The Cowboy's Stolen Bride

by Cora Seton

  “Let me check.” The woman got up and disappeared into a back room.

  Tory eyed her mother. “Jonah,” she echoed. “How are you on a first-name basis with a lawyer in Chance Creek?”

  “Jonah played football with your father in high school.”

  “Really?”

  “He was a bit of a troublemaker back then. Nice enough, popular, but sort of wandered through life, never taking anything seriously. For a while I wasn’t sure he’d even make it through high school, let alone pursue any secondary education. Then he discovered law, and it lit a fire in him. Shows you never can judge a person.”

  “I guess not.” Tory thought of Steel, whip smart, cagey as hell, running close to the law—on the wrong side, as far as she could tell. What would happen if he ever figured out his calling?

  A middle-aged man in a smart suit came out to greet them.

  “Was wondering when you’d pay a visit,” he told Enid. “This must be your daughter.” He shook hands with Tory. “Firm grip but not overly so. That’s good—confident without being cocky.”

  “Um, thanks.” She wasn’t sure what to do when he let go, so she shoved her hands in her pockets.

  “Come in, come in.” Jonah ushered them into a modest office featuring shelves of law books, certificates on the walls and a neat stack of bulging file folders on one side of his desk.

  The room was airy and light rather than dark and imposing, with a large window in one wall framing a view of the distant mountains. Jonah sat in a rustic wooden chair similar to the ones he offered Tory and Enid. Along with reference books and case files, the shelves held carved wooden horses, potted plants and pictures of him with his parents.

  Tory relaxed. This was a welcoming space that suited a small-town lawyer.

  “Might not be the fanciest place, but I wouldn’t trade it for any other.” Jonah had caught her looking around the room.

  “Tory here is on track to becoming a lawyer herself,” Enid said.

  “Is that right?” Jonah asked.

  “That’s the plan.”

  “Dale would have been very proud of you.”

  Tory shifted in her seat. Somehow she doubted that. “You knew him well?”

  “We were close as could be, me and him and William. That was a long time ago, though.”

  “William?” Tory knew Dale and William had played football together but always imagined a bitter rivalry between them.

  “And your mother,” Jonah added with a fond chuckle. “Always trying to be one of the guys, huh, Enid? Too bad we were all very aware you weren’t. I think your mother is responsible for most of the games we won back then,” he confided to Tory. “We were all trying so hard to impress her.”

  “Don’t be silly.” Enid waved him off. “It’s the cheerleaders you were showing off for, not some moody tomboy.”

  “All of us had crushes on you back then,” he reiterated. Jonah’s tone was light, but when Tory scanned the photos around the room again, she didn’t spot any wife or kids.

  “Enough of that.” Enid straightened her blouse. “I was wondering if you could do me a favor.”

  “I’m always happy to help. I won’t lie, though, I have a heavy workload at the moment.”

  “All the better. You should have no trouble putting my daughter to work.”

  “Mom!” Tory nearly surged right out of her seat. “That’s not why we’re here,” she assured Jonah. “I would never presume—”

  “I would.” Enid cut her off. “You need the experience. Jonah obviously needs the help. Everyone wins.”

  “You can’t spring something like that on a person,” Tory said. Her mind was racing at the possibility, though. Actual legal experience would count a lot later on.

  “The best way to learn something is to do it. And Jonah is an old friend. If he isn’t on board, he’ll say so, right Jonah?” She sent him an arch look, and Jonah smiled again.

  “How can I refuse?”

  Tory wasn’t sure what to do. The situation was beyond embarrassing, but the way her mother and Jonah were eyeing each other, she had the feeling this wasn’t the first time they’d talked since Enid had been home, even if she hadn’t come to Jonah’s office before.

  “I don’t want to impose,” Tory said.

  “Your mother is right. I could use the help,” Jonah told her. “Been meaning to hire someone. If you’re anything like her, then she’s the one doing me the favor. In which case, I have to pay you back,” he said with a nod at Enid.

  “Nonsense.”

  “Let me take you to lunch at least.”

  “That would be nice.” Enid’s cheeks had the slightest hint of pink, and Tory was surprised at how girlish she sounded. Was she… sweet on Jonah? “One more thing,” she added. “Tory’s friend has a bit of a problem we’d like to help him with. Can we run it by you? Do you have a few more minutes?”

  “As long as it takes,” Jonah said.

  Later, Tory carried her laptop out to the barn where, like Liam’s father at the Flying W, Dale had set up a rough office a long time ago. She’d wondered if she’d get more done away from the house and her mother, but the minute she let herself into the small room, she realized she’d made a mistake.

  Musty animal scents, chaffy hay, turned soil and sawdust awoke a myriad of memories. Dale teaching her to ride a horse; chasing chickens with Lance and shrieking when they chased her back; sneaking out after bedtime to go swimming in Pittance Creek with Olivia.

  She snapped out of it when a tear slipped down her cheek and landed with a splat on the paper in front of her. Rubbing a hand over her cheek, she jumped when she heard a voice behind her.

  “There you are,” Virginia said crossly, as if Tory had done her a personal affront by being out here. She frowned. “Allergies acting up? So much time in the city must have made you weak.”

  Tory just nodded. “I think it’s the hay.”

  “You’ll get accustomed to it soon enough. You’re a Cooper, after all. This is where you belong. Speaking of which, what have you done about the Ridley property?”

  “Uh…”

  “Just like I thought.” Virginia stepped nearer and rapped the pointy end of her umbrella on the desk. “You’ve been fooling around instead of getting anything done. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

  “I’ve got other things to do, Aunt Virginia.”

  “What other things?”

  Tory realized she couldn’t tell her she was trying to keep Liam’s mother from selling the Flying W. She couldn’t say anything about the organic certification idea, either. Not until she had everyone else on board. Virginia would have heard about Liam’s efforts in that direction and would put two and two together.

  She needed to throw Virginia off the scent for now. How on earth could she help her family win the Founder’s Prize? It seemed like the Coopers and the Turners were taking turns fixing or saving Chance Creek’s civic institutions. What else needed to be saved?

  She couldn’t think of a thing—except for Liam’s plan.

  “I… I’m going to save the dialysis unit,” she declared. She’d figure out something else later. What, she had no idea.

  “The dialysis unit, huh?” Virginia thought it over. “Sounds good. Get on it.” She tapped her umbrella on the desk again and left.

  Tory sighed again, turned on the laptop and spent a few hours going over Liam’s organic certification paperwork, making lists of what they’d need to do at Thorn Hill, to share with her siblings later. As she went, her estimation of Liam’s talents grew. He was careful and conscientious, and she thought his plan would get enthusiastic approval when the inspectors came.

  When she’d had enough, she walked to the main house for lunch, glad to put the problem of the Founder’s Prize out of her mind.

  Lost in thought as she approached the house, she didn’t notice Steel until he cornered her in the kitchen. “I heard you’ve been spending time in Silver Falls,” he said without preamble.

  It
took Tory a minute to catch up. It had only been a couple of days since she’d been at Runaway Lake, but it seemed like weeks. “What if I have?” Tory met his intense gaze without flinching. Steel might intimidate others, but she’d been holding her own against him since they were kids.

  “I heard about the fire, too,” he said. “Did you start it? Was it an accident?”

  Tory bristled. “You think I’m that careless?”

  “No. I don’t.” He shrugged. “I was kind of hoping you were just this once, though. It was Rod Malcom, wasn’t it?”

  “You know Rod?” How had Steel guessed that? “You two have some kind of falling out I should know about?” It certainly had seemed like Rod was coming after her because she was a Cooper.

  “Not me. Watch out for him, though. Stay away from Silver Falls while you’re at it. There’s history there.”

  She wondered what kind of history he meant. Had Dale’s penchant for breaking the law gotten him in trouble up there? “I’m not planning on going back,” she said honestly. The last thing she wanted was to get caught up in to the seedier side of her family’s legacy. “Are you?”

  “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 in the corner. “What’s your poison?”

  “I’m good, thanks.” Liam cleared his throat. “I’m not here to donate. I mean, I am in a way.” He started over. “I’m concerned about the future of the hospital. The dialysis wing, specifically.”

  “Ugh, the dialysis wing. Losing money hand over fist.” He listened to the person on the other end of the phone a moment, poured himself a glass of expensive rum and laughed. “Got that right,” he said to the caller, then turned to Liam. “Too many machines to replace. Better to just shut it down.”

  Liam frowned. “I think I can raise enough funds to buy the necessary dialysis machines.”

  “Waste of time,” Gary said. “We can’t hold back progress. Aggregating services in urban centers is where it’s at. You can’t have a dialysis unit in every little town.”

  “Sure you can,” Liam said. “I just told you how we’re going to do it.”

  “The machines are only part of the problem. There’s the overhead.
The human-hours to run the clinic. If we shut it down, we can shave ten percent off our overall operating costs.”

  “How many lives does that represent?” Liam challenged him.

  Gary rolled his eyes. “We move the dialysis unit, the patients move, too. And then maybe I can finally get the heck out of this backwater town.” The person on the other end of the phone said something, and Gary laughed.

  Figured. Another person willing to tear things apart to get what they wanted with no thought for those left dealing with the wreckage. “You can’t tell me that patients live as long away from their homes and families.”

  “You’re taking this too personally. This isn’t about people—it’s about the math.”

  Liam knew he’d lose his cool if he didn’t get out of here. “You’re right,” he said. “I’m taking this personally. I’m personally going to keep Chance Creek’s dialysis center open, and then I’m personally going to see to it you lose your job. Got it?”

  Gary straightened. “Get the fuck out of here.”

  “Gladly.”

  “Can you meet me for lunch at the Burger Shack?” Liam said when Tory answered her phone. “I need to talk to someone before I explode.”

  “Sure thing. Give me twenty minutes.” She was tired of paperwork, and she wouldn’t mind spending a little time with Liam. God knew she thought about him enough when he wasn’t around.

  Too much, she decided as she shut down her laptop, freshened up, grabbed her purse and went out to her truck. She had to remember she was here only temporarily, while Liam was here to stay—if Mary didn’t manage to sell the Flying W.

  Lost in thought, she was surprised when another vehicle approached and parked in front of the house. It took Tory a moment to recognize Bart and Maggie Lawson. She’d only vaguely known them growing up, but they’d recently become close to Lance, so she’d seen them around a bit more frequently.

  “Lance and Maya aren’t here,” Tory said after greeting them. “I’ll let them know you stopped by when I see them.” When Bart exchanged a glance with Maggie, she added, “Is everything all right?”

  “I don’t know how to sugar coat this so I’ll just blurt it out,” Bart began. “We were wandering around the Ridley property.”