Heart of Texas Volume 1: Lonesome Cowboy

“So, is he as cute as Ellie says?”

Savannah’s blush deepened and she raised her hand to her face. “I...I wouldn’t know.”

Caroline’s chuckle was full of disbelief. “Okay, if you won’t answer that, then tell me his name.”

No harm there. “Laredo Smith.”

“So you were able to talk Grady into hiring another hand. Where’d he happen to meet Laredo?”

This was where the story got difficult. “Grady didn’t exactly...hire Laredo.”

The brown eyes staring at her from the back of her mailbox darkened perceptibly. “What do you mean?”

Savannah sighed. She might as well explain it once and for all and be done with it. “Laredo isn’t working for Grady. I’m the one who hired him.”

“You?” Those same eyes narrowed. “Meet me up front.”

While Savannah had hoped to discuss the events of the day before with Caroline, she’d wanted to bring up the subject of Laredo in her own time. She certainly hadn’t expected an inquisition, especially this soon. But lately Caroline had been encouraging her to get out more, mingle. Savannah decided to accept her friend’s advice the day Caroline took it herself.

“You’ve got that look again,” Caroline teased when Savannah approached the counter.

“What look?”

“The one that says you’re...you know, perturbed.”

“Well, I am.” As far as Savannah was concerned she had every right to feel perturbed, annoyed and downright peeved. The entire town was discussing her life, or soon would be, particularly when it became common knowledge that Laredo Smith worked for her and not Grady. She absolutely deplored gossip and refused to partake in it. She’d never pry into anyone’s personal business. Why, she’d been Caroline’s best friend for ages, and not once had she asked who’d fathered five-year-old Maggie. If Caroline felt inclined to tell her, then she would, but Savannah would rather die than ask.

“Get over it, Savannah. It isn’t every day a handsome stranger wanders into town.”

“Laredo didn’t exactly wander into Promise.” She supposed she’d have to tell Caroline the truth. That’d be preferable to having her hear wild rumors later on.

“I know. His truck broke down. It’s the transmission, and with parts and labor it’ll be close to fifteen hundred dollars. Plus it’s going to take at least ten days for the parts to come in.”

Good grief, Caroline knew more about Laredo than she did! “Who told you all that?” Silly question when the answer was obvious. Wiley had mentioned that he was going to help Laredo tow his truck into Powell’s Garage that morning. Paul Powell’s wife, Louise, did the paperwork and was a known talker. Apparently she’d been at the garage when Wiley and Laredo arrived. To complicate matters, Wiley tended to have a loose tongue himself. Savannah had the sudden urge to sit down with an entire pitcher of iced tea, only she had the feeling that all the iced tea in the world wasn’t going to make anything better.

Caroline watched her closely. In a gentler tone of voice she asked, “You hired him yourself?”

“Yes. I’ve been looking for someone to help me with the garden and—and now that I’m starting to get more orders for my roses, well, it makes sense to hire some help.” She could have managed very well on her own, though, and Caroline knew it.

“You like him, don’t you, Savannah?”

“Of course I like Laredo. He’s kind and thoughtful and...” She couldn’t continue. “Grady was just awful! Oh, Caroline, I was mortified.” She brought one hand to her mouth, remembering the confrontation between the two men after dinner.

“Grady? What else is new?”

“I offered Laredo a job. I shouldn’t have done it without talking to Grady first, but he needed the work and you know how I’ve been after Grady to hire an extra hand.”

“So you hired him, and Grady didn’t appreciate your...help.”

Savannah looked away. “That’s putting it mildly. He insisted he didn’t need anyone else and offered to drive Laredo into town that very minute. He made it sound as if he wanted him off our property, the sooner the better. I didn’t know Grady could be that rude! I was embarrassed, and angry, so I...I stepped in and claimed I’d hired Laredo to work for me.”

Caroline’s eyes sparked with approval. “I’ll bet Grady just hit the roof.”

“Put it this way—he wasn’t pleased.”

Nibbling on her lower lip, Caroline crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. “So, tell me, how’d you meet your new employee?”

The questions weren’t getting any easier. “I saw him walking down the road,” Savannah admitted wryly, “and I...I stopped and offered him a lift.”

Caroline’s eyes widened at this, but she didn’t comment. Savannah continued, “He asked about work in the area, and before I could stop myself, I said there was a job on the Yellow Rose.”

“Which is why Grady took an immediate dislike to him,” Caroline muttered.

She knew Grady almost as well as Savannah did. “That’s right. He acted like a jerk for no reason other than the fact that I was the one to hire him. Oh, Caroline, I don’t think I’ve ever been more furious with my brother.”

“So what happened next?”

A sense of pride and satisfaction came to her rescue, and Savannah started to giggle. “If only you could’ve seen Grady’s face when I told him Laredo was working for me. I thought he was going to explode.” To give him some credit, Grady had kept his mouth shut. Instead he’d stormed out of the house like a two-year-old, leaving Savannah and Laredo standing there in awkward silence.

Caroline burst out laughing. “I can see it all now! Oh, Savannah, I’m so proud of you.”

“Really?”

“Really. It’s about time someone put Grady Weston in his place. Don’t get me wrong, I think the world of him, but he’s become such a curmudgeon in the last few years. He takes everything so seriously. I can’t remember the last time I heard him laugh.”

Savannah’s heart went out to her brother. What Caroline said was true, but it was only because Grady carried such a heavy load of responsibilities. In only a few years he’d taken the ranch from the edge of bankruptcy and made it viable again. Finances remained tight, but they were no longer in danger of losing the land that had been in the family for generations. Savannah reminded herself of all this every time Grady’s behavior distressed her. And it had never distressed her more than last night. His opinion of Laredo—and by extension, her—was so scathing. She knew very well that he considered her “a damned fool”—his favorite epithet—for trusting a stranger.

She lowered her eyes, not wanting Caroline to read her face. “Am I a fool, Caroline?”

“You? You’re joking, right?”

“No, please, I need to know. I...I’m attracted to Laredo. I’ve never felt this way about a man. He’s not like anyone else. He listens to me, and even though we’ve barely met, he...he understands me better than my own brother does. We spent an entire hour in my garden last night, and he let me tell him about my roses. His grandmother had old roses and he was genuinely interested in what I’m doing.”

Caroline’s features softened.

“And he’s honest. He told me he’d been fired from his last job and why. He didn’t have to do that, but he did and I respect him for it.” It sounded foolish now, as if everything her brother had said was true.

“What does your heart tell you?” Caroline asked.

Savannah wavered. When she was with Laredo, there was no doubt how she felt, but in the light of cold reality, she was forced to wonder if she really was as gullible and naive as Grady thought. “I’m not sure anymore.”

“Why is it so important that you have all the answers right this moment?”

“I don’t know, it’s just that—”

Caroline laughed. “Be more patient, Savannah. Life has a way of working things out. And for heaven’s sake, quit being so hard on yourself! It isn’t a sin to be attracted to a man. Why shouldn’t you be?”

“But...oh, Caroline, it’s been so long since anyone made me feel this way.”

“Then I like him already.”

“You do?”

“How could I not? He’s brought color to your cheeks.”

Embarrassed, Savannah raised both her hands to her face.

“He’s made your heart smile.”

What a nice way of putting it. That was exactly how she felt.

“And I’ve never seen you look happier.”

She was happy, Savannah realized. Deliriously so, simply because a kindhearted man had walked in the garden with her and listened as she told him stories about old roses. He’d more than listened; he’d been interested, asking questions, touching her roses with a gentle hand. Savannah had hardly slept the entire night, thinking about their time together.

“I’m too old,” she blurted. Of her entire high school graduating class, she was the only one still unmarried. Two were already on their second marriages, Savannah hadn’t even managed to fall in love.

“Nonsense! Too old?” Caroline countered. “That’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said.”

“Ellie’s right—Laredo is handsome. Why would he be interested in someone like me?”

“Because you’re beautiful, Savannah, inside and out. He’d be a fool not to recognize that. Now stop worrying and just be yourself.”

Savannah felt only slightly reassured. Her biggest fear was that she’d made more of this attraction than there was. She’d barely known Laredo twenty-four hours, and yet it felt as if she’d known him all her life. She was afraid this might be some unrealistic fantasy. It didn’t seem possible that he could share her feelings.

“Can you still watch Maggie on Monday night?” Caroline asked hopefully, interrupting Savannah’s relentless worries.

“Of course,” Savannah told her. She enjoyed having the five-year-old over while Caroline did volunteer work as a math tutor. Grady intimidated the little girl, but Maggie was slowly warming to him, and although Grady wasn’t admitting it, he’d come to enjoy Maggie’s visits, as well.

“When I drop her off, I can meet your Laredo for myself.”

Your Laredo. Savannah blushed and smiled. “He might not be there.”

“Then I’m going to plant myself in the living room until he shows up. I’m dying to meet this marvel who’s made my very dearest friend finally—finally—fall for a man.”

“I was thinking of asking him to come to church with me on Sunday,” Savannah said. Actually the idea had just occurred to her, and she looked to Caroline for confirmation of its worth.

“Great! I can meet him then. And so can everyone else.”

Everyone else. Savannah’s heart fell. Tongues were sure to wag if she showed up at Sunday services with a man on her arm. Well, let them, she decided suddenly. She’d speak to him about church this very afternoon.

* * *

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Grady growled at Wiley as they rode back toward the ranch house that afternoon. They’d spent most of the day searching through brush for cows and newborn calves. He was completely drained, mentally and physically. Grady had been up late every night for three weeks, checking on newborn calves in the calving barn. Sleep this time of year was a luxury for any rancher.

Wiley looked offended. “Hey, I didn’t say a word.”

“That may be, but you’re about ready to burst with curiosity, I can tell.”

“Seems to me you’re wantin’ to say your piece, otherwise you wouldn’t’ve mentioned it.”

It being Savannah and the hand she’d hired. Even now Grady couldn’t believe what she’d done. He had trouble grasping the fact that his own sister could behave like a dithering fool over some saddle bum.

But he’d had an even harder time accepting what Richard had done. It’d taken weeks for everything to sink in, and even then, Grady couldn’t understand how his own brother could betray them. Only when the bills piled up and the federal government had come after the inheritance tax had he been forced to face the truth. Richard was a bastard, pure and simple. As for Smith...

“I don’t like him,” Grady announced. That was all he intended to say. If Wiley commented, fine. If he didn’t, that was fine, too.

“You talkin’ about Laredo Smith?”

“Smith,” Grady repeated with a snicker. “Mighty convenient surname if you ask me.”

“Lots of people called Smith.”

“My point exactly,” Grady snarled. As a rule Wiley wasn’t this obtuse. “I’d bet my snakeskin boots the name’s phony.”

“He seems like a fine young man to me.”

It didn’t set well that his friend, his confidant, his foreman would take the other man’s side. “What do you mean?”

“He’s a real worker. He was up early, wanting to get started in Savannah’s garden before I helped tow his truck into town. We had it to Powell’s by the time they opened, and Paul took a look at it while we were still there.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Grady had decided he wanted nothing to do with this hired hand of Savannah’s but it was in the best interests of his family to learn what he could.

“Transmission needs to be replaced and the brakes are shot, too. Paul said once he got the parts, he’d have it running in a couple of days.”

“Good.” Grady suspected the stranger would disappear about the time his truck was repaired.

“He doesn’t look like he’s got cash enough to pay for it once the work’s done.”

“What?” Grady groaned.

“You heard me. Why else do you think he was lookin’ for a job?”

They headed toward the creek and slipped out of their saddles to allow their horses a long drink of cool water. Grady didn’t like the idea of Laredo lingering at the Yellow Rose. He’d seen men like Smith before. Drifters, washed-up rodeo riders, shiftless men with shiftless lives. No roots or families. They spent their money as fast as they earned it without a thought to their next meal, let alone the future. They might work hard, but they also played hard and lived harder. Laredo Smith wasn’t the type of man he wanted hanging around his sister, that was for damn sure.

“Find out anything else about him?” Grady asked, kicking a rock with the toe of his boot. His interest was out in the open now, no reason to hide it.

Not waiting for Wiley’s reply, Grady climbed back into the saddle with the ease of a man long accustomed to riding.

“I thought you said you didn’t want to talk about it.”

Grady tossed his foreman a furious look, but Wiley responded with a knowing chuckle. The old man knew he could get away with saying what he damn well pleased, and an angry glower wouldn’t change that.

“He let drop a few bits of information on the way into town,” Wiley admitted as he, too, remounted. “He’s been workin’ on the Triple C over in Williamsburg for the last couple years.”

Grady had heard of the ranch, which was one of the larger spreads in the Texas hill country. He’d spoken to Earl Chesterton, the owner, a time or two at the district cattlemen meetings, but they were little more than nodding acquaintances. Compared to the Triple C, the Yellow Rose was small stuff.

“You gonna check on him?” Wiley asked in a tone that said he disapproved of the idea.

Grady snorted. “Why would I do something like that? He doesn’t work for me, remember?”

“You’re the one with all the questions,” Wiley pointed out.

“I was curious. You can’t blame me for that, especially when all I’m doing is looking out for Savannah.” He didn’t want to say it out loud, but he was worried about his younger sister. Not once in all these years had she openly crossed him. Not that she didn’t have any opinions, and not that she was meek or passive, like some people assumed.

Savannah had ways of making her wishes known. Subtle ways. The fact was, he’d come to recognize that when she baked his favorite peach cobbler, she had something on her mind. She’d wait until after dinner; when he was enjoying dessert, she’d sit down with him, sweetness personified, and ask a few harmless—but pertinent—questions. Slowly she’d lead up to what she really wanted, making her point casually and without fanfare.

Grady always listened, and often her nonconfrontational style worked and he’d change his mind. He considered himself a fair man; if he felt her concern was valid, he acted on it.

Then Laredo Smith arrived, and suddenly his sister’s behavior had undergone a drastic change. She’d actually raised her voice to him, and all because of this worthless drifter. Well, she was welcome to Laredo Smith. If she wanted to walk around with her heart dangling from her sleeve, acting like a lovelorn fifteen-year-old, he wasn’t going to stop her. By the same token, he wouldn’t offer sympathy when a month or two down the road Laredo left her high and dry.

“How old is Savannah now?” Wiley asked. “She’s over twenty-one, right?”

“You know damn well how old she is.”

Wiley set his Stetson farther back on his head and grinned. “You’re right, I do. I was just wondering if you did.”

Grady frowned. “She’s old enough to know better.”

“Old enough to know her own heart, too, I’d say.”

Grady nudged his gelding, Starlight, into a trot and turned toward the house, following the fence line. He wanted to check that it was secure and ascertain the condition of the windmill and water tank before he headed in for the night.

“Like I said earlier,” he announced stiffly, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Then you aren’t interested in hearin’ what else Smith said.”

What Grady wasn’t interested in was playing games. He reined in Starlight and turned to look back at the foreman. “You got something to say, then I suggest you say it.”

“He’s a wrangler.”

Grady wasn’t impressed. Wranglers were a dime a dozen in Texas.

“We could use a good wrangler. Payin’ someone to come in and care for the horses can get downright costly.”

“I can take care of them myself.”

“Sure, the same way you can deliver calves, plant alfalfa, move herds and everything else all by your lonesome. Hey,” he said with a shrug, “it was just a suggestion.”

Despite his dour mood, Grady threw back his head and laughed. “Wiley, why do you think I’m paying you the big bucks? Since you’re so concerned about my welfare, you can be my wrangler from now on. You think we need to take one on full-time? Then I’m naming you the Yellow Rose’s official wrangler. You can feed, water, groom and worm the horses from this day forward. Don’t forget to take care of the tack, too, while you’re at it.”

“Quit foolin’ around.”

“Do I look like I’m fooling?” Grady asked with a broad grin. The expression on Wiley’s face was worth a thousand bucks. For the first time in longer than he cared to remember, Grady threw back his head and laughed until his throat felt raw.

* * *

Savannah set the platter of chicken-fried steak on the oven rack and turned the saucepan of thick cream gravy to simmer. The green beans were tender, and she’d sliced fresh tomatoes from her kitchen garden. An apple pie cooled on the counter. All she needed to do now was stir up a pitcher of lemonade, and dinner would be ready when Grady and Wiley returned.

With a few extra moments on her hands, she decided to step outside. Laredo had been working all afternoon in the hot sun, and knowing he was probably thirsty, she poured him a glass of iced tea. As she walked into the sunshine, she was honest enough to admit that the tea was only an excuse to be with him.

Her gardens had never looked better, but she couldn’t find Laredo. He’d been there no more than five minutes ago. Disappointed, she was about to return to the house when she spotted him in the goat pen with Samson and Delilah, her two kids. They were a thank-you gift for the roses she’d given a friend for an anniversary party. Seeing Laredo, she felt her heart go still, and she smiled with pleasure.

Grady had delighted in teasing her about her pets. He called it a silly woman thing, viewing her goats the same way he did her roses. He didn’t care one whit about something she dearly loved. Roses were her heart, her joy, her passion. Sometimes Savannah wondered if they could truly be brother and sister, their differences seemed so profound.

Laredo knelt in the grass with the two young goats, petting them, talking to them. Samson, in particular, didn’t normally take to strangers, but apparently Laredo was a special case.

Savannah wasn’t sure how long she stood there watching. Several minutes, anyway, because the cold glass in her hand had numbed her fingers. Not wanting Laredo to know she’d been spying on him, she returned to the house. She set the glass aside and raised her cold hand to her face, to cool her flushed cheeks.

Incredibly the urge to cry came over her, and she didn’t know why. She’d barely exchanged a word with Laredo all day; they’d both been busy with their own chores. And yet Savannah had never felt closer to anyone than she did to him for those few moments, watching him with her goats.

This stranger, this man she barely knew, possessed the ability to touch her soul. Savannah wondered if she’d ever be the same.

Three

Savannah enjoyed listening to Wade McMillen preach. His messages, simple and direct, cut straight to the heart. He was the most unlikely preacher she’d ever seen. A large man, tall and muscular, he looked as though he’d be more comfortable at home herding cattle than delivering sermons. Perhaps that was what made him so popular.

It might have been her imagination, but Savannah felt the curious stares of those around her. The word about her and Laredo was out, she was sure of it. Now everyone in the town knew she—and not Grady—had hired him.

Soon she’d be the subject of speculative comments and whispered questions—if she wasn’t already. She felt mortified, but pride helped her hold her head high and look straight ahead. Her mind wandered throughout Wade’s sermon, though, something that didn’t usually happen. When her thoughts weren’t focused on the consequences of her actions, they zoomed with startling ease to Laredo.

She’d wanted to invite him to church and had tried to broach the subject a number of times, but had lost her nerve. Even an invitation to Sunday-morning worship had seemed rather brash. In light of the interest she’d generated, Savannah would be forever grateful that Laredo wasn’t with her. His presence would’ve set tongues wagging for sure.

Laredo had worked all day Saturday building trellises, even though she’d insisted she didn’t require him to work weekends. He’d brushed aside her protests and pounded and sawed from dawn to dusk. By the end of the day, a long row of freshly painted trellises stood drying in the late March sun.

After dinner he sat on the porch with her until Grady arrived. Her brother’s disapproval was evident in everything he said and did. She wanted to plead with Laredo to ignore him, wanted to insist she was her own woman, but again she remained silent.

A coward, that was what she was. Savannah would’ve given just about anything to find the courage to tell him what was on her mind and in her heart.

Actually, as Caroline had said, she’d done one thing that made her proud. She’d stood up to Grady, and because she had, Laredo was still at the ranch. Challenging Grady was no easy task. His strong personality had quelled braver souls than hers.

The congregation stood, and Savannah reached for the hymnal and opened it to the appropriate page. Her soft voice lifted with those in the choir. She glanced over at Caroline, standing in the front row of the choir in her long white robe. Her friend must have noticed because she acknowledged Savannah with an almost imperceptible wink. Savannah relaxed for the first time since she’d entered the church that morning.

After a closing prayer organ music once again filled the church and the service ended.

Savannah followed Nell Bishop and her two children out of the pew. Jake Bishop had been killed in a freak tractor accident three and a half years ago. They’d always seemed the perfect couple, so deeply in love—a great team, everyone said. Savannah knew life had been difficult for Nell without Jake and she admired the other woman’s strength. Nell had refused to leave the ranch, working it herself. When asked why she hadn’t sold off the spread and moved into town, Nell had simply explained that keeping the ranch was what Jake would have wanted. Walking with Nell, Savannah felt safe from gossip. The widow was a private person, as she was herself, and would never pry into her affairs.