Right In His Arms.

CHAPTER TWO

An elderly man stood by a wooden shelf, searching through small old files, he had his back to the door. Victoria greeted to get his attention;

"Good morning Mr Fletcher."

He turned around, removed his glasses to take a good look at her. "Victoria Craven? Little vicki?" he asked and she nodded. "It's been ages child." he turned around to hug her.

"You don't seem to age a bit yourself, still strong as always."

"Don't flatter me child, i can barely fill my own cup without spilling the liquid on the damn floor." he laughed, "Come sit." he ushered her to the seat opposite his, while he turned around and sat down.

"Thank you."

"Can i get you anything? Tea? Coffee?"

"Oh no, I'm alright."

"Okay. You called me a few days ago about buying back your mother's house."

"Yes Mr Fletcher, i was told no one had moved in since then. Can i see the buyer?"

"The couples who bought the house, traveled a week later, said they would return. But no one has seen them since then."

"How long is this?"

"Four years now."

Victoria's shoulders slumped, she felt sad and worried that her silly mistake would make her lose her mother's house forever.

"I know you're currently staying in a hotel, but you can come stay at my grandson's cabin, he left for turkey three years ago. I couldn't find someone worthy enough to rent it to."

"Oh no, mr fletcher you don't have to."

"I will be happy to give it to you for a few weeks until i can get in contact with the buyers."

Victoria thought for a second, then she smiled at him and said; "Thank you mr fletcher, i hope mrs fletcher wouldn't mind?"

"She would be thrilled to have you around."

"I'll also need a space, i want to open a pastry shop."

Mr Fletcher's grin widened, "This means you would be in solvang for a long time."

"Yes mr fletcher."

"This is fantastic news."

"Why?"

Mr Fletcher smiled again, "We've all missed you, that's all."

"I've missed my hometown too. Thank you once again mr fletcher, i'll be at the house this evening."

"We will be expecting you."

She left his office and hurried out of the building to escape liam.

Evening came and victoria drove to the fletcher's residence with her belongings in the trunk and the back of her car. She pulled up in the parking spot beside the small house, a beige stucco that was cottage styled with the door painted a mossy red. Victoria stepped out of the car and came around to climb the little step to the door, she rang the door bell and in a split second, mrs fletcher opened to give her a big hug.

"My dear dear little vicki, welcome home child." the old lady said as she finally released her. "Come on in." she said, victoria walked into the house. The interiors were even more pretty, a sofa set arranged round a TV, the dining and kitchen were combined.

"Thank you for having me mrs fletcher." she turned to the woman who had returned to what she was doing.

"Oh come on, your mother and i were good friends you know. How could i not be happy to have you?" mrs fletcher handed the keys over to victoria, "The cabin is round back, settle in now, dinner will be ready soon."

"Alright mrs fletcher." victoria said and walked back out. She walked past the low fence that corralled the side of the yard, straight to the stamp-sized garden, the cabin was right there.

She opened the door and a musky smell came out of it, she entered into the cabin to the plastic bags over the furnitures. They made the work easier, hopefully she wasn't going to be here for a long time, she began to clean up the place immediately and in an hour she was already done. She got into the bathroom and took a shower, when she emerged, a knock on the door startled her; "Coming!" she yelled and quickly put on her bath robe.

"I hope you didn't have a hard time settling in, no one has been in here for a while." mrs fletcher said immediately victoria opened the door.

"No, it wasn't difficult, the plastic covering made it easier."

"Oh, that was Robert's idea." mrs fletcher said, she then raised the basket with a piece of white cloth covering it's top to victoria. "Dinner is ready, i know you must be tired and hungry."

"Thank you mrs fletcher, you're so kind."

"Oh stop it, you're practically family now." she grinned. "i will let you get some rest now, Good night dear."

"Good night mrs fletcher."

Victoria was truly starving, she removed the covering and saw some apples and grapes, there was also two covered bowls and a jar of fresh orange juice. She headed to the kitchen, rinsed a plate and a glass and set them on the dining table to eat, so she could go have some rest. Tomorrow she would go see the town she'd missed so much, she could also find out if solvang high football game still happens every weekend, she always loved to go watch the games with her sister and Liam. Thinking about Liam, she changed her mind from going to watch the game, she wanted as much distance away from him as possible.

Then she thought of going to the store, she wanted to get started on identifying the things needed to open her pastry shop, at least getting a space wouldn't take mr fletcher much time as finding the buyer of her mother's house. Her memory drifted to the night liam gave her her first kiss, when he offered to take her home after the game, he'd kissed her again right in front of her mother's porch. Ever since then she'd been telling herself to forget about it and the boy who'd given it to her.