The Cowboy's Stolen Bride

by Cora Seton

  “If I’m going to save your boyfriend’s ranch, the least you can do is help,” Enid said.

  Liam wished he could leave with Tory and her mother. Or better yet, steal Tory from Enid and run away to another quiet campsite with her. Mary headed for the kitchen. Before he could follow her, Maya and Noah slipped into the house.

  “We heard shouting from outside,” Noah said. “Everything okay here?”

  “No one came to blows.” Liam led the way to where their mother was rummaging in the refrigerator.

  “I don’t care if William didn’t cheat on me.” Mary emerged with a bottle of beer, popped the top off and took a long drink, a very un-Mary-like thing to do. “If your father was a criminal, that’s just as bad.”

  “Maybe it doesn’t matter anymore,” Liam surprised himself by saying. “Dad’s gone. We’re the ones left here. We need to figure out how to move forward.”

  “Exactly. Which is why we need to sell this damn ranch and get out of this damn town.” Mary’s voice rose.

  “That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” Liam countered. “Do you really think selling the ranch is somehow going to erase the past? Make it easier for you to move forward? Enid was right: you always wanted a way out of Chance Creek, and you made sure you got one. Come on,” he baited her when she didn’t answer. “You saw William and Enid talking in the barn, and that’s all you saw—two neighbors talking. And you left your husband and four children over that. Over a conversation! Don’t tell me you hadn’t already planned to leave.”

  Had he gone too far?

  Mary was tight-lipped with anger. “You’re right on one count and one count only. I should have left long before I did. But that didn’t make it right for Enid to try to drive me out.”

  So that’s what this was really all about, Liam thought. “It’s Enid you’re angry at. More than Dad. All this time it’s really been about her.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “You were friends with her, right?” Liam pressed. It sure sounded like they had been.

  “When we were kids. Before I learned who she really was,” Mary took another drink. “Maybe she’s right. Maybe I was a little jealous when she started dating William, but only because she knew I liked him, too. And he should have chosen me. I don’t know what I was thinking back then. That he’d change? Grow up and see there was a lot more to the world than Chance Creek? I never should have married your father. I never should have even dated him. I should have run like hell the minute I graduated.”

  “So why aren’t you happy now?” Noah asked. “You got what you wanted in the end, didn’t you? You left Chance Creek and started a new life. Why is it so important to come back, toss us all out and sell our ranch?”

  Liam waited to hear her answer. Mary was quiet for a moment. “Something… happened,” she admitted flatly. “And I’ve got no idea what I’m going to do next. It’s not just me,” she added. “It’s the kids, too. Justin and Liz. We’re on our own.”

  “What happened to Frank?” Maya asked.

  “Those kids aren’t even yours,” Liam pointed out.

  “I’m the only mother they’ve known, just about,” Mary snapped. “I’m not going to abandon them. Besides… I adopted Justin and Liz right after my marriage. Maybe I should have told you that.” She didn’t sound half as sure as she had a few minutes ago.

  Liam couldn’t keep up. She’d adopted Justin and Liz—and never mentioned it?

  “With Frank… gone, I’ve got custody,” Mary added.

  “What happened to Frank?” Maya asked again.

  “Where are the twins now?” Noah asked at the same time. “I thought you sent them home the other day.”

  “They’re with their grandparents.”

  Liam took pity on Maya, who looked ready to repeat her question a third time. “Where’s your husband, Mom?”

  At first he thought she wouldn’t answer. When she did, you could have knocked him over with a puff of air. “Jail,” she finally said. “Go on, tell me what a mess I’ve made of my life.”

  “Sounds like Frank’s the one who’s made a mess,” Maya said slowly.

  Liam couldn’t find any words at all. He’d assumed his mother was living her dream life while they all struggled to get by here. Instead she’d been suffering as much—or maybe more—than everyone else. He knew how proud his mother was. Remembered the way she’d lorded it over the Coopers because of Dale’s tendency to cut corners. This had to hurt.

  The buzz of Mary’s phone interrupted them. She seemed almost grateful for the distraction. “Excuse me.” She stepped away to answer it, leaving Liam, Noah and Maya to exchange glances.

  “Jail?” Maya mouthed silently. Liam knew what she meant. It was surprising their mother had admitted it.

  “Of course I would,” Mary was saying into the phone. “Tomorrow afternoon? I’ll be there.” She hung up and explained, “That was Leslie. She needs a ride to the hospital tomorrow.”

  “For dialysis? You’ll be there for hours,” Liam said. His mother and Leslie must be closer than he thought.

  “It’s the least I can do,” she said tiredly. “I don’t seem to be much good at anything else.”

  “You stuck by Justin and Liz, sounds like. You didn’t have to adopt them,” Maya said softly.

  Liam wanted to point out their mother planned to support her new children by selling the Flying W, but Maya kept going.

  “I don’t think selling the ranch is the answer.” She held up a restraining hand when Liam opened his mouth. “All of us need some time to think about what we’ve learned today. Can we agree about that?”

  “I… guess,” Liam said reluctantly.

  “Fine,” Mary said.

  Noah nodded. “Everyone back to their chores. We’ll talk more later.”

  The ride home to Thorn Hill was short but hardly comfortable.

  Tory found it hard to revise her opinion of what had happened between her mother and William. It pained her to admit it had been easy to sympathize with Noah’s insistence his father was innocent. Everyone else, except Steel, who’d given no indication of his thoughts one way or the other, had seemed willing to consider Enid’s explanation. But then they’d already dug up a fair number of surprises in their families’ pasts.

  One thing she was sure about: the ill will between her mother and Mary went far deeper than she’d guessed.

  “Are you actually going to help Liam save his ranch?” Tory asked.

  Enid shot her a look. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “I thought maybe you said that to piss off Mary.”

  “Is that really what you think of me?” She waved off Tory’s reply. “No, don’t answer that. The thing is, I doubt we’ll actually need to do anything. Mary would have to be able to prove she owns the Flying W before she can sell it. I’m sure Noah is the one who has the deed to the place now.”

  Tory noticed they’d driven past the turnoff to Thorn Hill. “Where are we going?”

  “Just have to make a stop in town. You don’t mind, do you?”

  Tory sighed. They trundled along in silence for a few minutes.

  “What kind of law are you interested in?” Enid asked.

  “Business law,” Tory answered automatically, then thought about the work she was doing with Liam. “Did you know Liam’s been getting ready to go for organic certification for the Flying W? It would be a shame for all his hard work go to waste.”

  “Organic certification?” Enid asked. “That’s interesting.”

  Tory nodded. “We’re talking about getting the process started for Thorn Hill, too. I won’t be around forever, but I like the idea. I like the idea that people in Chance Creek can move forward and not just be stuck in the past.”

  “Hmm” was all Enid said to that.

  “Some people are really dedicated to this town,” Tory countered. She didn’t know why she was sticking up for Chance Creek after spending so long defending her choice to leave it behind. “Liam thinks his fam
ily can save the dialysis unit—and hopefully the hospital, too.”

  “They better, if they have any hope of a future here. Could you get that?” Enid gestured to her phone, buzzing in her open purse between their seats.

  “Enid’s phone,” Tory said when she answered it.

  “It’s Leslie. I was wondering if Enid might come visit me at the hospital tomorrow afternoon while I’m having my dialysis.”

  Tory relayed the request. “Of course,” Enid said. “Tell her I look forward to it. Here we are,” she added when Tory had hung up. She pulled up in front of a modest building and parked.

  “Wait,” Tory said. “Isn’t this a lawyer’s office?”

  Chapter Eight

  Liam busied himself with chores that afternoon, knowing he needed to cool off before he faced his mother again. When he found her on the porch later, she was alone. He stepped into the house, poured himself a glass of lemonade and came back out again.

  “Something’s still bothering me,” he said without preamble, taking the seat next to hers. “A number of things are, actually, but one more than the others.”

  Mary gave an exaggerated sigh. “Haven’t you harassed me enough for one day?”

  “If you didn’t want so many questions, maybe you should have given us a few answers before you abandoned us.” Liam regretted the words when he saw his mother flinch. Keep a cool head, he reminded himself, but he was still stung by her behavior all those years ago. The fact she’d made him drive her to town the day she’d left still burned. He’d waited several hours for her before he’d gone home and found the note she’d left. He’d never forget the burning sense of loss that had filled him—something akin to shame to know she’d leave him behind so easily. Coming so close on the heels of his getting kicked off the football team, he’d felt somehow he was to blame.

  The afternoon was winding down, the shade on the porch and the light breeze helping make the heat bearable. Liam searched the horizon for signs of rain clouds, but there weren’t any.

  “Back in high school you split up Dad and Enid because you were jealous. Sounds like you dated him out of spite. Why on earth did you marry him? I know rivalries can run deep,” he said, thinking of Lance, “but didn’t you realize you were taking it too far?”

  “I was a teenager,” she pointed out. “I wasn’t thinking through anything clearly back then. Graduation was looming, and I didn’t know what I was supposed to do other than get married.” She looked down at her hands. “That’s what most of my friends were doing.”

  Liam frowned. “You didn’t want to wait to see if someone you liked better came along?”

  “Your father was a nice guy.” She smiled wistfully. “Maybe I wasn’t head over heels in love with him, but I liked him just fine, and I thought we could make a go of it. I was restless. I didn’t know what to do with that feeling. I guess I figured settling down and having a family would fix it. I didn’t give Enid a whole lot of thought, if I’m honest. Seemed like she was always raring to take on the world. Figured she’d make her way just fine. I guess that was a mistake.”

  “You stuck here with Dad a long time.” He took a long drink, and the tart liquid soothed his parched throat. His mother’s glass was almost empty. He probably should have asked if she wanted a refill.

  “Once you have a family, Liam, you do your best to keep it together. I guess ultimately I failed at that, but I didn’t set out to.”

  Liam supposed he could relate. It was easy to get in over your head. You made a commitment you thought you could handle, and by the time you found you were wrong, there was no way out. Football had been like that. It wouldn’t have been so bad if he hadn’t been quarterback—and captain. If he hadn’t had so much pressure on him, maybe he’d never let his drinking get out of control.

  “Things are never as cut and dried as you might think,” she went on. “Don’t think I was never happy, either, because I loved all of you, even your father—even when I left him.”

  “Don’t,” Liam said, his fingers tightening around his glass. He didn’t need her to bullshit him. “If you loved us, you never would have abandoned us.”

  “I hope you’re never in a position to have to make a choice like I did,” she countered. “It’s easy to sit where you are now and throw stones. Talk to me twenty years from now when you’ve done a little more living and life’s thrown you a few more curve balls.”

  “You walked out on us.”

  “I asked you to join me as soon as I could,” she shot back. “You didn’t want to.” She waved off his protests. “Has it ever occurred to you I did you a favor, leaving when I did?”

  “No.” Of course it hadn’t. How on earth could that count as a favor?

  “I never liked living in Chance Creek, but all you kids took after your father. You and Noah always lived and breathed the ranch, and even Maya and Stella were more interested in riding and line dancing than anything I could do with them in the city. I couldn’t stand to stay here anymore—even before I thought your father cheated on me. If I’d stayed, my bad attitude would have poisoned Chance Creek for all of you.”

  “But…” Liam couldn’t think of what to say. It couldn’t be right to leave your kids, but it was true that in some ways life had become easier when she was gone. It was as if all the rest of them understood each other—understood what it meant to be a Turner—in a way she never had. He’d breathed easier after a while, knowing he wouldn’t walk into a fight between his parents when he got home from school or being out. Knowing the ranch would keep running, everyone would do their chores and no one would complain all the time about the heat, the flies, the lack of exciting things to do in town.

  “When William cheated, or whatever it was he was doing”—Mary waved a hand, as if it didn’t matter, putting Liam even more on edge—“I figured I didn’t owe him anymore, and it was such a relief. I could go where I wanted. Do the kinds of things I like to do, without anyone putting me down for it.”

  “When did anyone put you down?”

  She looked askance at him. “All the time.”

  “Name once.”

  “Remember our vacation to Washington, DC?”

  Hell. Liam did remember that. He’d never spent a worse week in his life. They’d driven overnight, crammed into his father’s old Chevy truck, and stayed in a cheap hotel in a part of the city that had seen better days. Liam hadn’t been able to sleep for all the traffic noise and sirens that went on outside all night. During the day, they’d walked endless miles between monuments and government buildings while their parents bickered about the cost of everything.

  “All I wanted was one day at the American Art Museum. One lousy day. We’d done the National Air and Space Museum, the natural history museum, everything everyone else wanted to do. You all couldn’t give me one single day.”

  Shame washed through him. She was right. They’d been worn out by that time, overwhelmed with too much culture, too many museums, too many lines and crowds, all of them out of their depth. They’d outright rebelled at the thought of going to look at stupid pictures, as he’d summed it up at the time, if he was remembering right.

  “I was what—ten?”

  “And I don’t blame you. I blame William,” she said quietly. “If he’d backed me up, everyone would have fallen in line like always. But he didn’t back me up. He never did. It was his ranch, his town, his way or the highway. I couldn’t live like that forever.”

  “But you’re back here now.” He couldn’t face what she’d said head on. He didn’t want to admit the part he’d played in her unhappiness, small as it was. He and his siblings did fall in line when his father laid down the law, and Liam had never thought about how it must have felt to his mother when everyone ganged up on her.

  “Not for long.”

  He supposed she had to get back to the twins. It was so strange to think of her raising two other kids he’d barely met.

  “How old are they now?” He’d hardly spoken to Justin and Liz at t
he wedding.

  “Seventeen.”

  “Just about old enough to go out on their own.”

  She turned toward him, and after a moment he met her gaze, feeling a flush creep up his throat. “In a few years, I mean,” he added uncomfortably.

  “They’re no more to blame for any of this than you, your brother or sisters,” she pointed out.

  “We had to make our way.”

  “You had a ranch.”

  “Which you want to sell.”

  “I’m not trying to take anything from you.” Mary leaned forward to make her point. “You’re struggling to keep afloat, and I know a much easier, much more lucrative way to support all of us. A way we can be together. That spa in Hocking Hills will build a better life for everyone.”

  Liam swallowed the words that threatened to pour out of him. He wanted nothing to do with a stupid spa. The thing Mary never seemed to understand was that when things got hard, you didn’t just toss everything to the wind and run away. You doubled down, solved your problems and fixed things.

  “We’re not selling this ranch, and that’s final,” he said. “I’m not leaving this town, either, and that means I have to save it, which means keeping the dialysis unit open. That’s what I’m going to do. And you’re going to help me.”

  Mary raised her eyebrows. “Why would I do that?”

  “Because you need a ranch to sell,” Liam said. “And you’re not selling ours. If we win the Ridley property, you can have it. Then you can open your spa in Ohio and leave us all the hell alone.”

  “Do I even want to know what we’re doing here?” Tory demanded, standing firm as Enid tried to take her arm and lead her into the building.

  “I have some questions about our case, that’s all.”

  Tory didn’t buy it for a second. Something else was up. Enid had a glint in her eye. “The one you just said we didn’t need to pursue? Why do you need to drag me along?” She allowed Enid to lead her into a well-appointed reception lounge.

  “Does Jonah have a minute?” Enid asked the receptionist.