“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.
“Liam? What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you. Got a minute?”
She looked back at the house, shrugged and nodded. “Sure. But not here.”
“Hop in.”
He got the feeling she wanted to get out of there before someone else stopped her, so the minute she had taken her seat, he turned the truck around toward the highway again.
“Where to?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t care, either. Just… get me out of here.”
Liam thought a moment, made a turn and kept going. “How about I just drive?”
“Sounds good.” Tory lapsed into silence, and for the time being, Liam kept his eyes on the road except for an occasional glance her way. He couldn’t decide whether she was angry, or sad, or just pushed beyond what she could bear. He could sympathize with all those feelings.
He gave her time to settle down until she sighed and he figured she was ready to talk. “What happened back there?”
“My mom’s a lawyer,” she said baldly. “And a liar,” she added. “One hell of a liar.”
There was a world of hurt in those sentences. Liam guessed he knew why that was. “She achieved your dream.”
“Without telling me. Without even so much as mentioning it. Who does that?”
He didn’t point out she’d kept her own schooling a secret.
“I know,” Tory burst out, as if he’d spoken his thoughts aloud. “It’s as much as I deserve, isn’t it, feeling so smug that I got my bachelor’s degree on my own. She did me one better.”
“Only because she had more time.” Liam turned onto a long winding road that traced the back side of Chance Creek county. “Maybe you have more in common with her than you think.”
Tory made a sound like a wild animal caught in a trap. “I’m nothing like her. I would never cheat—” She bit off the end of her sentence and looked at her hands.
“I know about her and my dad,” he said softly.
“I’m sorry. She tried to pretend she didn’t know what I was talking about. That’s almost worse.”
“I suppose my dad is as much to blame as your mom is.” Stella was the one who’d told him about William and Enid back when they were teenagers, and he’d harbored a lot of anger for a long time, but he and Lance had talked about the incident a few weeks ago—in the middle of the history society’s Revolutionary War reenactment, actually—and now Liam found it hard to care.
All of them had suffered too long because of the behavior of their parents—Turners and Coopers both.
“You’re right, you’re not like your mom at all,” Liam went on softly. “If someone needed you—now—you’d show up for them, wouldn’t you?” He could tell she was thinking of running—as far and as fast as she could. He wanted her to stay.
“Are you thinking of someone specifically?” she asked, her brows furrowing.
“Me,” he said succinctly. “I’m going to get the Flying W certified organic if it kills me, but the paperwork—you wouldn’t believe how much there is. It might just do me in. I wondered… if you’d help me go through it. Make sure I’m not missing something. It’s just preliminary stuff, but it’s important.”
He could see her struggling to pull out of the argument she was still having with her mother in her mind and consider his proposition.
“I could try. But, Liam, I don’t know how long I’ll—”
“I know. You’re not sure you’re staying. But you won’t leave before Thursday, right? I mean, you’re supposed to start school in the fall. Your mom won’t be here forever. Don’t let her ruin this for you.”
After a long moment, she nodded. “You’re right. I’ve come this far, and I’m not going to let her screw it all up. I’ll just keep my distance until she’s safely back in New Mexico.”
“Good. Can we start tomorrow? You can come to the Flying W. We’ll work in my office. No one will bother us.” He’d lock the barn door if he had to.
“Okay.”
When he reached out and took her hand, she didn’t pull away.
Things weren’t all bad, Liam decided.
If only they could buy their own ranch and leave both their families behind, Tory thought, and then bit back a laugh at herself. Since when did she want to be a ranch wife?
She was going back to city living just as soon as she graduated. She’d
