Confer, Lorelei - Deadly Revenge (BookStrand Publishing Romance) (3 page)

“Always glad to help a beautiful woman in distress,” Dave replied as Tory, not sure how to reply, continued to look out the window the rest of the drive home. The roadside vistas definitely looked like spring or early summer, green and blooming.

Tory and Dave made the final turn onto the street of her childhood home just as the sun set, casting its colorful hues on the mountains. The sight always took her breath away.

Tory thought about her reasons for coming here, about facing Matt one last time.

There was no way she could be prepared to deal with Matt. But she knew what she had to do and the task would not be easy.

Chapter 3

When Tory and Dave pulled into her mother’s driveway, Tory saw her mother, Anne Richards, standing at the front door nervously wringing her hands. The moment Tory stepped out of the vehicle, Tory’s mother ran toward her daughter’s open arms.

“I’m fine, Mom. Really. It’s just a little cut. Really, I’m fine. This is Dave Miller. He stopped to help me, wasn’t that nice of him?”

“Thank you.” She turned to Tory. “How is your car?”

“It had to be towed. Dave, this is my mother, Anne Richards,” Tory said in an attempt to make introductions.

“Ma’am,” Dave said as he put the last of the luggage on the front porch. “Tory, call me sometime tomorrow or I’ll call you and we’ll work out picking up the rental car.” He started to walk back to his vehicle.

“Dave, thank you so much for helping me out and giving me a ride home. I don’t know how to repay you for your generosity.” She joined Dave as they walked toward his truck.

Dave turned to Anne and said, “Bye, Mrs. Richards, nice meeting you.” He opened the truck door and got in, put the window down, and waved good-bye to Tory with a “talk to you tomorrow.”

Tory joined arms with her mother as they walked toward the house, her luggage waiting on the porch.

“Let’s soak that blouse.”

Tory looked at her mother standing tall and willowy, with soft green eyes and long dark hair beginning to show a little gray at the sides. She gave her a hug. Then she looked around at the tall pines, oaks, and maple trees spread across the front yard and especially the beautiful blooming pink and white azaleas along the front of the large porch. “Okay, but let’s have a cup of tea on the front porch so I can admire the sunset and the flowers. They’re so pretty, Mom. I’ll have to take some pictures.”

“Let’s get your things inside and get you settled.” They walked across the porch toward the wooden front door with a large oval of etched glass in the middle.

Tory had always loved the etched glass front door. To her it communicated security, safety, and love. When returning home after school, she loved to walk up to the door. She knew she would be safe behind it and not only from all the storms inflicted by Mother Nature but from
all kinds
of storms to weather in the future. This house, behind the door, had become her safe place, her haven.

Her parents built the house a short time after her older sister Sue had been born. Her father had always maintained it relatively well, but now the yard and the blooming azaleas looked better than ever.

Tory carried her bags through the front door, put them down on the stone foyer floor, and took a good look around.

“Wow, Mom, the hardwood floors look beautiful, sanded and sealed again.”

“Thanks. It’s merely part of the process of converting this large house into a B&B.”

To the right stood the grand open stair case leading upstairs to an open loft overlooking the great room and dining room. All the furniture remained in place as it had always been.

“Mom, remember the Christmas tree we always put along the side of the open stairs, and Sue and I would take turns putting the star on top of the tree?”

Tory’s eyes quickly filled with tears as she was inundated with a rush of memories. She remembered her father lifting her up in his strong arms to put the star on top of the Christmas tree when she was younger. How he taught her how to pop corn on an open fire in the stone fireplace while he told the story about building the fireplace by hand from the stones and rocks collected from the land while building the house.

The glass sliding doors in the large formal dining room opened onto a sunroom where many hot summer evenings were spent watching the glorious shades of the setting sun through the tall, regal, stately trees.

When her parents were younger and healthier, the living area was put to use entertaining, which both her parents enjoyed immensely. But the huge house seemed small sitting on all the acreage her parents owned.

The phone rang. Her mother hurried to the other side of the large granite-topped island situated in the middle of the large country kitchen.

“Hello?” Her mother looked at Tory and mouthed the words, “It’s Sue.”

Tory’s sister Sue lived on a nearby horse ranch with her attorney husband, Brandon. Her mother hung up the phone and turned to Tory.

“Sue wondered if you made it yet. She’s been worried about you. She’ll stop by in a few minutes.” She ran her hand through Tory’s soft brown hair.

“I’ve missed her.”

* * * *

Tory’s room, one of four large bedrooms upstairs, hadn’t changed since she left for college years ago. It still had the pink floral wallpaper, white-on-white dotted curtains at the two large windows, and pink and purple throw pillows on the window seat. The white-painted woodwork matched the bed, dresser, and night tables. The double doors leading into the walk-in closet still contained some of her clothes left over from high school.

Her unworn wedding dress and honeymoon suitcase had been removed from her room probably by her mother. She needed to thank her mom for doing that. Memories of choosing her dress with the help of her mother and sister flooded her.

She sat on the bed, slumped over, her arms resting on her knees, her head held in her hands. She still couldn’t believe the disaster her bachelorette party had become.

She had packed up her things, loaded them into her car, and headed back to Myrtle Beach.

Enough, enough! I’m back now. I can do this.

She put her bags on the bed and began to unpack. She threw some things into the dresser drawers and hung the rest in the closet. She changed her blouse and put her bloody one to soak in the adjoining bathroom sink. She had just put her suitcase in the walk-in closet when she heard her sister holler from the front door.

“Hey, Tory. Where are you?”

Chapter 4

Sue’s steps on the stairs and her boisterous voice meant a great big bear hug was to come. One that was long-lasting and much-needed for both of them. Tory looked Sue over as they stood in front of the closet mirror.

Sue never changed. She was so much like their mother, full of energy and effervescence with green eyes and long, light brown hair she usually pulled back into some kind of concoction at the crown of her head.

The opposite of Sue, Tory had a petite build and well-proportioned body shape, vibrant green eyes, and dark auburn hair cut short and feathery, close to her face. Sue had always been envious of Tory’s shapely physique and made sure everyone knew it, much to Tory’s embarrassment.

“Oh, how’s your head? Mom told me what happened.”

“It’s not as bad as it looks.”

“Oh, Tory, I have tons of things to do together, things we haven’t done in years,” Sue exclaimed with excitement and another big hug.

“Remember, this is only a trial period for a few months. We agreed before I made the decision to come back here,” Tory said, waiting until they were eye to eye with each other. “If things are all cleared up, I can return to Myrtle Beach, and you’ll stop harping at me.”

“Of course, but you’re home now. You just don’t know it yet. Come on downstairs.” Sue grabbed her sister’s hand and together they hurried down the hall.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I have a portfolio of some of our best family photos. I included some pictures of Dad, so we’ll always have him in our memories, too.”

“When are you going to get some of your pictures published and sold, Tory?” Sue asked while looking through the pictures. “They’re wonderful. You need to have a gallery or a showing or whatever it is they call it.”

Tory thanked them for the accolades while drinking her tea, and Sue left soon after so Tory could get settled in.

* * * *

After Sue left, Tory and her mother had a comfortable, quiet evening catching up, talking about work, friends, and how much they all missed her father. Had it been only eight months since his funeral?

“Mom, are you sure you didn’t make too many changes too fast with turning this house into a Bed and Breakfast?”

“Life is full of change, dear. We never know what’s going to happen next, but we have to be ready to accept them and move on.”

Tory squeezed her mother’s hand gently, and her mother continued.

“Sometimes I wish I could have back that time with your father. There are things I never got to say to him or do with him. I need his reminders around, so I don’t forget what he looked like, how much he meant to all of us.” Her mother stood, leaned over, and kissed her daughter good night. “I’m going to bed now. Good night, Tory. I’m so glad you’re here.”

Tory watched her mother take a slow walk to the large bedroom and bath downstairs they had added on after her father suffered his first heart attack years ago because he couldn’t handle the stairs.

After making another cup of hot tea, Tory returned to the family room. She settled into her dad’s favorite chair and looked around. His pipe rack sat on the end table beside his chair, the scent of cherry tobacco he always smoked permeating her senses. His wedding picture and a family portrait of all four of them were all part of the décor and natural charm.

She slowly got up from the comfortable chair and walked to the mantel. She picked up the picture she had taken of him on her graduation day from college. He was so happy and proud of his “baby girl.” A tear trickled down her cheek, and she wiped it away. She had to be strong, hard as it may be without her father.

Her tea finished, she put the cup in the kitchen sink and walked back through the family room and up the stairs to her room. She changed into a nightgown and got into bed. As she lay there listening to the quiet nighttime sounds, she made plans. She planned a timetable of things she needed to do in the next few months in order for her to get back to her job at the beach.

She needed to make sure all the necessary bills, taxes, and insurance on the house and property were in order. And she needed to be able to get over Matt breaking her heart two years ago, so she could get on with her life, too. How hard could it be?

Chapter 5

Tory, refreshed from her shower, dressed casually in light colored slacks, a button-front shirt, and a light jacket. She kissed her mom good-bye, grabbed her camera, and went out the door. She backed her mother’s car out of the driveway and started down the steep and winding road into the small town of Hickoryville nearby, population approximately fifteen thousand on a good day.

She looked at the surrounding green and lush, kudsu-covered landscape along the way, noticing two new housing developments, actually gated communities, in different stages of construction just outside of town.
It’s a good thing Mom and Dad bought the extra acreage when they built their house or they would be crowded with neighbors.

Tory parked the car in front of the small one-teller bank building and went inside. There was one other customer ahead of her, so she waited patiently in line. The tall, well-toned woman with long, dark hair was talking to the teller.

“The bank must have made a mistake. I know there had to be more than enough money in our account, so the bank must have taken it out without my knowledge.”

Tory stepped back farther, not wanting to eavesdrop anymore than she already had, but the size of the bank made privacy difficult.

“This is the bank’s fault, and it’s going to pay, believe me, it’ll pay all right.”

The customer became louder and more belligerent, drawing the attention of the other two employees in the bank before she finally said to the teller in a huff, “I’ll have to take my business elsewhere then, and believe me, this bank will lose a lot of business.”

She marched out of the bank, her eyes furrowed, her nose in the air, her lips closed tight.