“I can’t believe your sister did this,” he hissed.
“Maya gets to marry whoever she wants,” Liam pointed out. A month or two ago, he would have agreed with his great-uncle whole-heartedly, but he’d gotten to know Lance a little better recently.
“More than that, she got no credit for all that work she did to raise money for the history museum. We Turners should get a plaque on the new building.”
It was more than a plaque Jed wanted, Liam knew. He wanted the new museum to count toward their family’s attempt to win the Founder’s Prize, the biggest opportunity to hit Chance Creek in years. It had been announced last spring that the family who contributed the most to community life this year would win a reward at Halloween. Not just any reward, either: a piece of abandoned property that bordered the Flying W—and Thorn Hill. The Ridley property spanned Pittance Creek, which divided the two families’ ranches. Whoever won it would control the creek—a crucial factor in a drought year like this.
So far the Coopers had helped secure renovation funds for Chance Creek High School. His own family had taken on a renovation of the Chance Creek library. Lance and Maya had both worked hard to save the history museum next, but instead of either family getting credit for saving it, that honor had gone to Maggie and Bart Lawson, who’d donated a property to house the collection at a very reasonable rent.
Now all three families were tied for the Founder’s Prize. Liam had no idea what would happen next.
“It’s up to you,” Jed said. “What are you going to do to salvage this?”
“I… don’t know.” He had no idea how to win the Founder’s Prize.
“You’d better figure it out. Now. Don’t let us down this time.”
This time.
Liam bit back an angry retort. He knew exactly what Jed meant, which made him all the more furious. For Jed to still hold something against him that had happened in high school was ridiculous.
Jed leaned closer. “Your father took his team to the finals. Won it all. He would win the Founder’s Prize, too, if he was still alive.
Liam stifled the urge to throttle Jed. He knew all about his father’s successes on the football field—and his own failures.
“Whatever.” Liam didn’t need to hear any more. He shouldered past Jed and kept going. Trying to win the Ridley property was all well and good, but he needed to concentrate on something more important: keeping the Flying W afloat. He’d love to take a much longer camping trip and get away from Jed and the others, but he had to be back at the ranch well before Thursday morning in order to prepare for the certification people. Why wasn’t anyone else taking this process seriously?
Probably because they knew he’d take care of it, Liam thought. Noah pitched in on the ranch—a lot—but as a parole officer he had to spend a lot of time in town, and now that he was married to Olivia, he’d started helping out at Thorn Hill, too. Stella ran the house and worked at the sheriff’s department as a receptionist. Maya ran a farm stand and sold baked goods to add to their bottom line, but now she was planning to return to school part time, help move the local history museum to its new location and set up its new exhibits. He was in charge of the day-to-day business of running the Flying W.
He pushed out the front door of the community center and gratefully drew in a deep lungful of fresh air. His commitments and problems were beginning to press on his chest like a linebacker’s hands when he’d been tackled in high school. No matter what he did, he couldn’t shake them off.
Liam set off for his truck and the open freeway, his spirits rising at the thought of a couple of nights alone.
Time in the hills would do him good.
“It’s up to you,” Virginia Cooper said decidedly, taking the seat Tory had led her to as if she were a queen deigning to sit on her throne. She wore a prim forest-green skirt, a white blouse and, despite the heat, a green cardigan draped over her shoulders. Her hair was as neat as always, rolled into an old-fashioned style on top of her head. Her shoes were sensible. “What Lance was thinking, letting Bart Lawson take credit for the new history museum, I’ll never know. It was the Coopers who made the reenactment a success.”
“It was the Lawsons who provided the museum with a permanent home,” Tory pointed out. “There’s no disputing the worth of that property is greater than the amount of money we all raised.”
“I’ll dispute it all day long if I want to,” her great-aunt said. “You, meanwhile, are going to win us the Founder’s Prize.”
“I don’t have time for that.”
“Make time. And get me something to drink.” Virginia rapped the tip of her umbrella on the floor sharply. She’d carried it as long as Tory remembered and wielded it as a weapon when cranky.
Tory sighed and made her way to the drinks table. She wasn’t invested in the Cooper–Turner feud, and she didn’t care what happened to the Ridley property. She was here to save money while she worked her way through school, and she wouldn’t stay in town a moment longer than she had to.
Could she last here for three whole years, or would it kill her?
She would have chosen any other solution if there was another solution to be chosen. She’d put herself through college without a dime from her family—and without even telling them she was doing it. She didn’t want Cooper money or everyone’s opinions and advice. Virginia tended to pooh-pooh the idea of higher education. All she cared about was Thorn Hill. Steel was busy with his own secretive business activities and never explained to anyone what exactly those were. Lance thought she
