“Ishy?”
Trisha laughed and hugged Victoria.
“Icky.”They both laughed at the nicknames they’d given each other.Ishy for Trish and Icky for Vicky.“I didn’t know you were back in town.Why didn’t you look me up?My parents still live in the same house, so I would have been easy to find.”
“I’ve thought about it, but I’ve been so busy since I came back.I was going to wait until I got things under control.There is so much I need to learn.”
“I’m about done here.Can you stop for a quick cup of coffee to catch up?”
“That sounds great.I can’t stay long.I have some freezer things I’ll need to get back to the ranch.”
“That’s okay.I have to pick up my kids at my mom’s in thirty minutes.”
Victoria smiled.“That will work.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you at the café down the block.”
“I’ll see you there.”
Ten minutes later, Victoria slid into the booth where Trisha already sat with two coffees.
Trisha reached across the table and held Victoria’s hand.
“I am so excited you’re back.You’re going to stay, right?
“You haven’t changed,” she said and laughed when the other woman nodded her head vigorously.“I’m assuming you’re married from the ring on your finger, and have kids because you mentioned them?”
“Remember that mean kid Ben, that kid that wouldn’t leave us alone and did horrible things to us?”
Victoria’s smile spread, and her eyes widened.“No ...you didn’t?You married him?”she screeched out in a loud whisper.
Trisha laughed.“Yup, married seven years already, and we have three kids, all younger than five.”
Victoria’s mouth dropped open.“Are you crazy?”
“Well, duh.I always have been, but I mostly can’t get enough of my man,” Trisha murmured as she raised her eyebrows up and down.
Victoria waved her hands in front of her.“Nope, I definitely don’t want to go there.Yuck.”
Trisha laughed.“Tell me about you.”
“I moved here a little over a month ago after I found out about my uncle and him leaving me the ranch.”
Trisha teared up and reached across the table and took both her hands.“He knew you loved him.”
Victoria reached for a napkin from the dispenser on the table to wipe the tears that had escaped.
“I just wish he’d told me about his cancer.I would have been here to help him,” Victoria said as she sniffed.
“I imagine that’s why he didn’t tell you.He didn’t want you to see him sick.”
“I know.He had done so much for me over the years.He was more of a parent to me than my own mother.I looked forward to my visits here all year, and when I had to leave, I would cry for days.”
“How is your mother?”
Victoria’s face twisted in a grimace.“She left a day after I turned eighteen, and I haven’t seen her since.”
“Oh, my God.What kind of mother does that?”
