“Me? Maybe,” he admitted.
She pursed her lips, knowing Steel would deflect any further questions. Knowing, too, that warning him to be careful was pointless.
“Stay safe,” she said anyway, taking his hand and squeezing it. “Whatever you’re up to. Don’t die in jail like Dad.”
Chapter Nine
Driving the long stretch of road between the Flying W and town with Mary in the passenger seat the next morning took Liam back thirteen years. He could picture himself driving this same road at seventeen, his mother staring out the window, her face tight with pain. Back then he’d had no idea what she planned to do. The horror he’d felt when he realized she’d walked away from all of them was as fresh today as it had ever been.
Liam shook himself. He wasn’t a teenager anymore, and Mary wasn’t running away. Together they were simply taking Leslie to the hospital, where his mother would keep her company and he would meet with one of the administrators. He’d phoned the hospital this morning and set up the appointment hoping he could get some guidance on how to keep the dialysis unit open.
Mary didn’t seem to put much faith in his ability to do what it would take to win the Ridley property. “This meeting of yours is a wild goose chase,” she’d said earlier.
“We won’t know until we try.”
“If we ran the spa, we could all be together,” she’d said.
“I’m not interested in running a spa.”
Leslie was waiting outside her small blue house when they arrived, and she climbed into the truck. Didn’t his mother realize Leslie would suffer if the dialysis clinic closed? Helping her was far more important than winning the Ridley property and opening some damn spa. Why couldn’t his mother work a normal job? Or better yet, find a partner who didn’t come up short.
That made him think of Tory. Much as he liked her, she didn’t have any intention of sticking around, did she?
For a minute it seemed like the whole world was set against him.
Liam shook off his dark thoughts. One thing at a time. Save the dialysis unit. Win the Ridley property. Get his mother off his back. Get his ranch certified organic—
And then what?
He wished he could add win the girl to his list. That depended on Tory, though.
He parked outside the hospital and tailored his usual long stride to Leslie’s slow shuffle as they made their way to the door, but when he spotted Enid in the waiting room, he had to hold back a long-suffering sigh, wondering what else could possibly go wrong today.
Enid stood and came to greet Leslie, but Mary stepped into her path. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here for my friend,” Enid said calmly. “What about you? Seems to me you must be far too busy stealing your own children’s property to fit in hospital visits.”
“I’m not stealing—”
“Stop it,” Leslie said sharply, forcing herself between them. “You two used to be friends. Remember that?”
“No one can remember that far in the past,” Mary said flatly. “Enid, just go home.”
“Not me. I’m staying,” Enid said.
“You’re both staying,” Leslie said. “I want you both here, and I’m the one who’s about to be hooked up to a machine for four hours. You two have to humor me.”
Liam thought for sure his mother would have something to say to that, but she pinched her lips together instead. “That’s low, Leslie.”
“Might as well get something out of this nightmare,” Leslie said tartly.
Mary softened then. “I truly am sorry you’re going through this.”
“Then you can show it by behaving yourself like a grown woman. Surely the two of you can put aside your differences for my sake.”
“You’re right,” Enid said. “We can.” She raised her eyebrows at Mary and cocked her head.
Mary sighed. “Fine. I know when I’m beat. You’ve always been so damn passive aggressive,” she added to Leslie.
“Gets me what I want, doesn’t it?” Leslie turned to lead the way. Behind her back, Mary rolled her eyes, and Enid grinned back. Liam would have missed the exchange if he’d looked away even a moment. Was that what they’d been like as teenagers? Partners in crime?
Liam watched the women file into the dialysis room, glad he didn’t have to play referee for the next few hours. He would return to pick up his mother and Leslie when they were done.
Not that he expected his meeting with the administrator to be a walk in the park.
He glanced at his phone, saw the time and hurried to the part of the hospital where the administrative offices were located, but he needn’t have rushed. The receptionist instructed him to take a seat and wait a moment. That moment turned out to last about half an hour, ten minutes longer than the meeting itself was supposed to run.
Finally, a casually dressed man swaggered in the front door, laughing as he talked to someone on the phone. “Let me put you on hold a minute,” he said, lowered his phone and nodded to Liam. “Okay, let’s do this.”
A minute? Liam followed him to an elevator. It was going to take a lot longer than that to say what he needed to say.
“I’m Gary.” Still holding the phone to his ear, the man offered Liam a closed fist.
Hesitantly, Liam bumped it. Was this guy for real?
“Will, isn’t it?” The elevator dinged, and Gary led Liam out onto the top floor.
“Liam,” he corrected. The man’s office was impressive, all glass and dark leather, but a cursory glance led Liam to suspect no real work actually happened here. Not a thing was out of place. No documents sat piled on the desk. The man didn’t even have an inbox. Maybe everything was computerized, he told himself sternly. He shouldn’t jump to conclusions.
“I hear you’re interested in making a donation.” Gary draped himself over a swivel chair. Then he sprang back up and moved to a liquor cabinet
