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, she might as well stay up and tackle some of this now. She grabbed a hand towel and wiped off her hands and face. It had been so hot all day, the dampness of her dress felt good, and she figured it would dry soon enough. “It’s not even possible for them to win. All they can do is tie with us,” she pointed out as she pulled on an apron, crossed to the sink and began to fill it with water.
“Aren’t you going to change out of those wet things?” Jed demanded. “Everyone’s concerned about the drug issue,” he added. “Especially with those overdoses in Silver Falls. If the Coopers pull this off, they could still win.”
Stella couldn’t wait until the contest was over. All it did was bury them in extra work.
“What do you want me to do about it?” She added dish soap to the water and put the first stack of plates in to soak.
“Come up with a plan. Do something to get this family back on track.” He kept going toward the interior of the house.
“I am doing something. I’m going to become a deputy.”
Jed waved that off. “That’s not going to help matters any. We’ve been in law enforcement for generations, and it never got us a free ranch. Come up with something else.” He paused in the entryway to the hall. “I’m off to bed. Don’t stay up too late. Plenty of time for dishes in the morning.”
“I won’t.” She waited until she was alone and dipped her hands into the water, washing the first dish. Her brothers must have retired with their wives, too, everyone assuming they could finish cleaning up tomorrow.
She wasn’t ready for sleep yet, though. She liked hearing the rain.
Liked being by herself.
She let her imagination run free again. Dreamed of a life in which it would be okay for a woman like her to fall for a man like Steel.
If Jed wanted to win the Ridley property, he could do it himself.
Chapter Two
“Look out, guys, ghost man walking,” Ned Haverstock said, elbowing one of the other Silver Falls deputies.
“Steel, what are you doing here? It’s daylight, for Christ’s sake, you might melt,” Daniel Ortiz joked.
“You forget no one’s supposed to know about you?” Alan Crisp asked.
“Meeting with the boss.” Steel pushed past the knot of men gathered in the hallway outside Sheriff Bolton’s office. It was Monday morning, and everyone was in that post-weekend state where they weren’t quite ready to start the work week again. He was used to the jokes, but it made him uneasy that anyone except Bolton knew about his true reason for being in Silver Falls. Loose lips sank ships and all that. One slip of the tongue and his cover could be blown.
He envied the other men. They got to
