AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 10
Inhaling slowly through her nose, Ginny took a deep breath in an attempt to keep her anxiety at bay as she returned to her table after her trip to the ladies room. Relief flooded through her when she saw that she had a moment to herself. It appeared everyone had dispersed after dinner was over.
She took her seat and looked around. She’d always loved observing people. Since she was a little girl, she’d enjoyed going to busy places and just people watching. It was a little harder for her now that she was so recognizable, so when she had moments where she wasn’t the center of attention she always used the opportunity to watch interactions and soak up the atmosphere.
It was obvious that this was a tight-knit group. The tent was filled with people talking and laughing. Kids were running around, chasing each other in an epic game of some sort of freeze tag and hide-n-seek hybrid. A buffet table with a spread that rivaled the best catering she’d ever seen ran along the left side. In the center of the space was a square wooden dance floor, which was surrounded by five round tables with white tablecloths over them. Twinkle lights were strung throughout the trees, giving the area an ethereal glow.
Krista had not been lying when she’d claimed that two more people wouldn’t make a difference. There had to be over thirty people in attendance. Ginny had never been a huge fan of nametags, but in this situation it would have been helpful. She’d met so many people over the last hour and although she’d always had a knack for remembering names she would have to have a photographic memory to keep everyone straight. Although, there was one person that stood out.
The Colonel.
During dinner he’d made his rounds to all the tables. It was clear that everyone here adored him. He was the quintessential grandfather figure and had more charisma and charm in his little pinky than most people had in their whole bodies.
When he’d introduced himself the first thing he’d commented on was the shade of blue that her eyes were. He said they reminded him of his late wife Marie. She’d smiled and thanked him but inside she’d freaked out.
Did she have her grandmother’s eyes?
Is that what he’d just told her?
What if she had her lips and her smile as well?
Would he make the connection?
Years of media training came in handy and she was able to hide her inner turmoil as she maintained a calm and happy expression.
He’d made his way around the table and it wasn’t until he moved on to the next one that she realized she’d been holding her breath. She only exhaled after it was clear he wasn’t going to put the pieces together. To somehow, some way, figure out who she was. To recognize her.
Logically, that made no sense at all. But the fact that he’d commented on her eyes had given her false hope, or maybe it was dread. She wasn’t quite sure. Throughout her time at the party she’d observed him and as an outsider looking in, it appeared he had a life filled with love. She’d met his son Mike who was a firefighter, and his daughter-in-law Grace who was a nurse. Were Mike and her dad brothers? Had he lost his wife Marie and a child?
She didn’t have those answers and she was starting to think she might never have them. The last thing she’d ever want to do is bring up painful memories or disrupt his life and the life of the people he loved. She’d lived twenty-two years without having any family other than her mom and she’d been fine. Sure, she’d wanted more. She’d felt like there was a missing part of her that could only be filled with a big, extended family but maybe that simply wasn’t in the cards for her.
Her mom wasn’t close to her family and never talked about them. She’d grown up in a small town in Oregon which her great-grandparents had founded called Valentine’s Bay. When she was twelve her parents were killed in a car crash and she’d gone to live with her grandparents, who she described as overbearing and not affectionate. The day she turned eighteen she’d gotten on a Greyhound bus and never looked back. As tempted as Ginny was to visit the town that her great-great-grandparents founded, she never had because she’d always felt it would be a betrayal to her mom.
So it seemed she’d reached a stalemate in her search to connect with her family. As disappointed as she was, she reminded herself that she had more than a lot of people. Not only did she have a successful career doing what she loved to do, she also had a mother who loved her and would do anything for her. Not to mention the fact that she was young, healthy and had a world of possibilities open to her. That was enough. It had to be.
Her eyes caught Dax across the room talking to Seth, but his attention seemed to be solely focused on her. He’d been different since he’d picked her up. On the way back to his house he’d been totally silent, which was fine with her since she’d been stressing out about possibly meeting Grandpa J. Then they’d gone home to change and let Capone out and all he’d done was offer her a water. It was fine though because she’d gotten in some good doggie lovin’ and just like always, it had calmed her nerves. On the drive over to the party he’d asked her about who she’d told that she was in town and he’d seemed all business. He’d sounded so professional, like he was a cop questioning her. Which she guessed made sense since he was technically working as her security. But that’s not how she saw him. She knew that he’d told Seth that things weren’t personal but she wanted things to be very personal with him.
“Sooooo,” Krista held out the vowel as she slid into the seat beside her. “Chase tells me that you are interested in interviewing people.”
“What?” Ginny’s mind had been a million miles away.
“Chase told me about the amazing song you wrote and he mentioned that you were thinking about interviewing people about love.”
“Oh, right” Ginny sat up straighter in the chair as she regained her bearings. “Yes. I was even thinking of including clips of people in the music video.”
“I love it,” Krista enthused. “And let me tell you, you’ve hit the jackpot of interview subjects. All five of my cousins and my three sisters have fallen in love over the past few years. They’re all married except my youngest sister Becca. She and her fiancé Brian wanted to wait until after she finished her first year of residency but they just set a date.”
“Wait a minute.” Ginny snapped her fingers. “Becca and Brian…were they on a reality show?”
When she’d been introduced to them, they’d looked so familiar but Ginny had just assumed she must have met them when she’d performed at The Plate. But now that Krista said that Becca was a doctor, Ginny’s memory was jogged.
“Yep. Fairytale Love.”
“That’s right, Fairytale Love. They weren’t a couple then though, right?” Reality TV was Ginny and her mom’s guilty pleasure.
“No, not on the show. But they were friends. They’d been best friends since elementary school.”
“Really? Wow.” Ginny watched so many dating shows that the specifics were hazy, but it was starting to come back to her. The show paired couples up as fairytale princes and princesses and she’d actually rooted for Becca and her prince but on the finale Brian had shocked everyone by declaring his love for Becca.
