Slow and steady. That was how they would come back from this. After years feeling like he was racing the clock, Steel found he wouldn’t mind the change in pace.
He tried to prepare himself for the worst, but when he pulled into Thorn Hill’s driveway, they all were silent. There was standing water everywhere. The house looked like a hill fort surrounded by an enormous moat. Any crops that hadn’t withered during the drought would now be drowned. Steel hoped the cattle were high and dry.
“Aren’t you taking me home?” Jed demanded.
“Why don’t you stay a day or two with us, keep Virginia company while we get things sorted?” Steel suggested, expecting a fight. “We’ll make this our base and work together to take care of both ranches.”
“I can do that,” Jed said, surprising him.
Mary, Maya and Liz pulled up behind them and got out. “I was afraid to try the lane to the Flying W alone,” Mary said worriedly. “It’s lower than Thorn Hill’s lane. But I’d like to get home to Justin.”
“Why don’t we stay here, as well?” Stella filled them in on the plans they’d made. “We’ll fetch things from the Flying W when we can, bring Justin here, too, and just camp out for now.” Everyone made their way inside, and Mary, Maya and Liz helped Jed and Virginia settle in the living room.
“I’ll see what you have for food,” Mary said. “Stella, go with Steel and figure out where everyone else is.”
Stella joined Steel on the back porch, where they could survey the ranch. It was like being on an island in the middle of an ocean. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” she told him.
“Not sure when it’s ever flooded so badly,” Steel agreed. “Let’s find Lance—see what he’s been doing while we’ve been gone.”
“Wait—who’s that?” She pointed to a speck in the distance that was moving over the water—and getting closer.
“It’s Olivia. She’s in a canoe!” He had to chuckle at the surprising sight of her paddling over their pastures.
They waited for her to approach, helping her to secure the little boat and climb up to join them.
“Good thing we kept this old thing,” she said, hugging Steel. “The Turners have one, too. I never thought I’d be herding cattle in a boat, but you’ve got to make do.”
“How’s the herd?”
“Doing just fine. We got most of them to high land before it got bad. Rounded up the stragglers by boat. The water isn’t more than a few feet deep anywhere. The cattle waded through it while we paddled. Now we’re keeping an eye on them and hauling feed out to them. That’s the worst of the work.”
“Liam and Tory are okay?” Stella asked.
“They’re fine,” Olivia assured her. “Noah’s good, too. So is Justin. We’ve all been working together to keep things running.” She seemed almost cheerful.
“It’ll be a mess when the water goes down,” Stella said.
“There’ll be plenty of work for everyone, that’s for sure. What about you two? Everything good?” Olivia asked.
“More than good.” Stella showed off her ring. When Olivia pulled her into a fierce hug, she laughed. “Like you said, I bowed to the inevitable.”
“Well, that suits me just fine,” Olivia said.
“Me, too.”
It gratified Steel that his sister had already accepted Stella, but he couldn’t take his gaze from the submerged fields around them. “Something like this can change a town forever.” He was thinking of all the other ranches. Some would be luckier, less damaged by the flooding. Others would be even worse off. “People will give up. Move away.”
“Not everyone will,” Stella said. She met his gaze, and he was happy to see the determination in her eyes. “The fighters will stay.”
“Jed and Virginia are expecting us at one sharp,” Steel told Stella several days later. The creeks and rivers were back in their banks, leaving the mess everyone had foretold behind. Both families were working together to clean up the damage to the outbuildings. Neither family’s homes had taken on water. They were lucky; many homes in Chance Creek and Silver Falls had been damaged.
Stella hadn’t had a chance to speak with Monica for days, and she meant to make up for that this morning. “I’ll be back in plenty of time,” she told Steel. “I’m taking Olivia with me to see Monica and Joan. We’re supposed to talk about the rehab center, but really I want to make sure Monica is okay. Sounds like there was damage to the lodge.”
They met the other women at Joan’s house in town, where Monica was still staying, since the lodge had taken on water. They sat on the porch sipping the coffee Joan made them.
“Have you been home yet to see the damage yourself?” Stella asked Monica.
She nodded. “I’m glad we got all the furniture upstairs. There’s some water damage on the first floor, another excuse to get my sons home. Your fundraiser was a roaring success, by the way. We’ve had time to count donations, and you’ve raised more than we expected. Good thing, too. Chance Creek has hard times ahead, and that means more need for rehab.”
“I’m glad it worked out, and I’m sorry I ran out of there and left you two to finish it all up.”
“I’m just glad Liz is safe,” Monica said, patting her hand.
“Both your families have done a lot for the area,” Joan said. “I look forward to working with you two to secure more funding to run the rehab and stabilization programs. We’ll have to wait for things to get back to normal, so we’ll tuck the money away in the bank in the meantime.”
Stella enjoyed their chat and looked forward to working more with Joan. On the drive back to the ranches, Olivia considered the ring on Stella’s finger. “You really love Steel, don’t you?”
“More than anything.”
“Good.” Olivia gazed out the window at the dark clouds once again building on the horizon. “I have a feeling we’re
