by Carol Ross
Soft green eyes searched his before giving him a little nod. That was enough for now.
“You don’t have to say anything. I know we have more to talk about, but right now, we better get out of this water before my sister calls the coast guard.”
* * *
ONSHORE, THEY WERE immediately met with an assemblage of enthusiastic chaos. Cameras, microphones, Henry, Hazel, Gerard, Marissa, Wyatt and Miles Romeo, and a mob of other people all greeting and hugging and congratulating them. Seth quickly introduced Victoria to his brother, Tag, and cousin, Bering. Ashley, she noted gratefully, was nowhere to be seen.
Janina and Jeb and the Morning Wire crew descended upon them for a quick interview. Seth wisely made a joke, mentioning but downplaying his fear of heights, and giving Victoria credit for “coaching him through it.” After kudos from Miles Romeo and additional photos, they headed back to the hotel with just enough time to shower and get ready for dinner.
And for her to ponder Seth’s admission. The sweetest, most romantic declaration of love ever. Which suddenly had her laughing with unbridled joy because the man didn’t do anything halfway, did he? Seth loved her.
Reining in her giddiness, Victoria forced herself to think rationally. Seth said he loved her. But how could she know for sure? She’d trusted Austin with those words once, too. Closing her eyes, she replayed the conversation searching for flaws, any indication of insincerity. All she could see was his beautiful face and the love reflected there; all she heard was the truth in his tone.
Words are cheap, Victoria. It’s actions that are costly. That’s what Mémé would tell her, and that’s what she would go by. A glance at the time told her she needed to get moving. At least the evening’s schedule called for casual attire and a crowd of people among who Victoria expected to feel comfortable. She slipped on a long sleeveless sundress, applied some light makeup, and arranged her still-damp hair into a quick updo.
Checking her phone revealed a message from Scarlett. She smiled at the accompanying pic of her and Mémé with the canoe they were building. Vic sent a quick response and included the information about their news story set to air the next morning. Grabbing her bag and phone, she headed for the elevator.
Halfway down the hall, her phone went off again. Warmth rushed through her when she read the text from Seth:
Google tells me the effects of adrenaline last about an hour. In case you weren’t keeping track it’s been one hour and twenty-nine minutes since we jumped. And I still love you.
The seafood buffet was being held in another large banquet hall. Attendance included an eclectic mix of pro staff from all the angling companies and assorted industry professionals. In other words, lots of fishing enthusiasts. Victoria entered the room to a vibe that was electric, almost celebratory. She was greeted warmly and was chatting with a well-known trout fly tier she’d met the day before when she spotted Henry.
“Vic!” Henry waved at her.
Excusing herself, she joined him. “Hey, you. How’s it going?”
His grin seemed a bit enigmatic as he answered, “Pretty good. We have a table. Seth and I saved you a spot.” Peering at her closely, he said, “But I wanted to make sure everything was okay between you guys before you head over there.”
Victoria felt a fresh wave of affection for him. Impulsively, she hugged him. But he seemed to expect it, hugging her right back.
“Thank you, Henry, for getting me through that. For everything.” Secure in his arms; she wondered how she’d gone from no men in her life to two of the best ones she could ever have dreamed up? Stepping back, she said, “We’re fine. Or we will be. His sister explained a few things. Congratulations, by the way, you’ve got mad skills. And thanks to you, that was some sweet vengeance. At least, at the time.”
“True,” Henry agreed, and chuckled. “I’m going to get a beer. You want one?”
“That would be perfect, yes.”
He pointed. “We’re over there.”
Across the span, she could see the round table where Seth and his family were already seated. The event, she recalled, included a plus-one for every person invited. As a vendor, Bering was likely on the guest list, which explained his and Tag’s presence. Hazel had already told her she was attending as Seth’s. Vic felt herself relax because that meant maybe Ashley wouldn’t be attending. She certainly wasn’t going to offer up her plus-one.
Exhaling a relieved breath, she started that way when she heard a voice behind her. “Excuse me, Victoria?”
So much for that hope, she thought, her stomach pitching wildly because she knew before she even turned around who she’d find. Tacking on a serene smile, she faced the unavoidable. “Hello. Ashley, right?”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“OH, HI, YOU know me? Of course, you do. After that display, who doesn’t? Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Up close, Victoria could see that Ashley was very pretty. Flawlessly applied makeup accented her wide expressive eyes. She wore a red sparkly form-fitting dress too nice for the occasion, but she was classy in that perfectly put-together way that Victoria would never be, didn’t want to be, truthfully. She had too many other things to do.
Victoria glanced toward the table to see if Seth or Hazel might save her, but a crowd of people now obstructed her view. “Uh, well, I don’t have a ton of time...” she said, bracing herself for a confrontation.
“It won’t take long. No drama, I promise,” she added, accurately translating Victoria’s hesitation.
Best to get it over with, and maybe in a room full of people, there would be less chance of a scene. “Sure.”
“Great.” Ashley puffed out a little breath, and Victoria realized the woman was nervous. “I just want you to know that I know that I made a huge mistake in coming here.”
That was not what she expected. “Oh.”
“Seth had no idea. He’s been a good friend to me since I moved back home to Rankins. Nothing but a friend. But lately, I’ve been thinking about my life, the mistakes I’ve made, and I realized that I let a really good man get away. I got fixated on the idea that I could undo one of those mistakes. With Seth. It was stupid and impulsive, and I’m so embarrassed.”
Victoria had to hand it to the woman; she was brave. It took a lot of courage to own up to your mistakes. Unfortunately, there were some mistakes that you couldn’t undo. They seemed to be the ones you paid for forever, too. She knew that better than anyone, didn’t she? But this wasn’t one of those. And for some reason, she couldn’t let her believe it was. How could she blame this woman for wanting Seth?
“Why was it stupid?”
“I didn’t listen to what he told me last week. We had lunch together, and I can see now that he was trying to put distance between us. But I had this fantasy, and I thought... It doesn’t matter now. The point is, he’s in love with you.”
“How would you know that?”
“Hazel told me. And in the elevator. The things he said about you... He never talked to me like that, never loved me like that. Not even when we were silly teenagers. No one has ever loved me like that.”
Wow. She couldn’t deny that it felt good to be the one to be with Seth. But she knew how it felt to be the one passed over, too. “Thank you for telling me all of this.”
“I’m sorry if I messed anything up for you guys.”
Another glance and Victoria saw the crowd had shifted to reveal a perfect view of Seth. Head bowed, he appeared to be on his phone.
“You didn’t.” Attention on Ashley again, she said, “And for what it’s worth, it took a lot of guts to fly all the way here and wave your heart around on that stage like you did. And then to come to me and explain. I admire that.”
Pausing for a beat, Ashley studied Victoria as if gauging her sincerity. “That means a lot to me, thank you.”
Vic realized her phone was still gripped in her
hand when it vibrated with a text. “I’m sorry. I’m going to check this in case it’s my daughter.”
“Of course.” Ashley gave her a knowing smile. “I’m a mom, too. My son texted seven times today to ask me if we were out of peanut butter. The eighth time I didn’t answer. Fifteen minutes later, my mom calls to say he cut his finger while slicing some cheese and needs stitches.”
But the message wasn’t from Scarlett. It was Seth:
One hour and forty-two minutes. STILL in love. I think that settles it. Everything ok?
Lifting her head, she looked his way, and this time her gaze collided with his. And there it was, that invisible link of chemistry and affection connecting them, binding them. It felt so powerful, strong, unbreakable. Inevitable, too, she suddenly realized. There was no point denying it anymore. Unable to contain her smile, she tapped out a quick reply:
Well, that does it then. Who am I to argue with science? Everything is just perfect. I’ll be right there.
* * *
“THIS SEAT IS for Victoria, right?” Hazel tipped her head toward the vacant chair between her and Seth before gesturing to the empty spot on her other side. “I’m like an island here. Why is there an extra seat at our table?”
“That’s for Cricket,” Bering answered.
“Cricket?” Hazel repeated rather sharply, tossing looks over one shoulder and then the other. “Cricket is here?” If Seth didn’t know better, he’d think she was displeased by this information. But that couldn’t be, Cricket was their family’s oldest friend. “Why is Cricket here?”
Why was her voice about two octaves too high? Seth shot her a look that asked the question, or at least the gist of it, which she ignored. And that made him even more curious.
“Who is Cricket?” Victoria asked, slipping into the seat beside him.
“Tag’s best friend,” Hazel said.
“A friend of the family,” Seth explained.
“Hannah’s business partner,” Tag added.
Seth chuckled at how he and his siblings sounded like a chorus, all chiming in at once.
“He is all of that,” Bering said after a chuckle of his own. “And possibly my partner as well. If things proceed as planned.”
“Yours?” Hazel said to Bering, now more composed, but still tense enough for Seth to note. “You’re taking on a partner?”
“I’m expanding,” he said. “I think. Maybe.”
“Where? To what?”
“I’m considering adding a tour option to my guide service. Or possibly it will be a new business. Not sure yet. Cricket is interested in a partnership. I’m surprised he hasn’t mentioned it to you yet. We were hoping to sit down with you and talk about it. Get your perspective on it and the travel industry in general.”
“What types of tours?”
“Specialized ones that hit the major Alaskan highlights, or portions of them, like Denali, glaciers, wildlife viewing, but also with stops in the cities for museums and cultural events. With optional excursions for the more adventurous.”
“Like group tours?”
“There he is,” Seth said as Cricket appeared at their table, beer in hand.
Sliding into the seat beside Hazel, Cricket answered like he’d been privy to the conversation all along, “Sort of, but smaller and super-charged. We’ll use vans, boats, ATV’s, possibly horses—whatever the terrain and situation calls for. As well as our planes and maybe helicopters, too. We’re early in the planning phase, so we’d love to hear your thoughts on the concept, Hazel.”
“I’d be happy to give you my thoughts, Cricket,” Hazel replied tightly.
Seth took that opportunity to introduce Cricket to Victoria and Henry.
“So, Victoria,” Bering asked once that small talk was out of the way. “Next to Alaska, I’ve heard that Louisiana offers some of the best fishing in the world.”
Victoria’s smile was radiant, and Seth wanted to believe he had a hand in it. The Ashley incident seemed, if not forgotten, then at least not weighing on her. She hadn’t said she loved him yet, but her last text had come close. At the very least, it was a clear acceptance of his declaration. And acceptance meant she was open to someday returning the sentiment, right?
“I can’t speak to fishing in Alaska as I’ve never been, but I can brag a bit about the fact that in Louisiana, we can fish year-round.” When Bering started to interject, she joked, “Without chipping ice off of something to do it.”
He laughed. “I grant you that our weather can be a bit more inconvenient.”
Victoria said, “Louisiana is still pretty underrated on the global and even national stage, which can also be a bonus. Not in our respective businesses, obviously, which rely on tourists. But there’s still a surprising amount of ‘undiscovered’ space in Louisiana.” She added air quotes to imply that she meant the term to be relative. “You know, places that haven’t been ruined with an Instagram hashtag yet.”
“I totally get it. It’s kind of a catch-22 for those of us who make a living capitalizing on the great outdoors, right? We want tourism dollars, but we also want to keep our environment as pristine as possible. But what does that mean exactly? One person’s careful is another person’s reckless.”
“It is a very tricky balance. As I mentioned earlier, my family runs a small resort and...”
The conversation continued to unfold, and Seth was impressed by Victoria’s choice of topic where Bering was concerned. The environment and everything that went along with it was his cousin’s passion. The James and Thibodeaux families may have hailed from vastly different parts of the nation, but growing up in the country established a kind of common ground, and love for the literal ground, that was unshakeable.
Before long, Bering was offering her a job as a fishing guide. Maybe that would convince her to make a trip to Alaska this summer.
“I would love for you to meet my wife, Ally,” Tag said when Victoria mentioned her grandmother. “Her grandfather and your grandmother would make a great pair.” Seth also loved his brother for inadvertently helping his case.
Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t have chosen better than Tag and Bering for this first introduction to his family. Tag was probably the most easygoing of all his siblings. People said he had a knack for making everyone feel noticed and included. And it wasn’t contrived; his brother was a genuinely kind and generous human. Everyone liked him. Victoria appeared to be no exception.
Hazel, he knew, was the real test. She was his sister, triplet companion, best friend, confidante and all-around bearer of his soul. They could communicate without speaking and agreed on nearly everything, from political views and religious beliefs to movie preferences and food choices. Except where his romantic companions were concerned. He knew very well that just because he was crazy about Victoria didn’t mean Hazel’s feelings would automatically follow. They’d spent more than a decade at odds over Ashley.
The fact that his sister had been unusually quiet all through dinner did not escape his notice. He was too enthralled by all things Victoria to realize that it should have also caused him concern. Once dessert was served, he was riding high on a tsunami-style wave of hope regarding his and Victoria’s future.
But then Hazel, who’d been poking at her cheesecake, laid down her fork and cast a probing gaze first at him, and then Victoria, before settling on him again. “So, how are you guys going to work this out long-term? I keep running through all the scenarios in mind. Seth, are you going to move to Louisiana?”
“We haven’t—”
Shifting her attention to Victoria, she said, “I don’t see a scenario where you can move to Alaska. Your family is in Louisiana, not to mention the business. I can see how important that legacy is to you.”
Beside him, Vic tensed, and Seth tried to make light of her comments, “We should wait and see who gets the job before we start making a
ny decisions.”
“You guys have a lot to consider, so—”
“Hazel,” Cricket broke in with a low serious tone. “Their relationship isn’t anyone else’s business.”
Hazel’s eyebrows pulled up as she deliberately swiveled to stare at Cricket. The table went stone-cold quiet as she delivered him a long, slow blink. “You don’t think my brother, who I love more than anyone else on the planet...” Clearing her throat, she started again, “You don’t think Seth’s happiness is any of my business?”
“They’re adults. They’ll work it out.”
Nodding knowingly as if she’d just solved a complicated riddle, she said, “That’s your problem, Cricket, you don’t think anyone else’s happiness is your business, do you? If you don’t have an opinion, then you won’t upset anyone, right?”
“Sometimes one person’s version of what constitutes happiness isn’t the same as another’s,” he returned smoothly. “And I have opinions. I just don’t feel the need to share them when it isn’t my place.”
“Not your place,” she repeated flatly, and Seth knew the conversation was no longer about him and Victoria. What had happened between these two? Inhaling a deep breath, Hazel tapped a finger on the table with a slow, steady beat. Uh-oh. Counting. That meant she was struggling to hold on to her temper.
Seth noted eight long beats before she made eye contact with him. “I’m heading up to bed. I’m disgusted.” Eyes going wide, she snorted out a laugh and clapped a hand over her mouth. Composing herself, she corrected, “Exhausted, not disgusted. Or—” she said, with a sidelong glance at Cricket “—maybe I’m both. I don’t know. But we’ll talk about this later, Seth.”
Turning a smile on Victoria, she said, “Victoria, please forgive me if my inquiry in any way sounded intrusive. I like you tons. I feel like we’re already friends. I want this to work out for you guys. That is why I’m asking. I want you both to be happy. If there’s anything I can do to help, I’m here for you.”
