Vivian

by Marie, Bernadette

  Suddenly, she didn’t have it in her to fight him.

  Gently, ever so gently, he laid a kiss on her lips. Her body swayed toward him. He kept the kiss soft.

  A violent storm pulsed through her. He deepened the kiss as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. She still fit. His body was warm against hers, and just like the way she’d felt at home the moment she walked through the back door, she felt at home in his arms.

  He rested his forehead against hers. “I’ve missed you, Sophia Burkhalter.”

  Then he withdrew his arms from her, and taking a step back, he shoved his hands into his pockets.

  “Miss Katie says she’ll be making blueberry pancakes in the morning. She usually has breakfast on the table by seven-thirty. I wouldn’t be late. I’m sure you know the special pancake breakfast is for you.” He walked into the darkened living room.

  “Where are you going?” Her heart still pounded in her chest, and her body swayed from his kiss.

  David stepped back into the light. A sly smile raised a corner of his mouth, and one of his dark eyebrows arched. She could feel the color rise in her cheeks.

  “Oh, that’s right. You don’t know, do you?” He tapped his hand on the jamb of the door. “I live here, too. I know you can find your room. It’s also where you left it. Good night, Sophia. Sweet dreams.”

  It was already eight o’clock when the smell of pancakes stirred Sophia awake. She opened her eyes and saw the room of her childhood in the daylight. Warmth filled her, and a smile crossed her lips. She was home.

  It had been so long since she’d called anywhere home. She’d known only three in her lifetime. The one she shared for such a short time with her parents. The one she shared with her grandparents after her parents died. She sighed. Then there was the home she’d shared with David.

  The thought had tears stinging her eyes and a lump forming in her throat that she forced down. With a deep breath, she cleared her conscience. She’d left. It had been her decision to leave and start a life away from them all. It would be that same life she would return to in fourteen days.

  She dug through her suitcase and found her warm, pink robe. She slipped it over her gray pajama bottoms and white tank top. Giving herself a glance in the mirror, she dragged her fingers through her hair and decided there wasn’t much she could do with it.

  She stood in front of the mirror a moment longer and studied the scar on her neck that had plagued her since childhood. She ran her fingers over it. The hideous mark was there as a reminder of what it had taken to save her life.

  Her lips pursed and tears still stung her eyes when she thought about the accident that had put her in the path of death and had taken her parents from her. With one more glance at herself, she tightened up the robe, pulling the lapels together until her throat was covered. Then she headed downstairs.

  Chatter came from the kitchen, and Sophia stood on the bottom step and listened. She closed her eyes when she heard her grandmother’s voice. Her heart beat faster with the anticipation of her grandmother’s arms embracing her. Too many years had passed since she’d seen Katie. Sure, they spoke on the phone every week, but Sophia had been so angry with David and had left in such a storm of emotions that she’d never been back to Kansas City, even to see her grandmother. Guilt that she’d abandoned her to escape humiliation ripped at her. She promised herself to make their time together memorable.

  Sophia took a deep breath and walked toward the back of the house to the kitchen. She stopped at the door and watched as her grandmother fussed over pancakes, and Millie stirred together more batter from her seat at the table. David was already up and seated with his aunt. A cup of coffee rested between the palms of his hands. He was dressed in a University of Missouri T-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. Obviously, the comfortable attire meant he didn’t have to work. The thought had Sophia’s heart racing again. He’d be nearby all day.

  “Well, well, well. Look who the cat dragged in.” Millie noticed Sophia in the doorway and smiled.

  “Good morning, Ms. Millie.” She walked to the table and kissed her on the cheek. Then she turned to her grandmother, who waited for her with damp eyes. “Good morning, Grandma.” She wrapped her arms around the woman who had meant so much in her life. They clung to each other for a long time.

  Katie Burkhalter held her granddaughter at arm’s length and took in the sight of her. “Oh, my little Sophie, look at you. You’re more beautiful than I remember.” She smiled and pulled her close again. “I’ve missed you,” she whispered.

  “I’ve missed you ,too.” Her voice wobbled. David crossed the room to the coffeepot, and she hoped he was too busy to notice her emotional greeting with her grandmother.

  “You look like you could use this.” He was standing behind her. She turned, and he held out a cup of coffee to her.

  “Thank you.” She took the cup without looking up at him.

  Millie smiled from beyond her bowl of blueberries and batter. Her soft, blue eyes shimmered with mischief.

  “What a coincidence that you were both on the same plane.”

  “Who said we were?” David raised his eyebrows at his aunt as she exchanged a glance with Katie.

  They were at it again. Sophia shook her head, and Katie looked too innocent.

  “Oh, hush.” Katie pushed Sophia toward the table and laid a plate of pancakes in front of her. “Eat, you’re too skinny.”

  “Oh, Grandma, you’re the only one who would think so.” Sophia laughed as David slid into the seat next to her and looked her over.

  “I think she’s right.” He watched her from over the top of his coffee mug. “I don’t remember you looking so frail.”

  “Frail?” Her mouth was full of pancake, but her heart was full of fury. She washed down the bite with her coffee and took a breath to give David a piece of her mind. At the last second, she bit it back, not wanting to upset her grandmother or Millie.

  “So, did you two have time to talk last night? Did you make up? Everything back to the way it was?” Millie asked with as much enthusiasm as she possessed in her tiny body.

  “Aunt Millie, things between me and Sophie have been over for a very long time,” David replied.

  A surge of two very different emotions went through her. First, the fact that he’d admitted things were over between them, which they were, infuriated her. That should have been what she’d gotten to say to drive home the point even harder after they’d somehow managed to get them on the same flight.

  Then a gentle calm took over when she realized he’d called her Sophie. She lifted her mug to her lips to hide the smile she had surfaced when he’d called her that. It was the name those who loved her called her. The memory of him calling her Sophie had spiked a jolt of happiness through her she didn’t know still existed.

  The fluttering of happiness lasted only a moment and faded quickly when Sophia watched the figure of a young woman walk into the kitchen. Her long, straight, dark hair hung past her shoulders and over her face. Her shoulders hunched as she shuffled her bunny-clad feet across the kitchen floor. She had on nothing more than her tank top and a pair of cut-off sweatpants.

  Black fingernail polish, half chipped off, coated her nails, and at least twelve black rubber bracelets adorned her.

  The girl shuffled to the coffeepot, poured herself a cup of coffee, and then shuffled back out and up the stairs without one word muttered to anyone in the room.

  David raised his mug as if to salute his daughter with it. “And now you’ve met Carissa.”

  All the joy in Sophia’s body drained. Resentment for the man whose face had haunted her since she’d walked out on him overtook her. She turned back to her coffee. It had gone cold.

  She’d met Carissa before. Perhaps he’d forgotten. It had been mere days before she’d decided to walk out of his life.

  In fact, Sophia had been the one who opened the door that day.

  Standing before her was a little girl with matted braids and d
irty clothes. Sophia was sure she was there to sell them something, but the child looked up at her and said, “I’m looking for David Kendal. I’m his daughter.”

  Tears stung Sophia’s eyes when she thought of it. David had dropped to his knees in front of little girl when he’d seen her. She’d whispered in his ear, and he’d embraced her. Moments later, they were running out the door without Sophia to help the little girl’s mother. There had been the one phone call from David asking her to come to the hospital, saying he couldn’t leave. She’d gone, just as he’d asked her to do, even though her heart had been broken. She’d stood just beyond the room looking in. A woman lay in the bed, a doctor attended to her, and David sat with Carissa on his lap, her head on his shoulder. She’d taken one step toward the room when a nurse had stopped her and told her that no one could go in except the husband and the daughter. Sophia left two days later. She couldn’t stand the deception.

  The man she loved was a father and obviously, according to the nurse, someone else’s husband. She’d decided at that moment she didn’t need anyone like that in her life. She’d be fine. Just as David had said she was.

  Meet the Author

  Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie is known for building families readers want to be part of. Her series The Keller Family has graced bestseller charts since its release in 2011, along with her other series and single title books. The married mother of five sons promises Happily Ever After always…and says she can write it, because she lives it.

  When not writing, Bernadette Marie is shuffling her sons to their many events—mostly hockey—and enjoying the beautiful views of the Colorado Rocky Mountains from her front step. She is also an accomplished martial artist with a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do.

  A chronic entrepreneur, Bernadette Marie opened her own publishing house in 2011, 5 Prince Publishing, so that she could publish the books she liked to write and help make the dreams of other aspiring authors come true too.

  5 Prince Publishing has a catalog of talented authors. Please enjoy an excerpt from bestselling author Lisa J. Hobman.

  THE GIRL BEFORE EVE

  The Girl Before Eve ~ Prologue

  Friends Will Be Friends (Queen)

  The Beginning of Lily and Adam - Primary School 1986

  “She is my friend, Stewart Campbell, and if I see you pinch anything from her ever, ever again or try to push her over, I will punch you on the nose, and then I’ll tell Mrs. Craven and she’ll tell your mum, and then you’ll be grounded…forever!” Adam yelled as he towered over the snivelling little blonde-haired boy whose T-shirt he was grasping.

  “I’m going to tell my dad on you, and he’ll come to your house and kick your dad’s arse, and he’s lots bigger than your dad, you smelly pig!” Stewart retorted through his tears and threw the packet of crisps he’d stolen on the playground, the contents spilling out. He stamped on the crisps, crumbling them under his feet.

  Adam laughed in the other boy’s face. “Oh no, he isn’t, and now I’m going to tell Mrs. Craven that you said a swear word! Don’t you ever hurt her again, do you hear me? She’s a girl and you should never, ever hit girls or pinch their snack. And now you’ve dropped it on the floor and she hasn’t got one. You’re just mean and nasty, Stewart Campbell. And that’s why nobody likes you!” Adam released the blonde boy’s T-shirt and pushed him away. The boy ran off to the other side of the playground just as the lunchtime supervisor came around the corner. She must have noticed the gathered crowd of children.

  “Everything alright over here, Adam?” the tall, red-haired lady asked with a sour look on her face.

  “Yes, Mrs. Craven. Stewart Campbell said a rude word though, so I told him off and said I was going to tell.”

  “Oh did he now? That boy needs to learn some manners. I think I’ll tell his teacher. Perhaps a quick call home might be in order.” Mrs. Craven glanced toward Adam’s friend just as Lily wiped the tears from her eyes and pushed the mass of wild, dark curls from her damp face. “Lily? Have you been crying?”

  Lily nodded.

  “What happened?” Mrs. Craven asked, narrowing her eyes.

  Lily worriedly looked to Adam.

  “It’s okay, Mrs. Craven. Stewart was being mean and he took her snack and threw it on the floor and stamped on it. But I told him off for that, too.”

  Mrs. Craven smiled and ruffled Adam’s scruffy, dark hair. “Eeeh, for nothing but a six-year-old boy you do look after her well, don’t you, son? You keep that up.” She patted his head lightly and then turned to walk over to where Stewart had run off to sulk.

  Once Mrs. Craven was out of sight and the crowd of children had dispersed, Adam turned to Lily. “Here, you can have the rest of my crisps if you like.” He held out the blue crinkly packet to her.

  “Thank you, Adders,” she croaked, almost in a whisper. “You’re my bestest friend.”

  “Aye, I know that and you’re my bestest friend too, Lil, and Stewart Campbell is just a big meanie. You need to stay away from him. I’ll make sure he isn’t nasty to you again though. Don’t worry.” The two children walked over to the grass and sat down side by side.

  “Are you coming to my house for tea on Saturday? My papa says we can have the paddling pool out if it’s sunny?” Lily asked munching on the salt and vinegar crisps.

  Adam nodded. “Yep…I can’t wait. I’ve got one of those big water pistols that soak you through, so you’d better watch out.” He nudged her with a wide grin fixed in place.

  She giggled. “Yeah, well I’m going to make sure I get my big sand castle bucket out then, and it holds about ten gallons of water, so you’d better watch out.” She nudged him back.

  He snorted. “It does not! And anyway I’m a faster runner than you, so you’d better watch out.” He chuckled.

  “It does, too! And you’re not faster than me…you run like a girl!” Lily jumped to her feet and set off at a sprint, her musical laughter echoing behind her.

  “I’ll get you Lily Macrae! Just you wait!” Adam laughed heartily as he sprang up from the grass and set off in pursuit.

  And there began the soundtrack to Adam and Lily’s lives…

  Books from 5 Prince Publishing

  www.5princebooks.com

  How to Have a Happy Marriage Lindsay Harper

  A Gift for Chloe Susan Lohrer

  Penelope Bernadette Marie

  Bridge of Hope Lisa J. Hobman

  A Painted Room Pete Abela

  Amelia Bernadette Marie

  Lilac Lane Ann Swann

  Crisis of Serenity Denise Moncrief

  The Porcelain Child Jessica Dall

  The Acceptance Bernadette Marie

  Serpent Priestess of the Annunaki Katrina Sisowath

  The Letter Drawer Sarah Galloway

  How to Have an Amicable Divorce Lindsay Harper

  Ice Goddess Hannelore Moore

  Indomitable Spirit Bernadette Marie

  A Heart Forever Wild Sara Barnard

  Desperado Sara Barnard

  The Copper Witch Jessica Dall

  Home Run Bernadette Marie

  Blissful Tragedy Amy L Gale

  How to Have an Affair Lindsay Harper

  The Soul of Jesus Doug Simpson

  The Girl before Eve Lisa J Hobman

  Courting Darkness Melynda Price

  Owned By the Ocean Christine Steendam

  Sullivan’s Way Wilhelmina Stolen

  The Library Carmen DeSousa

  Rebekah’s Quilt Sara Barnard

  Unforgiving Plains Christine Steendam

 

 

 
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