“Here.” She handed Virginia her drink. “Excuse me, I need the ladies’ room.”
“Remember what I said,” Virginia told her. “It’s up to you to win the prize.”
“Sure. Right.” Tory headed off.
What she really needed was to get out of here. Other than her one short dance with Liam, the night had been a bust.
Tory’s step hitched. Dancing with Liam wasn’t anything special. Even if her heart did skip a beat or two every time he touched her, that was only because their families were enemies, not because of anything she felt for the man himself. Liam was compelling; she’d give him that. Easy on the eyes in a Montana cowboy kind of way, if you liked that sort of thing.
He meant nothing to her, just like Chance Creek meant nothing. She’d leave both behind three years from now and never look back.
“Tory. Just the person I’ve been looking for.”
Tory nearly groaned when she turned to find Enid at her shoulder. “Mom. What’s up?”
“Just wondering what your plans are now. You’ve been in Chance Creek a few weeks, but with the wedding over…” She trailed off meaningfully.
“I’m… staying a bit longer,” Tory hedged.
Her mother brightened. “Really? I’m so glad!”
“Why?” She didn’t mean to answer like that, but Enid was… Enid. Always fishing for something. Always hoping for a reconciliation.
“Because I’m staying another week, too. It will be such a good opportunity for us to spend some time together. It’s been so long—”
Tory tuned out the rest of her sentence. It was always like this. Enid trying to make plans. Offering to fly her to New Mexico for a little visit. Trying to make amends.
It was too late.
“Mom, I need to use the ladies’ room.” To forestall Enid from following her, she added, “I need a minute alone, okay? This has been a busy day.”
Enid’s face fell, and guilt twisted Tory’s gut, but she wasn’t the one who’d abandoned her kids. Tory kept going, burst through the double doors into the hall and stepped outside. She didn’t need the bathroom—she needed air. Space to herself.
In the parking lot it was dark and slightly cooler. Blissfully quiet. There wasn’t a Cooper in sight.
A truck was rolling toward the exit, though, and it slowed down when it crossed her path. Liam leaned out the window. “You okay?”
“Liam?” She hadn’t expected to see him again tonight.
“Tory?” A teasing note in his voice made her smile despite everything.
“I’m okay. It’s just… this town, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” He paused. “Hop in. We can go for a drive. Nothing like the wheels turning beneath you to give you a little perspective.”
Perspective sounded good. She rounded the truck and got in the passenger side.
“Let’s go.”
He’d drive her around the block a couple of times and drop her off, Liam told himself. At most, he’d take her home to Thorn Hill.
Somehow he found himself heading in an altogether different direction. If Tory noticed, she didn’t say.
“Everything okay?” he finally ventured when the silence had stretched out to an uncomfortable length. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected when he offered her the ride, but it wasn’t this. Something was bothering her. He wished he knew how to smooth it over.
“I’m fine,” Tory said quickly. Almost too quickly. Liam snuck a look her way. She was staring into the darkness outside her window.
She didn’t look okay.
“It’s my mother,” she said. “It’s always my mother. Unless it’s my father.”
Liam nearly chuckled, although he didn’t think she would appreciate that. He understood the sentiment. How could his parents—one living in Ohio and one dead—still have so much effect on his life? Was it like that for Tory with her folks? Enid still lived in New Mexico, if he wasn’t mistaken. Tory’s dad, like his own, had been felled by a heart attack.
There were those similarities again. Turners and Coopers were supposed to be opposites.
“I thought Mom would leave in a day or two, but she’s staying all week to spend time with me.” Tory made it sound like a death sentence.
“Is that so bad?”
“Hell, yeah!” She got herself under control. “I mean, no, of course not, but yes, it is. Do you know what I mean?”
“Actually, I do.” He wasn’t too pleased about Mary’s presence at the Flying W, either. Especially not now, with the certification people coming. At least her stepkids were going back to Ohio tonight. They’d been in town only two days, and he’d barely seen them since Mary chose to stay at a motel during their visit, but it was still uncomfortable to have them around. Liam could hardly wrap his head around the fact she’d lived with Justin and Liz all these years when she could barely be bothered to come home to see her own.
“She wants to reconnect. She thinks we can patch up the relationship she destroyed when I was thirteen. It doesn’t work that way. Nothing she does now can change what she did back then. She abandoned us; you know that, right? When Dad went to jail, Mom freaked out, loaded us in the truck and drove hell for leather to Idaho to Aunt Joan’s—and then left a week later with some guy! Who does that?”
Liam nodded. He’d heard it all before—in bits and pieces. Having it summed up and confirmed was helpful to understand her situation.
“My mom’s no peach, either.” Had he actually said that? He’d never discussed his feelings about Mary with anyone, as far as he could remember. Not even Noah.
Tory looked up. “I guess if anyone understood, it would be you. Your mom ended up with another man, too.”
“Now she treats his kids better than her own.”
“They don’t seem too bad. I talked to Justin and Liz for a minute when we met at the buffet table,” she explained.
“They’re fine. They’re just… not part of my family as far as I’m concerned. Why are they
