The Cowboy's Stolen Bride

by Cora Seton

  She straightened. “What the heck do you mean by that?”

  Liam backtracked, surprised by her reaction. Stella hadn’t had a boyfriend in ages. Maybe she was feeling prickly about that. “I mean… you know… do what you want—no matter what it is. Whatever. See you.” He hurried off the porch toward the barn as if he had a reason to go there. So much for serious conversations.

  “Thanks,” Stella called after him a moment later.

  He slowed his steps. Half-turned to call back, “I’ll help you train if you want. For the tests.”

  “Sounds good!”

  Stella a deputy.

  Imagine that.

  Liam kept going toward the barn, but his fingers closed around his phone again.

  Time to take his own advice and go after what he wanted. Before he lost his chance forever.

  Tory was still in the back seat of Mary’s truck when her phone buzzed. She hesitated to answer it when she saw who was calling, given the company she was in, but she was afraid if she didn’t pick up, she wouldn’t hear from Liam again. Things had gotten complicated between them. She wished she could go back to their night under the stars when it had all seemed so easy, but he was a Turner and she was a Cooper.

  Nothing was ever going to stay easy between them.

  She hunched in the corner of the seat, ducking down a little as if that would shield her from the other women in the car. Her mother, Mary and Leslie were still trading memories about high school, though, and paid her no mind.

  “Hello?”

  “Tory? Good to hear your voice,” Liam said.

  A rush of relief swept through her. He didn’t hate her, anyway. Not that he had any reason to hate her, but she’d found her thoughts didn’t make much sense when it came to Liam.

  “Good to hear yours, too.”

  “Is this a good time to talk?”

  “Um…” What should she say? “I’m in your mom’s truck, actually.”

  Liam swore softly, then chuckled. “I actually knew that. She sent me a photo. Guess I wasn’t thinking clearly when I phoned. Just couldn’t wait any longer to talk to you.”

  “Thought maybe you’d had enough of me,” she said, keeping her voice low.

  This time his low chuckle rumbled right through her body, bringing to life all kinds of interesting feelings. “I haven’t had nearly enough of you, Tory Cooper.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Who are you talking to?” Enid said. “You’re red as a beet!”

  Tory looked up to find all eyes on her. “No one,” she said defensively, pulling the phone away from her ear. “Just a friend.”

  “Ooh, sounds like a boy,” Leslie trilled from the front seat.

  Mary glanced her way. “Put him on speaker phone. We can all talk to him.”

  Tory put the phone back to her ear. “I’d better go.”

  “Put me on speaker phone,” Liam said. “I’ll talk to them.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Do it.”

  Tory hesitated, but in the end she gave in. Everyone would find out sooner or later that she and Liam were…

  What were they?

  Leslie’s hand snaked around from the front seat, and she took the phone. “Hello? This is Leslie Falk. To whom am I speaking?” She waited a beat. “Liam? Liam Turner, is that you?” She bent closer to Mary. “It’s your son!”

  But Mary was looking in the rearview mirror, pegging Tory with a look so sharp Tory figured it could cut her into shreds. “You’re talking to Liam? My Liam?”

  “He called me,” Tory said weakly.

  Leslie fiddled with the phone, and suddenly Liam’s voice cut through their conversation.

  “Mom! How’s it going?”

  “What are you doing calling Tory Cooper?” Mary demanded.

  “She’s helping me save the dialysis unit,” Liam said.

  Mary’s shoulders relaxed a fraction, just in time for Liam to add, “And I hope she’ll marry me one of these days, but don’t tell her that. I don’t want to scare her off.”

  The truck swerved. Tory braced a hand against the back of Leslie’s seat. Marry her?

  “Watch the road!” Leslie cried as Mary struggled to get the truck on track again. She slowed down, pulled off the road altogether and parked.

  “Aren’t you going to say anything?” Mary demanded of Enid.

  “I don’t think it’s my place to say anything. It’s up to the kids to decide what to do.”

  “Remember how you wanted your ten kids to wed Enid’s, Mary,” Leslie pointed out. “In a way, all of this might be your fault—”

  “It’s not my fault!”

  “If you got to know Tory, you’d know why I love her,” Liam said over the phone.

  Tory was still fighting to get her breathing under control. Liam loved her? Wanted to marry her? But—

  What about her career? What about her plan to leave?

  Mary shook her head. “That’s a horrible idea,” she said to Liam.

  “You’re just being stubborn,” Enid told her.

  “I’m not being stubborn. I’ve already got two Coopers in my family—I don’t need another! Besides, your daughter isn’t interested in my son. She wants the Ridley property. You all do. You’re all determined to steal my future!”

  “Your future! What about my future?” Enid demanded. “What about my family? You think it’s bad getting stuck with Coopers? I’ve got two Turners to deal with. It’s enough to make anyone sick!”

  “I’m not staying,” Tory blurted out in order to stop them. “When I finish my law degree, I’m leaving Chance Creek.” She turned to Mary. “I can’t marry Liam, so you don’t even have to worry about it. You can just go on being selfish and spoiled and ruin your son’s happiness at every turn. I won’t be there to stop you.”

  She opened the door and hopped out, striding off down the road, not knowing where she was headed.

  How could Liam do this to her—open her up to that kind of attack from his mother? How could he ignore everything she’d told him about her plans? Had he listened to a word she’d said?

  Or was all of this a game to him? Maybe he meant to lead her on—toy with her emotions and trip her up in order to secure the Ridley property for his family. If he really wanted to… marry her, he’d have talked to her in private first.

  The Turners thought they were above her family. Maybe she was just a plaything to him. A pawn in his strategy to win it all.

  “Tory,” Leslie called after her. “What about your phone?”

  “Keep it!” Tory yelled back. She was done with everyone in Chance Creek.

  “How are the ticket sales?” Maya asked Liam three weeks later when she caught up with him at the admission stand on the town green. It was a warm morning destined to be another hot day, and he was already sweating. He couldn’t wait until the cookout was over.

  “Don’t have a final count,” he said listlessly. “Hope it’s a good turnout.” If it wasn’t, all this would have been for nothing.

  It had been hard to concentrate on the fundraiser these past few weeks, but he’d had to do it anyway. The days had dragged even though he was so busy he hardly had time to turn around. There were chores to do, the drought to worry about, plans to put in place, volunteers to oversee and phone calls to wait for—from the organic certification people, and from Tory.

  Tory had refused to answer any of his calls or texts, though, and she’d certainly made no attempt to get in touch with him. She’d kept to herself, as far as he could tell, although she’d still made the rounds of the television and radio shows, doing interviews about the dialysis unit and pushing for people to attend the fundraiser. He had to admit she’d done a fantastic job getting the word out, so despite his unenthusiastic response to Maya’s questions, he was sure they’d raised quite a bit of money for the cause.

  “Everyone knows how important this is,” Maya assured him. “They figure if we lose the dialys
is unit, we could easily lose the hospital.”

  Liam had to credit Tory for hammering home that message every chance she got during radio and television interviews until everyone in Chance Creek had begun to repeat it like a mantra. Fear of losing the hospital had motivated lots of people who didn’t normally consider volunteering. Now the town green was lined with food booths, tables and chairs, shade umbrellas, and craft stalls, and several bands were ready to play on the central stage.

  “There’s Tory.” Maya pointed to one of the enormous grills the Historical Society had set up. She was wrapping herself in an apron in preparation for helping to tend the hot dogs and bratwursts.

  Other volunteer organizations were selling hamburgers, grilled chicken, salmon burgers and more. Several of the restaurants in town were offering fancier food. There were game booths for the kids. Rafters and the Dancing Boot had teamed up to sell beer to the grown-ups. There was even a limited offering of wine for sale from Chance Creek’s first vineyard, owned by Rob and Morgan Matheson.

  Liam knew he should be thrilled at the way it was all turning out.

  Instead he felt like a failure.

  He’d taken a chance—a big chance—telling his mother and Enid that he wanted to get married, and Tory had shot him down so fast it had been over before he knew what hit him.

  She didn’t want to be with him.

  Didn’t want to stay here.

  They were one and the same, weren’t they? If she really loved him, she would reconsider.

  Maya must have tracked his gaze. “Go talk to her. I’ll take tickets.”

  “She doesn’t want me.” Liam didn’t know how much Maya knew about him and Tory. Didn’t care. Nothing was going to come of it now.

  “Mom says she’s set on leaving town when she’s done school.”

  “That’s right.”

  “You could convince her—”

  “No, I can’t.” He didn’t want to, either. “We know what happens when someone’s trapped in this town.” He nodded at his mother, who was chatting happily with Leslie—and Enid—a few booths down the line where they were selling crafts.

  “Mom doesn’t look trapped.”

  Liam had to admit she was right as Mary tipped her head back and laughed. She’d been avoiding him lately, a guilty expression crossing her face every time they met on the stairs or in the kitchen.

  “I didn’t mean to suggest you shouldn’t be with Tory,” she’d said to him once, but Liam had shut her down.

  “Forget about it,” he’d said. “That’s all done with.”

  Which made it all the more galling to see his mother enjoying herself like this now.

  “I heard her on the phone to Liz,” Maya said, “asking if she and Justin wanted to come visit us here again, for a longer stay this time.”

  “Visit us?” Liam repeated. “Why?”

  “I guess… If you think about it, they’re sort of our siblings. In a way.” She fell silent.

  “Maybe,” Liam conceded. “Although we’re not related by blood.”

  “No, just by Mom.”

  They thought about it. “Guess it might be good for them,” he said. “With their dad in jail and all. Their biological mom long out of the picture. They could probably use a distraction.”

  “We could teach them to ride,” Maya agreed. “There’s lots to do around here.”

  “Did Liz say yes?”

  “I’m not sure. When Mom saw me, she got off the phone pretty quick.”

  Liam was looking at Tory again. “Why can’t things just be simple?”

  Maya chuckled. “Sometimes, I think it’s all up to us to not overcomplicate things.”

  Tory busied herself at the grill as the first attendees began to trickle in to the fundraiser, a few people here and there at first, increasing to a constant flow. She breathed easier as the crowd grew larger, and the first of the bands began to play on the central stage.

  “You’re a genius,” Olivia said, beaming, coming to stand at her side. She handed Tory a glass of wine. “I had to fight to get this, by the way. Quantities are really limited since this is their first vintage, and they’re selling out fast. You should see Rob and Morgan. They’re over the moon.”

  Tory was too busy watching Liam manning the ticket booth to pay her much attention. “I’m glad so many people came. Maybe we’ll pull this off after all.”

  “Did you ever doubt it?”

  Lately, Tory found herself doubting all sorts of things.

  “Oh my goodness, why don’t you just go over and talk to him!” Olivia went on when Tory didn’t answer her.

  “Talk to who?”

  “Don’t play dumb. To Liam. I know you like him—and he likes you, from what Mom said. He wants to marry you. Why are you over here when you could be over there?”

  “You know why.”

  “Right, because you need to be able to dump us all again the minute you’re done with school.”

  Her bitter tone cut through Tory’s distraction. “That’s not fair.”

  “Isn’t it?”

  Tory had been dreading a moment like this for a long time, and she had all her explanations lined up in her mind. “I had to leave Idaho. I was dying there—”

  “You think I wasn’t? I hated Idaho, too,” Olivia told her. “I was odd man out all through my school years—I couldn’t wait to get home most days because that’s when I got to hang out with you. Until you left.”

  “Olivia—”

  “Here’s the thing.” Olivia talked right over her. “I forgave you for that a long time ago. I understood how unhappy you were, how mad you were at Mom and how you wanted to start your own life. I wanted to cheer you on from the sidelines, but it was hard to do that when you cut me out completely. You left town—but you didn’t have to leave me. You know that, right?” She picked up her phone from the table. “You could have called. Emailed once in a while. Texted. Instead you walked away and never looked back. I didn’t deserve that. And now you’re planning to do it again, aren’t you? You’ll stick around just as long as you have to, and then you’ll light out for greener pastures and we’ll never hear from you again.”

  “That’s not true. It’s different this time—”

  “How?”

  “I felt guilty back then. Every time we talked I felt so bad—”

  “And you don’t now?”

  Tory couldn’t meet her gaze.

  “Thought so,” Olivia said. “You know, if that’s your plan, I don’t think you should stay with us at Thorn Hill any longer. Find your own place, Tory. We don’t need our hearts broken all over again.”

  She pocketed her phone, stood up and left. Tory watched her go. Turned in spite of herself to look at Liam again and saw him answer his phone. He listened a minute. Straightened.

  Smiled.

  Said something and then nodded several times as he listened some more.

  “Thank you,” she heard him say just before he cut the call. He stood a moment as if savoring a victory.

  Then turned her way.

  Their eyes met, and he gave her a thumbs-up. “I passed,” he called. “The preliminary requirement for certification! I passed!”

  “Congratulations,” she called back. She knew she should go over there. Shake his hand. Or hug him.

  But Maya and Stella had already mobbed him, and now other people were gathering around, listening to his news, shaking his hand up and down.

  She was happy for him. All his hard work had paid off, and the fundraiser was a success. The Turners would get another check mark in their race to win the Founder’s Prize. He’d win the Ridley property. He’d get to keep his ranch. He’d create a niche for his family’s beef and raise their income with any luck.

  Meanwhile, she’d get her degree and head for greener pastures, like Olivia had said. Leaving Montana didn’t mean she couldn’t be part of her family—or keep in touch with the people she left behind in town.

  But as she watched Olivia, Lance and Enid add
their congratulations to everyone else’s, she felt very far away from her family—and everyone else in Chance Creek. They all belonged to something bigger than themselves.

  She belonged to nothing and no one.

  Chapter Twelve

  A few days after the fundraiser, Liam was sitting on the back porch with an unopened bottle of beer when Noah walked up from the barn. The last few days had been bittersweet. After the fundraising event, the receipts had been tallied and the event had been deemed a success. His mother had made sure to call the press and alert them that he would be presenting a check for the funds to the hospital, and once the news was blasted from newspapers, radio shows and the local TV station, Jill reported that the money, along with the united front presented by the hospital’s doctors and nurses, had convinced the administration to keep the dialysis wing open after all.

  Which meant his family was closer than ever to winning the Founder’s Prize.

  And he still couldn’t quite believe he’d gotten the go-ahead that he was on the right track to get the Flying W certified organic. Everything was going well—

  Except he’d lost Tory.

  Hence the beer.

  When he’d gotten the call from the certification people, he’d been so taken by surprise he’d turned to Tory before he thought better of it. He could still see the way she’d lit up when he called out that he’d passed the preliminary inspection. She’d been just as thrilled as he was.

  Then she’d held back, not coming to shake his hand like everyone else, and his victory had felt hollow, just like saving the dialysis unit—and his ranch—did now. He wanted to be happy. To celebrate with his family.

  Nothing felt right with Tory out of his life. What was the point of pulling himself up by his bootstraps, struggling to fix the problems he faced, when at the end of the day he still lost the woman he loved?

  He looked at the bottle of beer. Knew it would taste damn good on a hot day like this. He’d already drained one, though. That was his limit. Opening a second one was admitting defeat.