bianca plopped down on the blanket with three disposable food trays containing our tacos.

Jillian stretched and sat up. “I’m starving.”

“Me too,” I said.

The three of us ate our breakfast and chatted about everything from the island’s new pet store to the scrapbook Jillian was making to commemorate Keith’s military career.

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