Tory knew she still had plenty of work to fix her relationship with her sister, though. She’d abandoned Olivia years ago—after their mother had abandoned them both. Tory had left Olivia in Idaho with their aunt Joan the minute she turned seventeen, moved to Seattle and pretended she didn’t have a family at all. It had been so much simpler that way.
She’d hurt her sister badly. It would take time to heal that rift properly.
“A Tom Collins, please,” Tory told the bartender.
“Coming right up.”
She waited, thinking about Thorn Hill. Every inch of the property reminded her of her childhood. She couldn’t dispute that some of the memories were happy ones. When they were little, she and her siblings had loved their home. She’d longed to go horseback riding every day when she’d lived in Seattle and had missed her old mare, Starlight, grieving bitterly when she heard of her passing.
Memories of her father were just as sharp—and painful. Before she’d understood what he was, she’d thought the world of Dale. He’d been a pillar of strength. Always there when she needed him. Full of fun, too, with a laugh that boomed out in a crowd, turning heads.
He’d taught her to ride her first pony and smiled every time she came running to give him a hug.
Then she’d grown older. Had gone to school and heard the whispers. Some girls weren’t allowed to play with her. Others turned away whenever she came near, passing on the rumors about her family to their friends just loud enough so she could hear.
She’d always remember the day she’d come home and asked her mother, “Does Daddy steal things?”
Enid’s face had crumpled. “No, he doesn’t. I don’t ever want to hear you talk like that again!” Her mother had disappeared into her bedroom, shut the door and locked it like she always did when she was upset. When Lance heard about the incident, he’d cornered Tory in the barn.
“You talk about Dad like that again, and you’ll regret it.” When he’d shoved her, she’d tripped over a push broom and landed on the wide-planked floor.
He’d left her there battling tears.
That had been her introduction to life as the child of a petty criminal, and she’d soon learned the rules. Keep your mouth shut. If pressed, lie. Hold your head up even when you’re burning with shame. Pretend you don’t care when the other girls shun you.
“Here you are, miss.” The bartender handed Tory the Tom Collins. She braced herself to return to her great-aunt’s side.
She’d gotten through all that. The adversity had toughened her, that was all. There had been girls in Chance Creek whose parents didn’t watch them all that sharply, and they’d been more than glad to hang out with Tory. If that meant she’d learned to smoke cigarettes in grade school, shoplifted a lipstick or two before deciding it wasn’t worth it and struck out on her own at seventeen to fend for herself, so what?
She’d made it this far.
First she’d worked as a waitress while putting herself through a massage certificate program. Then she’d done two years at a community college before transferring to the University of Washington. She was proud of the way she’d covered almost all her costs—up until her senior year when the piles of homework made it difficult to get enough hours of work in.
She’d had to take out student loans then, and when she graduated, she took a good hard look at her prospects. One thing was clear: she had to pay off the money she’d borrowed before she took out enough loans to cover three more years. That meant deferring law school for at least twelve months.
It had been a hard pill to swallow. Harder still was the realization that the most efficient way to get through her law degree was to leave Seattle and return to Montana. After a year she’d qualify for in-state tuition fees. If she lived at home while she went to school, she might be able to earn enough to pay for school outright.
To graduate debt-free with a law degree seemed worth the hassle, and Tory had decided to go for it, with one very important modification.
She’d moved back to Montana but not to Chance Creek. She’d spent the last year in a suburb outside Bozeman where it was still possible to rent a cheap room in someone else’s home. She hadn’t told a single person in her family, and they’d never suspected she was living in-state. Her tiny accommodation rented for less than half what she’d paid in Seattle. She’d used the difference to pay down a good portion of her debts. But she hadn’t managed to save enough for the next round of school. Once again, she took stock of the situation and made a change.
She was willing to take out more loans to cover the cost of tuition and books, but she balked at paying for rent and food on credit. For one thing, it would nearly double the amount of loans she needed to secure. For another, all that debt felt like a noose around her neck.
The alternative might be worse, though.
Living in the home of her birth, with all its memories and ghosts, coming face to face with her siblings—and great-aunt—on a daily basis, on top of a commute to classes every day, was daunting.
It had taken a lot of soul searching before Tory decided she should give it a try. Her brothers and sister had been pleased to hear she was staying—once Lance got over his shock that she’d beat him to a degree. Aunt Virginia had only nodded as if Tory had finally come to her senses.
She hadn’t talked to her mother about her plans yet and hoped no one else had, either. Hopefully her brothers and sister could keep their mouths shut for a few days. She and Enid could have the
