Keeping Victoria's Secret (20 page)

He watched Doc drive off and stood looking
out the kitchen window at the apple trees, which now were in full
leaf. Anticipating a good harvest lifted his mood and he whistled
as he headed back to his apartment to get a few things he’d need if
he was going to sleep in the farmhouse.

Returning later with a small duffle bag, he
mounted the stairs quietly, so he wouldn’t disturb Victoria. Doc
seems to take this concussion stuff seriously. On impulse, he
decided to sleep in the room where he and Victoria had recently
made love. Slipping in, he deposited his bag and then looked into
the girl’s room. She was propped up on her pillows and looked like
she was sleeping peacefully. As he watched her silently, her eyes
opened, she turned towards him and gave him a weak smile.

“How are you feeling? Do you need anything?”
he asked softly.

Victoria shook her head. “Really I’m fine
Jack. I don’t feel that bad. Guess I was more frightened than
anything. Did Doc leave?”

“Yup, he just left. Says he wants me to keep
a close eye on you for a few days, so I’m going to stay here. I’ll
be close in case there’s anything you want. Did you take one of
Doc’s pain pills?”

“Yes Jack, I can take care of myself and you
don’t need to hover around whispering, afraid you’ll wake me or
something. Really, I’m all right.”

“Listen, I’ll be in the next room tonight, if
you wake up and want anything. Doc insisted I stay over here for a
few days.”

Victoria sighed. “It’s really not necessary
Jack. You don’t need to. I’ll be fine.”

“Doctor’s orders. Sorry, you’re stuck with
me. How about I scramble you up some eggs or something?”

“Yes, to tell you the truth, I’m starved.
Eggs and maybe a piece of toast, please?”

“You’ve got it. Be back in a flash.”

Vicky could hear him banging around with pots
and pans, the refrigerator door opening with its usual protesting
squeal and then the sound of eggs being whisked in a bowl. This
business of being pampered wasn’t bad after all. For a few days, it
would be nice, but she didn’t want it going on too long. I can’t
have Jack thinking he’s got to take care of me. I don’t want to get
used to having him around. She lay back on the pillows and admitted
to herself that she did feel a bit light headed and had trouble
concentrating. Maybe reading a book would be relaxing.

In a few minutes, Jack came bounding up the
stairs carrying a tray containing a plate of eggs and buttery
toast. There was a glass of orange juice and a cup of steaming tea
as well. He set all this on her bedside table looking pleased with
himself.

“Jack, this is super. Thank you.”

“No trouble at all. Anything else? Your wish
is my command.”

“There’s one thing. Could you find me
something to read, anything really, something from your vast
library over the garage?”

He scratched his head, wondering what she
might enjoy. “Anything in particular? Can you give me a hint?”

“Surprise me,” responded Victoria,
smiling.

Downstairs in the kitchen again, Jack cleaned
up his mess. Then he started for the door intending to retrieve a
book or two from his shelves. Glancing into her office, he
remembered the bookcase on the far wall. She’s got plenty to read
right here. He dragged the desk chair over from the kneehole and
sat before the books. It was years since Jack had needed to look
for anything in here. Victoria had organized and re-arranged
everything.

He eyed the top shelf. “Nothing good here.”
The next shelf was all romance novels. “Women love to read this
idiotic stuff,” he muttered, his eyes skimming through the titles.
A good portion of the next shelf was taken with books by one
author. He pulled one out, wondering if she’d already read it. The
title was, ‘Rendezvous Romance'. On its cover was a picture of a
bearded frontier fur trapper in buckskins, reaching towards a
startled Indian maiden. Her large breasts were barely contained by
a tight fitting beaded doe skin dress.

“This looks new. She must have just bought
it.” Jack laid it atop the bookcase. Returning to the same shelf,
he plucked another book, only to discover that it was another copy
of ‘Rendezvous Romance.’ There were a few more copies in addition
to other books by the same author, Tori Baxter. “What’s she doing
with all these?” He shrugged. “Women.”

Perusing the lower shelves filled with older
hard cover books, he picked a volume of poetry, and then decided on
a frayed hardcover copy of a Jules Verne novel. Stacking these
three eclectic books, he muttered, “If she wants something
different, I’ll just have to make another trip.

Once more back in her bedroom, Jack removed
the tray and replaced it with the books. “I brought you three
books. You’ve got a Jules Verne, a book of poetry, and a romance
novel. You must really like that Tori Baxter. I see you’ve got
several of her novels down there. Will that do?”

Victoria blinked and her heart stopped
beating for an instant. Sitting on top was one of the new copies of
Rendezvous Romance, her latest erotic novel. Oh my God! Jack’s
going to figure it out soon, if he hasn’t already. He’s not stupid.
Did he notice all the copies down in my office? How long will it
take him to make the connection between Nanna’s name, Victoria
Baxter, and my pen name Tori Baxter?

Calmly she said, “Thank you Jack, this is
really nice of you. I’m sure I can look after myself from now on.”
Why did he have to go snooping in the office? A chill crept into
her voice as she said, “Really Jack, just leave me alone. You’ve
done enough. I’m fine.”

“Don’t worry about it. I want to do this for
you. Besides, if I don’t, Doc will kill me. He left specific
instructions. Oh hey, want me to bring your laptop up here so you
can work, or maybe you’re not up to that yet?”

She looked at him anxiously. “No Jack. Just
leave me alone. Stop hovering around like I’m some kind of
invalid.”

“Are you feeling okay?” He looked worried, as
though he didn’t believe that she was telling him the truth.

“I’m fine. Thanks.” Attempting to change the
subject she asked, “Why Willet, Jack?”

“What do you mean, why Willet?”

“On your vegetable stand. You painted,
Willet’s Fresh Vegetables. Why not Conner’s?”

“Oh, yeah. Well I guess because everyone
still thinks of this as the Willet Farm. Willet seemed like the
logical way to go.”

Victoria nodded and yawned. “I think I’ll try
and sleep now. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

Jack wondered if Victoria was fine. She’d
seemed so pleasant and appreciative of everything he’d done for
her. Then, when he’d brought the books, her mood changed
noticeably. Is she developing some of those unusual concussion
symptoms or is she just bitchy?

That night in the dark, a battered dirty
pickup truck slowed and came to a stop before the little white
roadside stand, now proudly proclaiming itself:

Jonathan Van Winkle squinted up at this newly
improved part of what he was coming to think of as his farm, and
scowled. Maneuvering his bulk across the seat, he leaned out the
passenger side window. In the half-light, he could just make out
the new lettering in barely dry green paint.

“Willet my ass!” he growled aloud. So they
think they can go on with business as usual. We’ll just see about
that. I’ll show them they can’t make a fool out of me. See if I
don’t get even with the both of them. Conner is a cocky son of
a.... Jonathan spat on the ground, stomped on the accelerator, and
drove off into the night.

Inside the farmhouse, Vicky slept peacefully
while Jack read the poetry of Robert Frost in the next room
listening with one ear to her soft snores. They were blissfully
unaware of the menace on the road below.

Jack was delighted to see Elvira Sweeney take
what looked like a very substantial coffee cake from her bag. She
smiled up at him from her considerably shorter five-foot-two. He
leaned over her shoulder and asked, “Mrs. Sweeney is that by any
chance one of your coffee cakes?”

“Jack Conner, you know darned well what it
is. My mother’s recipe for cream cheese coffee cake with lots of
crumb topping. Why? Are you hungry?”

“When am I not hungry?” he said, reaching
into the cupboard for a mug. “Can I pour you a cup of coffee?”

“Thanks. That would be nice. Tell me, how is
Victoria feeling this morning? It was simply terrible that she had
that accident the other day.”

“Pretty good I think. I brought her some
coffee and she’s trying to decide what she’d like for breakfast.
She only had eggs and toast for dinner last night, so I’ll bet she
wouldn’t mind a hunk of that cake. It looks fantastic!”

Doc came tiptoeing into the kitchen with a
forefinger on his lips. Tiny mewing sounds emanated from the basket
in his hand. Setting it on the kitchen table, he crooked a finger,
beckoning Jack to come look.

In a lowered voice Elvira said, “I didn’t
want to part with them, but my husband….” She cast a meaningful
glance at Doc, “My husband says that we simply don’t need five more
cats. I suppose he’s right. In any case, I’m happy to share,
especially if it makes Victoria happy.”

Crossing the room, he leaned over, peering
into the basket. Two small faces stared back, wide eyed, looking
startled. Two tiny mouths opened revealing little needles of teeth
and pink tongues the size of pencil erasers. In unison, they cried
their faint meow, imploring Jack to ‘Do something!’. One was gray
except for white paws and tail tip, while the other was a yellowish
orange all over. Jack reached in and scooped up the yellow cat.

“This one will be a Tom,” he said. Cupping
the little guy in his hand, He lifted the kitten and spread its
hind legs, and was rewarded with a small scream of protest. “Yup,
looks like a little boy. These yellow cats are most often boys.
He’ll grow up to be a big lazy guy, lying around all day in the
sun.”

“The gray one is his little sister,” Elvira
offered, smiling from where she leaned against the counter. “It’s
always good to acquire cats in pairs so they have companionship
when you’re not around to entertain them.”

Carefully, Jack placed the kitten back in the
basket. “Shall we take them up and introduce them to Victoria?” he
said.

“Doc nodded, smiling. “How about we let Vicky
give the little darlings their names. I’ve only assigned numbers to
the litter-mates. These are Two and Three respectively.”

Jack led the way up the stairs, followed by
Elvira, with Doc bringing up the rear, carrying the basket. Gently,
he rapped on the back bedroom door and entered, followed by Mrs.
Sweeney.

“Victoria, how are you feeling?” asked Elvira
as she patted the girl’s shoulder.

“I’m fine Mrs. Sweeney, thanks. It’s so nice
of you to stop by. I’m really feeling all right. If Doc lets me, I
intend to get up and go back to work today.”

“That’s wonderful. There’s a crumb cake
downstairs and in a minute, I’ll bring you a piece of that, or
anything else you want. Right now though, your doctor has a little
medicine for you.”

“What medicine?” Vicky looked puzzled.

Elvira stepped aside to make room for Doc,
who placed his basket on the bed next to Vicky. When she realized
what was inside her eyes grew wide and her mouth formed a perfect O
of surprise and delight.

“For me? Oh Doc, Mrs. Sweeney, I haven’t had
a cat since Mom and Dad died. Nanna and I couldn’t have pets in the
apartment.” She reached in and tentatively scratched behind the
ears that looked far too large for the tiny heads.

“It occurred to me that this place had no
furry little friends, and what’s a farm without a dog or cat, or
two or three?” said Doc, rocking back on his heels and smiling.

Vicky implored, “Jack, please tell me it’s
all right with you? Look how adorable they are.”

“Hey, no problem here. “I love kitty cats and
dogs. Especially when they’re still little and innocent like
this.”

“What are their names?” She lifted the
kittens and placed them on the bed covers. The yellow one promptly
plopped himself down and curled up, nestling into the blanket, from
where he watched Vicky. His sister climbed Vicky’s legs and torso,
stopping to purr and sniff curiously, just below her chin.

“They don’t have names yet. That’s your job.”
At the sound of his voice, the male kitten pricked his ears and
stood. Bouncing, as though his little legs were on springs, he made
his way to the edge of the bed and looked up hopefully at Jack.

Doc looked satisfied with his good deed.
“Amazing, isn’t it, how the male gravitates to Jack, while the
female kitten goes right to Vicky?” Purring, the gray cat curled
into a neat ball and settled between Vicky’s breasts. “I’ll have to
get to know them a bit before naming them,” she said.

Elvira glanced around the bedroom. “Vicky,
this is a lovely room. You’ve decorated it beautifully, and there’s
such a wonderful view from this window. Oh my, did you know, you
can see right into Jacks apartment from here!”

“Really?” Vicky turned to him, rolling her
eyes.

He squirmed under her gaze and quickly
changed the subject. “Hey, anyone hungry?”

“I’m going right down and fix you something
to eat and refill your coffee cup. What would you like?” asked
Elvira.

“Oh I don’t know. Anything is fine, but I
definitely want a piece of your cake. Thanks.” Vicky massaged the
little fur ball on her chest, which generated a purr much louder
than any of them would have thought possible.

Descending to the kitchen once more. He found
Elvira already well on her way with the construction of a ham,
cheese, and fried egg sandwich for Victoria.

“Mrs. Sweeney, I would be forever in your
debt if you fixed me one of those, and I want a big piece of your
crumb cake.”