Stella whirled, surprised to see Olivia standing behind her on the porch. “None of your business.” Olivia was the last person she wanted to talk to about Steel.
Olivia shrugged. “Fair enough. I’m more interested in your scheming, honestly.”
Stella’s mouth dropped open. “Scheming?”
“You were talking about fundraising to make the rehab center available to teens, weren’t you?” Olivia gestured to the phone in Stella’s hand. “One of my friends let me know your plans. That was my idea. What gives you the right to steal it?”
She’d been caught red-handed, and Stella didn’t have a good answer. “I guess I thought the important thing was helping those kids—especially now. Who cares who gets credit?” But even as she said it she knew it did matter. Maybe the drought had ended, but it had been a long, hard summer for both families, and the future still looked uncertain. Whoever won the Founder’s Prize would win a valuable ranch. “Look, I’m sorry. Uncle Jed cornered me, and I couldn’t think of anything else,” she admitted.
“Your family already has two good deeds under your belts. We only have one. The least you could do is come up with your own idea. I had no clue you were so cutthroat.” Olivia’s cheeks were flushed, and Stella felt rotten. Olivia was right; what she’d done was really unfair.
“I’m not. I don’t even care about the Ridley property; it’s Jed who’s up in arms.”
“Give it back.”
“Give what back?”
“My idea. If you really don’t care, then you won’t mind letting me run the water Olympics.”
“But… the water Olympics was my idea!”
“Too bad! What do you think is going to happen when you win and Jed gains control of the Ridley property—on both sides of Pittance Creek?”
Stella shrugged, but she knew what Olivia was trying to say. There’d be trouble between their families, no doubt. Jed might even try to alter the course of the creek—or at the very least divert more of the water than was their family’s share. There’d already been incidents on both sides this summer during the drought.
Olivia waited for an answer, and finally Stella said, “You really want me to just hand over the whole fundraiser to you? What if Monica Hunt doesn’t want to work with you?”
Olivia laughed. “I know Monica as well as you do. My family went to all the hometown days at Runaway Lake.”
“Then go ahead. Take it.” Stella turned to go, fighting back tears although she wasn’t sure why. She really didn’t care all that much about winning the Founder’s Prize, but she did care about helping girls like Sue.
“Stella, wait. Hey—” Olivia caught up to her before she reached the steps. “I don’t want to fight with you. Look, this is my fault, too. I let Virginia talk me out of the idea when I knew it was a good one. That woman has the uncanny ability to make me feel about two feet tall.”
Stella stopped. She knew what Olivia meant. “Jed’s pretty good at that, too. I meant what I said; I don’t care who gets the credit, and you’re right, it was your idea. I shouldn’t have stolen it like that.”
“I’m married to your brother. Lance and Tory are married to Maya and Liam, but if your family sweeps the Founder’s Prize, there will be all kinds of hurt feelings. None of us needs that. Don’t you think it would be better for the Turners and Coopers to tie?”
Stella thought that over. “What do you think the Founder’s Prize committee will do if that happens—split the Ridley property in half?”
“Maybe. Or maybe by then it won’t matter.”
“What do you mean?”
Olivia smiled. “Come on, Stella. Noah and me, Liam and Tory, Lance and Maya…”
“What are you trying to say?”
“It would only take one more wedding to make the Turner/Cooper feud truly a family affair—and probably a thing of the past.”
“You mean if I marry Steel?” Stella couldn’t believe her ears. “Did he send you to play matchmaker?”
Olivia grinned. “Nope. But I have a feeling he wouldn’t mind.”
Chapter Six
When Steel spotted the blonde teenager ambling up the street toward the pit, his stomach sank. He’d been heartened by the fact the place had been empty the last week or so since Sue’s death and was about ready to head to town to grab something to eat. The Chance Creek kids were staying away and so were the petty dealers and other local riffraff. This girl was young. Fourteen or fifteen, he figured. He didn’t recognize her, and she didn’t seem to be in a hurry. She poked along the street, shoes scuffing on the sidewalk, her expression surly enough he’d bet she’d fought with her parents or her boyfriend in the last twenty-four hours.
Sometimes his sisters had looked like that in their teen years, not that teenage boys were any better. Still, girls’ resentment and repressed anger seemed more dangerous to him sometimes. Probably because he didn’t understand it. Boys took their fury and channeled it into sports, fistfights and insults. Girls seemed to turn it back on themselves.
This girl was looking for trouble, whether she knew it or not, and if she kept coming around here, she was going to find it.
When she spotted him, her footsteps faltered a moment, then she picked up speed and marched determinedly past him. Steel relaxed against the broken foundation section he was leaning on. The road extended only a few more blocks in the direction she was going before it hit the woods. She’d have to make a left turn, then there were only a few blocks that way before the road ended. She’d eventually circle back to the heart of town where she’d come from.
Nothing was happening here, so he might as well make his way out, too. He’d given Marion instructions to keep her ear to the ground and report any information she heard, whether or not she thought it was important. He didn’t know her sources, and he didn’t need to. Better to let her get
