“Sis-ter!” Mindy quickened her pace, nearly falling in her haste.
Tory steadied her. “Slow down. After the day we put in, I don’t have that kind of energy. Judy isn’t going anywhere.”
“Will—she—be my—aunt—when—you—mar-ry— Dad-dy?”
“You bet.”
“Neat!”
Judy slid from the car and stretched. “I know I’m early. But Brad told me to come and he’ll bring the kids with him in a few days. How can I pass up a minivacation without the children?”
Tory studied her sister’s face, her expression innocent, and wondered about Judy’s motives behind her early arrival. Her older sister was always trying to protect her. She was sure Judy was here to scout out the situation for Mom and Dad and make a report before they came. “Judy, I want you to meet Mindy. She’s Slade’s daughter.”
Mindy lifted her hand to shake Judy’s. “I—help— Tor-ee.”
“That’s what she said to me. She’s lucky to have such a good helper.”
Mindy preened, a big grin on her face.
“Pop the trunk and I’ll help you with your luggage.” Tory moved around to the back of the car. When she saw the jammed trunk, she laughed. “I should have known you’d bring your whole closet with you.”
Judy bent down and whispered into Mindy’s ear, “Ignore Tory. She likes to make fun of me and what I pack for a trip. My motto is to always be prepared and in order to do that I have to bring choices.”
Mindy giggled.
“And of course, Mom had me bring some wedding gifts for you.”
“Gifts?” Mindy’s eyes grew round. “I’ll—help—open?”
“I wouldn’t ask anyone but you. Come on, we’d better get started or we’ll be out here all night unloading the car.”
* * *
“Well, Mindy, I think you did a superb job with the baked beans.” Judy wiped her mouth on her napkin and laid it on the side of her empty dinner plate. “And the hamburgers were great, Slade. Grilled to perfection.”
“Yes—Dad-dy.” Mindy finished off her chocolate milk.
Slade pointed to his mouth and waited until his daughter had used her napkin to clean hers before saying, “With compliments like that, I could get used to cooking.”
Judy rose and began taking the dishes to the sink. “My contribution to this dinner is to clean up.”
“I’ll help.” Tory stacked several plates on top of each other.
“While you two are doing that, Mindy and I will take a walk down to the barn. I wanted to check out how the painters are coming along.”
Tory put the plates into the sink. “If it doesn’t rain, I think they’ll get finished by the wedding.”
When Slade and Mindy left the kitchen, Judy brought a platter and bowl over to the counter. “She’s every bit as cute as you said.”
“And?”
“What do you mean ‘and’?” her sister asked, again that innocent expression on her face.
“I know you, Judy. Is Mom watching the kids so you could come early and pump me for information?”
“Why, Victoria Alexander, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Brad—”
“You haven’t suddenly changed. You’re dying to know what in the world has gotten into me. Don’t deny it.”
Judy placed one fisted hand on her waist. “Okay. I’ll admit Mom and I were curious.”
Tory barked a laugh. “Merely curious?”
“You weren’t even dating anyone the last time I talked to you, what, a week before you made this grand announcement that you were getting married. What’s going on?”
“I’ve known Slade for some time. I don’t tell you and Mom everything.”
Judy’s expression sobered. “Have you told Slade everything? Does he know what happened?”
CHAPTER SIX
Tory started rinsing the dishes off to put into the dishwasher, but her hands shook so badly she nearly dropped a plate. Judy reached around her and turned the water off.
“Tory, you can’t keep running from the truth.”
A band about Tory’s chest tautened, constricting the air in her lungs. She drew in a deep breath, then blew it out through pursed lips. Once. Twice. Still she felt as though she were suffocating. Clasping her wet hands together to still their trembling, she closed her eyes, wishing she could block the world out as easily as flipping off a switch. Life wasn’t like that. She’d learned that painfully. There were times she felt as though she were running as fast as she could and going nowhere.
She focused on the feel of Judy’s arms around her as she said, “The truth? You don’t think I’ve faced it? I have every day for the past four years. As much as I want to forget, I can’t. I’ve tried. Believe me, I’ve tried.” Tears, from the depth of her bruised soul, filled her eyes and coursed down her cheeks.
“Does Slade know about you being raped?”
The question struck Tory with the force of a sledgehammer. Even though she didn’t move, she felt as though she had been knocked back against a brick wall. “No, I don’t see why I should share my past with him. It’s in my past. It has nothing to do with my future.” Shame and humiliation nibbled at the edges of her mind. She shut down, refusing them entry.
Judy’s arm tightened about Tory. “Who are you trying to kid? Our past has everything to do with our future.”
Tory wrenched herself from her big sister’s embrace and put several feet between them, anger surging to the surface. “If I tell Slade, it will be when I want to.”
Judy held up her hands. “I agree, Tory. I won’t say a word to him. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think he has a right to know.”
“Why? Because you think I’m tainted?” She remembered the looks she’d gotten, the whispers behind her back after she’d brought charges against Brandon Clayton. Cold fingers spread out from her heart to encompass her whole body. She’d felt as if she were the one who had done something wrong, not Brandon.
Horror replaced the concern in her sister’s expression. “No! Never! You know better than to say that. Who held you when you came home that night? Who wept
