Keeping Victoria's Secret (18 page)

“Hey Joe, remember the time Van Winkle
accidentally burned down his own barn?” asked John.

“Some say it wasn’t so accidental. He figured
it would cost him less to clean up the mess after the fire, instead
of paying to tear it down. Wouldn’t put it past him. You know if he
filed an insurance claim on that?”

The two men took turns telling amusing
stories about the Van Winkle family. Apparently there were plenty.
In a few minutes all three were laughing heartily.

She was beginning to enjoy herself. It felt
very nice, being the center of attention, nestled between two
attentive men.

“Mind if I join you?” Their laughter died
away as they looked up to see a very sober Jack Conner.

“Jack, did you hear Jimmy’s wife had her baby
last night, a girl. Jimmy was just here,” said John smiling.

Jack nodded. “I know. Just saw Jim and Vince
down the street.”

Again, there was an awkward silence, before
Joe spoke up. “Jack, come on. Sit down and have a beer with us.
Want some lunch? Take a load off and we’ll talk.”

“No. I don’t want a beer and I don’t want
lunch. What I want is to wring Van Winkle’s neck,” Jack
growled.

“Hey, cool off. There’s nothing else we can
do about Van Winkle now. We’ve been telling funny stories about
him,” said Joe.

“You three seem to be having a great time,”
Jack said. “Nice little party you’ve got going here.”

“We’ve been keeping Vicky company. She told
us about all your problems with Old Rip,” said John.

She smiled at him. “Jack, you have awesome
friends. John and Joe have been so nice.”

Jack gestured with his thumb for Joe to get
out and let him slide in next to Victoria. Ignoring him, Joe eased
over right up next to her. She didn’t move away, but now sat on the
inside of the booth, closely nestled between John and Joe.

Jack glowered at the three of them sitting
together.

Fred looked up, in response to his
secretary’s knock.

“Dr. Sweeney is here and wants to know, do
you have a minute?”

“Thank you Dottie. Please ask him to come in.
I was going to phone him in any case.”

Soon the doctor was holding the door for his
wife, Elvira, as she stepped into the office. Doc closed the door
securely and walked over to shake the lawyer’s hand. “Good to see
you, Fred. Thanks for giving us your time.”

Their expressions told him they had something
important on their minds. Fred motioned to the two chairs recently
vacated by Vicky and Jack, inviting them to sit.

“Good afternoon, Doc, Elvira. Nice to see you
both. You just missed Vicky and Jack. Unfortunately, I had to give
them some news about the Willet property and Van Winkle’s claim.
I’m afraid it’s not good news for Victoria.”

“Fred, that’s exactly why we’re here.” Elvira
leaned forward eagerly, clutching a book in her hands. “I want you
to look at something. I have an idea that it might be of some help
to you and Victoria.” She opened the book, thumbed through several
pages until she found what she sought and slid it onto the desk.
“This was my mother’s diary written during the war years and just
after. Read this entry here, from September 1947.”

Fred glanced from Elvira to Doc,
questioning.

“Go ahead, I think you’ll find it
interesting,” said Doc.

The lawyer put on his reading glasses, picked
up the diary and read the entry Elvira had indicated. He looked up
at his two visitors, nodded and then read the passage once more.
When he finished reading, he leaned back with hands behind his head
gazing thoughtfully at the ceiling.

Elvira spoke, “I was reluctant to snoop into
Mother’s diary, but I thought I remembered something she’d told me.
There it was, plain as day. She wrote about other private things
that I wouldn’t want revealed, but I felt this was important. Fred,
if at all possible I’d ask that you not share this with anyone
else.”

“Of course. Now this is interesting and
perhaps very important to her case, but…” He was interrupted by a
gentle tap on the door. “Yes?”

Dottie cracked the door open. “Excuse me, Mr.
Douglas. There’s a gentleman here who insists on seeing you. I told
him you were busy but he still insists.”

Fred closed the diary before him, and handed
it back to Elvira and sighed. Now what? I do like that young woman,
but Pippen’s Grove hasn’t been quite the same since Victoria
arrived. He looked up. “Go ahead and show him in Dottie.”

The elderly gray-haired man was already
pushing past the secretary as she turned. The startled woman
pressed herself back to allow him to squeeze in. It was the same
old man that had shown up several days earlier at the Willet house
announcing he was the owner.

“Afternoon Mr. Douglas, Mr. and Mrs. Sweeney.
How’s everybody today?” he said.

There were nods and polite smiles before Fred
asked, “How exactly can I help you friend?”

His silver head swiveled around looking for a
vacant chair.

Doc got up, and gestured towards his seat.
“Please, sit down. Fred, I’ll get another chair.” Doc dragged
another up to the desk and they sat watching him expectantly.

The stranger stretched out his legs, rubbed
his knees and sighed. Then he gave them all a broad smile and
began. “I suppose it’s high time I let you know who I am. Then I’m
going to tell you a few things about the farm that everybody ‘round
here refers to as the Willet place. I think you’ll want to hear
this.”

Jack's cell phone rang. He snatched it from
his pocket, and angrily answered with a sharp, “Yes” After
listening, he quickly said goodbye and closed the cell phone. His
head snapped up and he looked across at Victoria. “We’ve got to
go.”

Van Wart said, “Jack, Buddy, you just got
here. Come on and relax. Things aren’t as bad as you think.”

“No, I mean it. Victoria, we’ve got to go.
Now.”

“I don’t want to go.” She sipped her wine and
smiled at her two new friends. “I’m having such a nice time.”

“Fred just called. He says he has news for
us.”

Then she remembered why she was angry with
Jack and scowled at him. Turning away from him she said, "I'm
staying." The nerve of that man. After what we shared yesterday.
Then telling me he wasn’t ready for a commitment. On top of that,
he’s been spying on me while I undress!

“Hey, what’s so all fired important Jack?”
said Van Wart. “Just calm down. Vicky wants to hang out with us for
a while. I think you need to get a beer or something, sit here with
us and relax.”

“I mean it Victoria. Fred says it’s
important. Let’s go.” Jack stood up.

“I’m sure it can wait.” She was embarrassed
by him raising his voice and ordering her around. She noticed the
men sitting at the bar turning to see what the commotion was about.
Leaning back against the padded booth, she ignored him and sipped
her wine calmly before answering. “I’m going to sit here and enjoy
my wine. I’d like John and Joe to stay and keep me company, unless
they have somewhere else they need to be.” She gave them her most
engaging smile.

Joe put his hand on Jack’s arm, easing him
back to his seat. “I’m going to buy you a beer and we’ll sit here
for another minute and talk about this before you go rushing off.
Where’s that waitress?” He looked around the tavern and then his
gaze settled and his expression changed.

“Uh oh, here comes trouble,” he muttered.

They all turned to see a smirking Jonathan
Van Winkle lumbering towards their booth. No one spoke. When he
reached them, he stabbed a fat forefinger at Jack’s chest. “You,
Conner. I want you off my farm. That property is mine and there’s
not a damn thing you can do about it.” He turned his sinister smirk
on Vicky. “The lady here can stay, just as long as she wants. I’ve
got a job just for her.”

She could sense the hot fury radiating from
Jack as he moved, coiling like a steel spring. Joe reached out with
both hands, pulling him back into his seat. “Take it easy Jack. No
need to do something you’ll regret later.”

Feeding off Jack's rage, her temper rose
quickly. The nerve of this smirking idiot! She sat up straight,
hazel eyes flashing, and spoke firmly at the top of her voice. “No
Mr. Van Winkle, I don’t want to work for you. I won’t stay on the
farm if you succeed in your plan to steal it from us, and Jack
Conner isn’t going anywhere until I say so. Until the lawyers get
things straightened out, I own that farm. Jack is my…well, he’s
working there with me, and he’s not going anywhere.” She shot
daggers at Van Winkle, surprising herself with the anger rising up
from within. Remembering how her Italian Grandfather Buonadies
would punctuate his angry outbursts, she gathered her fingers
together and gestured with the back of her hand at the startled
man. “Capiche?”

Jonathan sputtered and fizzled for a minute,
unsure how to respond.

Van Wart looked as though he were enjoying
this exchange immensely and waved him off dismissively, saying,
“Get going Rip. Go back to sleep and stop bothering folks.”

Jonathan swayed from side to side, trying to
balance his bulk. Apparently unable to find words, he sputtered
like a pressure cooker, glared at them, and stormed toward the
door.

When the door closed behind Van Winkle, all
the afternoon regulars at the bar broke into a spontaneous round of
applause.

Following Jonathan Van Winkle’s retreat from
Paulding’s Rest, Vicky was finally persuaded to leave.

“Come on,” said Jack. “We need to talk about
Fred’s call.”

Sliding out of the banquette, she smiled at
John and Joe as she stood up. “I had such a nice time.” Jack
reached for her arm, but she jerked away from him frowning before
thanking her new friends for lunch. “It was very nice of you both
to let me join you.”

“Anytime pretty lady,” said John bending to
kiss her hand, ignoring Jack’s scowl.

Joe pulled her to him and kissed her cheek.
“I’ll come out to the farm to help with those flower gardens."
Winking at Jack over her shoulder he murmured, "We can check out
your beds. Then take a look at those old pictures, and go from
there.”

“That’d be great, and thanks again,” she
said. Slipping on her sweater and gathering her things, she headed
for the door.

Jack glared at his friends, then followed her
outside.

The afternoon was still beautiful, when they
stepped outside. As they walked away from the tavern, a contrite
Jack said, “I’m sorry if I was a little obnoxious back there.”

“Well you should be!” she shot back. Her long
curls bounced as she jerked ahead of him.

“Hey! You’re the one who was flirting with
those two hound dogs. You think I didn’t notice that?”

“What business is that of yours?” She looked
at him angrily, and continued walking rapidly down the sidewalk.
Over her shoulder she said, “I wasn’t flirting. Your friends were
just being considerate and I was making conversation. John and Joe
are both very nice guys. I don’t know why you’ve got to be such a
pain in my neck all the time.”

When her sandal caught on the uneven pavement
and she stumbled, Jack laughed out loud as he reached for her.

Chagrined as she recovered herself, Vicky
couldn’t help laughing too.

Jack held her arm for a long moment as their
amusement died away. They locked eyes and he murmured, “I really am
sorry for all the stupid things I’ve done today. I mean that.”

“Okay, okay. Truce?” she said, wiping her
eyes.

“Yeah truce.” Chuckling again, Jack took her
arm more firmly.

She was warming to him. Her thoughts returned
to the reason she’d first been so angry with him early that
morning. I can’t really blame him for peeking. Why didn’t I close
those curtains? Does he really think I’m attractive? She snuck a
look at his profile. What went on back there at the restaurant? If
Joe hadn’t restrained him, Jack might have assaulted Van Winkle.
The farm’s not his anymore. Why did he defend me anyway? Does he
really care? As they walked, she remembered their love making the
day before. It made her knees grow weak, and she went all warm and
shivery inside. Must be the wine, she rationalized.

They reached her car parked at the curb and
turned to one another. It was then that she remembered why Jack had
hustled her out of the tavern in the first place.

“What about Fred. You said that he called and
told you something. Don’t we need to go see him?”

“Yes. It’s good news. Fred called to tell us
he found some new information he wasn’t aware of just after we left
his office. The bottom line is our pal Rip Van Winkle may not have
a case after all. Fred told me he needs to find some more
documents, only he can’t tell us yet what they are. Something about
him not divulging confidential information. He was a little vague
and mysterious, but said not to worry. Sounds like you may retain
ownership after all.”

“What? He just told me...” Vicky was
speechless for a moment as she stared at him in consternation. Then
she found her voice. “That’s all he said? What documents? Who
doesn’t want us knowing what?”

Jack shrugged. “Yeah, that’s it. That’s all I
know. Hey, let’s just run around the corner and see him. Maybe
he’ll give us more info if we go in person.”

A few minutes later they were once again
sitting in the lawyer's office side by side in the two chairs
across from the desk. Fred’s eyebrows rose when he noticed that now
they were talking and laughing together. Perfectly friendly with
one another. He gave a shrug. Go figure.

Fred tried to reassure them. "Please don't
worry. There's little chance now that Jonathan Van Winkle can win
this case. I can't divulge anything more at this time, but I hope
that in the near future I will be able to reveal more, perhaps a
good deal more. For now though, I want you to be at ease. I’m
confident of a positive outcome.”