Heart of Texas Series Volume 1: Lonesome CowboyTexas Two-StepCaroline's Child

  “Yes—not that it did any good. In the end I agreed to lend him the money and he insisted on giving me the title to his truck. The day he left I apologized for the scene at Richard’s party and we shook hands.” He stared into the steaming mug. “I took my aggravation with Richard out on Laredo and made a complete ass of myself.”

  Caroline didn’t disagree with him. Not that he expected she would.

  “Although it’s none of my business,” he said, “Laredo as much as admitted he loved Savannah.”

  “He told me that, too.” Caroline shook her head in dismay. “What I can’t fathom is why he felt he had to leave. What is it about men? I don’t understand it. Laredo Smith is loved by the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful woman he’s likely to meet in ten lifetimes and what does he do? He walks out on her without a word. It doesn’t make sense.” She tossed her hands in the air as if to say she’d never understand the male of the species.

  “A man has his pride, especially a man like Smith, but my guess is Richard had something to do with it.” It was the first time he’d suggested this to anyone, and he was curious to see how Caroline would react. He half expected her to jump all over him and insist he quit trying to blame Richard for everything, including the national debt. She said nothing for several moments.

  “I wouldn’t put it past him,” she murmured at last.

  Grady was so damn grateful that she agreed with him it was all he could do not to hug her right then and there. If Denise was going to spread rumors about him and Caroline, that would give her something to talk about.

  “Did you ask Laredo if Richard said anything to him?”

  “No,” he told her reluctantly.

  “Why the hell not?”

  “Well, because...I was trying to get him to stay.” Grady didn’t know what Caroline had thought he could do. It wasn’t like he could hog-tie the wrangler until he agreed to marry his sister. Grady hadn’t intended to tell Caroline this, but suddenly he wanted her to know. “I offered Laredo a partnership in the ranch. I realize now it must have come as quite a surprise to him. Hell, I surprised myself.”

  He’d already known Savannah was in love with Laredo; that day he’d learned about Smith’s love for Savannah, too. This man was important to her happiness; if it was in Grady’s power to make her happy, he was willing to do whatever it took.

  He noticed how Caroline’s face tightened as she considered this information. “What’d he say to that?”

  Glancing away, Grady relived the terse conversation. “That he didn’t accept charity and I’d insulted Savannah and him. Hell, everything I do these days is wrong. I was only trying to help.” He reached for his coffee. “At first I thought Laredo didn’t love Savannah, but now I think he loves her too much.”

  Caroline gave a hard shake of her head. “As far as I’m concerned, he’d better not show his face around here, because I swear I’ll wring his neck if he does.”

  Grady was a little taken aback by the vehemence of her response.

  “All this crap about pride and honor—it’s asinine, that’s what it is.” Her lips thinned. “Never mind him. How’s Savannah doing?”

  “You said you haven’t seen her in the past couple of days, didn’t you?”

  Caroline nodded. “Why? What’s up?”

  “Something’s happened—she’s changed.”

  “Of course she’s changed! She’s hurt and angry. And I can’t blame her.”

  “It’s more than that.”

  Caroline leaned closer. “What do you mean?”

  “Like you said, she’s hurt—but I can’t imagine how that would lead to...this.” He didn’t know how to say it without sounding demented, so he just plunged in. “Hell, I don’t know what’s happened to her, but two days ago she cut her hair.”

  “Savannah?”

  “It’s been long for so many years I didn’t recognize her. It’s shoulder-length now and in a—” he made a circular motion with his finger “—pageboy, I think is what you call it. The ends tuck under sort of nice and neat.”

  This left Caroline speechless.

  “Then yesterday I found her in jeans.”

  “Savannah?”

  “Yeah. I didn’t know she even owned any.”

  “But why?” Caroline asked, clearly puzzled. “Why’d she do these things?”

  “I have my suspicions and I’ll tell you right now, it makes my blood run cold.”

  “Really,” Caroline said thoughtfully, “when you think about it, what’s so terrible about Savannah cutting her hair and updating her wardrobe?”

  “I’m worried.” Grady didn’t mind admitting it, either. “This morning I saw her standing on the porch looking down the driveway as if she expected Laredo to come back. Personally I wish to hell he would, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

  “I hope you didn’t tell her that!”

  “Of course not!” What kind of idiot did Caroline think he was, anyway? “Then she told me Laredo Smith was a fool,” he added.

  “I couldn’t agree with her more,” Caroline muttered.

  “You know what I think? I think Savannah’s decided to look for a husband.” He spoke quickly, finding the subject of marriage an uncomfortable one with Caroline.

  Caroline gave an elaborate shrug. “There’s nothing wrong with marriage, although neither of us seems interested in it.”

  “I agree—nothing wrong with it. But I’m afraid that in Savannah’s current frame of mind any man will do.”

  “Did she have someone in mind?”

  “Not that I’m aware of.” But Grady knew his sister, and while he wasn’t an expert, he recognized the look. Savannah was on the prowl. And when a woman set her mind on marriage, he believed, there was damn little a man could do but run for shelter.

  “You’re sure about this?” Caroline frowned.

  “Not a hundred percent, but it’s fairly obvious.”

  Then to his consternation, Caroline burst out laughing.

  Grady didn’t take kindly to being the butt of a joke. “What’s so damned funny?” he demanded.

  “You! I don’t think Savannah’s on the prowl, as you put it, but if she does find a decent man to marry, more power to her. There’s too much love in her heart to waste. If Laredo doesn’t want to marry her, then so be it. Eventually she’ll find a man who does.”

  “In some tavern?”

  “Savannah’s not into that scene.”

  “That’s what I thought, but then Richard...” Grady hesitated, uncertain he should tell her this, but if Caroline could help...

  “What about Richard?” she asked, her laughter draining away quickly.

  It helped that his no-good brother hadn’t fooled Caroline, that she recognized the kind of man he was. “Richard offered to take her barhopping and introduce her around.”

  “Terrific,” Caroline said sarcastically. “All the best men hang around bars. Is she going to do it?”

  “I don’t know,” Grady said. “I just don’t know.”

  ***

  Glen Patterson sat down in front of the television with a cold can of soda. He was supposed to meet Ellie for dinner, but she’d phoned and said she’d be hung up until after seven. This was a difficult time for his friend. Twice this week he’d made excuses to drive into town and check up on her. The last report he’d heard on her father wasn’t good. The doctors seemed to think John Frasier wouldn’t last more than another week or two.

  “You’re frowning,” Cal said as he stepped into the living room. It wasn’t as neat and orderly as when their mother had done the housekeeping, but it wasn’t as bad as it might’ve been, either. The two brothers had hired a woman to come in once a week to clean ever since their parents had retired and moved into town to open a bed-and-breakfast.

  ?
??I was just thinking,” Glen said.

  “Worried about Ellie?”

  “Not really.” He downplayed his concern rather than admit it to his brother.

  “Maybe you should be worried,” Cal said as he claimed the recliner. He sat down and stretched out his long legs.

  “Do you know something I don’t?”

  Cal didn’t look at him when he spoke. “I hear Richard Weston’s got his eye on her.”

  “Richard? He’s harmless. Okay, so he likes to flirt, but Ellie knows that.”

  “You jealous?”

  If anyone understood his relationship with Ellie, it should be his own brother. “Why would I be jealous? Ellie and I are friends. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

  Friends. It shouldn’t be a difficult concept to understand. Cal and Grady Weston had been good friends for years. It just so happened that his best friend was a member of the opposite sex. People had been trying to make something of it for years.

  Cal regarded him skeptically.

  “What?” Glen asked in annoyance.

  “Men and women can’t be friends.”

  Glen had his older brother on that one. “Wrong. Ellie’s like one of the guys. She always has been—you know that.”

  Cal folded his hands over his trim stomach. “In other words, it doesn’t bother you she’s been seeing Richard.”

  “Not in the least.” It did a little, but not enough to really concern him—and not for the reasons Cal might suggest. Glen was afraid that Ellie was especially vulnerable just then, and he didn’t want Richard Weston to take advantage of her.

  “You know how Grady feels about him,” Cal said.

  “Yeah, so what? Richard wasn’t cut out to be a rancher—we both know that. He has a right to come home now and then, don’t you think?”

  Cal was silent for a moment. Then he said, “If I were you, I’d keep my eye on Ellie.”

  Glen found himself frowning again. Cal had a suspicious nature but he hadn’t always been this cynical or distrusting. Glen traced it back to Jennifer Healy—Cal had been engaged to her a couple of years ago, and Jennifer had dumped him. Afterward Cal’s disposition had soured, particularly toward women. It bothered Glen and he’d tried a number of times to steer his older brother into a new relationship, but Cal didn’t seem interested.

  “Well, I know for a fact that Richard can be a real bastard,” Cal added. “If you’re Ellie’s friend, like you say, you’d better warn her.”

  “Warn?” Obviously Cal hadn’t been around her often enough. Ellie had a mind of her own and wouldn’t take kindly to his interference.

  Anyway, he just couldn’t take Richard seriously as a threat. An annoyance, yes, but not a threat.

  Eleven

  As Savannah drove toward Bitter End, she considered the unmistakable fact that her family was worried about her. She’d shocked everyone by cutting her hair, no one more than herself. The decision had come on the spur of the moment, without warning or forethought.

  She’d been washing her face as she did each morning and happened to catch her reflection in the bathroom mirror. For a long moment, she’d stood there staring.

  How plain she looked. How ordinary. Carefully, critically, she examined her image and didn’t like what she saw. That was when she decided something had to be done. Anything. Not until she reached for the brush did she consider cutting her waist-length blond hair. One minute she was staring in the mirror, the next she had a pair of scissors in her hands.

  Savannah knew she’d shocked Grady and Wiley that first morning. They’d come into the kitchen for breakfast and stopped cold, unable to keep their mouths from sagging open. Her brother squinted and looked at her as if she were a stranger. Not that Savannah blamed him. She felt like a stranger.

  Naturally Grady, being Grady, had simply ignored the change after that and didn’t say a word. Frowning, he sat down at the table and dished up his breakfast as though there was nothing out of the ordinary. And Wiley, being Wiley, couldn’t resist commenting. He approved of the change and said so, forcing Grady to agree with him.

  Savannah began to like her new look. Everything that followed after she’d cut her hair was a natural progression of this first action. She’d worn the ankle-length dresses for comfort and out of habit. The jeans were leftovers from her high school days and, surprisingly, still fit.

  Of the three men Richard had been the most complimentary about the new Savannah. Her younger brother had done his best to flatter and charm her. To his credit his efforts had made her laugh, something she hadn’t done in quite a while. She worried about Richard and his finances, but again and again he assured her the check would be coming soon. The one who surprised her most was Grady. It was as if he’d forgotten about Richard, but her younger brother was smart enough to avoid him. He spent his evenings in town, and while Grady was out working, Richard practiced his guitar or serenaded her. The past few afternoons he’d joined her on the porch to keep her company. It helped distract her from thoughts of Laredo, and Savannah was grateful. A couple of times he’d attempted to talk her into going to town with him to, as he put it, live it up a little. He seemed to believe that all she needed was a new love interest. Another man, who’d take her mind off Laredo.

  What Richard didn’t understand was that she couldn’t turn her feelings on and off at will. He prodded her, claiming it would lift her spirits to get out and circulate. While she appreciated his efforts, she wasn’t ready. In truth she didn’t know if she would ever be. Not that she intended to mourn the loss of her one and only love for the remainder of her days. She’d given herself time to accept that Laredo was out of her life; after that, she was determined to continue on as she had before.

  Easier said than done.

  Savannah’s hands clenched the steering wheel as she came to a particularly bumpy stretch of road. Although she knew Grady highly disapproved of her going back to the ghost town, she’d decided to do it, anyway.

  Not because of the roses, either. She’d already discovered, the day Laredo had come with her, that no other flowers were to be found there, old roses or otherwise. The land was completely barren. Nevertheless, she felt compelled to return for one last visit.

  Her reason was nebulous, hard to analyze or explain. But Savannah didn’t care. The why of it no longer concerned her. She felt drawn in some indefinable way to this lifeless empty town.

  She was pitched and jolted around as she drove slowly toward Bitter End. Oddly, the truck seemed to remember each turn, and she followed without question, parking in the same spot and hiking the rest of the way.

  As she neared the place, the memories of her last visit with Laredo immediately came to mind. For weeks now she’d managed to curtail her thoughts of him, telling herself it did no good to brood on might-have-beens; he was gone and nothing she said or did would bring him back. She had no choice but to accept his decision.

  At least that was the sane and sensible approach. In reality it just hurt too damned much to linger over the memories.

  Every time she stepped into her garden the first thing she saw were the trellises he’d built for her. The roses he’d fertilized and cared for had exploded with fresh blooms. She would cut and arrange them, knowing that his hands had touched these very stems.

  It hadn’t been easy. None of it.

  Caroline worried about her, too, and phoned frequently to check on her. Rather than come right out and tell her she was concerned, her friend manufactured excuses for her calls. She still wasn’t coming out to the ranch very often, but Savannah blamed Grady and his talent for frightening Maggie.

  As she climbed onto the rocky ledge, Bitter End came into view. She stared at the church at the outskirts of town. The whole place looked peaceful and serene from here, and she wondered about the sadness and oppression she’d experienced on her last visit. Maybe it was
her imagination, after all. Laredo’s, too. He’d shared her uneasiness and hadn’t been able to get her away fast enough.

  But as she walked past the church and down the main street, the sensation returned. The feeling seemed to wrap itself around her, but Savannah refused to be intimidated. She wasn’t going to run away.

  Not this time.

  She moved forward carefully and deliberately. The sidewalks had been built a good two to three feet off the ground and were lined with railings. A water trough, baked for a hundred years in the unyielding sun, sat by the hitching post. Savannah advanced toward it, thinking that, instead of walking down the center of the street as she had with Laredo, she’d take the sidewalk and explore a couple of buildings along the way.

  Just then she heard a bird’s mournful cry reverberating in the stillness. The wind whistled, a keening sound, as though someone was grieving some great loss. Sagebrush tumbled down the hard dirt street. She stopped, looking around, and realized there was something different.

  “The rocking chair,” she said aloud. She was certain no chair had been there before. But now one stood outside the mercantile store, creaking in the wind, and her heart lodged in her throat.

  Determined not to give in to the fear that sent goose bumps skittering up her arms, she strolled fearlessly ahead. Her bravado didn’t help. The feeling of dread persisted.

  In that instant she understood. It was an emotional understanding and it told her why she’d come, what had driven her back to the ghost town. Standing in the middle of town, she looked up and down the barren street and saw nothing but tumbleweeds and dust.

  The street was stark. Empty. Bare. Even the land refused to nurture growth.

  This town, this lifeless unproductive street, was like her life. She lived holed up on the ranch with her unmarried brothers. Her entire life revolved around their needs, their wants, their demands.

  Her roses and her mail-order business were tolerated, but no one had offered her one word of encouragement. Except Laredo. Grady cared about her; she didn’t mean to belittle his concern. But he hadn’t the time or energy to invest in understanding her or her needs. As for Richard, although she loved him, she knew he’d never been able to look past his own interests.