Ice Princessxx Xx

7/28/2019 Ice Princessxx Xx

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that-that rag muffin of a girl.Rather, Lani Darling, as she'd overheard

Vance refer to her.

Three months ago, she would have

trusted him with her life. Of course, allthat had been washed away. The firstencounter occurred when she had paid asurprise visit to Lance's office, hoping

they could enjoy a romantic lunchtogether. There was an Italian 'hole-in-the-wall' that she'd went to with a friendone day, and the establishment servedthe best rosemary bread she'd evertasted.

There, on the side of his desk, hadrested Lani Darling in a red, low-cutdress supporting a silk scarf that Katewanted to strangle the woman with.She had been whispering to Vance, and

Kate could never erase the disturbed

reaction on his face if she lived to be athousand!

Oh, but Vance was slick. He hadnonchalantly soothed over the moment,

passing Lani off as a

business acquaintance. Like an idiot,


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Kate had swallowed his ludicrous story,hook, line and sinker.

One month later, upon visiting that out-of-the way Italian restaurant, she caught

them huddled together in a dark corner,their hands locked beside a wax-coatedbottle, only the light of the flickeringcandle illuminating Vance's face as Kate

slowly made her way to the table.

Awkwardly, he had attempted to explainthe cozy situation, failing miserably.Lani had discretely vanished. Two

weeks later, Vance had her eating out ofhis hand again, Kate feeling ridiculous

and childish for ever believing he couldcheat on her.

But everything changed last week. Katemade a decision to postponeher business trip and surprise Vance at

home. He'd been so wonderful to herlately, especially by planning theromantic trip to a lovely Victoriancottage in Maryland.

Kate hurried home that day, pausingat the market to gather some fruit,

cheese and wine. Vance and her were


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going to have the most romanticweekend!

She remembered everything. That'show it always is in the end. One takes

in every sight, every sound, everymovement.

She turned her key in lock of the quaintmanor she and Vance called home, thenentered, the pungent smell of roses

mingling with the air. Laughter, fromthe den. Then silence as Kate made herway towards her worst fears. The kiss,Vance, Lani.

She turned, unnoticed, slipped out thedoor, vanishing into the fog of the earlyevening, a million thoughts circling inher head.

"Kate? Katy!"

Kate heard herself ease out a painfulgroan, then looked at Vance as he drewher back to the present.

"Darling, you're crying," Vance

observed, his brow tensed in confusion.


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Vance felt utterly helpless. She wasdoing this again, this new crying sagathat had seemed to become her familiarstage these days. Hell, what was wrongwith her? Harmones? She was too

young to be experiencing 'the change'.Wasn't PMS either. Well, whatever it

was he wished to God that the Kate heknew and loved would soon resurface.

Surely she wasn't still obsessing overLani? Jealously wasn't a 'Kate trait'.Besides, Lani was young enough to be

his kid sister.

He reached over to clasp her hand,

shocked when she suddenly pulledaway.

Grimacing, he eased out, "My dear Kate,you're becoming the perfect Ice Maiden.It seems that every time I touch you."

"Look, we're almost there," she jerkedout, whisking away her tears andpointing to the lovely cottage in thedistance. She needed to focus on

something other than Vance right now.Besides, he couldn't possibly care why

she was crying.


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How romantic! A scape of blue cloudssurrounded the cottage, the elegantwindowpanes mirroring the rays of theevening sun. A beautifulherb garden rested beside the house,

the towering lavender waving in the coolbreeze of the northern winds.

Vance and Kate spent the next couple of

hours settling into the cottage, bothfeeling acutely miserable. The owner ofthe cottage had set out a beautifulbasket of fresh fruit. In therefrigerator a meal of chicken a laorange, baked potatoes, and julienne

beans had been prepared for theirevening meal. Homemade bread restedon a wooden board to accompany theromantic meal. However, at this point,neither Vance nor Kate felt like eating.

Vance had started a warm, cozy fire in

the small den, asking Kate to join him.At his request, they settled in front of

the fire and she tensed as he eased outthoughtfully, "There's a reason I broughtyou here, Kate. This seemed like the

perfect spot and as we can both see, the

brochure did not lie."


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My God, he was going to do it! He wasgoing to tell her about his rendezvouswith that Lani slut. Suddenly, she couldsee, hear, smell, feel everything abouther so intensely for this was the end -

the flickering fire, the wood as it driftedup through the chimney shaft andcracked loudly - her heart wildly quakingas it suddenly felt close to shattering

She inwardly reeled as Vance continuedhis stabbing words, rising to collectsomething as he spoke to her. "Kate,this may not be the moment to do this,because I feel there's something askew

in our relationship. Perhaps, it's aphase. Perhaps you don't loveme anymore."

How could she not love him? He waslike "Sara Lee"- nobody didn't like

Vance Stewart!

"Nonetheless, my surprise can't wait amoment longer," he continued,collecting a rather large sealed packageas he spoke that Kate hadn't noticed

until now.


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He drug the object over to their 'sitting'place, the fire being their only light.

"For you, my darling," he eased out witha twisted smile.

Kate shook her head, mystificationmeshing with her confusion.

"Well, open it, darling! Hurry, or I'll

have to do it for you!" Vance laughed,encouraging her as he beckoned her.

Kate's hands shook. She was confused.What could this be? Vance was going to

end their marriage, right?

Carefully, she eased away the packing,an exquisite full-lengthpainting surfacing into view. Gracing aglance over the face of the portrait, Katereeled. My God! It was her - Kate!

Her gaze flew to Vance, his deepwonderful laugh filling the room. "I dohope you like it, darling? Lani hasindeed performed a masterpiece, don'tyou agree?"

Lani? Kate's eyes filled with tears, the

situating dawning on her. My, all this


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time Vance had been meeting with Lanito secure this painting of her! Thiswonderful painting!

Vance was immediately beside her,

taking her sobbing form into his arms."Darling," he sighed, uncertain as

to what to do. "Please, tell me what'swrong? I just want things to be like

they were before. I feel as if I can't doanything to help. I-I feel so lost, sohelpless without you."

He had to strain his ears as she jerkedout between sobs, "Oh, darling, Ithought you were.you-you were having

an affair with her."

Vance tensed his brows together, hisface lined with confusion. "Her? MyGod, surely not Lani?"

Then he eased out a mocking laugh andcontinued, "Kate! She's young enoughto be my kid sister."

Kate sniffed, then corrected, "She'syoung enough to be your daughter,

darling. However, I must admit that I


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assumed you were cheating. I-I thoughtI caught you kissing her-"

Vance instantly cut her off. "That'sbecause you did, darling."

"What?"

"You did. Oh, don't look so shocked,you conniving little Kate thing. And

you're wondering what gave you away,eh?"

She nodded rather innocently and hecontinued, "I didn't see you, but I didtake in an intense whiff of your perfume that evening. Actually,

until this moment, I thought I hadimagined that. But you were there,weren't you? In the wings, nosingaround."

He paused, taking time to wipe away

one stray tear. "Kate, I understandeverything so clearly now. This wouldhave been a lot simpler if you'd justcome to me. Nonetheless, when I sawwhat a wonderful masterpiece that Lani

had created, yes - I grabbed her and


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kissed her cheek! You must have saw,right?"

"Yes, I've been soso naughty, darling.Oh, how could I? I-I love you so much,

words just aren't enough."

"Ssshhh," Vance told her, placing anindex finger over her warm lips. "I loveyou too, darling. I must admit, you hadme worried. I thought my fair maiden

had turned into an ice princess."

"Yes, darling, I did. But see these tears?You've melted all the coldness away."

The warm fire crackled beside them but

it could not match the warmth they feltfor one another.

Ice Princessxx Xx

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