Mary laughed, and Steel straightened, surprised.
“Oh, come on,” she said to him. “You’re still attracted to trouble, even at your age.”
He supposed she had him there. “Doesn’t mean I can’t call it out when I see someone else making a mistake.”
Mary looked after Lara’s receding figure. “You think she was caught up in that stuff? In the drugs?” she clarified. “Like her friend?”
“Yep. And the rest of it.”
“Rest of it?”
He shook his head. He didn’t want to get more specific in front of Liz, but Mary’s raised eyebrow seemed to indicate she understood there was more—and it wasn’t good.
“Sometimes girls get jealous of their friends when they’re running with a man who’s out of their league,” he said lightly.
“Running with a man,” Mary repeated, her jocular tone slipping away. “I see. Liz, come on. If you aren’t going to read a book, let’s look for a movie you’ll like.” She put an arm around her stepdaughter’s shoulder. “Thank you,” she added to Steel. “For putting it plainly.”
“Hope you’ll spread the word,” he said.
“Does the sheriff know about this?”
For one awful second Steel thought he’d given himself away. Then he realized how odd it must look for someone like him to care about any of it. Of course Mary would think the sheriff should be the one handling this kind of information.
“I wouldn’t know.” He shrugged.
“I’ll make sure he does.”
Steel struggled to decide whether that would be a good or bad thing. “Just don’t mention my name.” When Mary narrowed her eyes, he added, “If you want him to believe anything you say.”
She nodded. “Right. Well, try to stay out of trouble. And—I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For any trouble I’ve caused your family in the past. Your mother worries about you,” she added. “It would be nice if you turned out okay in the end.”
Steel laughed. “I’m not making any promises.”
“I won’t give up on you yet.”
“That’s your best time ever,” Liam said, holding up his phone to show Stella the timer app on its screen.
“You’re doing it, Stella,” Justin cheered.
“I need to be faster,” Stella said, panting, though she accepted an enthusiastic high five from Justin. “I want to be able to beat our course with a lot of time to spare to make sure I can beat the real thing.”
“My turn,” Liam said. “You need to recover before your next attempt.”
Stella bit back a smile. Liam had found her practicing the day after Steel built the course. She’d told him she’d built it herself, and while he’d been skeptical, he hadn’t pressed the point. Instead, he had cheerfully volunteered to help her train. She’d found he and Justin loved to run it themselves. Did it remind Liam of his old football days? She hadn’t asked—she was afraid of spoiling his fun. Ever since he’d arrived home from his honeymoon, he’d been in the best mood she’d ever seen him in. Tory was certainly good for him.
Stella took his phone. “On your mark, get set—go!” Liam took off running, and Stella almost laughed at his obvious enjoyment. When Tory joined her a minute later, she was smiling, too.
“He’ll make you try it as soon as he’s done,” Stella warned her.
“Aren’t you the one who’s supposed to be training?”
“She needs a rest,” Justin said cheerfully as he tracked Liam’s progress, eagerly awaiting his own turn. Stella was pretty sure that helping her train wasn’t Justin’s primary concern, but she didn’t begrudge him that. She was happy he was fitting in so well and enjoying his new life on the Flying W and could only hope Liz would one day feel the same.
Stella hit the stop button as Liam raced past them and showed him the time when he came back, panting. “You did pretty good.”
“I did better last time,” he grumbled. He gave his wife a kiss. “Coming to tell me it’s time to leave?”
“That’s right. Go clean up and take me to dinner.”
“Will do.” Liam loped off.
“You’re going to do fine,” Tory told Stella as Justin raced off down the track. He didn’t ask anyone to time him; he just loved running it. “You’re in great shape, and you already work for the department. They’d be fools not to hire you.”
“Tell that to my mom,” Stella said.
“She’s just worried for you. That’s what I’ve figured out with people.” Tory smiled. “Whenever they wig out at you, they’re either scared for you or scared for themselves, and if they really wig out, you’ve probably uncovered their biggest fear.”
“My mom’s biggest fear is that she doesn’t stack up to everyone else.” Stella bit her lip, realizing it was true. “I’d think having a daughter who’s a deputy would make her proud.”
“Maybe her second biggest fear is losing the people she loves,” Tory suggested.
“Maybe.”
“That doesn’t make it easier when you want their support, does it?”
“No.”
“I think we have to go for what we know is right and assume people will come around in the end.”
“What if they don’t?” Stella asked.
“Then we have to be our own mothers.” Justin came racing back, and to Stella’s surprise, Tory pulled out her phone. “Go on, get to the starting line. I’ll time you.”
“Thanks.” She stepped to the line feeling a little lighter in spirit than she had before. Maybe Mary wasn’t ever going to stand on the sidelines and cheer her on. That didn’t mean she didn’t have a team of people who would support her.
She was nearly through the course when she spotted Eric standing next to Tory and Justin. She stumbled, caught her balance again and finished as best she could, but she knew this wouldn’t be her best time.
Tory confirmed that when she read her the time. “Gotta run,” she added. “See you later.”
“See you.”
Justin hesitated as if unsure what to do. At a pointed look from Eric, he awkwardly trundled after Tory, his shoulders hunched.
Stella wished Eric hadn’t sent him away. “What are you doing here?”
“Hi to you, too,” he said, surveying the course. “Pretty impressive.
