Keeping Victoria's Secret (26 page)

Diane chimed in, “Fur trappers in the Rocky
Mountains? Is that a metaphor for something? Oops, forgive me
Jack.” Everyone around the table giggled.

Thoughts cascaded through Jack’s brain in
rapid succession and the coin dropped into the slot. Victoria’s
secret, he thought to himself, amused at the idea. Victoria was
Tori Baxter the popular author of so many fiery romance novels.
Those same books occupied an entire shelf in her office.
Suppressing a grin, Jack maintained a poker face, he didn't want
Victoria to realize he was on to her. She received mail from that
literary agency in New York City, and was so vague and evasive
regarding what it was she wrote. It was all very clear to him now.
She’d used her grandmother’s name, Victoria Baxter as her Tori
Baxter pen name.

“Crash.” All conversation ceased and everyone
turned to look into the kitchen where Vicky stood, staring down at
the cup and saucer shattered on the floor at her feet.

“Oh shit!” She knelt and began helplessly
plucking at the pieces of broken china. She’d gotten out Nanna’s
lovely dishes from the hutch and washed them especially for this
occasion.

Jack jumped to his feet and strode into the
kitchen. “Don’t do that,” he said. He helped her to her feet.
“You’ll cut yourself. I’m sorry Victoria. That’s your grandma’s
china isn’t it? Damn, I know how much that means to you. Here, back
off, and I’ll get the broom and dustpan. I know where they are. Go
and sit. I’ll have this cleaned up in no time.”

“Thank you Jack,” she managed to whisper.

In a minute, everyone was seated again, and
Jack had a new supply of cookies before him.

“That was so clumsy,” said Vicky. “I don’t
know how it happened. The saucer just slipped right through my
fingers. Sorry for the interruption.” Color had returned to her
face and she’d composed herself, Jack noticed.

Diane took charge, tapping with her fork, as
though it were a gavel. “Okay then girls…” she winked at Jack. “Now
that we’ve scoped out the time, and agreed to get together in our
homes, we can all invite friends to come. More members will be
attending our next meeting, sort of a ‘meet and greet’. Come
prepared with more suggestions and we can line up books for the
next few months. This will give everyone time to locate copies and
begin reading. I guess that’s it. Thanks for coming”

They all drifted towards the front door,
thanking Vicky and saying their goodbyes.

Jack slipped out the back way. The
conversation about Tori Baxter’s hot sex had intrigued him so much,
that he couldn’t resist ducking into her office, pocketing one of
Victoria’s paperbacks on his way out. I’ll have to read one of Tori
Baxter’s romance novels and find out what they’re talking
about.

After cleaning up the dishes, Vicky spent the
rest of the afternoon tackling the baskets of vegetables Jack had
brought over. Cleaning what seemed like mountains of squash and
beans, made her decide that she’d better learn to can and freeze
vegetables. I really hope that farm stand is a success, or I’m in
big trouble.

Then she began preparing dinner for herself
and Jack. As she worked her thoughts raced, mulling over
conversations she’d had with him, or anyone else, about her
writing. After considerable mental gymnastics, she persuaded
herself that no one, including Jack, could possibly know that she
was Tori Baxter. She should have anticipated that some of the women
would have picked up one of her romance novels.

Just after five o’clock, Jack breezed through
the door with a bottle of red wine under his arm. Freshly shaved
and showered, his damp hair curling, he looked way too cute.
Swallowing she tried not to stare at the way his jeans hugged his
butt as he set the bottle on the table. The view was just as nice
from the front.

“I dragged the gas grill over from the
garage,” he said, eyeing the two rib steaks she had on a pan,
making their way towards room temperature. “You want to grill, or
do you want me to?”

Lifting her eyes to his she said, “Jack, you
go ahead and I’ll finish up in here. Would you grill some zucchini
with the steaks? I’ve got them sliced and soaking up some garlic
and olive oil.”

“Sure, no problem.” He put down the wine and
rummaged through kitchen drawers until he found a corkscrew.

Half an hour later they sat down together.
Between them were platters of grilled zucchini, roasted potato
wedges, green beans, and a cucumber salad with onions and thinly
sliced black olives in an Italian herb dressing.

“I know this is way more food than we needed,
but all those vegetables looked so good, I couldn’t help myself.
Thanks for the wine, Jack.

“Hey, thanks for dinner. This looks
fantastic.”

“It was no problem, really.”

“Where did you learn to cook? I can grow this
stuff, but once I harvest it, I’m not really sure what to do with
it." He poured wine for them both before forking his first bite of
steak into his mouth.

“My other grandmother, the Italian side of
the family, taught me to love cooking when I was very young. I made
a lot of messes in the kitchen, driving Mom crazy. Some time I’ll
have to make a big Italian pasta meal for everyone like Grandma
did. You like Italian?”

Jack nodded. “I like everything.” He raised
his glass and clinked it against hers. “To the new book club
adventure,” he declared and sipped.

Vicky shot him a wary glance, wondering what
he was really thinking, then mumbled, “Book club, sure.” She raised
her own glass. “To keeping the farm away from Van Winkle.”

Jack laughed out loud. “I’ll drink to that!”
Then he began to dig into the food with enthusiasm, piling potatoes
and beans onto his plate, nudging the steak to one side. “This is
all really good.”

Watching him eat she was amazed that he could
be so hungry after he’d eaten a couple dozen cookies and all that
cake earlier. “Thanks Jack. I enjoy cooking. This is kind of nice
don’t you think?”

“Dinner is great,” he said, and swallowed. “I
like being here with you.”

She ignored his remark and they ate in
silence for a few minutes. “So, did your mom show you how to cook
as well?”

She shook her head laughing. “No, she wasn’t
much good in the kitchen. Daddy used to get pretty frustrated and
he'd often just take over and do things himself. After the accident
I moved in with Nanna. Grandma Buonadies would come over and help
when she could. She helped take care of Nanna too, until she became
ill herself and really couldn’t any longer.”

Jack studied her thoughtfully. “How old were
you, when your parents were in the accident?”

“I was sixteen. It was so sudden.” Her voice
trailed off and she looked away to hide the tears that filled her
eyes.

“I’m sorry Victoria. That must have been
rough on you.”

“I guess I thought my whole world was coming
to an end. After a while though, you get over it. Then, when other
people need you, like Nanna did, you pull on your big girl panties
and get on with things.”

Jack nodded thoughtfully, understanding.

Vicky went back to her dinner, pushing the
food around on her plate, too tense to be hungry. She was still
wearing the pink skirt and short blouse. Her auburn hair hung loose
onto her shoulders. Those hazel eyes looked up at him and they held
one another’s gaze for a moment then she lowered her eyes.

Victoria is so absolutely beautiful, inside
and out. I can see spending the rest of my life with her. It was a
scary thought and it frightened him, but he allowed the idea to
settle there and decided to let it stay. The longer he let it sink
in, the less frightening it became.

The night they’d shared her birthday cake on
the porch she’d said something about never having had sex and that
her life was one big nothing, but she was ‘very good at the sex
thing in her imagination.’ He’d been convinced at the time it was
just the wine talking. It was clear enough now that she’d been
referring to writing about sex in her romance novels. That rainy
day back in May when he and Victoria manhandled the old chest from
the attic. What was it that set the spark alight between them that
day? The thought of her writhing under his touch, wearing nothing
but those skimpy peach colored panties was….

“Jack. Hey, Jack. Where did you go?”

He realized with a start that he’d been
staring into space. He shrugged, speared a potato wedge, and
stuffed it into his mouth chewing thoughtfully.

“What were you thinking? You kind of zoned
out on me,” said Vicky.

Jack swallowed his potato, took a quick sip
of the wine, and set his glass down. “God, Victoria, I was
remembering the day we made love. We brought that big trunk down
the attic stairs, opened it and then…,” he spread his hands
expansively. “Then it was like something just snapped in both of
us. I don’t regret it Victoria and I hope you don’t either.”

“Oh!” was all she could say.

Jack laughed softly. “Hey, maybe when we
opened up that antique trunk we released some magic.” He stood,
pushing back his chair. “Come on, I’ll help you clean up.”

Later they took the rest of the wine and went
to sit in the back porch rockers to watch the sun go down. The
kittens came out to join them. Romeo went to the screen door,
stared at it for a moment, and then as if he’d made a decision,
nudged it open and slipped outside. Juliet jumped up and curled
into a neat ball on Victoria’s lap.

“The stand is really going to make all the
difference this year,” said Jack. “The extra money will make it
possible for me to do so much more.” They rocked and she listened
to him expound on his plans for the farm until the moon rose,
illuminating the yard before them. White winged moths fluttered
against the screen trying to get at the porch light inside.

Jack asked more about her life growing up in
New Jersey.

“There really isn’t much more to tell you. I
didn’t get out much,” she said with a laugh.

Pointedly he didn’t mention her secret, but
it was continually on his mind. At last, he stretched and stood. “I
have a lot to do tomorrow. Thanks for a great dinner.”

Vicky carefully slid Juliet to the floor and
got up. The kitten took a few tentative steps, blinked, and looked
to either side, confused.

At the door Jack turned and said, “I’ve got
to be going.” and gathered her to him for a kiss, but she struggled
out of his embrace.

Stepping back she said, “It was kind of nice,
dinner and everything.”

“Yes,” he said disappointed. Finally, Jack
simply kissed her lightly on the forehead and whispered softly in
her ear, “Goodnight Tori.” Then turned quickly and vanished into
the darkness.

She inhaled sharply, dumbstruck, staring
after him into the night. At last, she stomped into the house,
slammed the door, and locked it. “Damn you Jack!” she lashed out,
with tears in her eyes. He’s figured it out. Damn that Jack! Why
did Carol have to open her big mouth? Damn him anyway for being so
clever. Now what am I going to do?

Molasses Ginger Crackle Tops

Sift together:

4 1/2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoons cloves

1 tablespoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons ginger

Have room temperature and cream together:

1 1/2 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

2/3 cup molasses

2 eggs

Mix the dry ingredients into sugar
mixture.

Chill well.

Roll into 1 1/4” balls, roll them in
granulated sugar.

Place cookies 2 inches apart onto greased
baking sheets.

Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in preheated oven,
until just set and tops are cracked.

Cool on pans for a bit then remove to wire
racks.  

“The look on her face was priceless.” Jack
chuckled as he sat on his bed shedding clothing. Who would have
suspected sweet little Victoria to be the famous ‘Torrid Tori’ of
the world of romance literature. He’d flipped through Rendezvous
Romance and just as Carol and Penny had said, there were definitely
some red-hot sex scenes. It was hard for him to conceive of
Victoria creating it all in her imagination, but she had. Then he
thought back to that rainy day in May when they’d made love all
afternoon and he reconsidered. Maybe it’s not so hard to imagine
after all.

Deciding he needed to cool off, he stood up,
stripped and tossed his clothes towards the hamper, and headed for
the shower, still smiling and snickering. Adjusting the spray, he
stepped in and began vigorously soaping up. As he showered, he kept
thinking about Victoria’s secret. Too bad I can’t tell anyone. I’d
give anything to see the reaction of the ladies of the book club if
they found out. He laughed again at the thought. I’ve never really
seen Victoria angry. Well, maybe a little bit angry, but I’m not
willing to risk her fury over this. She’d kill me for sure if I
spilled the beans. Rinsing he stepped out and grabbed a towel off
the rack.

Drying off, he stopped at the sink to comb
his hair, smiling once more at his reflection. Wouldn’t the guys
get a kick out of discovering that our sweet little Vicky writes
hot sex for a living? Suddenly the smiling face in the mirror
sobered again. Shit! If Van Wart or Vince ever found out she wrote
all that hot sex.... The comb clattered on the tile floor. Man! I’d
better make damn sure they never find out. I don’t want them
knowing any of this.

Joe pulled into the farm’s driveway Sunday
after church. The three of them were now regularly attending the
Methodist church together; Joe and Diane picking Vicky up each
week, as she still hadn’t replace her Toyota.