Page 2 of A Family Affair: The Vow
However, that didn’t stop Leah from poking around in other people’s affairs, tinkering here and there, commenting about how this person and that one would be great together. She’d tossed Vic and her sister’s name into the same pot more than a few times, probably to see what he’d say, if anything. Yeah, he’d played it cool, seemed curious but not overly interested, even though he was more interested than he should be. Rae Darlington was an uptown sophisticate with a fancy job, a big education, and according to Leah, way too much designer clothing. And she lived six hours away in Virginia, so forget trying to turn it into something like a relationship.
Why was he thinking aboutthat?He’d tried the whole relationship gig a few times and it never worked. Once they thought they had you, they tried to remake you into whattheythought you should be. Wasn’t that why he’d landed back in Magdalena all those years ago? Right, the I-love-you-just-the-way-you-are West Coast girlfriend decided she could love him even more if he shaved every day, ditched the T-shirts for designer threads, and took a desk job at Daddy’s investment company.He likes you, says you have so much untapped potential. Do it, baby. For us. For our future.
And with a few sentences, she’d laid out the expectations she had for him, the ones she’d never mentioned before they got involved. Vic left California the next day, headed back to Magdalena in a truck with questionable brakes. It took him three weeks, much of it related to the old truck: busted water pump, flat tire, failed alternator, and how could he forget losing the whole exhaust system on the highway? But one crisp fall morning he made it home, tired, achy, but ready to begin the life he wanted, the one that had been idling for too long, the one that included dedication to a job, commitment, and saving up for a house and maybe one day a partner to share it. That last one had a lot of caveats and loopholes that he’d massaged and reworked over the years, always coming up empty in the partner category, though he’d certainly had a lot of women applying for the position.
None of them were the right fit.
It’s not that he didn’t enjoy women because he certainly did: the way they smelled, the softness of their skin, the curves. Yes, he enjoyed it all, a bit too much at times according to his mother who could still advise and warn him from her North Carolina condo, almost eight hundred miles away.Find a nice girl and settle down, Victor. Be careful or you’ll get caught in a trap. There’d been a few close calls when one or two of them thought a sleepover meant a relationship and two sleepovers meant marriage, but he’d extricated himself from those with an explanation and a smile that leftthemapologizing tohimfor the misunderstanding. Yeah, that was just bizarre and he bet Rae Darlington wouldn’t be apologizing to him for anything.
But maybe he wouldn’t want her to, because maybe he’d be the one thinking about a commitment, a future, and whatever else that entailed. He was thirty-three years old and some days he wished therewasa special someone instead of too many someones filling his nights, leaving his soul empty.
Just because he was heading nowhere in the relationship department and was tiring of the musical beds didn’t mean Rae Darlington would be that special someone. He hadn’t spoken to her since she was sixteen years old and backed into his pickup truck. That was a lifetime ago, and she’d been just a kid. Well, she wasn’t a kid anymore. He thought of the pictures Leah had shared over the last several months: the dark-haired beauty with the honey-brown eyes, the curves, and the smile that saidI see you watching me. Match that with the mountains of backstory Leah had shared, and only a fool wouldn’t be interested in meeting the real-life version.
And that real-life version was on her way to Magdalena to attend her parents’ retirement party at Harry’s Folly. Of course, Vic knew this because Leah had provided detailed information, including her sister’s approximate arrival time. He glanced at his watch, calculated when the woman he’d become half obsessed with would walk through the door. Soon, but not soon enough. Forty minutes later, he decided punctuality was not her strong suit and gave up his position near the front door to make his way toward Nate and his buddies.
There was no such thing as idle chitchat when you were around these men, but there was a lot of teasing and torment involved when Cash Casherdon was nearby. The man might be Nate’s best friend but he’d been known to zing him a few times and then burst out in a full-on howl. That’s when Nate shot him a glare and a scowl, and if his wife and kids weren’t around, he’d follow up with a string of curses. The men were laying odds on whether or not Harry Blacksworth would decide to set up a “dance floor” and enlist them to move the tables. They were discussing how Harry would go about it whenshewalked in.
The three men talking to Vic didn’t seem to notice the woman, or if they did, he guessed their chests didn’t thump and bounce like his did when he spotted Rae Darlington. Nope, they were more interested in Harry and his dance floor than Gil and Peg Darlington’s daughter.
But Vic wasn’t unaffectedordisinterested. He considered approaching her, but before he could take two steps, she was surrounded. The swarm didn’t let up for a full thirty-five minutes. Vic decided to work the room, engage in casual conversation, a laugh, a story, but he knew exactly where she was and at the fourteen-minute count, she noticedhim. Not just a random notice either or a fleeting glance, but a full-on stare, the kind that said,Interested. Curious. Want to know more. He’d raised his beer, saluted her, smiled. She raised her wineglass, smiled back.
That saiddefinitely interested and plan to find out more.
At the thirty-eight-minute mark, Rae Darlington, the frizzy-haired teen who’d transformed into an exotic butterfly, approached him.
“Vic Tramont? How are you? It’s been—” a pause followed by a tiny smile “—a long time.”
She stood touching distance away, close enough for him to spot the golden flecks in her brown eyes. “Rae Darlington. All grown up.” His gaze swept over the chestnut curls to her eyes, lips, chin, settled on the slender neck, then followed the path to the most tempting curves he’d seen in a long while. The red blouse suited her, so did the snug black jeans and knee-high boots. Vic sucked in a breath, shifted his gaze to hers, held it. “The last time I saw you, I ended up with a banged-up fender.”
Pink swept her cheeks as she leaned toward him, spoke in a quiet voice, “I can’t believe you never told anyone about it. If my parents had found out, I probably still wouldn’t be driving.”
He laughed, pictured Gil Darlington grounding his youngest daughter. “Something tells me that wouldn’t have happened, especially if your dad had anything to say about it.”
A raised brow, a smile that revealed a dimple on the left side of her cheek. “I guess there are benefits to having a much older sister and being the baby.” The smile slipped. “But there are also downsides.”
She meant the ten-year age difference that left her in a position of being an almost only child. “From what I hear, Leah’s more than an older sister. She’s like a second mother.”
Her expression softened. “Yes, she is. She’s always looking out for me, sometimes a bit too much.” She shook her dark head, laughed. “She told me you and I had to meet, that we’d have a lot in common.”
“Yeah.” His gaze held hers, his smile spread. “She told me that, too.”
2
Vic Tramont—the sexiest man in Magdalena. Gorgeous. Tanned and muscled with a smile that saidcome closerand a blue gaze that made a woman believe he saw everything, including her deepest desires. At least that’s what Rae told herself back when she was a silly teenager and she’d spotted Vic with his current girlfriend or whatever they were. Girlfriend was too loose a term because they were never part of his life for long. She’d only ever had one conversation with him when she was sixteen and she’d bumbled her way through it, crying and blubbering after she backed into his truck.
He’d just moved home from California after a few years there and he’d returned alone. Everybody was talking about it, especially the females: young, old, single, and married. Vic Tramont was the stuff of fairytalesandfantasies and nobody could ignore him or wanted to... Unless they were sixteen and had just backed into his truck. Bad enough she’d dented his fender, but then to stand there while he examined the damage, his tallness dwarfing her, his expression grim? It was horrible. The tears started as the silence grew and when he stood to face her, hands on hips, frown covering his face, more tears fell, followed by an incoherent apology dotted with a string of hiccups.
It’s okay, he’d said.Don’t cry. It’s only a fender and I know a guy who can fix it.
She’d never been this close to him, but with only an arm’s length separating them, she could see the silver flecks in his blue eyes, the stubble on his jaw, the gold strands in the dark waves. What would it feel like to touch that jaw, run her fingers through his hair? Not that she would ever know because she wouldn’t, but shecoulddream about it.
I don’t plan to tell anyone, okay? Don’t worry.And then those blue eyes with the silver flecks narrowed the tiniest bit.You’re Rae Darlington, aren’t you?
He knew her name! His kindness only elevated her crush on him and for years, she compared every guy to the fantasy man, Vic Tramont. It was a convenient and effective way to remain unattached. She never stopped to consider the rationale behind her actions or that, other than hearsay and one brief interaction years ago, she didn’t know him at all. In fact, whatever she thought she knew might or might not be accurate.
But her sister had started filling her in weeks ago when she learned Rae planned to attend their parents’ retirement party.You’ll have to talk with Vic Tramont. Remember him? He is such a great guy. Thoughtful, considerate, great to look at...single. I think you two would have a lot in common.A laugh, a soft sigh.Maybe you won’t want to talk at all… Maybe you’ll find another way to communicate and—
“So, about your sister.” Vic interrupted Rae’s thoughts, shot a gaze across the room. “She’s solid, but...”
