“Which was why I told the sheriff about the hides in your barn,” Maya said quietly. “I got Dale arrested. I’m so, so sorry about that.”
“I’m the one who led the sheriff to my dad when he couldn’t find him,” Olivia told her. “That’s how he confirmed that Dale was running guns over the border into Canada. But why—why would William and Dad grow a pot crop together?”
Liam scanned the table. It was obvious to him, even if it wasn’t to anyone else. “Money. It has to be about money. This isn’t the first time our families have hit hard times.”
Steel looked up. Met his gaze. Liam couldn’t read the thoughts behind the man’s eyes. Was he wondering how much any of them knew about his own activities? Rumor had it Steel was just as apt as his father to skirt the law if it paid well enough.
“What happened to the pot?” Tory asked suddenly.
All eyes turned to Enid. “I don’t know. Like Tory said, I took off as soon as Dale was arrested. It was the last straw, and I let another man sweet-talk me into thinking things would be better with him. I didn’t talk to Dale again.”
“A few days later, the crop was gone,” Olivia supplied. “I went back and checked. Someone harvested it.”
“Not my dad,” Noah spoke up again. “I don’t care what you all think.”
“My dad was already locked up,” Lance said. “It couldn’t have been him.”
“Whoever harvested it must have sold it and taken the money,” Tory pointed out. “What did they do with it?”
“I don’t know anything about that,” Enid said. “All I know is that I’m happy to have this chance to set the story straight. I didn’t cheat on Dale,” she said to her children. “And I didn’t cheat with William,” she said to Noah, Maya and Liam. “I don’t know what possessed William and Dale to break the law, but they’re both gone now. It’s time to put the past to bed.” She paused, as if expecting an argument, but everyone seemed as stunned as Liam was at the way she’d bulldozed their previous assessment of the situation.
“By the way,” she added, “I have one more announcement. I’m thinking of staying in Chance Creek—for good. Now, dig in.”
The rest of the meal passed in strained silence, and when Enid declared her intention to call Mary and confront her about the situation, Tory knew she wanted no part of that.
“Let’s get out of here,” she murmured to Liam.
He nodded, and she was grateful that when they excused themselves, no one stopped them, although Enid looked like she wanted to. Tory supposed she had to give her mother credit for clearing things up—a little. That didn’t mean she owed Enid moral support.
She was surprised when Liam turned toward the Flying W, though. “I thought we’d take off again,” she told him.
“Thought we’d get going on that paperwork,” he countered. “I’m running out of time. My meeting is Thursday.” He parked in front of the house and got out.
“You want me to go in there?”
“I just ate breakfast at your place.”
She followed him inside reluctantly and stiffened when he headed for the stairs. “You’re crazy,” she told him.
“Relax. I’m not trying to seduce you. I set up a folding table in my bedroom. It’s a hell of a lot more comfortable than my office in the barn. A lot less smelly, too. Come on.”
Liam’s room turned out to be large, fairly neat and very masculine, with a deep-blue bedspread on his bed, framed black-and-white photographs on the walls and a view of the back pastures and outbuildings from the windows.
He scooped some clothes off the end of the bed and pitched them into a laundry basket in the corner, straightened some of the papers piled on the makeshift desk and waved her into the sole chair. “I’ll be right back.”
He brought in a second chair, locked the door behind him, and together they went through the proposal page by page, which documented all the practices the Flying W was adhering to and the plans they meant to enact. This was to set a baseline for the ranch’s operation.
Tory found he had done good work so far on his own, but her legal mind immediately spotted passages that needed to be clarified or written more formally. If Liam misrepresented what he’d be able to deliver, even accidentally, he could be in trouble.
Meanwhile, she started to get a sense for the work her own family would need to do to get their certification if they decided to pursue it. If they started now, they could have it well in the works by the time she graduated.
She might not be around to see the benefits of their labor, but at least she could give something back in return for living at Thorn Hill for free while she went to college.
Raised voices interrupted them some minutes later.
“What’s that?” Tory asked.
“I think your mom made good on her promise to set mine straight,” Liam said grimly. “I thought she meant to do that over the phone.”
“Me, too.”
“Guess we better go see what’s going on.”
“You know, I’ve had about enough of your family,” Mary was saying to Enid when they made their way down the stairs and peered into the living room, where the two women faced off. “Say whatever you want, but I know a lie when I hear one.”
“For God’s sake, Mary, I didn’t sleep with William. Not since high school, anyway, thanks to your interference.”
“It wasn’t hard to get him to leave you. You never were William’s type. You know that as well as I do.”
Tory held her breath. Her
