Once In A While (The Cherished Memories Book 1)
Page 48
Turning back, he perused her face again, satisfying himself that she was, indeed, improved. Her cheeks seemed to grow pinker each day as her strength returned, of which he was very thankful. The first few days she had seemed so fragile and in so much pain, it tore at his guts to see her like that. Allowing his eyes to roam over her shining hair and twinkling eyes, he reached for one of her hands and murmured, “You feel better today, don’t ya.”
She nodded, loving the feel of his warm, strong hand holding hers. She reached for his other hand and gently rubbed with her thumb the finger that was missing its tip. He had told her all of the details of the accident, and how it had happened because he had been so broken up over losing her and wasn’t paying close enough attention – and she was so grateful that he hadn’t been hurt worse, or killed. She hoped one day she could meet his friend Floyd, about whom he had told her story after story, and thank him for saving the life of the man she loved.
She met his eyes and answered, “Yes, I do. I’m feeling stronger every day. They told me they’d let me start walking around in a few days, by Wednesday anyway. That would be a week.” She paused at that, as once again the confused mix of relief and sadness washed over her at the thought of the precious life she had been carrying that was now no more.
Vic moved his head affirmatively, and as her eyes continued to drink in his appearance and his presence, she realized that he seemed as if he had something on his mind. Her brow furrowed as she watched him first bring her hand up to his lips and kiss it, and then clear his throat and glance around as if he were uncomfortable. A shiver of dread coursed through her body.
“What is it Vic…is something wrong?”
He met her eyes again and smiled softly, and what seemed to her as almost…regrettably. She swallowed nervously as an unreasonable fear began to rise. Her heart sped up and she whispered, “Vic…tell me…”
He realized she was misinterpreting and reading signals he wasn’t meaning to send. Quickly, he shook his head. “It’s nothin’. I just…well, it’s Sunday and I’ll have to leave earlier tonight so I can make it back to Evansville before it gets too late…” he paused, alarmed, as he watched the color drain from her face and her eyes begin to fill.
“Y…you’re leaving? But…but you said…you said you wouldn’t leave me!” she squeaked before bursting into tears. The ladies nearby stopped their conversations and turned their heads toward them in concern.
Unnerved at her reaction, he immediately scooted forward and took her in his arms, pressing her head against his neck as he crooned, “Hey! Hey now, sshhhh, don’t cry babe… you shouldn’t get so upset, it ain’t good for ya…”
She moved her head, burrowing her face into the hollow between his shoulder and neck, holding on to him tightly – not caring what the other women would think. She was still quite affected by the trauma of the whole affair and wasn’t as over it as either of them had thought. “You promised!” she sobbed, “You promised you’d never leave me again!”
“Ssshhh, Mary Lou, now you listen to me,” he ordered in a serious tone. “I’m comin’ back. You hear me?” he paused and drew back, making her look into his eyes. His heart contracted to see the absolute misery in hers. How could she believe I’d leave her, after all the things we’ve said to each other? he wondered, guessing she must be more traumatized by the things that husband of hers had done than he had suspected. Vic would have relished his nemesis walking in the door right then so that he could drag him out back and beat the living daylights out of him. Setting that thought aside, however, he refocused, knowing he had to calm her down.
“Honey…listen – I’m only goin’ so I can get my things, say goodbye to Al and Goldie, and tell my boss face to face that I’m quittin’. He don’t deserve me just not comin’ back and him not knowin’ whether to hire a replacement or not. I gave him my word I’d be back.”
Sniffling, Louise reached for a tissue to wipe her eyes, drawing in a slightly calmer, shuddering breath as her heart rate began to slow down. Vic’s words of assurance were working their magic to sooth her frazzled emotions. “Your truck driving job…you liked it so much…” she whispered, suddenly feeling shards of guilt that he was about to sacrifice the best job he’d ever had just to come back and be with her. She certainly didn’t feel worthy of such a sacrifice being made on her account.
His eyes twinkled and he raised his hand to softly cup her cheek. “Yeah, I liked it…but I love you. I’d give up anything to be with you.”
Again, her eyes filled with tears, only this time of overflowing joy and relief. “Oh Vic…I love you so much…”
Vic grinned and nodded in satisfaction, glad that he had managed to smooth the waters. “That’s good to know…I’d hate to be the only one,” he teased.
Drying her eyes, now a bit embarrassed that she had made such a fuss – and right there in a ward filled with at least thirty people, Louise murmured, “How…how long will you be gone?”
He drew her again into his arms and reassuringly began to rub her back, lovingly smoothing strands of her hair. “Just a few days. Just long enough to tie up loose ends,” he reassured. “Then I’m comin’ back and you’ll never get rid of me – you’ll have to kick me out the door.”
She laughed softly and pulled back enough to see his face.
“Oh you – you won’t ever have to worry about that. You’re stuck with me.”
With a grin and a wink, he whispered, “Just what I wanted to hear.”
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DEDICATIONS
• First of all, thank you, Mom, the real Louise, for sharing with me the details of your extraordinary and colorful life. Your ability to remember facts, songs, names, and places from seventy-five plus years ago continues to astound me. Without you, there would be no story! Love you Mom.
• Thanks go to God, who put the idea to write it in my mind, and helped me in thousands of ways along the long road to completion.
• To my faithful and hardworking editor/beta, Venessa Vargas – you are one in a million, and without your keen eye and expertise, constant support, encouragement (Sully pompoms!) and belief in me and in the story, this book would still be a jumble of haphazard notes in three separate word files.
• Thank you to my pre-readers, Mom, Steve, and Belinda Ross, for your excitement and interest in the story and always wanting to know when you could read more chapters!
• A big thanks goes out to the readers and fans of my Fan Fiction (Linda4him59). Your encouragement and enthusiasm for my stories were the catalyst that made me believe I could write a ‘real’ novel. And, with my story Michaela’s Choice, you gave me the amazing distinction and honor of receiving the most reviews, by far, of any Dr. Quinn story on the DQ pages of fanfiction.net. Thanks all of you!
• Thank you, also, to my friends, Indie authors H.D’Agostino and Kristine Raymond, for your encouragement, advice, and invaluable help.
• And last, but not least – thank you to my sweet husband, Steve. You’ve been so patient and helpful all through this arduous process. Thank you for being my number one fan, my helpmate, my adviser, my confidant, and my sounding board. I couldn’t have finished it without you! I love you sweetheart!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Linda Ellen lives in Louisville, Kentucky with her husband and youngest son. A lifelong avid reader, after encouragement from her family and friends, she tried her hand at writing in 2009 and never looked back. Prior to the release of her debut novel Once in a While (fashioned from the real-life story of her parents’ romance), she has written 30 well-received Fan Fiction works, including short stories, missing scenes, novellas, and four full length novels, based on the TV show Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. Linda keeps very busy with her work in her church’s prison ministry and writing every spare moment she gets. A third book is planned for the Cherished Memories series, entitled Almost as Much, with a scheduled publication date spring of 2016. To keep up with the latest news on her books, including trailers, cover reveals
, release dates, and book signings, visit and ‘like’ her Facebook page, Linda Ellen – Author. For a special treat, go to her Pinterest page to see many pictures related to this story:
http://www.pinterest.com/linda4him59/my-novel-once-in-a-while/