Victoria Montgomery hugged the gray-haired elderly woman in front of her on a cool Thursday morning, the sun barely above the trees. The wrinkled hands of her grandmother stroked her short light brown hair, while her watery brown eyes met a pair of dark brown with wrinkles in the corners.

"I'm so gonna miss you," The teenage girl sniffled, glancing over at her Salt and pepper-haired grandpa, a soft smile displayed on his lips, his blue eyes focused on his only granddaughter. "And Grandpa, too."

"Oh, Tori, you will be fine," Beatrice Cane sweetly told her granddaughter, pulling away from her tight hug and holding her cheeks between her hands. "It's not like we will never see each other again."

Victoria wiped her eyes with her flannel sleeve while sniffling once again. "I'm going across the world! I'm a whole plane flight away from you guys. I'll no longer be a fifteen-minute bike ride away." She frowned, her tone as depressed as the expression growing on her face.

"Kiddo, we can always come and visit whether the manor is fully restored or not. It's not like we don't have the retirement funds to take a trip every once in a while." Mack Cane reassured Victoria, reaching over and pulling her into a tight hug. 

Victoria hugged him back before pulling away with a heavy sigh. "I suppose," She mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. "Still doesn't mean it's not fair. I wish I could stay here with you, then I wouldn't leave my friends, my school, or Precious -"

"You know that'd never happen." Emmaline Montgomery-Galvin butted in, her blue eyes narrowing as she approached her mother and her daughter whilst twisting her strawberry blonde hair up and attaching a long clip to keep it in place. "I wouldn't allow a sleepover, let alone you stay here while I'm across the world."

Beatrice simply sighed, her eyes glancing from Emmaline to Victoria then back to her daughter. "Don't be so hard on her. It's a difficult task for children to move across the world and leave everything behind." She tried to reason with Emmaline, her voice as kind and gentle as her eyes.

Emmaline crossed her arms over her chest. "Mom, we've been over this a million times. They will get over it. We'll be on the plane bound for England in two hours whether she likes it or not." She sternly spoke, her eyes never wavering nor her voice.

Beatrice put her hands up in front of her, knowing she would get nowhere with her daughter. "All right, just please be safe over there." She begged her daughter, lacing her fingers together in front of her as she watched her climb into the minivan.

Mack placed a hand on Victoria's shoulder and smiled. "At least Precious is with Cassie, and you will get her back after the manor is restored." He softly said, gently gripping her shoulder in a comforting manner.

Victoria slumped her shoulders and heaved a heavy sigh. "I wish I could say goodbye to Cassie, Sally, Kade, and Neil one more time before we left." She pouted, moving the tip of her boot across the grass.

"You had all yesterday to say goodbye to them at church and vespers, which after the sun had set was a small going away party for you guys," Mack mentioned, reminding what happened the night before his granddaughter. 

Victoria recalled both things he mentioned and felt their phone full of pictures of the event weighing heavy in her pocket. "You're right," She agreed, depression evident in her tone. "It's not like I'll never see them again. We can video chat with each other . . . if we ever change cell service once over there." She trailed off allowing herself to sign once again.

Mack reached his hand out and ruffled his granddaughter's hair. "Cheer up, Kiddo. Everything happens for a reason, and try to look on the bright side." He grinned widely at her, his tone lighthearted.

Victoria huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and kicking a rock close to her boot. "You sound like Mom," She mumbled, sneaking a small glare toward her mother in the minivan.

Mack chuckled, shaking his head lightly. "She's right about that. Everything is in God's hands now, all you have to do is give it to him and trust him." He could tell she wasn't happy about the move, and she had every right to be angry.

Victoria begrudgingly huffed, knowing he was right. "I guess," She mumbled, rolling up the side of her flannel sleeve. "Still doesn't mean I'm happy with all this or the fact she didn't tell me until a week before the wedding."

Beatrice pursed her lips, letting out a small hum. "You have every right not to be happy . . ." She trailed off, looking back at Emmaline who impatiently tapped her fingers on the steering wheel.

"Come on kids, it's time to go," Emmaline called, after having rolled down the passenger side window. "We can't be late, especially with traffic at this time."

"Oh, I forgot I got something for the trip to the airport," Beatrice whispered into the house and came out with two warm tins stacked on top of each other. "Since you didn't get to eat much for breakfast, I made something for you." She explained, handing the top to Victoria. 

Victoria took the tin in her hands and peeled off the lip. The warm and buttery scent of egg and cheese croissants with ketchup and pepper within. "Oh, Grandma, thank you so much!" She exclaimed, her eyes growing brighter as she closed the lid and hugged her tightly.

Edwin Montgomery closed the back hatch of the minivan and jogged over to his grandparents, his brown floppy hair whipping in the gentle breeze. "Got one for me too?" He asked, his blue eyes sparkling.

Beatrice chuckled at his enthusiasm and held out the tin to him. "How could I forget my only grandson? You're a growing boy and need all the nutrition you need." She wholeheartedly replied, her voice as warm as the sun in the sky.

Edwin took the tin from her and opened it up. His eyes widened at the French toast sitting in a puddle of warm maple syrup. "Oh Grandma, you are the best!" He declared, closing it and quickly hugging her.

Beatrice hugged him back whilst pressing a kiss into the crown of his head. "It's what grandma's do." She warmly said, pulling away from her grandson. "Now, you best be going. I love you both and will hopefully see you again, very soon."

Edwin walked over to his grandpa and hugged him tightly. "I'm going to miss you, G-Pa, a whole lot. Please come visit us often and maybe we can fish together." He begged, with a toothy grin.

Mack chuckled, hugging Edwin back before pulling away. "I'd never pass up an offer for us to spend time together. I will be looking forward to it." He then turned to his granddaughter and pulled her into a hug. "I'll miss you too, Tori." 

Victoria hugged him tightly, burying her face in his shirt which smelled like his cologne: cedar and nutmeg. "I love you bunches." She pulled away from him and walked towards the car followed by her brother.

Once in, she buckled up and rolled down her window after setting the tin on her lap. "Bye, I love you guys!" She waved, placing one hand on the half-rolled down the window glass.

Beatrice and Mack waved to them as Emmaline began to pull away and get onto the road and soon disappeared around the corner at the stop sign two houses down from them.

〰️🔘〰️

Soon, Emmaline was on the I-40 interstate, heading to the Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas on a sunny Sunday morning.

Victoria took a savory bite of her homemade egg and cheese croissant. "Hmm, I'm gonna miss these." She mumbled with her mouth full. She slowly chewed it up, leaning her head back against the headrest.

"Can you never not complain? How are you any different than everyone else? As a Christian, you should be happy and optimistic in all things." Emmaline looked into the rearview mirror at her daughter, a deep frown on her lips mirroring her tone.

Victoria bit her tongue, knowing nothing good would come from a rebuttal. She simply took an angry bite out of her croissant and chewed it up. 'I'm not complaining, just stating a fact.' She thought to herself with an inward huff.

Emmaline sighed as she pushed her red bangs off to the side, her eyes focused on the road before her. "Victoria, when we get to England, I want you to give Liam a chance." She asked, her eyes giving a pleading look to her daughter.

Victoria gritted her teeth as she stuffed the last little bite into her mouth. "Why?" She snapped, recoiling when she realized her tone wasn't the nicest. "He's not my dad, and he's not blood. He's only family because he married you." She commented sarcastically, still frowning. 

Emmaline's cross frown only deepened when those words left her lips. "Victoria," Her name came out laced with disappointment. "That is right. He's still family whether by blood or marriage. You will treat him and his children with the utmost respect they deserve as part of our family now."

Victoria closed the lid on the tin and shoved it into her backpack. "I don't understand why you had to marry him." She commented venom laced her when she mentioned Liam.

Emmaline ran a hand through her hair, smiling softly. "Because I love him, Victoria, that's why. After your father passed, I was a mess. Yes, your father will always be my first love, but Liam was there for me and I grew to love him." She tried to explain, exasperated at her daughter.

"Dad would have wanted to know that he was the only one you would ever love and no one can replace him," Victoria grumbled as she turned her attention out the window. "Dad always said if you died, he'd NEVER get remarried because you're the only woman he could ever love."

"I'm not your father," Emmaline couldn't help but feel guilty about her words, the invisible knife dully hitting against her heart. "I'm not replacing your father. I've moved on. One day you'll understand."

Victoria picked up her last croissant and nibbled on it. 'No, I will never understand, not know, not ever.' She vowed, resting her head on the glass window of the minivan. "You could have at least told us you were dating him, but no, you had to tell us just a week before you married him."

Emmaline heaved a heavy sigh, letting it out slowly. "I told you before: It just happened. I held off on telling you because this is how I knew you'd react, whether or not I'm happy, I knew you'd feel betrayed, which is ridiculous if you ask me."

Victoria gritted her teeth, only turning her head out the window to glare at the green blur of scenery passing by. 'Ridiculous? My feelings? Typical of her to invalidate my feelings just because she can't try to understand where I'm coming from.' She thought, leaning her head on the window.

"On the bright side," Emmaline looked back at her daughter through the rearview mirror. "With the passing of Liam's grandmother, we have acquired Briarwood Manor. Isn't that cool? Having a whole manor to ourselves?" She asked, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel.

Victoria frowned deeply into the croissant against her lips. "Hmm," She mumbled, pulling it away and swallowing what was in her mouth. "A dusty old manor with water damage, probably mold and overgrowth from it being abandoned that we have to spend time fixing up just to be able to live in." She commented sarcastically under her breath then deadpanned. "Sounds like a hoot."

Emmaline looked at her daughter and shook her head. "It's a piece of British Victorian history in the palm of our hands. It's a landmark. It's a historic monument in Briarwood history! You'd be surprised at how some TLC can turn around a dusty old manor with water damage, probably mold and overgrown from it being abandoned." She emphasized by repeating the exact words her daughter had said.

Victoria clenched her jaw, looking back out the window, her expression turning melancholy. "We are leaving Dad. . ." She muttered, and added, "his grave . . ." to clarify what she meant.

Edwin licked the maple syrup off his fingers. "Anyways, I think it's exciting to move! Who knows what is the story behind the manor? Why was it abandoned? How did Liam's grandmother acquire the manor? So many unanswered questions!" He exclaimed, excitement lacing his voice.

Victoria rolled her eyes while shaking her head. "The former family moved out and abandoned it. What could be so cool about a dusty old manor?" She inquired, her tone teetering on the brink of sarcasm. 

"Lots," Edwin quickly answered just after his sister had finished. "Why did they abandon such a manor? There had to be a reason for it. I can only imagine how much money it took to build such a building." He marveled, his eyes almost sparkling as his hands went on his cheeks.

Victoria rolled her eyes and put her earbuds in her ears. She pressed the play button on her MP3. The stars lean down to kiss you and I lie awake and miss you. Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere, 'Cause I'll doze off safe and soundly but I'll miss your arms around me. I'd send a postcard to you, dear, 'Cause I wish you were here' the soft voice of Adam Young flows through the wires and into the earbuds in her ears of Vanilla Twilight.

'We didn't even know she and Liam were dating. A few months ago she suddenly declared she was getting married and Liam and his children were flying down here for the wedding. A wedding I didn't even know was happening until a week before, and I know I sound like a broken record but I just don't understand why she had to keep things a secret. And saying it was because of how we'd react is a cop-out and she knows it.'

'I felt so blindsided by her decision. A selfish decision. It hasn't been but three years since Dad passed, and she's already moving on. With Liam, a guy we know nothing about other than he's a wealthy English businessman with three children and a wife who died of cancer.'

'I mean, I do know they went to college together or something like that. She never really went deep into how they knew each other but I don't really care. It won't change the fact that we've never met him before but at the wedding. Not to mention he has kids of his own . . .'

'Ugh, not only do I have to deal with Edwin, I gotta deal with his children too. I only met them once at the wedding and we didn't really interact that much. I stayed with my friends and church family. I do know Rose is going to university next year for fashion and design. Dustin is one year younger than Edwin, he's thirteen. And Tyler I think is like ten or something? Ugh.' Victoria thought, inwardly groaning as her thoughts drowned out the music.

Emmaline pulled into a parking spot at the airport and got out of the van. "Come on, we're here." She informed her children as she closed her door and walked around to the back. "Victoria, I said we're here." She opened the hatch to the van and quickly glanced at her children. "Let's get going." She loaded the suitcases on a flat moving cart.

"I'm coming." Victoria opened the door and climbed out, grabbing her backpack, her duffle bag, and her sage green suitcase from her mother.

Edwin put his hands in his brown leather aviator jacket after having jumped out of the minivan. "Just think: we'll make more friends at school!" He walked over, and put his duffle bag and suitcases onto the flat moving cart, followed by his suitcase. 

Victoria fixed up her duffel back on her shoulder. "More friends . . ." She mumbled, her head weighing heavy as she removed her earbuds from her ears. She wrapped the cord around and slipped it into her jacket pocket. "Easy for you to say." She mumbled under her breath, side-eyeing a glare towards her brother.

Edwin looked up at the sky, squinting from the bright sun. "I hope there are good places to ride my skateboard. I've got a few new tricks Andy showed me that I wanna try out."

"Just don't break any bones as Andy did," Victoria warned her brother with a serious expression on her face, her tone albeit flat. "Neither of you is Tony Hawk, so certain moves should be left to the professionals."

Edwin snapped his head over at his sister and jabbed his finger towards her. "I won't break any bones and Andy only broke three, two weren't even skateboard related." He corrected, lifting his head high after he spoke. "It's you who should be careful not out to hurt yourself." 

Victoria shrugged with a roll of her eyes. "I trip sometimes and bump into things, so what? I have never broken any bones." She defensively said, putting her hands in the air and shrugging her shoulders. 

"So what? You almost fell down the stairs at church multiple times!" Edwin replied, gripping the strap on his backpack lightly. "You could have broken your neck or something."

Victoria ran her hand through her hair and let out an exasperated sigh. "Only because my heel got caught in my skirt. It also didn't help other kids who were pushing to get past me either." She reminded him, her tone leaning towards deadpan.

Emmaline sighed heavily, slightly growing, clearly annoyed at her children. "Is this how Christians are supposed to act in public?" She asked, earning a no from her children. "I do not want to hear another word from either of you that isn't nice or happy, got it?"

Victoria nodded, glancing around again at how slow the line was moving as they took their place. "Yes," She mumbled in agreement, leaning on the suitcases on the flat moving cart.

Edwin gave a cheeky smile, small dimples appearing on his cheeks. "Yes, Mom," He agreed, sending his sister a look of haughtiness that he had told their mother about her attitude. "I promise."

Victoria crossed her arms and shifted on her feet while glaring at her younger brother. 'Grr, why does he have to be such a suck-up? He hardly ever gets into trouble because he's the baby of the family and can get away with anything as long as he blames it on me.' She grumbled in her thoughts to herself.

Edwin raised his eyebrows, moving his duffle bag to his other. "Whatcha thinking about, Vicky?" He asked in a sing/song voice, leaning over to his sister still having a cheeky smile on his lips.

Victoria shrugged her shoulders, looking down at the floor. "None of your business." She softly snapped with a sneer, giving a long soft sigh as they inched closer to the desk. "And don't call me Vicky. You know I hate that."

Edwin pressed his lips together and hummed at her reply. "But Vicky is short for Victoria, just like Tori is. Everyone calls you Tori, I want to call you something different."

"What if I called you Ed instead of Eddie? Hmm?" Victoria countered with a challenging tone, keeping her voice low so her mother wouldn't catch on to their conversation and make a scene again.

Edwin's cheeky expression turned into a horrified one. "Ed is old-timey and makes me sound like an old grouch, or a horse, neither are pleasant." He grumbled, crossing his arms, and frowned.

Victoria gave a triumphant albeit smug smile on her face. "The same is true for Vicky, except I was bullied by people calling me Sicky Vicky because I was often sick during second and third grade. Way worse than an old grouch or a horse."

Edwin furrowed his brows and squinted his eyes as he mulled over her words. "You were?" He inquired, earning a glare from his sister to which he put his hands up in defense. "I was much younger than you then."

"We have a two-year age difference," Victoria deadpanned, frowning deeply. "You were old enough to remember coming home crying my eyes out because I was being bullied." She snapped at him in a whisper, before crossing her arms over her chest, ignoring him.

Emmaline walked into the line to check in on the flight they would be taking. She pulled her phone and checked the time, before slipping it back in her purse. "It's going to be late when we arrive in England."

"Aww, how late? Like past midnight late? Then cool!" Edwin exclaimed, doing a little happy dance. "Staying up past our bedtime, woo, woo," He cheered before turning serious. "What about the manor?" He asked, his eyes growing wide and feeling excited about it.

Victoria furrowed her brows, unsure why he was bringing that up. "What about it?" She asked, popping a few more peanuts into her mouth. 'What could he possibly want to talk about involving the manor.' She thought to herself, moving another step forward.

Edwin stuffed the empty fruit chew package in his jeans pockets. "Will we be going to the manor when we arrive? Or will we stay in a hotel?" He pondered, feeling a little too excited about the whole ordeal.

"Hotel," Emmaline looked back at Edwin after gathering the papers and passports she needed from her purse. "Liam is paying for our stay since he doesn't have any other place to stay either since his house was sold a few days ago."

Edwin gasped enthusiastically, his eyes widening and brightening up. "No way? Really? Does it involve a free continental breakfast?" He asked, bouncing on his feet a little at the mere thought of a free breakfast. 

Emmaline nodded her head, confirming Edwin's questions to be true. "Yes, it does. From pancakes to eggs to boxed cereal, and yes you can even take a few boxes with you for the drive to the manor." She replied, answering a question she knew he'd ask.

"Yes!" Edwin grinned brightly and pumped his fist in the air. "This is gonna be so exciting! I can not wait to arrive in England. It's going to be such an experience." He softly squealed, unable to contain his excitement causing him not to stand still.

Victoria rolled her eyes and leaned off to the side to see how close they were to the desk. 'Of course, he'd be happy. He thinks Mom will give us more freedom but I doubt that. She'd be too worried about us getting kidnapped or worse like she does here just because I got lost in a mall when I was little for a few minutes.' She mumbled to herself, bouncing on her feet feeling antsy over waiting. 

"How big do you think the manor yard is? It's gotta be huge!" Edwin asked, turning towards his sister and tapping his foot on the ground. "I hope it's big enough for a barn to be built and then we can have horses. I've always wanted a horse of my own."

Victoria side-eyed her brother while slipping her backpack off her back and putting it on the cart in front of her. "You know you will be taking care of each horse you get by yourself, right? It also costs a lot of money to take care of horses."

Edwin glanced at her, nodding his head eagerly. "Of course I do! If I want horses I get to take care of them. Like how you wanted to take in Precious and were the one taking care of her every need." He replied, putting his hands on his hips. 

"And now that priority falls on Cassie until we get settled in and she can come to us, which I hope is sooner than later," Victoria mumbled depressed at the memory of leaving her precious cat behind. "I hope the sweater I wore all week long helps Precious remember me." She whispered, nibbling on her thumbnail.

Emmaline looked up when the clerk called for the next person. "Looks like we're next." She glanced back to make sure her children were still following. "Behave." She instructed, waving her finger at them.

The woman at the counter smiled as they came into the airport and up to the counter. "Hello, Welcome to the Clinton National Airport, I'm June. How may I help you?" She greeted, her hair was short and white, and her glasses sat on the edge of her nose with intense brown eyes looking over them. 

Emmaline smiled and rolled the flat cart beside her. "Hi, I'm here to check in for the flight to London, England." She told her, getting out the money and passports, and holding them in her hand. 

June finished what she needed to get them checked in which included weighing all the suitcases. "I hope you have a wonderful flight." She said with a bright and cheery smile. 

Emmaline smiled, taking the tickets from her. "Thank you so much." She said, grabbing her suitcases and lugging them out of the line. "Edwin, Victoria, come on," She beckoned as both her children grabbed their bags, put them back on the cart then exited the line.

〰️🔘〰️🔘〰️🔘〰️🔘〰️🔘〰️🔘〰️🔘〰️

A/N: 
Edit: Hi guys, the rewrite is here! I am actually pretty happy with how I am doing things this round and it will be better pacing and things will be much slower than before. The original was to be desired, but it was a long time coming

Old: Hi guys, I'm so glad to read the very first chapter in my new book! I am way too excited to write because I've got such big plans for this story! This is like my baby I have been planning every moment I got in my head and am finally writing it down.

For myself, I have moved twice and will be moving a third time (still in Arkansas that is) so I know how hard it is to leave things behind you grew up with. Moving to another town where you do not know anyone is very rough. Also being an introvert is so hard, believe me, I know, it can be a pickle trying to make friends but yet you're scared to be pushed aside or made to look like a fool. 

I also had never been on a plane so I did my best to keep it along with what actually happens. With that I did do some research, it may have been a little difficult trying to figure out a place with valuable and true information. However don't ask me where I got it from, I do not remember where I got it off from. 

I have visited The Little Rock National Airport dropping off a family friend and picking them up as well, once a while back ago.

Chapter Talk: 
I added two new characters, Victoria's grandparents. I figured I ought to add them in since I do plan on having them play a big part this time around. 

The reason I chose Montgomery's home state as Arkansas is because hardly anyone ever uses my state in anything! My state is a beautiful place with nature pretty much everywhere you turn. Plus growing up here, I know a lot of southern slang and other things that I want to be brought out in the story. 

Thanks for reading