“Everything’s fine.” But as her gaze traveled over the assembled guests, Stella realized she was looking for Steel even though she knew he wasn’t there. Everything wasn’t fine. She was too smart to be pining for an unsuitable man. Steel was as much a thief as his father was rumored to have been.
And he’d run off with her heart.
Steel slipped away between the trees, satisfied that his sister was safely married and would be cared for by the man she loved. He would have liked to tell her how happy he was for her, but it would be a long time before he could talk openly with his family again. He’d worked too hard to get to this point in his investigation. People needed to place him firmly in the camp of the bad guys in their minds. That way the bad guys might finally see him as one of them.
It took him a long time to make his way across several ranches to the place where he’d hidden his truck. In the morning he’d get back to work searching for answers. Meanwhile, he’d drive back to Silver Falls, to his new base of operations.
Shortly before midnight, he was sitting in the doorway of the ramshackle trailer he’d recently purchased for a song, lost in thought, trying to calm his mind in preparation for sleep, when the wind shifted and a cool breeze ruffled his hair.
Steel straightened, but it took him a moment to realize what had roused him.
A smell. A certain heaviness to the air.
He looked to the sky again—to the west where clouds already obscured the stars. A storm was gathering. He watched it come his way.
And smiled as the first drops of rain began to fall.
Guests had already begun to head for home when the rain started, stopping all of them in their tracks. All around Stella, people tilted their heads back to feel the pitter-patter of drops hitting their skin, such a familiar feeling but one they’d missed for far too long.
Tears pricked Stella’s eyes, and she swallowed in a throat that suddenly ached—with gratitude. Finally, this crazy drought would end. It had been a long hot summer that had left the ground as hard and dry as concrete and everyone’s tempers stretched to the limits. Their crops had struggled. Their morale, too. Rain was just what the doctor ordered. She hadn’t realized how much the constant worry had affected her these past few months until the muscles at the back of her neck relaxed. She blinked back the sudden rush of emotion that welled inside her as the raindrops fell, but glancing around, she realized she wasn’t the only one affected this way. Jo Reed had stretched out her arms and was slowly twirling. Lisa Matheson looked like she was praying. Paul Hornsley, one of the oldest men still ranching in the county, kept swallowing, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.
Someone started to clap. Zane Hall cheered. Soon everyone joined in, giving the rain a standing ovation, as if the curtain had just fallen on some Shakespearian play.
As the breeze picked up and the rain began to fall more swiftly, however, a murmur ran around the remaining guests. Stella woke from her joyful reverie and realized there was food to pack, tablecloths to fold, beer and liquor to carry away—
In a minute this beautiful outdoor venue was going to be a mess.
All around her people gathered up whatever they could and raced for the main house, some distance away. Stella grabbed a platter of desserts and hurried across the parched lawn. Men were stacking chairs. Women flocked around her, laden with whatever food and drinks they could carry.
Stella burst through the back door into the kitchen, set the platter on the large table and began taking the plates and trays from the other women’s hands. She shoved drinks into the refrigerator or coolers that a few cowboys had lugged up to the house, stacked table linens and cutlery on the counters to deal with in the morning. A half hour later, everything was indoors and most of the guests were gone, and Stella, exhausted but happy, went outdoors again, stepped into the yard and let the rain pour over her skin.
She’d been as parched as the ground.
Was Steel watching the rain fall, too?
Silly question. If he was, what did that have to do with her? Just because she couldn’t quite get an image out of her mind of him joining her out here, pulling her as close as Eric had earlier in the evening, the heat of his body keeping her warm despite the cool rain, didn’t mean—
“That’s a good way to catch your death of cold,” Jed said from behind her.
Stella yelped, caught herself and spun to find him sitting on one of the wicker chairs on the back porch. How long had he been there?
She hoped like hell he couldn’t read her mind.
“I’ll go dry off in a minute now that I can finally relax,” she assured him, quickly crossing the grass and running lightly up the stairs to the porch.
“Don’t relax too hard.” Jed stood slowly, using his cane to steady himself. “You’ve still got work to do—and I’m not talking about cleaning all this up.”
“I don’t need any extra jobs right now, thank you very much,” Stella said pertly. She had a sinking feeling she knew exactly where this was going.
She was right.
“I infiltrated the Coopers tonight. Heard their plans.”
“What plans?” she made herself ask, although the last thing she wanted was to have this conversation. Her guests had helped with storing away food and washing some of the dishes, but there was plenty more to do.
“Their plans to expand the detox and stabilization unit in town to serve teens and win the Founder’s Prize once and for all.”
The damn Founder’s Prize. It was all she’d heard about all summer. Stella opened the kitchen door and faced the mess inside. If Jed was going to talk,
