by Cora Seton
“My brother, the good Samaritan,” Stella teased him.
“I’m doing my best.”
He got to work framing the stage and refused to let his sisters bait him, although they kept trying. The afternoon waned, and when his stomach rumbled, Noah realized they’d worked through dinner.
“Guess that’s good enough for now,” he was saying when his phone buzzed. It was Camila’s number, and he quickly answered it. “Hey, Camila. What’s up? We’re still on for tomorrow, right?” He didn’t know what he’d do if she backed out of running the food court. She and Fila had volunteered to take charge of the vendors.
“Of course. We’re all set,” she answered. “But you’ve got a problem. Thought you’d want to know.”
“What’s that?”
Stella turned his way at the tone of his voice. Maya looked up from where she was packing away their tools.
“It’s Liam. He’s at Rafters with a bunch of his pals. They’re drunk.”
“Drunk?” It was barely seven o’clock.
“That’s right. A friend told me. She thought I might want to know, seeing as I’m with Carl.”
“I don’t follow.”
“They’re talking loud enough for everyone to hear. They’re going to disrupt the gala, Noah. And that’s not cool.”
He couldn’t blame her for being angry. It was Carl’s reputation on the line, after all. He’d gotten the funding together for the high school’s update—these were his friends and business peers attending the function.
“Hell. When does the thing start?”
“In less than an hour. You’ve got to stop them. I don’t want trouble between us, but if they ruin tonight, I don’t know how I’ll forgive them.”
“I understand completely. I’ll take care of it,” Noah promised her. He hung up.
“What’s going on?” Stella asked.
“It’s Liam. He’s planning to ruin Olivia’s gala.” When his sisters didn’t immediately react, Noah lost his cool. “Her gala. The party she’s busted her butt to pull together. Hell, I get we’re enemies, but that’s going too far.”
“If Fulsom and his people pull out, we’re that much closer to winning,” Stella pointed out, but he could tell she wasn’t comfortable with the notion.
“Is that the way you want to win?” Noah demanded. “By humiliating Olivia—and Carl Whitfield—and all the ladies who run Westfield Manor? Heck, Ella Hall is helping to organize this shindig. I thought you were her friend.”
Stella shut her eyes, color staining her cheeks. “I am. God, this whole situation is bringing out the worst in me.”
“In all of us,” Maya said quietly.
“This isn’t who I want to be,” Noah told them. “Will you two help me stop Liam or not? He’s probably already on his way there.”
Stella and Maya exchanged a look. “Of course. But what are we going to do? If we confront him there, we’ll just make a scene,” Stella said.
“Wait—I’ve got an idea.” Maya grinned impishly. “A good one.”
“It’s beautiful,” Regan Hall said.
“It is,” Ella agreed.
They stood in the foyer with Olivia at Westfield Manor, ready to greet their guests. Musicians were tuning their instruments in the ballroom. The distant clatter of dishes in the kitchen announced the caterers had everything in hand.
Olivia tried to give off an air of composed satisfaction, but inside butterflies careened around her belly, and her palms were so sweaty she’d need to excuse herself to wipe them off before shaking anyone’s hands.
“I can’t believe how it all came together,” she said. With the Hall women’s help—and the women at Westfield, too—plus Carl’s deep pockets to smooth the way, the party was set to be one of the swankiest affairs Chance Creek had ever seen.
About thirty guests were flying in with Fulsom. Other donors were coming from around the country. The school board, teachers and staff had been invited, as well as other town dignitaries they needed to get on their side.
“Are you okay?” Ella asked, her concern clear.
“I think I’m going to faint,” Olivia confessed.
“You won’t faint. Just wait, the minute the first few guests arrive, everything will be fine. It’s always worst right before the event begins,” Ella assured her.
Right on cue the doorbell rang, and Olivia jumped.
“Go on. Open it,” Regan whispered.
Olivia took a calming breath and did just that. She was relieved when it turned out to be a party of single teachers from the school who’d come together. Dressed in period costume, they clustered around her, chatting excitedly. Olivia knew most of them, and when she saw their awed reaction to the decorations in the beautiful ballroom, she relaxed a little. Soon the doorbell rang again, this time opening to several board members, followed by a couple of members of the Chamber of Commerce. Soon the ballroom was filled with talking, smiling and laughing people, all looking like they’d stepped out of the pages of a history book.
“See?” Ella said. “It’s better already, isn’t it?”
Olivia had to admit it was. In fact, the only thing missing was—
Noah.
Who was going to be missing from here on in, she reminded herself. He’d been fooling her. Acting like he cared while helping to recruit people to stop their school improvement project in its tracks.
She wasn’t going to think about him tonight.
Soon she didn’t have time to think about anything except caring for her guests, especially once Martin Fulsom, the billionaire helping to fund the project, showed up with a camera crew. She kept an eye on the waiters the caterers had brought and made sure everyone had a full glass and hors d’oeuvres to nibble on. When the orchestra struck up a lively tune, couples began to dance. Olivia spared a moment to wish Noah was here to dance with, then scolded herself. She had to forget him. Besides, she needed to tend to her guests.
As the ballroom filled, it grew warm, and Olivia made sure all the windows were open and even propped open the back door to make sure air was circulating. A half hour later she was hot, breathless and ready to sit down. She was threading through the crowd out of the ballroom, hoping to hide away in the kitchen for a moment of peace, when she heard raised voices.
Male voices.
Olivia pushed through another knot of people.
Liam Turner and several of his friends, conspicuous in their modern jeans and boots, were clustered near the orchestra.
“How’d they get in?” she hissed at Regan, who’d just come to investigate, too.
“I didn’t open the door for them,” Regan hissed back, going up on tiptoe to try to see what was happening.
“The back door. They must have slipped in. Those monsters—they’re going to ruin everything.”
“I’ll find Mason,” Regan told her, but Olivia knew there was no time to waste. The California guests had been having a good time, but if they saw what a hick town this could be, they’d pull their money and run.
“Must be fun to have enough money to ride roughshod over a whole town,” Liam yelled. Was he drunk?
He was definitely drunk.
A murmur of surprise ran through the crowd. Olivia shoved her way closer to him. “Sorry,” she muttered. “Excuse me. Sorry.”
“Read the paper,” one of Liam’s friends called out. “It’s all right there in the letters section. We don’t want these upgrades. Never did.”
Olivia caught sight of two California guests exchanging a look. One of them drained his glass of champagne and looked around, as if seeking a way out.
“Liam!” Olivia finally reached him. “Get out of here, and take your thug friends with you!” She took hold of his arm, but he shrugged her off.
“Thug friends? Are you kidding me?” He raised his voice. “You Coopers are the thugs. Always have been.”
His friends pushed back to clear a ring around them. Olivia knew everyone was looking.
“You’re drunk,” she
said as calmly as she could. “I know you’re trying to ruin this for me because you don’t like my family, but I’m not interested in fighting you. I’m interested in helping this town.”
“That’s rich,” Liam told her. “Last I heard you were only interested in breaking and entering. It’s a wonder you don’t have a rap sheet a mile long.”
Another murmur ran through the crowd, and Olivia blinked back the sting of tears. She’d known it was too much to ask for this night to go right.
“There you are,” Stella cried, suddenly appearing by Liam’s side. “Oh, my gosh, when we saw you’d gotten out, we were so scared!” She spoke in the over-bright tone one might use with a senile relative or very small child. Olivia wasn’t sure what was going on. By the look of it, neither was Liam.
He frowned down at his sister. “What are you—?”
“Sorry, everyone. We are so sorry. He likes to wander sometimes,” Maya called out, taking Liam’s other arm. “We try to keep an eye on him, but he’s a wily one.” She shook a finger at him.
Liam’s face went a mottled purple color. “What the hell—?”
Noah broke through the crowd from the other side. “Nothing to see here, folks. Just a family matter. We’ll get my brother out of your way. Come on, Liam. Let’s go back home. You know you’re not supposed to be out on your own.”
Olivia bit back a surprised laugh as Noah and his sisters dragged a flabbergasted Liam out the back through the kitchen. His friends, as shocked as everyone else, melted away quickly, slipping out the back as well. Olivia followed them to make sure they all left, and when they did she closed and locked the back door.
She returned through a crowd of the out-of-town guests. “It’s so sad,” she murmured, loud enough for several of them to hear. “Before he hit his head he was destined for wonderful things.”
“Ah,” one of the female guests said and turned to pass on this information to another one. Soon the room was brimming with music and laughter again.
Olivia breathed a huge sigh of relief when Fulsom pushed his way to where the scene had taken place. He was a handsome older man with a loud voice that commanded attention. Like everyone else he was dressed in period costume and appeared as comfortable in the old-fashioned clothes as if he’d been born to them. “Wait, hold on,” he was saying to no one in particular. “We didn’t get that on film. Can we recreate it for the camera?”
Olivia slid away before he noticed her, trusting he wouldn’t be able to make that happen.
“That was a close call,” Regan said when they ran into each other again.
“Good thing Noah and his sisters came to help,” Ella agreed.
It was. Olivia didn’t know what to make of it—or the fact Stella and Maya had intervened, too. She and Maya hadn’t seen eye to eye since Maya told the sheriff what she had seen in Olivia’s barn. Olivia had always thought Stella seemed reasonable enough—but not when it came to Olivia’s family. Too bad they were on opposite sides of this stupid feud.
But they hadn’t been tonight. Both sisters had stepped up and helped her.
Olivia wondered what tomorrow would bring.
And what would go wrong next.
Chapter Thirteen
“Liam’s coming.” Stella pointed back toward the house, and Noah, carrying several inner tubes in his arms, paused to look, as shocked as she was at their brother’s appearance. Liam had broken away from them as soon as they got out of the manor the previous evening, probably to return to the bar. They’d let him go, confident he wasn’t about to go back to Olivia’s gala after that humiliation. Noah hadn’t heard him come home until two in the morning. He had expected Liam to sulk in his room or take off for a few days. Instead he was striding toward them.
Noah braced for an attack. He didn’t have to wait long.
“I want answers,” Liam began before he was within twenty feet of them. “What was that last night?”
“I could ask you the same thing. What did you think you were doing?” Noah stood his ground. Turners weren’t troublemakers, and what Liam had tried to do at the gala was out of line whether or not they were feuding with the Coopers.
“I was saving our ranch. We can’t let those Coopers get the Ridley property. Am I the only one who realizes that?”
“No, but we’re not going to win that way. Olivia worked hard to set up that party. So did the Hall women and the people at Westfield. You wanted to trample over half the town so we get our way? What kind of a place are we going to live in when this is all over? You want everyone to hate us? You want to trade places with the Coopers?”
Liam balled his fists. “What does it matter what kind of a town it is if we’re not even living in it anymore? If we’ve lost our ranch because you saved the Coopers’ shot at the Ridley property—”
It was the same old argument, and Noah saw with blinding clarity it would go on and on unless he did something drastic.
“I love her,” he burst out. “Okay? I love Olivia Cooper!”
Liam gaped at him. “Wh-what?”
“I love her,” he said quietly. “I get that it’s not convenient. And it’s not what I’m supposed to do, but it’s what I feel, and there’s no changing it.”
He thought Liam would yell at him some more, but his brother scraped his palm over his face and then lifted both hands in a gesture of defeat. “So, what? We just give up? Let them have everything?”
“No. We still fight for what we need, but we play to our strengths, not our weaknesses. I used to be proud of our family because we were the good guys. That’s what I want to be. Don’t you?”
“Thought that’s what we were.”
“Good guys don’t ruin someone else’s gala,” Noah said. “They don’t destroy someone’s livelihood. A good recommendation from a man like Fulsom could put Westfield Manor on the map.”
After a moment Liam nodded. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “All right, you got me there. Was going to make an ass out of myself. Which you managed to do anyway,” he added with a touch of bitterness.
Stella chuckled. “You should have seen your face.”
“It’s going to be hard to live that down,” Liam muttered.
“I think it’ll be easier if we donate a lot of money to the library at the end of today,” Noah pointed out.
“And volunteer our time to do the renovations it needs,” Maya added. “We’re not giving up, Liam. We’re going to fix the library, which will get us in the running for the Ridley property, at least. Then we’ll see what else we can do. You going to help or not?”
He looked at her, then at Stella. “You two are fine with this? Our brother hooking up with a Cooper?”
“More than hooking up,” Noah asserted. “I’m pretty serious about her.”
“I guess I’m more of a romantic than I thought,” Stella said softly. “I’m afraid you’re going to get hurt,” she told Noah. “But if Olivia loves you back, I can’t stand in your way.”
Noah couldn’t tell what Maya was thinking.
“I guess I can live with it,” she finally said. “But I’m not going to get all chummy with Steel and Lance.” She shivered. “Those guys scare me.”
“You don’t need to get chummy with them,” Noah said, but he noticed Stella had a funny look on her face. She caught him watching her.
“Have you ever noticed everyone’s afraid of Steel, but no one knows why?” she asked.
Noah thought that over. She was right; he didn’t know of anything Steel had actually done to anyone. He’d heard plenty of rumors, though.
“If Noah marries Olivia, she’ll be a Turner,” Maya mused. “Then we’ll outnumber them.”
Liam turned thoughtful. “Hey, that’s a good point. That’s one way to beat them.” He grinned suddenly. “Never thought of that before.”
“That mean you’re going to go after Tory Cooper?” Stella teased him.
“I haven’t seen that girl since she was a teenager.” But he was still smiling. “Guess I’d have to hu
nt her down.”
“That leaves you to marry Steel,” Noah told Stella. “Better get right on that.”
“Fat chance!” Stella laughed. “Can you think of two people less suited for each other?”
“Yeah—me and Lance,” Maya quipped.
“Besides, if Maya and I hooked up with Steel and Lance, we’d be Coopers.”
“You’d both better stay away from those guys,” Liam warned.
“All right, back to work,” Noah said before things got too out of hand. “That looks like Fila and Camila, right on time. Looks like they brought Ned and Carl to help. Good thing we stopped you last night, or none of them would have come.”
“All right, enough preaching. What can I do?” Liam asked. “Those tables need setting up?”
Noah hid his relief. Liam was back on his side, despite the bombshell he’d dropped. “Yeah. We thought we’d group them over there where the food tents will be.”
“Sounds good.” But he hung back while their sisters moved away. Noah looked at him expectantly, and Liam leaned in to speak quietly. “I heard something down at Rafters last night. About Olivia. Some guy was in there, pretty drunk. Said she’d stolen his money and his girl. He was talking a lot of shit about what he wanted to do to her.”
“Devon Host.”
“You know about all that?”
“I know she helped Caroline Selwich get away from him. He hit her.”
Liam whistled. “Sounds like he got what he deserved then. Could be trouble, though.”
“Yeah.” Stole his money. Noah pushed away his unease. As far as he knew, all Olivia had taken was jewelry and a photo album, both of which belonged to Caroline. She’d told him Devon had gotten Caroline to put him on the title of her house. Obviously, Caroline was afraid to go home. She’d just wanted a few of her things.
Stole his money.
Or was there more to that escapade than she’d let on? What else had she taken?
