Vicki's mind was in turmoil, her thoughts skittering. "Sure."
"Why don't you meet me at that nice little coffee shop we went to last year?"
"That sounds fine."
Minutes later, Vicki was still standing on the street. She wanted to run to Caleb, let him hold her and ask him to make it all right. Nobody, not even Ada, could destroy her composure the way Danica could. Like a whirlwind, she'd sweep into Vicki's life once a year or so and leave emotional devastation behind.
Danica wasn't a bad person, but simply so self-involved that she had no time to be a mother, no time to listen to her daughter's needs. During her last visit, Vicki would have done anything to have her mother's advice on how to fix the fissures in her marriage. But Danica had been interested only in talking about her trip to Paris.
"Excuse me, miss."
She turned, startled. The elderly man who'd spoken tipped an imaginary hat toward her and started to read the signboard she'd been blocking. The interruption was precisely what she'd needed to snap her out of her frozen state.
She walked to her car. This was her problem and she'd deal with it. No more hiding, either behind her own walls, or behind Caleb's strength. If she still couldn't handle Danica, then everything she'd said to Caleb about becoming her own woman was a lie. And she didn't want it to be.
* * *
Caleb came home well after midnight. Vicki was asleep so he tried not to wake her as he got ready for bed. In the glow of the single bedside light he'd turned on, she looked so beautiful that he stood watching her for a long moment.
God, he could barely believe she was his. Her skin bloomed with health, so soft and silky that sometimes he was afraid of bruising her with his touch. Dressed in her favorite old pj's, she was curled up on her side, legs drawn to her chest. He wanted nothing more than to hold her through the night. Sliding in beside her, he turned off the light and pulled her into his embrace.
"Caleb?" she murmured, snuggling sleepily into him.
"Go back to sleep, honey." He pressed a kiss to the curve of her neck and then lay down to rest, feeling blessed.
No matter what happened with his business, he would always have Victoria. His wife's commitment to him was so powerful, he knew it would never falter. She might not love him the way he needed to be loved, but she'd never again leave him. When a man had that kind of loyalty behind him, failure wasn't something to be terrified of.
"No regrets," he whispered as the night claimed him.
* * *
Mid-morning the next day, Vicki stared at the screen of her cell phone, fighting the urge to call Caleb. He didn't need to be burdened with her problem. Not now. But despite everything she'd tried to convince herself, she was scared she wouldn't be able to handle Danica. She'd almost said something to Caleb as he'd left for work. What had stopped her then was the same thing that stopped her now—her own need to prove that she was strong enough to face up to the brutal reality of her childhood.
Closing the phone, she returned it to her purse and picked up her coffee to take a sip. As she did so, she realized something important. Though she'd come to meet Danica on her own, she was no longer alone as she'd been for most of her life. Caleb's faith in her was an invisible presence by her side.
A flash of red at the door of the café caught her attention. Putting down her cup, she watched the beautiful blonde walk over. Though she was well into her fifties, there was nothing old about Danica Wentworth nee Striker. Her hair was a gold-streaked mane that tumbled around her shoulders, her body curved and toned and her makeup flawless. In a simple wraparound dress that bared her arms and showed off her cleavage, she was sexy enough to make heads turn.
Danica stopped by Vicki's table. "Victoria, darling." The scent of her perfume was painfully familiar, awakening memories Vicki didn't want to remember.
She stood and dutifully pecked Danica on the cheek. "Hello, Mother." As she sat back down, Danica folded herself into the chair opposite, her every move confident and sensual. Vicki felt dull by comparison, a swallow next to a bird of paradise.
"That blue looks good on you, darling." Danica waved at the sky-blue cardigan Vicki had teamed with her favorite jeans. She liked the softness of the cashmere against her skin but most of all, she liked how Caleb was tempted into stroking her whenever she wore this fabric.
"Aren't you cold?" she asked Danica.
Her mother laughed. "I'm hot-blooded. Did you order me a coffee?"
"Flat white, no sugar."
"Perfect."
Danica's coffee arrived moments later and she paused to send a blinding smile the waiter's way before taking a sip. "Um, wonderful, though I must admit I miss the coffee I get back home."
"How is Italy?" That was where Danica had gone after meeting Carlo Belladucci and it was a place to which Vicki had never been invited.
Danica's smiling face suddenly sombered. Putting down her cup, she reached across the table and placed her hand over Vicki's. Vicki was so surprised that she didn't react. "I came to say I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For everything—for leaving you to Ada, for deciding to chase my love for Carlo instead of looking after my daughter, for never being there for you." Danica's blue eyes, so like Vicki's own, filled with a plea for understanding. "Forgive me."
Vicki knew it meant nothing. It hadn't meant anything the last few times Danica had been overcome by guilt. And it didn't mean anything today. It never would. Danica was a fickle, beautiful butterfly. That she'd stuck with Carlo this long was a testament to her love for the man. Danica had managed to turn into a faithful lover but she'd never be maternal.
The amazing thing was, that lack in Danica no longer cut Vicki's heart to pieces. It was a startling insight but more than welcome. "There's nothing to forgive," she said gently, aware of the life growing inside of her. Without her conscious knowledge, Caleb and her baby had given her the emotional strength to withstand Danica's butterfly persona, dramatically shifting her priorities from the shadowed past to a sparkling future.
"My therapist says I can't get closure until I let you release your anger at me."
Putting her hand over her mother's and clasping that slender hand in her own, she smiled. "Tell him or her that I'm not angry at you." Not anymore. "I'm happy that you're happy, Mother. You are, aren't you?"
"Oh yes." Danica pulled her hand away. "What about you, darling? How's your gorgeous husband?"
"I'm wonderful and so is Caleb." She smiled, able to share the news with Danica now without any bitterness. "We're going to have a baby."
Danica gave an excited shriek that made the whole café look at them but her mother had never cared about the world's opinion. "Oh, darling. How exciting! Good God, that means I'll be a grandmother!"
"You'll be the crazily beautiful grandmother who comes in and sweeps my child off her feet." Vicki knew that to be the absolute truth. Free with gifts and laughter, Danica would fill a child's life with infectious joy. Just so long as no commitment beyond periodic visits was required. "You'll be adored."
Danica seemed to like that idea. As she happily burbled away about everything from the designer baby clothes she was going to buy to her adventures in Europe, Vicki felt another understanding dawn in her mind. Danica, she realized, didn't want to be married or tied down in any way. What Ada had held as a threat over Vicki's head was for Danica a perfect life. Her mother was no one's mistress but her own.
Something in Vicki healed completely at that thought and she saw Ada for the pitiful woman she was. Her grandmother had based her life on a thousand lies, big and small. She was no one to be scared of. Vicki knew with absolute certainty that never again would Ada have the power to force her back into her shell.
* * *
An hour later, she said goodbye to her mother outside the café and they went their separate ways.
Vicki decided to walk over and browse in a nearby lingerie store, her mind at peace. It was a wonderful change from all those times when Danica's appearances had left her feeling as if she were four years old again and watching her mother wave goodbye from a limousine as she headed off to a new life.
Vicki's fingers touched the lacy edge of a moss-green camisole and she paused. It was attractive but definitely an extravagance.
I like seeing you in satin and lace.
The memory of the unexpected words made her decision for her. She picked up the camisole. Pretty and feminine, she knew it would make her feel special. The way Caleb did.
Standing there with the plastic hanger in one hand, Vicki realized that she loved Caleb more than she'd ever imagined. The feeling was primitive and visceral, demanding everything she had. This was why she'd been able to truly forgive her mother, because she knew Danica had never felt anything like it and never would.