Real life just can't be avoided sometimes. Thanks for waiting patiently! Thanks to you and my team as always.

Hopefully you can see this update - I know ffn has been a little wonky!

"James?" Victoria's voice is suddenly sharp in the middle of the kitchen, her chest rising to hold her breath when Isabella says his name.

Isabella nods, her eyes widening. "Do you know him?"

Pausing, Victoria sits back in her chair to compose herself. "I know a lot of men," she replies once again at a distance where she feels most comfortable.

Isabella closes her eyes in embarrassment and places an apologetic hand over her heart. "I'm sorry, I wasn't implying you would or should know him."

Victoria smiles softly and appeases Isabella's worries with a forgiving shake of her head. "I know what you meant."

A comfortable silence descends between them as they sit at the table, the late hour settling into both women. Isabella clears her throat, unsure why she feels the pull to continue talking about him. "He died here not too long ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Victoria swallows the bile rising from her stomach, her breath shaky when she releases it. Hearing Isabella confirm, in not so many words, that they are, in fact, thinking of the same James makes her sick. She lets her eyes focus on Isabella but closes them quickly when she sees the same familiar slope of James' nose upon Isabella's face. She fears her heart will shatter if she looks at her too closely. "What was he like?"

"Fun," Isabella giggles through glassy eyes. She wipes a tear, but the smile remains on her face. "James always brought his sense of humor no matter where we went. Mama used to call it contagious; he'd have the nuns at the church laughing along with him before he left."

Victoria brings a hand to her mouth before letting out a loud laugh, and before they know it, both of them can hardly contain themselves. It feels incredible to finally speak of him; no one but Victoria knows what they shared. She wipes at the corners of her eyes and glances at Isabella, the only living proof, besides their daughter, that James existed at all.

She decides at that moment that Isabella's presence calms the storm that lives within her heart.

"He sounds wonderful," Victoria says thoughtfully. It warms her to know what she says is true.

"He was. He was always making sure I was safe or taken care of before himself." Isabella raises a cautious eye to Victoria. "Was Edward like that?"

A frown crosses Victoria's face, thoughts of James replaced by flashes of childhood memories that have blurred over time. She sighs eventually. "In his own way."

"Oh."

Victoria crosses her arms around her chest, desperate to continue talking. "What happened to him? To James?"

Isabella pauses, gathering herself before she answers. "Someone killed him and left him for dead in front of your brother's pub." She drops her eyes to the plate between them, her hair falling against her shoulder. She wraps her robe tighter as a chill races down her spine. "An officer came to the house to deliver a letter telling us he had been shot and where to go to claim the body. But it wasn't enough. My parents have never recovered; they're not the same people they used to be before he died."

"So that's why you're here." Victoria assumes. She shrugs and continues, "I heard there was some girl here from somewhere out of town."

"That would be me," Isabella laughs sheepishly. "I didn't come here to cause any trouble. We just can't move forward if we don't know why this happened to him. Or who would do such a terrible thing."

Victoria nods slowly. "You're a smart girl. My brother wouldn't have hired you if you weren't. But did you honestly think coming here and trying to solve his murder wouldn't cause any trouble?"

"I don't know what I was thinking, to be honest," Isabella admits before shooting her a laugh. "You sound like my mother."

"She didn't want you coming?"

"No."

"Can't blame her. She has already lost one child."

Isabella sighs, standing to clean their plates. She turns back to Victoria a few minutes later. "I know I should go back," she says. "But - I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm telling you all this."

Victoria doesn't want her to stop talking to her about her own life, about James. Desperate to keep his connection to her alive, she turns and hopes the smile on her face is welcoming. She knows she isn't easy to look at; she barely has money to eat or clothe herself once she sends her earnings to the baby. But for the first time since James died, she feels something. Hope. She reaches a hand to Isabella's shoulder and squeezes it gently. "I'm listening."

Isabella lets out a sigh of relief. She loves how easily she can speak to Victoria, which comes as somewhat of a shock to her, considering how they met that night when Marcus came to visit. She sits back down at the table. "I can't go back home. It's almost as if I can feel him here." She shakes her head at herself, at the stupidity of her own words and how she spoke them aloud. "Does that sound strange?"

"Strange? Yes." Victoria agrees. "But it also makes you feel like you belong here, yeah?"

"Sometimes, I do feel like I'm supposed to be here."

"Maybe you are," Victoria says before Isabella lets a yawn slip from her lips. The two make their way out of the kitchen towards their rooms – Isabella to sleep and Victoria to ignore Edward's snores from the floor next to her bed.

They pause outside of Isabella's room, Victoria furrowing her brows before she speaks. "If you feel the pull to stay here, then you should stay. But, please, be careful. I'm sure James would want you to be safe. This town can be dangerous, so don't do anything stupid."

Isabella smiles before heading inside for much-needed rest.

"Thanks, Victoria. I'll remember that."

See you soon!