18. Tori

"Girls, girls, girls. What did I miss?" Tori slid into the back booth, a little breathless after the last rush, but finally able to join Raina and Rose—and two adorable babies—who'd dropped in for coffee and a chat late that morning.

"So much!" Rose exclaimed. "Raina's telling me about Val's procedure tomorrow. It's very exciting."

"She didn't have second thoughts about you sharing the news with the family?" Tori asked. "I know she was squishy about it."

"At first," Raina said. "Then she proclaimed that, ‘Wingates are always up in everyone's business, so what difference does it make anyway?'"

They laughed at her dead-on Valerie Wallace impression, but something was definitely different.

"You've changed your tune where she's concerned," Tori commented. "All the vitriol is gone when you mock her."

Raina cocked her head in concession. "She's the one who's changed, to be honest," she replied. "I guess an inoperable brain tumor will do that to a person."

"Not to mention," Rose said, cupping little Lily's head in her hand as she leaned in, "there's no Jack around to stir the pot, these little angels would soften anyone, and you orchestrated a meeting with Justin, who could save her life."

"Tori gets the credit for bringing ol' Hottypants into the family, so—"

"He's not in the family yet."

Both her sisters reacted to the way Tori said that, making her realize it was sharper than she wanted it to be.

"I mean, we're taking our time," she added, knowing it sounded lame. "I'm not in the rush Madeline was in."

"She's so happy," Rose gushed. "Speaking of, I thought Madeline might join us today."

Raina shook her head. "Couldn't. She has the final fitting with Bella Cassano for her super-rushed gown, and she seems pretty stressed about it."

"Not that stressed." Tori gave a sly look. "Hey, I walked into her studio yesterday and she and Adam were making out like a couple of teenagers."

"Mmm," Raina said, a secret smile pulling. "There's a lot of that going around these days."

Instantly, the attention switched to her, and Tori reached for Raina's arm. "Did you make out with Chase?"

Raina laughed. "Now we sound like teenagers."

"Did you?" Tori pressed, not caring how she sounded. She had to know.

"No," Raina said, her cheeks warming. "I kissed him, but…no. I'm not ready to talk about it yet."

Rose gasped and gave Lily an extra squeeze that made her startle. "Love is in the air!" she proclaimed.

Tori tried to look excited but knew she failed when Rose reached across the table with her free hand. "What's going on with you, Tori?"

"Nothing." She attempted to sound bright—and failed miserably.

"Tori!" Raina gave her a dubious look. "Everything is good with you and Justin, right?"

"It's great, but…" She could see a hint of worry in Rose's eyes and a question in Raina's, proving that these two women knew her better than any others. "I'm just…I don't know. Scared we'll get hurt, and by ‘we' I mean the kids, too. They're attached to him."

"That's not a problem," Rose said. "If they couldn't stand him, it would be an issue, but they adore Justin."

"No one's going to get hurt," Raina added. "He adores you."

"He does now, but who knows what could happen." Tori sighed, unleashing the defeatist who'd decided to move into her heart lately.

"No one," Raina said. "But you two are on a solid trajectory, and I would strongly counsel you not to wreck it with doubts that are not founded in anything."

"What do you think will happen?" Rose asked.

"I don't know, but I worry. It's always been a problem for me. And now Raina and Chase are next—"

Raina gave her a look. "It's not a race—"

"Oh, my heavens!" Tori's hand shot to her lips with a gasp. "A race! Today is Field Day at Finn's school, and I told him I'd go watch the races and the flag football game as soon as the breakfast rush was over. What time is it?"

She scrambled out of the booth and went to find her manager to let the crew know she'd be leaving. After grabbing her bag, she barely paused at the booth to say goodbye to her sisters.

"Are you really late or are you escaping our questions and free therapy?" Raina asked on a dry laugh.

"I'm really late," Tori said. "Also escaping. Bye, girls." She kissed her fingertips and blew it to them, but before she could rush to the car, Rose snagged her hand.

"Both of you have been hurt," she said, splitting her gaze between Tori and Raina. "You were both cheated on and endured heartbreaking divorces. And you're still nursing those wounds, whether you acknowledge that or not. But now you've found amazing, loving, trustworthy men who I believe are in it for the long haul."

Tori sighed and shot a look to Raina, half expecting her to roll her eyes and joke about Rose's perpetual optimism. But Raina smiled.

"She's right," she whispered. "So don't blow it, Victoria."

"I won't, Regina," she fired back on a laugh. "Thanks for the pep talk."

Her sisters' words were still playing in her head when she got to the Palm Cove Middle School parking lot…and couldn't find a parking spot for love or money.

She ended up having to park on the grass and walk half a mile to the huge field at the side of the school. It was lined with parents in groups, each watching a variety of sporting events, played by kids in T-shirts that were grouped by color.

Finn was in red, and she spotted that group lining up for a tug of war another quarter of a mile down the sideline. She was so new to the school, she barely recognized a single face, and if she did, it was probably because they were café customers. So she didn't mind muscling to the front of the spectators, especially when she saw none other than Finnie Hathaway at the front of the side for the red team.

He didn't notice her, though, since he was in a death-stare with the kid in the same position on the blue team, facing him.

She opened her mouth to join in the cheering just as two girls next to her screamed, "Go, Ryan Wilder!"

And the death-stare boy glanced to the side and laughed. "Thanks, Emma."

She didn't know which was more intriguing—the fact that Finn was face-to-face with his nemesis, or that this little blonde must be the infamous Emma…whatever her last name was, who Kenzie said Finnie liked.

The nemesis won her attention, since Finn was laser focused on him.

The notorious Ryan Wilder had the sun-bleached blond hair of a surfer or swimmer, with tanned skin and boyish good looks that would someday break a lot of hearts.

He wasn't much bigger than Finn, but he oozed arrogance.

She slid her gaze to her son—the most interesting player on the stage to her—and sucked in a soft breath when she did. Yes, that was Finnie. Yet, something was different. He stood straighter, chin high, shoulders back, and he oozed…confidence. Which was so much better than arrogance.

His expression was serious, his focus palpable, his whole body reminding her of…Shaolin. He'd been taking the martial arts classes a few times a week for several weeks now and, wow. It certainly made a difference.

A burly male teacher walked into the middle of the two teams, blowing a whistle, quieting everyone.

"Pick up the rope!" he called, and immediately both lines of boys bent over and grabbed a thick braided rope. Finn moved with…precision.

"Take the string!" the teacher shouted, and the boys braced themselves, giving the impression that his commands were all part of the contest.

He stepped away, blew his whistle again, and shouted, "Pull!"

The crowd screamed a dozen different names as the rope went taut, and all sixteen or so boys tugged and grunted. Almost immediately, Finn's side had the advantage, getting a dark curse from St. Ryan, who apparently didn't like to lose.

He jerked the rope to the side in anger, getting a whistle and a warning from the coach. Finn's legs were dug in, with an impressive stance that Tori doubted anyone could topple. Ryan's team tried, but in under a minute they were down, and the Reds were victorious.

With the order to shake hands, Ryan threw the rope on the ground and took one step toward Finn, spitting into his hand before giving a lackluster high-five.

Then Ryan leaned in and mouthed, "You'll be sorry," to Finn.

Tori sucked in a breath of surprise, but Finn barely looked at the other boy, continuing to high-five.

What a brat that Ryan Wilder was!

But before she could respond, the coach blew the whistle and hustled both teams to the next field for the flag football game.

Tori followed the pack, joining the other parents as the two teams huddled, divided, and started the opening plays of a football game. She spotted Finn on defense, lining up with other red-shirted players, and then saw—to absolutely no one's surprise—Ryan Wilder handling the football with the swagger of a quarterback.

The coach yelled some instructions, screeched another whistle, and the offense lined up with Ryan looking side to side at his teammates.

"Get Hathaway!" she heard him call, sending every hair on the back of her neck to a complete stand. She looked left and right, desperately trying to see if any other parent or even the coach heard that call, but they were all just cheering and clapping.

Get Hathaway?

What did that mean? It was flag football, right? They just needed to pull the flag off his shorts… Right?

Wrong.

She knew that the instant Ryan threw a bomb directly at Finnie—who wasn't on his team—and, of course, he intercepted. As the crowd screamed, Tori watched in horror as a tidal wave of blue T-shirts descended on Finn, barreling toward him with purpose and speed.

"Finnie." She put her fingers to her lips, whimpering his name as they all charged at once—but somehow Finn seemed to leap right over one of them, twist away from another, and whip around to tear off toward his goal.

Suddenly, Ryan was in front of him, having run around the pack during the melee, and even from here, Tori could see the intense desire to…get Hathaway. Ryan shot toward him for a full-body slam, but Finnie pivoted, flipped his leg in the air right over Ryan's head, and twirled to a stand, steady enough to run the ball in for a touchdown.

As the red team parents cheered—none louder than Tori—she got a glimpse of Finn in the end zone. Blonde Emma was there looking very…interested with her big cheerleader smile.

Finn didn't even see her but turned around to check out a stunned Ryan Wilder, who was still on his backside staring in disbelief. As Finn walked by him, he reached down and gave Ryan a hand up.

Never in all her years of parenting had Tori been more proud of a kid.

"I owe you an apology, Ms. Wingate."

Tori looked up and met the cool gaze of Principal Addler, a little too shocked to respond.

"We like good sportsmanship," he added. "Has Finn ever considered trying out for the JV football team next year when he gets to high school? My cousin's the coach."

"He does martial arts," she said with a smile of true pride. "He's training to be a Shaolin black belt. But I'll mention your interest to Finn."

He nodded and walked toward the sideline. "Wilder!" he hollered. "Get over here!"

Along with all the other players, Finn looked across the field, catching Tori's eye. She couldn't be sure, but she thought he gave the tiniest kung fu bow and all she could do was laugh.

Coveredin a special kind of sweat and stink that was unique to thirteen-year-old boys, Finn dove into the van vibrating from his victory on the field and over Ryan Wilder.

"Please, Mom. Please. Can we just swing by Justin's office so I can tell him what happened?"

She froze at the request. That was the first thing he had to say? "Tell him—"

"That I owned the field. He told me martial arts would help in other sports, in everything, really, and it did! Can you imagine what a beast I'll be in high school? I have to tell him. This is all because of him."

"Well, it's because of you first, Finn. You were amazing and I don't just mean the interception—"

"Interceptions," he corrected with a bit of a cocky grin. "Plural."

"—but the way you gave Ryan a hand up and, whoa, you were an escape artist when they piled on."

He laughed, the hardest and most from-the-gut guffaw she'd heard out of him in a long time. "I gotta tell Justin! He taught me that one kick and then my sifu perfected it. Well, I'm not perfect, far from it. No one is ever perfect, just practiced."

"Spoken like a Shaolin master."

"In my dreams," he scoffed. "But it just felt so good not to…buckle. To look that butthead in the eyes and know he can lie his head off but everyone knows the truth."

Exactly the kind of confidence Justin said he could get from Shaolin, and Tori stood firmly corrected in that regard.

"Even Emma knows," she said with a sly smile.

He snorted. "No, thanks." He gave her a serious look as he latched his seatbelt. "Girls are a ways off for me, Mom. Justin and I talked about it. So, can we zip down to his office? I got my Shaolin lesson later and he has that big thing with Aunt Raina's…Val lady tomorrow, so he might not come over tonight. Please?"

Justin did deserve to bask in the glow of his own victory, and she was fully prepared to announce he was right after all. Evidently, he was right about a lot of things. Girls were a long way off? They'd talked about that?

She had no idea their conversations had grown so personal. Which supported her whole "the kids could get hurt" fear. But…it also touched her right in the heart.

"Okay," she said. "I don't know his schedule today, but if he's with patients, we can't stay. Text him with a heads-up that we might be dropping by and see if he says anything."

"Cool!" He thumbed the text as she pulled out of the lot and Justin answered with a thumb's-up before they reached the main road.

Finn talked the entire way there and never once looked at his phone. While she listened, Tori tried to catch hold of her own feelings, and understand them. She wasn't jealous of his relationship with Justin—on the contrary. She loved that they were close and he had a strong and amazing man in his life to emulate.

But what if…

Stop, she told herself. There are no "what ifs" and if there were, she'd know by now. Everything was exactly as it should be with their relationship and the new family they were building together. Rose was right. Raina, too.

She had nothing at all to worry about.

Holding fast to that thought, she had to hustle to keep up with Finn as they crossed the parking lot of the neurology practice.

"Oh, hello, Tori," Melody, the receptionist who always greeted every visitor with a smile, waved them to the door. "I think they're finishing a late lunch in the conference room and Dr. Verona said to head straight there. You know where it is."

"I sure do." As they walked, she tried to remember who "they" might be and just as the door opened, she realized it was the doctor who was supervising Val's treatment for a study.

"Hey, there." Justin stood as they walked in on four people gathered around a table, a nearly empty platter of sandwiches in the middle along with a pile of cookies. Papers and charts were strewn about, and images hung backlit on the walls.

"We don't mean to interrupt," Tori said, her gaze landing on a striking dark-haired woman who smiled at her.

"You're not," Justin assured her, coming around the table to give her a hug and high-five Finn. "You look happy, dude."

"Justin! I rocked Field Day!" He couldn't wait to pour out the details, so Tori took a step closer to the table to introduce herself to the others. She barely got the men's names, but she knew before she heard it that the gorgeous woman was the famous Dr. Angelina Zakarian.

"Dr. Z," she said, shaking her silky-smooth hand. "Justin speaks so highly of you."

"And you, Tori. Please, call me Angelina. I was so hoping I'd get to meet you this visit."

The kind words made her feel a little bit better about Justin working so closely with a woman who was not only mesmerizingly beautiful, but no doubt had a genius IQ to help her save lives and make medical history.

Tori smashed down that small-minded jealousy and beamed at the woman, then the other doctors.

"We're all so excited about this opportunity for Val," she said as Justin and Finn talked animatedly behind her. "You've really brought hope where there was none."

"It's a test with no guarantees," Dr. Z said. "I hope you, and your sister, understand that."

"We do."

She gave a quick glance to her colleagues and then to Justin and Finn as she gestured toward the hall. "I'd love to chat with you for a minute, Tori. Yes?"

The request took her by surprise, but she nodded and followed Angelina out the door.

"We'll be right back, Justin," Dr. Z called before he realized they were leaving.

In the hall, Dr. Z guided her toward the reception area with the air of a doctor who worked in the practice, not a guest.

"I'm so glad I got to meet you, Tori," she said. "I don't know what tomorrow will be like—anything could happen—and assuming it goes well, I will be out in the evening and back to Minnesota. Can we sit outside? I can't get enough of this Florida sunshine. It's subzero in Rochester."

Still a little uncertain of this impromptu meeting's purpose, Tori went along and tried to think of all the questions Raina might have had about Val's procedure.

Because Raina should be the one chatting with the doctor, discussing things that "might go wrong."

"What exactly could go wrong?" Tori asked without thinking as they sat on a bench outside the practice.

"Tomorrow? Well, we've never injected this particular blend of nanoparticles in a human," she said, as casually as if Val were trying on a dress for the first time. "We plan for the worst, hope for the best, prepare for anything at all."

"The…worst? Could she die?" Tori asked.

Angelina held Tori's gaze with one so dark, so glimmering, and so like a cartoon princess that it was impossible to look away.

"Yes. She could. My data tells me she won't, but data can be wrong."

Tori sighed, knowing that Val had been made aware of all the risks, so Raina knew them, too. Then why bring Tori out here?

"I wanted to talk to you about Justin."

Tori blinked, not expecting that at all. "Oh?"

"We've made him a lucrative offer and I've begged him to take it." She drew out the word just long enough to give Tori unwanted mental images of this supermodel-doctor begging.

"Justin mentioned that to me." He was also quite clear that he'd turned down the opportunity that would take him to Rochester, Minnesota.

Angelina sighed unhappily. "He's adamant that you're here and he won't leave, and I understand that."

Did she? There was no sign of a wedding ring on this beauty's finger, so…

"I wanted to tell you what an incredible place Rochester, Minnesota, really is," she gushed. "Yes, before you say the word, it's cold. But it's also beautiful and affordable and your kids could—"

Tori held up a hand to stop the sales pitch. "My very large and close family is all here, and my kids have gone through enough upheaval. Justin knows that and he'd…" She almost said he'd never leave. But did she know that for sure? "Anyway, I love him even more for that kind of loyalty and respect for the family."

"Stepfamily," the other woman said softly. "You are his stepfamily, and this is a major career move."

Tori gave her a tight smile, indignation straightening her back. "Well, I grew up in a blended family, and love my stepmother as if we were flesh and blood. As far as the career move—"

"I didn't mean to belittle your family situation," she said quickly, sounding sincere. "I only want you to know that Justin could make such a name for himself in neurology with this move. He'd command the respect of the top doctors in the field, not to mention the pay and notoriety he deserves."

She was coming at this from a salary standpoint? Stunned, Tori just stared at her, wondering if Angelina knew Justin's salary.

Heck, Tori didn't actually know what he made. Should she? She had no idea he'd gotten to salary negotiations with this woman. With anyone.

Just how far along was this offer?

"I mean, this little practice is fine, but…" Angelina gestured toward the understated stucco building that housed the neurology practice, the simple movement saying everything about how it compared to the high-rises of Mayo's acclaimed main campus clinic.

"I can't speak for Justin," Tori said, choosing every word carefully.

"Oh, I know," Angelina replied with the sympathy of a true friend. "I realize you're not married and after his agonizing breakup with Michelle, I'm sure he's in no rush."

Agonizing? He'd never portrayed his divorce as agonizing. As heartbreaking as they all are, with the added twist of losing his wife to another woman, but…agonizing? What did Angelina know that Tori didn't?

"And he'll probably kill me for even bringing you out here, but I must take this chance to do my full-court press. And since I have the unexpected opportunity to meet Justin's significant other, I just can't resist asking my only question."

"Which is?" Tori asked, even though she wasn't sure she wanted to hear it.

"Is it your decision to hold him back or is he being completely candid when he says he's happy here?"

A low-grade hum started somewhere in the back of her head, thrumming like a buzzsaw as Tori looked straight ahead and tried to organize her thoughts. She was stumbling over so many things in that speech.

Was this the reason this researcher—whatever her lofty specialty was—chose Val? Because it got her closer to Justin so she could do her full-court press? Did Val's life matter? Did Tori's? Did Justin's?

WasTori holding him back from a tremendous professional opportunity?

"Is he happy?" the other woman pressed when Tori didn't answer.

Tori just closed her eyes. "You'll have to ask him."

"Oh, I have," she said on a laugh. "We've talked for hours about it. About everything, really, since we've known each other forever. I didn't have the opening when he left Pittsburgh after the divorce, because, if I had, trust me, the man would be in Rochester now."

Suddenly feeling hollow, Tori stayed silent.

"But he's here," Angelina said, putting a light touch on Tori's arm. "And tomorrow is a big day, so please don't discuss it tonight. After we finish—"

The front door popped open and Justin walked out, his expression quizzical. "Everything okay out here?"

"Mom, I gotta get to Shaolin." Finn bounded out behind him, two cookies in one hand, half of a sub in the other. He held them both up. "But Justin slayed with snackage."

"We'll make your class, Finn." She stood, deeply grateful for the reprieve from a conversation that could have gone south, and fast. "We were just finishing up out here."

"All good?" Justin asked again with an uncertain look in his eyes.

"So good." Angelina stood, too, putting a friendly hand on Tori's back. "We're just getting to know each other, and making sure Tori's whole family is at ease for tomorrow's procedure."

And…she was just a little bit of a liar.

Tori took a step closer to Justin. "I don't want him to be late for Shaolin, which, as you now know, is life changing."

He gave her a tentative look, then fist-bumped Finn. "Don't change too much, bud."

Finn laughed through a bite of sandwich and headed toward the car, leaving them all to say a quick goodbye.

"Let's finish the therapeutic analysis," Angelina said to Justin as she pulled open the door to go inside. "Then we'll be nearly done. Goodbye, Tori. Will I see you tomorrow?"

I hope not.Tori just smiled and waved.

"You okay?" Justin asked again, reaching to hug her.

The gorgeous doctor was right about one thing—she wasn't going to bring any of this up so close to this stressful procedure. Justin might not be conducting the experiment, but he was fully invested.

"Of course," she assured him, taking the light kiss he offered.

As she pulled away, he caught her hand and eased her closer. "I love you, Tori Wingate," he whispered.

Yes, he did. And she had to remember that.

By the van, Finnie practically danced as he powered down his food.

She also had to remember that the kids could get hurt…and so could she.