Third Time's a Charm

by Virginia Smith

  “There’s only one reason they’re rushing into marriage.” Tori lowered her voice. “They just want to have sex legally. If you ask me, they ought to go ahead and do it. Get it out of their system.”

  Allie’s jaw dropped. “I can’t believe you said that.”

  “Oh, why not?” Tori lifted the lid on the trashcan and stuffed the bag into it. “You’re not going to stand there and tell me you and Eric waited for your wedding night. It worked out for you okay.”

  A deep flush colored Allie’s fair skin. “That’s not the point. Joan and Ken are doing this the right way.” She lifted her chin. “God’s way. And He’ll bless their marriage because of it.”

  Here it comes. Why did every conversation with her family always turn into a sermon? Well, she didn’t have the patience to listen to another one today. She had too much work to do back in Lexington.

  Tori slammed the lid down. “Whatever. I’m not going to say another word.”

  She started to step around Allie toward the house, but stopped when her sister put a hand on her arm.

  “Be happy for them, Tori. Joan is your sister, and she deserves your support. Don’t spoil her big day.”

  Looking into Allie’s earnest eyes, something twisted inside Tori’s chest. Allie was right. If anyone deserved her support, it was Joan. Who came to every football game all the way through high school to watch her cheer when Mom was working second shift? Who helped her practice by reading the part of Li’l Abner to Tori’s Daisy Mae about a thousand times before the school play? Who taught her to drive a stick shift, even at the risk of her own car?

  A movement inside the house drew Tori’s gaze through the window in the back door. Joan bent down to help Gram stand from the chair. The old woman leaned heavily on her middle granddaughter, just as Tori had leaned on Joan for years.

  She drew a slow breath and looked back at Allie. “You’re right. I’ll be good from now on. I promise.”

  Allie smiled and drew her into a hug. “I know you will.”

  She released Tori and reached for the door. Her hand paused on the handle. “I’m dying of curiosity. How much did you pay for that Ralph Lauren cashmere throw?”

  Tori hesitated. “You won’t tell, will you?”

  “No. But when we visit Joan and Ken, I want to know how much luxury I’m wrapping myself in while I munch popcorn in front of a ball game.”

  Tori chewed the inside of her lip. Her entire family already thought she was far too extravagant and teased her about the price she paid for clothes and shoes. And really, she’d spent way too much on Joan’s present, even though it was exactly everything Tori liked in a gift—luxurious, attractive, unique. But she’d never be able to deceive her big sister. Allie could spot a lie like she was looking through binoculars.

  “Six hundred dollars,” she admitted. “But don’t tell Joan, or she’ll be afraid to use it.”

  Allie gave a low whistle. “Don’t worry. She wouldn’t believe me if I told her.” She shook her head. “Girl, I wish I had your job.” She grinned. “Or at least your paycheck.”

  Tori flashed a quick smile in return. “It’s my credit limit you want. American Express loves me.”

  2

  “That’s the last load.” Tori closed the trunk of Joan’s car and stepped backward on the sidewalk. The warm June sun still shone high in a bright blue Kentucky sky. “When it comes to kitchen towels and potholders, you’re set for life.”

  “But not a single bath towel so far.” Joan hefted a bow-covered Joanie higher on her hip. “We might have to dry ourselves off with dishtowels.”

  On the sidewalk next to Allie, Gram stood with her arms crossed, her age-spotted hands absently rubbing her sleeves. “Nonsense. I have dozens of towels and other linens at the house. You and your mother can divide them between you. Whatever you don’t want will just have to be donated to Goodwill soon, anyway.”

  Tori whipped her head toward her grandmother. The ringlets surrounding her face bounced in her peripheral vision. “What do you mean, donated to Goodwill?”

  Gram’s eyes went round and her mouth snapped closed. A quick glance passed between Joan and Allie, which sent a shaft of alarm through Tori. Something terrible was going on, and they were keeping it from her.

  “What?” She looked from one guilty expression to another. “You guys know something you’re not telling me. Come on—out with it.”

  She marched over to stand toe-to-toe with Allie and glared up into her oldest sister’s face. They used to do this when they were kids, the two older sisters keeping secrets from the baby. Well, she wasn’t a baby anymore, and she deserved to know everything they knew, especially if it involved the family. Allie’s lips formed a tight line, but worry settled on her forehead.

  Softhearted Joan caved first. “Gram is selling the house after the wedding, when I move next door to Ken’s house.” A blush colored her cheeks. “I mean our house.”

  Tori’s alarm turned to stunned disbelief. That house had been their home for almost fifteen years, since Mom’s and Daddy’s divorce. Tori barely remembered the series of apartments and rental houses they lived in prior to moving in with Gram and Grandpa. A vague memory here and there, but not one of them had meant anything to her. Not like Gram’s house. Forget the fancy apartment she rented in Lexington. That was just a place to live. Gram’s house was home.

  “But . . . but . . .” Questions crowded for attention in her mind. “But where will Mom live?”

  “She’s going to buy a condominium,” Allie said. “They’re building some really cute ones not too far from Waterford, so she’ll be close to Gram.”

  Her mother was going to live in a condo? Mothers didn’t live in condos. They stayed at home, where they belonged, and kept things exactly as they had been.

  “Why? Is it a money thing?” Tori whirled toward Joan. “Because if it is, why doesn’t Mom buy Gram’s house instead of some old condo?”

  “Because the condo costs half what Gram can get out of the house,” Joan said. “Mom can’t afford it.”

  “So you and Ken buy it,” Tori shot back. “He’s a doctor. He makes tons of money.”

  Joan’s lips twisted. “Not as an ER doctor in a small hospital. And we can’t afford to buy anything until he pays off his student loans.”

  Tori’s teeth ground together. If they’d quit spending all their money on mission trips, they might be able to buy a house. Or even take a normal honeymoon. But noooo. Joan and Ken were scraping pennies together to go off to Thailand or Taiwan or somewhere dirty like that to hand out Bibles to poor people, like good little missionaries. Which was not Tori’s idea of a honeymoon. A Caribbean cruise would be so much more romantic, and wouldn’t cost nearly as much. Even a trip to Myrtle Beach would be better.

  Tori folded her arms. “So rent Gram’s house instead of that cracker box next door. Ken could just move in after the wedding. Then Mom wouldn’t have to buy a condo, and everything could stay the same.”

  Allie laid a hand on Tori’s arm. “Ken and Joan need their own home, Tori.” She cast a sideways glance at Gram, whose thin shoulders drooped as she watched them argue. “And Gram needs to sell the house for financial reasons. It’s the right thing to do.”

  Tori didn’t stop her lower lip from protruding. Apparently everything had been decided—without her. “Where will we have family dinners?”

  “We’ll take turns,” Joan said. “Even Gram’s assisted living center has a community kitchen families can reserve.”

  Gram nodded. “Eula Jane Foster’s family did it just last week when she turned ninety. I peeked in while they were cooking and her granddaughter gave me a taste of the best scalloped potatoes. I’m going to try the recipe someday soon.”

  Tori sniffed. “But what about holidays? Where will I stay on Christmas Eve?”

  “With me.” Joan stepped closer.

  Allie gave Joan a mock-scowl and put an arm around Tori’s shoulders. “No, with me. That way you can be here Christmas morni
ng to see what Santa brings Joanie.”

  “You can sleep on my sofa,” Gram said. “I have plenty of room.”

  “Actually,” Joan told her, “Mom’s condo will have two bedrooms. You’ll probably stay there.”

  Tori’s shoulders deflated as she looked at the ring of beloved faces surrounding her. “You have this all worked out. You’ve discussed it.” She sniffed. “Without me.”

  “Oh, don’t talk like that.” Allie squeezed her shoulders. “It’s not like we’ve been purposefully keeping secrets from you. We’ve been working out the details for a while, and you’re too busy to talk on the phone for more than a second.”

  She was right. Today was the first time Tori had seen her family in weeks. She’d been so busy at work she had barely seen her own apartment other than to sleep and shower. And while she was chained to her desk, her family’s lives were going on without her.

  “Well, I’ll be here tomorrow.” She held out her hands to Joanie, and felt a warm thrill when a grin lit the toddler’s face and she came willingly into her aunt Tori’s arms. “Set my plate at the table and I’ll be here in time for dinner.”

  “What about church?” Joan asked. “It’s been a long time since we’ve all been in church together.”

  Tori tickled Joanie’s toes, delighted when the little girl chortled. She had to finish that report before Monday. But she had all night. If she worked until she got it done, surely she could finish in time for church in the morning. Then she could focus on participating in important decisions with her family.

  “I’ll try.”

  A car pulled up to the curb and parked in front of Joan’s. The minute the vehicle stopped moving, the two doors on the passenger side opened. Allie’s husband, Eric, got out of the backseat and Joan’s fiancé emerged from the front. Joan rushed across the grass to throw her arms around his neck and welcome him with an enthusiastic kiss.

  Tori plucked a bow off of the baby’s head and crushed it in her fingers. Great. If I’d gotten out of here thirty seconds earlier, I could have missed the peep show.

  It’s not that Ken wasn’t a nice guy, and he was certainly handsome. In fact, when he first moved into the house next door to Gram’s, Tori had entertained thoughts of a relationship with him herself. Except he made no secret of the fact that he clearly preferred Joan. Still, something about the guy set her teeth on edge. He was too nice, too eager to please. And way too religious. In fact, the recent upsurge in the fanaticism level in the Sanderson family could be traced directly to Dr. Ken Fletcher, and that bugged Tori no end. What was wrong with keeping things the way they were? It’s not like they were pagans or anything. Through Tori’s whole childhood they attended church every single Sunday. They still did, and she joined them whenever she could get away from work long enough. But in waltzed Ken last year, looking down his nose at them as if they were heathens. Next thing she knew, her whole family was spouting religious talk like they were learning a new language, and praying out loud at the drop of a hat. It was unnerving.

  A sharp pain struck her toes. Allie had stomped on her foot. Outraged, she jerked her shoe away and opened her mouth to protest, but her big sister’s hiss cut her off.

  “Stop scowling at him.”

  “I’m not scowling.” But she was. Tori quickly schooled her expression into something pleasant.

  “Da-da-da-da!” Joanie caught sight of her daddy, and Tori had to hold tight when she tried to throw herself toward him.

  “There’s my girl.” Eric swept the baby out of Tori’s arms and swung her upward. Joanie’s delighted laughter rang in the air.

  A movement on the other side of the car drew Tori’s attention. The driver stood, his eyes fixed on her. Ryan Adams, from the singles Sunday school class she attended when she was in town. Nice-looking guy. Didn’t talk much, but she liked the way his eyes betrayed the fact that he found her attractive. She smiled and turned her right cheek—the one with the deepest dimple—toward him.

  “Ryan, how nice to see you. What a surprise.”

  Beside her, Allie angled her head so Ryan couldn’t see her face, and rolled her eyes expansively.

  What? Nothing wrong with a little flirting between consenting adults. She sidestepped around Allie and headed toward the front of the car, where Ryan was just rounding the bumper.

  “Hey, Tori. Haven’t seen you around lately. Where’ve you been?”

  He shoved his hands in his back jeans pockets. She couldn’t help notice the muscles flex in his shoulders. Not the overdeveloped bulging of those body-worshiping gym rats she couldn’t stand, just firm and fit. And sexy, in an outdoorsy lumberjack sort of way.

  “My job keeps me pretty busy.” She tossed her head so her curls bounced just a tiny bit as she looked up at him. “But I’ll be at Sunday school tomorrow. Will I see you there?”

  His throat moved as he swallowed. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again, and gave a nod instead. Tori deepened her smile with warmth in an attempt to put him at ease. Ryan always seemed charmingly tongue-tied around her.

  Ken stepped forward, pulling Joan along with an arm around her waist. “It’ll be good to see you at church. Joan and I don’t have too many more Sundays before they kick us out of the singles group, you know.”

  Behind him, Allie gave her the evil eye, a silent warning to be nice. Honestly, she acted more like a mother than an older sister. Like she didn’t trust Tori to act pleasantly.

  With steel control, Tori did not allow her smile to go cold. “Well, you won’t be going far, just down the hall to the couples class.” She gave Allie a look that said, See? I can be good when I want to.

  That report wasn’t getting done by itself. With an exaggerated sigh, she said, “I’d better get back to Lexington. I’ve got a ton of work to do tonight.” She narrowed her eyes and looked from Joan to Allie. “Don’t make any important decisions after I leave. Save them for tomorrow.”

  Joan grinned. “Bring some work clothes to change into. We need to start going through the boxes in the attic.”

  “Not until after lunch,” Gram said. “I’m fixing fried chicken and mashed potatoes.”

  “I can’t wait.” Tori brushed a final kiss onto Gram’s soft cheek, then headed for her car.

  Ryan found his voice as she waltzed past him. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Tori.”

  She flashed a dimple and wiggled her fingers in the air. “Looking forward to it.”

  Ryan watched Tori’s car disappear around a curve at the end of the street. The faint sound of her horn reached his ears as she beeped twice in farewell, a slender arm waving out the open window. Why did he always act like an idiot in front of her? One look at those smiling pink lips and rational thought flew right out of his head. No doubt she thought he was a country bumpkin, incapable of intelligent speech.

  Heck, she was probably right.

  A hand on his shoulder gave a playful shove from behind. Eric said, “Pull your tongue back in your mouth, dude. You’re drooling on your shoes.”

  Ryan turned to find everyone staring at him. Ken’s grin mimicked Eric’s, and Tori’s sisters both wore that pitying look women reserved for guys who’d just made fools of themselves.

  Heat suffused his face. “She’s, uh, done something to her hair, right?”

  Joan’s smile was painfully kind. “She started wearing it curly about a month ago. Guess she hasn’t been to church since the perm. I think it suits her, don’t you?”

  “Yeah.” He swallowed. “It does.”

  Ken shook his head, his grin crooked. “Why don’t you ask her out? You obviously like her. I don’t think she’s seeing anyone else right now.” He looked at Joan for confirmation.

  Joan shrugged. “She hasn’t mentioned anyone.”

  Allie stooped to pick up a red bow that Tori had dropped in the grass before she left. “I don’t think she has much time to date.”

  Mrs. Hancock, the Sanderson girls’ grandmother, folded her arms. Worry deepened the lines on he
r forehead. “Tori works too hard. And I don’t think she’s eating properly. Did you see how thin she was?”

  Actually, Ryan thought she looked good. Great, even. She was short, what his mom would call petite; the top of her head barely came up to his chin. Nothing big about Tori. Except she had curves in all the places a woman ought to have curves. Heat rose in his cheeks again at the thought, and he cleared his throat. “She wouldn’t be interested in going out with me anyway. I’m just a farm boy from out in the county. She probably goes for the big city suit-and-tie type.”

  Joan’s eyes narrowed, her head tilted. “I don’t think Tori really has a ‘type.’ In college she went out with a law student for a while, and with a guy who was studying engineering a couple of times. In high school she dated jocks.”

  “There you go, buddy,” Eric said. “Didn’t you play football in high school?”

  Ryan scowled. “Yeah, but I was a country bumpkin even back then.” He gave Allie and Joan a sour look. “Girls like you from the city were too good for hicks like me.”

  Allie tilted her head in acknowledgement. “But that was a long time ago. We’ve grown up since then.”

  An engine erupted to life nearby. They turned at the sound and watched a man next door disappear around the far side of his house, pushing a shiny red lawn mower.

  “You should ask her out, Ryan,” Joan said. “If you could coax her out of that office for an evening, it would be good for her.”

  Coax her? He didn’t have the slightest idea how to convince an elegant, professional woman like Tori Sanderson to go out on a date with a guy who worked in a hardware store. Seemed like a sure ego-buster if there ever was one.

  “You could come to dinner tomorrow after church.” Mrs. Hancock’s eyes held the same twinkle as her youngest granddaughter’s. “That’s the way my husband and I got to know each other, over my family’s kitchen table. Papa wouldn’t let me go out with him until he’d courted me with a proper chaperone.”

  There’s an idea. But Ryan intercepted an uncomfortable glance that passed between Allie and Joan.