Chapter 10

David's Room

Tired. Vicki was tired. David had pushed her as far as she had patience and could tolerate his acting out. His incessant whining had begun to wear on her patience. "I've done everything you asked me to do, my math, my English, and Social Studies. Why can't I go and play? Even in school I got recess twice a day and lunch!" He had folded his arms over his chest and gave every impression he was not going to begin his World History lessons.

"David, your Aunt was very specific when she laid out the time for studies. She wants us to apply ourselves with school for six hours a day. Which is less time than an actual school. By my calculations." She looked at her watch then the stubborn set of his shoulders and spoke, "We have one half hour left and I want you to open your World History Book and read the chapter I marked. I will be giving you a quiz on that chapter tomorrow."

David had uncrossed his arms and leaned over to snatch the book she had laying on top of his English-Grammar book stood from his desk marched to his window and flung the book out of the window. Vicki was beginning to feel a headache throbbing behind her left eye. Vicki was not about to give in to this temper tantrum. She had been through this game before so sitting back she laid the math solutions he had given her earlier in her lap.

"Fine David, you can sit there and work on your essay for English for half an hour. Then you can go get your History book and read that chapter tonight after supper."

"No I won't. I don't have to do homework. Aunt Elizabeth says I only have to go to school with you during the day and night time is my time to do what I want." He marched to his bed and flopped across the bed. Folding his arms over his chest he stared at the ceiling.

Vicki looked down at the math paper in her lap and wanted to scream. She just wanted a break from this tirade that had begun when he saw her wearing the two rings on her fingers. He asked about the rings and she told him she was engaged to Barnabas. Shortly after finding out she was getting married to Barnabas David began to act out showing signs of a controlled anger nearing a rage. It went down hill when he was given a essay to write. "Fine, but this is stupid. Why should I learn how to dot I's and cross t's or where to put a period?" He had dug his pen into his paper sending a tear through the page. Vicki had taken the pen from his hand and the page from the table.

"David, you don't want to look ignorant when you have to correspond with people. That is why it is important to know the proper punctuation and the proper grammar to write and speak." She had used all her patience when speaking to him and found he was not listening to her, with his head tucked and his glare turning to a glower. It seemed after that he had grown more sullen and angry. Now lying on his back he watched the ceiling and looked distant. "David, you can quit pouting and come back to the table and start your essay over again. This time try not to tear the paper or scratch the table." Vicki had stood and moved to the bed to peer down at him. He continued to ignore her.

"Somebody loose something?" Carolyn popped her head into the room and looked at the devil in the making and her friend and saw there was a stand off. She laughed walking into the room. In her hand was the errant history book none the worse for wear but for some torn pages and rippled binding.

"Oh Carolyn thank you so much for bringing that up here. It seems that David was applying science to history and wanted to see if his book could fly." Vicki took the book from her hand and walked to the table to smooth out the mistreated pages and tape the torn ones.

"David mother wants to see you when you are done with your lessons. I don't think she is very happy with the treatment of your history book. It barely missed hitting Mrs. Johnson. So, I think you owe Mrs. Johnson an apology."

David sat up and glared at Carolyn. "She should not have been standing under my window. The book is stupid anyhow!"

Vicki sighed, the next twenty minutes was going to be the longest twenty minutes of her life with him displaying an attitude of anger. "I don't want to learn anything from you any more Vicki! You are nothing but dead to me! I hate you!" He shot up from his bed and dashed from the room leaving Vicki with a soft flush edging her neck and face.

"Well what brought that about?" Carolyn sat on the end of David's bed. Carolyn watched her friend gather his books and papers and fight back tears. "Vicki he never means it when he is mad. He did not mean he hated you. There is obviously something else going on with him to be acting out like this."

Vicki slumped into her chair and looked down at the ring on her finger. "I think he feels like I betrayed him by getting engaged to Barnabas." Vicki fingered the ring on her finger then looked up at Carolyn with over bright eyes. "He started acting this way after I told him where I got this ring."

Carolyn shook her head. "Maybe he just needs to be reassured he is not going to loose you. He has lost so much so far that I would be surprised if he had not gotten angry. You know how insecure he can be and the thought of loosing you would be high on his list."

Vicki sniffed, gave a halfhearted smile and nodded, "I know Carolyn, but he has to realize I am not going any where but the old house once I am married. It is not like I am going to keep him from visiting or even spending the night. He is going to still be a very important part of my life."

Carolyn watched her friend anguish over her loss of respect by David and sighed deeply, she almost felt sorry for both of them but if she had to choose one over the other it would have been Vicki over David and the recent antics he had committed. "Perhaps you should talk to mother before he talks to her and explain what has been going on." Carolyn stood up and the sunlight caught the cut of her ring she wore on her right hand. Vicki smiled.

"How pretty Carolyn, is there something you would like to tell me?" She reached for her hand and looked at the perfectly cut half caret simple solitaire diamond ring. Vicki stood admiring it and then recognizing it as one of the rings Mr. Braithwaite had brought for her to select.

"Yes, well Gregory has some making up to do for the way he has been neglecting me lately. Ever since Willie Loomis' sister came to town he has been conspicuously absent and not able to give me a good excuse for neglecting me."

Vicki looked shocked, "Really? He knows Rebecca Loomis?" Vicki was curious and a bit taken aback by this revelation. She found it curious but knew that as good intentioned Carolyn tried to be, she could be demanding on her current love interest.

"They went to school together and he did say he has been taking care of business out of town. He probably has been taking care of business but he has been withdrawn from me for the past three weeks and frankly Vicki I am not so sure he is the man for me. I get the feeling he is doing like Burke, using me." The minute she had said it her hand flew over her mouth and her eyes flew open with embarrassment. "Oh Vicki I did not mean to bad mouth Burke!"

Vicki had not flinched she knew when Burke Devlin had first came to town he was out to destroy the Collins Family and that nothing was scared in his pursuit to make Roger Collins pay for the injustice of Burke's incarceration. "I knew what he was doing Carolyn and I know you thought you were falling in love with Burke. It does not bother me that you said that, I have to confess, I never really like Mr. Trask and thought he had other designs on you and he was not exactly above with his intentions."

Carolyn tilted her head and looked at Vicki confused, "But I thought you liked him? I knew his initial interest was in you and that you only had eyes for my cousin. Then when he started paying attention to me I felt well this was great and he does have certain attributes that I find very appealing." Carolyn took on a sly and risqué look when thinking about their wild lovemaking.

Vicki could only guess at what she meant and this sent another rush of heat into her cheeks. "I think that is between you two Carolyn and really not for publication." Vicki sighed again and stood collecting all the books and stacked them neatly on the desk. Taking his History book she laid it on his pillow. "I think you need to find someone that can make you as happy as Barnabas has made me. Someone that can complete a part of you that may feel missing."

She turned and folded her arms over her chest and studied her friend sitting looking distant with a slight frown that danced over her features. "I sometimes feel he is the right one. He certainly would make an excellent match for me as far as the family is concerned but I am not sure."

Vicki sat next to her friend and spoke softly, "Is he your best friend?" Unfolding her arms she patted Carolyn's hand looking at the ring and then to her face.

"Sometimes I feel he is my best friend. I feel like I am the right reason for his everything and when he is attentive to me and pays attention to me then he makes me feel special but then there are weeks like the past three weeks when he calls are abrupt on the phone with me and then blows me off with some excuse he is either too tired or he has a business meeting to attend."

"Sounds like to me you need to do a small separation from him to see how much he misses you and not be so ready to jump at his beck and call Carolyn. If he is the right one, you both will weather the separation. Have you thought about taking a trip to Boston? Maybe you could take David and go to Boston for a small vacation. It seems to me he needs a vacation as much as you."

"I would go to Boston or New York but only if I could take someone with me to watch the little monster at night."

"Why not take Maggie, she could watch David at night and you could go out and do what you wanted. Maggie could use a break from things here and it would be good for both of you."

Carolyn had to think about spending time with Maggie a one-time competitor for the affections of Joe Haskell. Even though she felt her and Joe was old news. She still secretly smarted from the rejection Joe had given her over his attention to Maggie. "I don't know Vicki. Maggie and I have not been on chummy terms since her and Joe became an item."

"Do you care that Maggie and Joe are together?" Vicki turned to sit next to her friend on the bed. Looking around the room she was depressed, she should not have allowed David to get o her the way he did and she could easily understand why he reacted the way he had. It still did bother her.

"No not really, I just get the feeling that Maggie is uncomfortable around me because of my former relationship with Joe. " Carolyn could see that Vicki was loosing interest in their conversation and suspected it was because of what David had said. "You know how he is he says things and then regrets them later."

Vicki frowned, "Who Joe?" She glanced up confused and lost in the conversation.

Carolyn chuckled, "No, not Joe. David says things then later he regrets them. Maybe you need to go find him and let me think about taking Maggie with us on a small trip." She watched Vicki stand and walk to the door.

"Perhaps you are right. I need to talk this out with David and then allow your mother to have her talk with him. I am pretty sure he had darted out to his old play places." She watched Carolyn follow her out of his room. Turning she walked to her room, she grabbed a coat and scarf.

Collinwood Beach

David jumped and ran along the rocky shoreline dragging a stick, he was angry and did not know why and he knew for sure he hated Vicki and never wanted to see her again. He was mad at Barnabas and knew he was a problem for David. The small voice behind him brought him out of his angry reverie. "Hello David. Why are you so mad?"

He turned and glared at Sarah. "You need to go away Sarah. I am mad and I don't want to be mad at you." He flung his stick into the surf and watched it dance on the waves to slowly make its way to the shoreline.

"Are you mad at me?" She walked behind him stepping along the beach kicking at the sand with his feet.

"No, I am mad at Vicki, she got engaged and she is going to leave me just like my mother left me and I won't have anyone to be my friend again!" He angrily shoved his hands into his pockets glaring out at the sea.

"She is only going to the old house David and I heard her say she wanted you to come and spend the night with them once they are married, how is that going away?"

David stopped his angry stomp dance along the shore turned to face Sarah. "Really? She said that?" He had a look of astonishment on his face.

Sarah nodded, "Yes, she said that. She said she would only be a short distance at the old House and she hoped you would think about coming over and spending the night with her and Barnabas sometime. That does not sound like she is going away for good or not wanting to be your friend. Besides I am your friend and I have not gone away."

David shoved his hands into his coat pocket and looked crestfallen to his feet. "I know you are my friend Sarah but Vicki is Vicki and well I love her and I don't want her to go away. She is my friend and she should stay with me." Vicki had taken the lower level pathway to the beach and paused hearing David talking to Sarah.

Sarah glanced up to see Vicki paused on the pathway the look on her face stricken and surprised. "David, I think you need to talk to Vicki and she needs to talk to you so I will see you later." Sarah turned and disappeared from sight. David slumped his shoulders, tucked his chin, and turned his back on Vicki.

"Guess you talked to Aunt Elizabeth and she sent you to find me?" His words were taken by the wind that blew across the beach. He kept his hands shoved in his pockets and watched the waves grow closer to his shoes.

"No, I came to talk to you because I think we need to be honest with each other David. I think you are upset with me because I am engaged to your cousin and you think I don't care about you any more which could not be further from the truth." Vicki watched him lift his head and then drop his chin again.

"You got engaged to him and he is a bad man. He is a very bad man he will hurt you." David was beginning to understand that he was jealous and he hated Barnabas for taking his Vicki from him.

Vicki wanted to slip her arm around his shoulders and hold him close to reassure him that she would not stop loving him because she was marrying Barnabas. "David, I am always going to have a very special place in my heart for you. Just because I am going to marry Barnabas does not mean that you won't be a part of my life any more. It means if anything I have more reason to stay and be a bigger part of your life. I am going to be a Collins and that means I will be related to you."

David shifted and turned to peer up at her. She was beautiful in his eyes and he had a crush on her. "Miss Winters, Vicki, why do you have to marry Cousin Barnabas?" He was starting to tear up with his anger.

"David, I love Barnabas, he loves me and it's a natural course for people to take once they know they belong together. Some day you will find someone that will mean that much to you and then you will be going away from us and that will make me sad because it means I will have to let you go to be with someone that you love."

David turned and felt the sting of tears in his eyes. "I would never leave you or Aunt Elizabeth. I would always be there for you." He was becoming sullen and did not want to hear reason or relent in his jealous pout.

"David, I will always be there for you. I want you to know that even when I am married to Barnabas, I would love for you to come to our house and stay with us over night. As a matter of fact when I am there the next time, we will find a room that you could call your very own when you come over."

David turned and looked at her the tears blinding him. "You mean it? I could come and stay all night with you and Barnabas? I mean he does not like me playing around his stupid house and has made me promise I won't play there."

Vicki sighed deeply took a step towards David and stood next to him with a bare two inches between them. "David, Barnabas would accept you in his house and besides when we get married it will be our house. I think I can have whomever I want over to my house too you know."

David glanced up at her and gave her a half smile. "You sure?" He studied Vicki peering down at him with a smile and a slight nod.

"Yes, I am sure David. I think I have a right to have whomever I wish to have stay with me at our house and if your Aunt still wants me to help you with your studies well I am going to be no further than a ten minute walk to the house to help. Although I think you are big enough to attend Junior High School in Collinsport and I think you might even like it. They give you two recesses during the day."

David sighed, "I did not mean it Vicki honest I didn't I just was mad and thought you did not want to be around me any more and well I said something I did not mean. I do love you and I was afraid you were going to be like my mom and just go away and I would never see you again."

Vicki felt him turn and press his face into her stomach with his arms wrapped around her waist. "I love you too David and when I love someone I don't go away, I stay there for them." She pushed him back and brushed his hair from his eyes. "It hurt me to think you really might hate me."

He blinked and then smiled, "I don't hate you. I was mad and I say things I don't mean when I am mad." She hugged him close and spoke softly into his hair.

"I love you too, now do me a favor and go see what your Aunt wants and then on your pillow is your World History book. I want you to read that chapter for me please? Then later if you want we will get Carolyn and go into Collinsport and get you a banana split."

David smiled, "Thank you Vicki, I promise that I will go talk to Aunt Elizabeth and I will read those pages you asked me to read." He danced back from her and turned running fast towards the pathway that would lead up Widows Hill. Vicki stood and watched him go and sighed.

"I see young David has been a problem for you today?" She heard his voice and turned smiling at the man she had agreed to marry. He stood on the edge of the beach the wind whipping his inverness Cape. He stepped towards her and took her in his arms. "May I say how utterly charming you look my dear and what an excellent job you did explaining your love for me to him?"

Vicki sighed, laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "I hope he accepts you as my husband. I fear he may have a crush on me and views you as competition for his affections." Barnabas held her close and listened to her softly spoken words being caught and carried by the sea breeze.

"Do I need to worry that young David will be my competition?" He teased her lightly. Vicki peered up into the mischief dancing in his eyes.

"No, you have nothing to worry about my love. David needs to feel reassured that once we are married that he will be allowed to come and visit and possibly spend the night with us. He feels he is not welcomed in your house."

Barnabas sighed deeply and held Vicki tighter, "My dear you may have whomever you wish to come to the house once we are married and most certainly young David will be welcome. He may even pick out a room as his own. You know that whatever you wish is what I wish. So we can put his fears at ease and tell him whichever room he wishes to call his own can hold whatever personal items he wishes to have in his room."

Vicki sighed, "Then we could make it more personal to him?" Her eyes shined with the light of the love she felt for this man that held her and offered her warmth from the sea's relentless cool air.

Barnabas nodded, "Of course we may make it personal to him. Shall we go and tell him together? I understand you made a date to take him in for an ice cream so I might join you both to make him feel more a part of our life?" Vicki laughed and nodded then fell into step with him leading her to the pathway up to Widow's Hill.

Collinsport Café Collinsport Hotel

Vicki sat next to Barnabas while David and Carolyn sat across from them in the booth. He was shoveling in his ice cream as fast as he was speaking with excitement of how he wanted his room to look once they allowed him to choose one. Vicki had listened quietly to him while he chattered away and allowed her gaze to sweep the room.

Since their arrival she had a feeling that she was being watched and she glanced up to see a dark figure in the corner. He was a man of medium build with dark hair and his face stayed hidden in the shadows. From where she sat Vicki could have sworn he had been watching her intently and it made her uncomfortable. Dropping her gaze she smiled when Barnabas picked her hand up and kissed her knuckles.

The figure shifted uncomfortably each time Barnabas has shown his affection towards Vicki and this gave Vicki pause to wonder why he would care. She just wished she could get a better look at his face. Shifting in her chair she glanced up at the appearance of another entering the room. It was a woman with startling blue eyes and blond hair and she watched her walk to the booth that held the dark figure.

Distracted by questions from David, Vicki dropped her gaze from the two in the booth and focused on David. When she had a chance to look back to the booth she noted the man and woman had left the room. Sighing softly she smiled when Barnabas asked, "Problem my dear?"

"No, just curious about the two that were in that booth over there, you know I could have sworn that was the woman that was with Nicholas Blair the other day." Barnabas glanced to where she had indicated and frowned.

"Really well perhaps we need to find out about her if she is associated with Nicholas we certainly do not need to have problems cropping up before we are married now do we?" He smiled to reassure her but his own thoughts were where was Angelique if Nicholas were back in town.