Tory turned off the engine, the answer to her question immediately clear in her mind.
Never.
Chapter Eleven
Anyone could see the Ridley property had enormous potential, Liam thought. In the right hands, it could be turned into something beautiful and prosperous. He was parked down the road from its driveway, still trying to decide what to do about the crop—and the man with the shotgun.
Back when the town council announced the Founder’s Prize, he’d figured the contest would touch off a new age of conflict between the Turners and Coopers. Now he knew the property had been at the heart of it all for more than a decade.
He was still trying to decide what could have driven his father to collaborate with Dale Cooper on a criminal enterprise. Money? Money was tight today, and it had never once occurred to him or his siblings to turn to crime.
What would it take to make him do that?
Sitting in his truck, looking out over the abandoned property, Liam tried to imagine such a chain of events. What if he had to sell the Flying W? What if crime was the only way to avoid losing his ranch and moving to Ohio to start a spa?
Liam shook his head. He didn’t know what he’d do in that scenario, but he wouldn’t plant a pot crop in his backyard.
His father had, however, if he could believe what Enid had said.
Liam sat up when he spotted Steel’s truck in the rearview mirror. It slowed a little when it came abreast of him but sped up again and rattled right past. When Steel turned into the Ridley property’s lane, Liam fired up the engine of his truck and followed him.
They trundled past overgrown pastures and parked near one of the outbuildings. Liam hoped like hell he wasn’t walking into an ambush, but he doubted Steel meant to play it that way. He got out and walked slowly to meet the other man.
“What are you doing here?” Steel folded his arms over his chest, leaned against his truck and waited.
Liam had been asking himself the same thing and had come to a simple answer.
He was there for Tory.
She had just come back into his life, and it was a lot to process so quickly, but their last conversation had made one thing clear. He loved her, and he wasn’t going to lose her—if he hadn’t already by putting his foot in his mouth every time he tried to help her.
“I came here to see you,” Liam said, which was a version of the truth. He watched Steel’s eyes flick to one of the not-so-abandoned outbuildings and nodded gravely. “I know about your operation. Saw your crop with my own eyes. I decided to give you a chance to explain what the hell you think you’re doing before I did anything rash.” Besides confronting a criminal on his home turf, alone and unarmed.
Steel met his gaze, unflinching. “Working,” he said, which was closer to an admission of guilt than Liam had thought he would get out of the man. “Working tirelessly every day from dawn to dusk. For my ranch. For my home. For my family—and my community. Just like you.”
“Not like me,” Liam said with conviction. “And if you were really thinking about your community or family, you wouldn’t be doing this.” He waved his hand at the crop he knew was hidden behind the nearby hedgerow. “You know how this could affect them—how it could affect Tory.” He hadn’t meant to let her name slip out, but how could he not, when she was all he could think about?
“Tory?” Steel’s eyes flashed with something. Possibly humor, but Liam couldn’t be sure. “If you’re looking for a damsel in distress to save, you’ve got the wrong castle.”
“Do I?” Steel had hit a nerve. “She went off on her own in the first place because of shit like this. You know she’d never want this.” As he said the words, Liam realized how much of an ass he’d been when he’d spoken to her. How could he have thought for one second Tory had come back to Chance Creek to participate in the very thing that had driven her away?
Steel shrugged. “I know a lot of things I wish I didn’t. If you keep pushing, you’re going to find yourself feeling the same way. Mark my words.”
Liam stiffened. “Is that a threat?”
A rare half smile pulled at Steel’s mouth. “More of a warning, from a man who jumped off a cliff to one who still has time to turn around.”
Liam crossed his arms. “Maybe I’ll just call the sheriff and let him get to the bottom of this cliff once and for all.”
“No, you won’t.” Steel turned and started walking casually toward his hidden crop.
Liam frowned. “Why shouldn’t I?”
Steel looked back over his shoulder. “Because deep down, I think you know this isn’t just some lark. I’m finishing what our fathers started. Both of them. Now get out of here, and let me get to work.”
Both of them?
Liam didn’t know why it hurt to hear it. Hadn’t Enid said William was working with Dale to grow a crop like this? One thing had bothered him since he’d heard the story, though.
“Did my dad let your dad take the fall for a crime they both committed?”
Steel stopped in his tracks. Turned all the way around.
“You really want to know the answer to that?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I do.” He had to know the worst if he wanted to somehow atone for it.
“You’re right, he did. But only because my dad asked him to. Dale didn’t have a lot of respect for the law, which was what made him a good candidate to help your dad when trouble came to town.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t have time to go into it the way you’d like,” Steel said. “And you’ll have to leave soon, or we’ll both find ourselves in
