by Cora Seton
“Do me a favor, and stick close to home for a while. Someone will probably be by to ask more questions.”
Noah would have something to say if an inspector came looking for him. So would Uncle Jed. He was beginning to regret the subterfuge. The minute anyone started to poke around, they’d discover Tory had been with him. He’d probably just made things worse instead of better for both of them. “I can’t believe I did the right thing and now I’m being blamed for the fire!” Liam knew he should pipe down, but the truth was he was pissed that his time with Tory had been cut short. He was on edge because of her run-in with Rod. And then the blaze—
“I’m doing my job,” Mark said. “Don’t fly off the handle. If your story holds up, you’ll be fine.”
“Listen.” Liam thought fast but realized it was time to tell the truth. “I left something out.”
“Hell, Liam. What is it?”
“Tory Cooper. She was here with me. She’s the one who saw Rod. She’s the one Rod went after at Thoughtful Coffee. Her family and mine—well, let’s just say there’s history there. We were hoping to keep this on the downlow.”
Mark laughed. “Since when has anyone in Chance Creek County managed to keep anything on the downlow?”
The fire chief was right. Liam didn’t know what he’d been thinking. “Would appreciate it if you can keep her out of this.”
“I probably can’t,” Mark said, “but I’ll do what I can to keep the gossip to a minimum. Rod went after her, huh? There’s been bad blood between the Coopers and the Silver Falls people for some time. Thought that all ended when Dale died. Guess I’ll have to check it out.” He heaved a sigh. “First I need to track down the Hunts and tell them the news. Time they got back here and either reopened or sold the lodge anyway.”
“Seems a shame to let it fall apart,” Liam agreed. “Can I take off now?”
“Go ahead. I’ll come find you if I need anything more.”
Liam texted Tory to let her know what had happened before he drove home. Tried to keep you out of it, but in the end I couldn’t, he told her.
It’s okay, she texted back. Got a ride back from Megan Lawrence. Thanks for the getaway.
He wanted to say he’d like to do it again sometime, but that seemed like pushing it. In the end, he just texted, See you soon.
He got a smiley face back. What the hell did that mean?
By the time he reached the Flying W, he was too frustrated to relax. He hoped to drop off his gear and get to his chores without running into anyone, but Noah was in the barn when he entered it.
“You’re back.”
“That’s right.”
“You ready for the certification people?”
“Just about.” He should probably mention what had happened at Runaway Lake, but that would lead to a lot more questions. Questions he didn’t want to answer right now.
Noah’s eyebrows lifted. “I figured you’d be all set before you went on a camping trip.”
“I am all set—just about. Look, I’ve had a crap morning, all right? Give me some space.”
“I’m just making sure you don’t—”
“What? Screw this up? You want to take it over?” Why was Noah so sure he was right all the time?
Noah lifted his hands as if to ward off the idea. “No. I don’t. Got enough on my plate. But Mom’s got a real bee in her bonnet about getting her share of the cash from this ranch.”
“She needs to get her ass back to Ohio—”
“My ass is staying right here, thank you very much.” Mary stepped into the barn. “And Noah’s right—I do have a bee in my bonnet. I’ve been here long enough to see the way you’re struggling. If I wait until you’re ready to sell, my share won’t be worth half what it is today.”
“Times are hard—” Noah began in a tone that said they’d had this conversation already.
“Exactly. They are hard. Land here is selling for a pretty penny right now, but if this community can’t even hold on to its hospital, then prices will tank. I was talking to Leslie Falk the other day. She’s already planning to move, even though she hates the thought, because soon there won’t be a dialysis unit in town. We have to work fast. I can get an estimator out here tomorrow. Get the process started.”
“There isn’t going to be a process,” Liam said. “The Flying W isn’t for sale. Dad left it to us, not you.”
“I don’t have to stop at an estimator. I can bring my lawyer into this, too.”
Liam had never felt so far away from his mother, even during the years he’d barely seen her.
“Fine. Do that,” he said. “And I’ll bring mine.” Liam went back the way he’d come and slammed the door behind him. If his mother wanted to profit from the ranch, she could do the chores. He didn’t want to listen to another word she had to say. He didn’t want to do chores or work on the certification paperwork, either. All he wanted was to be with Tory.
Alone.
“You’d do anything not to have to spend time with me, wouldn’t you?” Enid demanded. Tory hadn’t managed to get farther than the front hall when she’d gotten home to Thorn Hill. She was still worried about Liam. Ready for a shower and a change of clothes, too.
“What clued you in?” Tory wished she’d thought a moment before she’d answered, but the reality of the danger she’d faced earlier this morning was sinking in. Her hands had begun to tremble in the last fifteen minutes, and she’d found it hard to concentrate on Megan’s lively chatter on the way home.
Enid’s face fell. “Your rudeness, for one thing.”
Tory nodded. “You’re right.”
Enid peered at her. “Isn’t that the dress you wore to the wedding—”
“Yes, and I’d like to change, if you don’t mind.” Tory pushed past her and headed for the stairs.
“You reek of smoke—”
“Campfire,” she tossed over her shoulder. She hoped her mother didn’t hear about the blaze in Silver Falls and put two and two together.
“Who’d you go camping with?” Enid followed her upstairs.
“Just a friend. Look—” She forestalled the rest of Enid’s questions. “I needed to get away, and I bumped into a friend at the wedding who was going on a little trip. I went along. It’s that simple.”
“I doubt it’s that simple at all, but you are a grown-up. If you want to bug out, I can’t stop you.”
“At least you’ve realized that.” At the top of the stairs, Tory stalked down the hall.
“Tory, wait.” Her mother ran up the stairs after her. “I don’t want things to be like this between us. I’m proud of you for getting your bachelor’s degree, you know. I’ve wanted to tell you that for a while.”
Caught off guard, Tory stumbled. When was the last time her mother had said anything like that?
“It must have been a lot of work. I wish I’d been able to make it easier for you.”
Tory paused in front of her bedroom—the same one she’d slept in when she was a child. It had been strange to come back and find it just the way she’d left it. “It was hard,” she said. “But it was good to do it on my own.” She slipped inside the room and crossed to the closet to pick out an outfit, hoping Enid would get the hint and leave her alone.
“You like to be independent.” Enid leaned against the doorframe.
“When you do everything for yourself, no one can let you down,” Tory agreed lightly.
“I’m sorry I let you down. I’m not fishing for forgiveness, although I’d like it if you forgave me. I’m just saying that because it’s true.” When she didn’t answer, Enid sighed. “The thing about being too independent is that when times get hard, you might find yourself alone.”
Tory fidgeted, standing in the middle of her room, clothes in her arms. Her mother showed no sign of leaving.
“Is that what this is about? Have times gotten hard?” she finally asked. Her mother wanted something from her.
“I wasn’t thinking about my situation. I was thinking abo
ut Leslie Falk. I talked to her a little at the wedding.”
Tory remembered seeing Liam’s mother deep in conversation with the woman. Had Mary and Enid both been friends with Leslie back in their school days?
“She was always adamant she would never marry, and she never did,” Enid went on. “Now she needs dialysis three times a week. Managing on her own is beginning to wear her down. Not that she’d ever admit it,” she added.
“And the dialysis unit is shutting down. Maybe the hospital, too, in a year or so.”
“I guess I can’t help thinking about what would happen if I got sick.” Enid studied a chip in the paint on the doorframe. “Maybe I should have remarried, but after all Dale’s troublemaking and that damn Joe Packham lying about not having a wife—and then losing my kids—I decided men weren’t worth it. I figured I needed to work on myself for a bit.”
“For thirteen years?” Tory found herself smiling at her mother unexpectedly.
“I needed a lot of work.” Her mother smiled, too, but then grew serious. “I needed stability, as well. The truth was when I left Chance Creek, I didn’t know how to support myself, let alone you four. It killed me that I couldn’t do it right away and that by the time I could, you all weren’t interested. Losing your kids’ respect is pretty eye-opening,” she added. “When I could think straight again, I decided I needed a real career. Something that would fulfill me all on its own.”
“Bartending?” Tory wrinkled her nose.
“I haven’t bartended in years,” Enid said.
That couldn’t be true. Enid had never mentioned changing jobs—
“Not that you would know. None of you has asked me about my work in… well, forever.” Enid’s smile was wistful. “I kept waiting, but…”
Tory wanted to groan. “You expected us to guess that you’d changed jobs?”
“I expected you to show some interest in my life.”
Was there any other family this dysfunctional? Tory shook her head. “Okay, Mom, I’ll bite. What do you do now?”
“I’m a lawyer,” Enid said.
The third time he read through a paragraph of the certification paperwork and couldn’t remember a single word it said, Liam knew he wouldn’t accomplish anything until he blew off some steam. He’d stomped back to the house with the intention of climbing into his truck and driving straight to town to the Dancing Boot, then realized that was about the worst thing he could do. Once before when times were tough, he’d turned to drinking. It hadn’t ended well. He’d entered the house instead, grabbed a folding table from the basement and hauled it up to his bedroom. The little office he’d inherited from his father in the barn was too damn hot these days anyway, and his laptop was already in his room. He set up the table, snagged a chair from the kitchen and got to work.
A searing wind whistled around the edge of his open window. Strange weather. Fire weather.
He wondered how Tory was faring at Thorn Hill. Had she finally spoken to her mother?
“All ready for Thursday?”
Liam jumped when Olivia piped up behind him.
“What do you know about Thursday?” he demanded, his words short because she’d startled him. She stood in the open doorway. Should have shut that before he sat down.
“I do talk to my husband, you know,” she answered. “And Noah’s been talking about what you’re doing. I think it’s great. I think we should do the same thing at Thorn Hill. Especially because all of us are going back and forth between the ranches so much. We should make sure both of them meet the requirements.”
“You want me to take on Thorn Hill’s certification, too? I can barely—”
“I never said that.” Olivia tossed her hair. “Maybe Tory would be interested in taking it on. She’s going to be a lawyer. She should be good at detail work like that, and it would be something for her to know. If she’s going to work for rural clients, she should understand all the things they’re involved with.”
“I don’t think she’s going to work for rural clients.” Liam remembered too late he shouldn’t know anything about what Tory was up to. “I mean, she lived in Seattle for so long.”
“She’s going to spend three years in Chance Creek,” Olivia pointed out. “A lot can happen in three years. This town has a way of sucking you in.”
“Guess so.”
“You could go ask her,” Olivia said.
Liam looked at her. What was she up to? More to the point, what did she know about him and her sister?
“I want Tory to stay,” Olivia said as if she’d read his mind. “She needs a project that would get her involved in Thorn Hill. Go on—go talk to her. If the certification people are coming Thursday, she should sit in on that meeting and learn all she can, don’t you think?”
It was a devious plan, and Liam liked it. He didn’t want to acknowledge that he’d been with Tory the last two nights—or that he wanted nothing more than to be with her again. On the other hand, Olivia was right; Tory didn’t seem to want to set down roots here. It would take something big to change her mind about that. If she meant to go back to Seattle, they had no right starting anything—
Not that they were starting anything—
Except he was pretty sure they had.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Liam said, giving in. “In fact, you’re a genius.”
Olivia smiled. “I know.”
“A lawyer,” Tory repeated, feeling as if she’d been kicked in the stomach. “You’re a lawyer? Baloney!”
“That’s what I wanted to tell you after the wedding. I heard Lance and Maya talking about you. They said you were going to Montana State—to law school. You could have knocked me over with a feather. When I got over my surprise, I figured maybe you’d be interested in my experiences—”
“I’m not interested in you being a lawyer!” Tory blazed. “I’m not interested in hearing how you went to school and never once volunteered to help me. I’m not interested in hearing how you stole MY dream—”
“That’s enough,” Enid said. “For God’s sake, you’re acting like a spoiled brat, and it’s time to shut it down, Tory.”
Tory gaped at her. How could her mother talk to her like that—after everything—after what she’d just said—
“What exactly is your problem with me?” Enid kept going. “I know I left you—temporarily—at a difficult time in your life. I know that was hard, and I’ve apologized countless times. I know you know that I pulled myself together as soon as I could, got a job and made a home for you all, and then let you stay with my sister instead of demanding you come live with me, even though it broke my heart—so what is it that you cannot forgive me for?”
So many things flooded Tory’s mind she didn’t know how to answer that, but all of them boiled down to one salient point.
“You didn’t stop Dad!” Tory cried. “You knew what he was doing. You knew his law-breaking was making our lives a living hell in Chance Creek—for years before he was caught. Why the hell didn’t you put your foot down?”
Enid blinked. “I could no more stop your father than—”
“Then why did you stay?” There was more anguish in those words than Tory thought she still harbored in her body, but she remembered her thirteenth birthday—the day Dale had been arrested—as vividly now as she did on the day itself. She had been given permission to invite her friends—the few friends allowed to associate with her because of who her father was—to Thorn Hill for a sleepover party. She’d worked hard to recreate every aspect of get-togethers she’d experienced at other girls’ homes—normal homes. She’d dictated lists to her mother. What they would eat, where they would sleep, the party decorations, the sequence of activities. She’d demanded that her siblings stay away—far away—from the festivities.
Enid had gone along with all of it, and on the night of the party everything had gone perfectly. Tory had even overheard Cassie Evans remark to Brigit Honns how the Cooper ranch was just like everyone else’s. “I thought it would be… I
don’t know—creepy,” Cassie had said. “But it’s just regular.”
Just regular. Exactly what Tory had hoped and dreamed for.
When their chores were done, her brothers had gone out for the evening. Olivia had slipped up to her bedroom to read the night away. Her parents had gone to sit out on the back porch as the sun went down.
Everything was perfect until a knock sounded on the front door.
“I stayed because I hoped he would change,” Enid said. “But he didn’t. I let you down, and for that I am so sorry.”
“He humiliated me.” Tory remembered the white-hot feeling of pure shame as the sheriff and his deputies had crowded into the front hall. How she’d stood stock-still, unable to breathe as they walked through the house, through the party, past the other girls who sat just as frozen as Tory was, and out the back door. How a sob had lodged in her throat as the seconds went by, and then they came back again, her father walking among them, his wrists in handcuffs—
“Tory—” Enid reached out to her. Tory batted her hand away.
“I never wanted to come back here. Never. And I never wanted to see you again. You and Dad ruined my life.”
“I know we did,” Enid said sadly.
Here it came—the guilt trip. Tory knew she couldn’t give into it. “That’s not all,” she went on. “You ruined Liam’s life, too—all the Turner kids’ lives.”
Enid straightened. “How do you figure that?”
She was a good actress. Tory could almost believe she was innocent. But she wasn’t. Not by a long shot.
“You and William,” she said. “Sleeping together. You destroyed William’s marriage, but that’s what you do, don’t you?”
She spun on her heel and walked out the front door.
Liam took a deep breath before he pulled into the long lane to Thorn Hill. He’d been to this ranch only a half-dozen times in his life, even though his own land was just across the creek. Old habits died hard, and he couldn’t help bracing himself for an attack as his truck rumbled up the dirt track.
When he reached the circular turnout in front of the Coopers’ brick house, however, Tory was the only one in sight. She looked like she was headed for her vehicle, still dressed in the same outfit she’d worn since the wedding, but when she spotted him, she stopped and raised a hand to block the glare.
