the same way. Quiet. Preoccupied, which made it difficult to focus on her mission of keeping Shae’s spending under control. They decided on the spice cake—Reed having given Shae his blessing to choose without him since he was on a business trip—with buttercream frosting instead of fondant. There would, of course, be tasteful layers and supports and cascading flowers.
Vivian had noticed Shae’s mood also and suggested, when her stepdaughter had excused herself to take a phone call, that it was prewedding jitters. Liv thought instead that Shae’s mood might be because she couldn’t think of anything else to spend money on now that she’d signed a contract on the most expensive cake in the western part of the state.
Yes, the wedding was going to be tasteful and beautiful—an event that could be featured as a spread in a magazine, which was probably why it was being covered by a regional publication. A fairy-tale Montana wedding. Oh, joy.
Shae came back from her phone call beaming. Reed had agreed with the spice cake. She’d been concerned during the tasting, since she’d promised to try to keep the cost to a minimum, but with the magazine spread and all, it was important to have the right cake.
Vivian beamed back at Shae and reached out to pat her hand. “The spice cake is perfect,” she said.
Liv also smiled. Perfect cake. Perfect groom. Perfect wedding. Perfect life.
Must be nice.
The rest of the day with Shae went well. Now that she and Reed were on the same page cake-wise, she was her old self, which made Liv think that perhaps he was a good match for her if she was concerned with what he thought instead of just riding roughshod over him. Finally, at close to 4:00 p.m. she hugged her mother goodbye, got an air kiss from Shae and started the long drive home.
Liv pulled into the town of White Hall for gas, thankful that there was no practice that night. She filled the tank, then started to pull out of the station when her phone rang.
It was a number she didn’t recognize, but she answered anyway. The drill team had a phone tree to inform each other of practice changes and if tomorrow’s practice had been moved, she wanted to know since it affected how long she stayed at work.
“Liv, it’s Matt.”
A small surge of adrenaline shot through her. There was something in his tone that put her senses on alert. And for once, not good alert. “Yes?”
“Are you driving?”
“Not yet.”
“Don’t start. Your dad had some kind of attack—”
Liv heard herself gasp. The sound startled her, since she wasn’t conscious of making any sound at all. “What kind of attack?”
“I don’t have any details. They won’t give them to me since I’m not family. He called me to take him to the hospital about half an hour ago. I did and now he’s being examined.”
“Andie—”
“Is on her way. I can come and get you, Liv, if you tell me where you are.”
“No!” Liv swallowed, then pulled in a deep breath. “No,” she repeated in a calmer voice. “I can drive. I’m not that far away. White Hall.”
“You’re sure.”
“Positive,” she said. “Why didn’t you call sooner?”
“Tim called and asked me to come over. I had no idea why, then when I got there all I could think about was getting him medical care.”
Liv’s stomach went into free fall. “Tell me the symptoms he showed.”
“He, uh...well he was in pain and doubled over. Said his gut hurt. And his arm.”
“Left?”
“Right. And he was jaundiced. It was one of the first things the nurse that admitted him keyed into.”
Then it probably wasn’t a heart attack. “Was he communicating all right?”
“Yeah. When he wasn’t doubled over.”
Probably not a stroke. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t cancer or any one of a number of other nasty things. “Thanks, Matt.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“No. I just need to stop talking and get on the road.”
“Drive carefully, Liv. I mean it,” he said sternly.
“I will. Promise.” She clicked off, then punched in Andie’s number.
“Liv, I don’t know anything, but I am on my way. Matt called me.”
“I’m just leaving White Hall.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as I’m there.”
“Thanks.” Liv once again clicked the end button and then set the phone on the seat beside her, within easy reach.
Well, it had happened. Whatever Tim had been silently battling had finally won. Now she knew for certain that he hadn’t been getting better—she only hoped it wasn’t too late. She knew