“Calm down.” Liv stared down at her lap as the blood started to pound in her temples. She was going to be so happy when this wedding-to-end-all-weddings was over.
“I’m trying, but the stress. You’re the only one I can talk to.”
“I know.” Talking to her husband would be out of the question, because Vivian would not make waves.
“David is talking about taking out a loan now. Once the magazine got involved, well, he’s just determined to really put on a show. In some ways he’s worse than Shae.”
“I’m so sorry, Mom.” Tim glanced her way again and Liv shrugged helplessly at him. For several minutes Vivian unloaded, her words so rushed at times, as if she’d held them in for way too long, that Liv could barely understand her.
“Have you told David you don’t want to take out a loan?” she finally said. “Have you discussed this with him?”
“This wedding is so important to both him and Shae. How could I possibly—”
“Mom, you have a say in this. This is your money, too.” But even as she spoke, she knew that Vivian would never have a much-needed talk with her husband. She just needed to talk now, and Liv was her sounding board. Liv wasn’t supposed to offer ways to solve the problem, she was supposed to give moral support.
So damned hard.
But Liv sucked it up and continued to listen until, finally, her mother had talked herself out, convinced herself that everything was going to be fine if she just let Shae and David have their way.
“Thanks for listening, Liv.” Vivian sounded tired, a bit self-conscious and relieved. “I hope you’re doing well. I didn’t even ask.”
“I’m fine, Mom.” I’m not all that directly involved with Bridezilla and her father. “I love you and I’ll talk to you soon.” Liv pocketed the phone.
“Everything okay?” Tim asked.
“Why won’t she just grow a backbone,” Liv muttered as she leaned her head back against the headrest.
“Because in this life there are givers and takers, Liv. Your mom is a giver.” Liv gave her father a frowning look. Sometimes Tim surprised her and he continued to do so by expounding on the matter. “With me she gave and gave and gave, to the point that it made me uncomfortable.”
“You felt like your dad?” The guy that Tim said had dedicated his life to taking and giving nothing in return.
He gave her a curious look. “I never thought about it, but yeah, maybe I did. Anyway, I don’t think there’s any way your mom is going to grow a backbone at this point in her life. You’re just going to have to deal with it.” He gave a small snort. “The way I probably should have and didn’t.”
“What happened with you and Margo? Today?” Liv blurted the question out. It was none of her business, but...maybe it was.
Tim exhaled. “We hashed a few things out.” He tightened the corner of his mouth before going on to say, “I planned to present her with a payment plan for the hospital bill, but...it got personal.”
Liv had noticed. Personal to the point of making Margo cry. “Dad...is there any chance that you and Margo could maybe forge a new path?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you...going to look into it?”
“I don’t know.”
From the tone of his voice it was obvious that sharing time was over. Apparently, both she and her father sucked at relationships. She did because she was afraid she wouldn’t stand up for herself and he did because he adamantly stood up for what he believed. He wasn’t a taker. Nor was he a giver.
And maybe that was the problem.
* * *
MATT CELEBRATED THE first victory in his comeback with a night out on the town in Dillon. Etta was there, as were Wes, Pete, Jed and Corrie.
“You were awesome,” Wes said, the sarcasm in his deep voice masking a sincere compliment. Wes was never one to get too mushy.
“Yeah. Awesome,” Matt replied, lifting his beer. Awesome or not, Ryan had clocked a better time in the rodeo he’d competed in on the opposite end of the state. Matt knew that because Craig had texted him the times and told him to practice more. He’d also told him that his mom was trying to get a day off so they could come to one of Matt’s rodeos. Apparently, Willa was quite pleased with her son’s newfound love of roping—although the dude ranch dogs weren’t of the same mind, since