Heart of Texas Volume 1: Lonesome Cowboy

She shook her head. “I don’t know where he is. Neither Grady nor I have seen Richard in six years—since the day we buried Mom and Dad.”

Laredo didn’t know how to respond. He continued to fight the urge to put his arms around her and found it more and more difficult to resist. Speaking of her younger brother clearly upset her.

“He...disappeared.” Her voice was shaking with emotion.

“Savannah, listen, you don’t need to say any more. I shouldn’t have asked.” Her pain was right there, and so real it was agony to see. He felt helpless, unable to console her.

“No...please, I want to tell you.”

He nodded.

She took a moment to compose herself. “Apparently Dad told Grady that if anything were ever to happen to him, Grady should go to the safe-deposit box at the bank in Brewster.” She paused and bit her lower lip. “The day before the funeral Grady and Richard visited the bank together. You can imagine how shocked they were to discover that the safe-deposit box was full of cash. Grady estimated there must have been close to forty thousand dollars there, along with a letter.

“Dad wrote that he’d seen what had happened to people who put their faith in life-insurance companies and after the savings-and-loan fiasco, he didn’t trust banks much, either. He didn’t want Mom and us three kids to worry about finances, so he’d been putting the money aside little by little for years. His plan was that there’d be enough money to pay the inheritance taxes on the ranch, plus keep the place going. I don’t even think my mother knew.

“The next day we buried my parents,” Savannah whispered, and her voice quavered with remembered pain. “I recall almost nothing about that day. Again and again I’ve gone over the details in my mind and it’s all a blank. I remember the people—so many friends and family came. I remember how kind and generous everyone was. That part I have no problem with. What I can’t recall is the last time I saw Richard. He vanished without a word to anyone. At...at first we assumed that something terrible had happened to him. That in his pain and grief he’d done something crazy. I was worried sick. Grady, too.”

Slowly Savannah raised her eyes and Laredo could see that they’d filled with tears. When she spoke again, her voice was small and weak. “He took the money—every dime. As best as we can figure, he left the funeral and went straight to the bank, forged Grady’s signature and cleaned out the safe-deposit box. He took what belonged to all three of us. He left us with nothing. We’d just lost Mom and Dad. Our grief was unbearable, and he made it worse with his betrayal. Neither Grady nor I have heard from him since.” Some of her tears spilled over. “Grady’s never been the same. He’s practically killed himself trying to hold on to the ranch, and I think he hates Richard.

“I can’t hate him—he’s my brother. You see, Laredo, in one day I lost my parents, and I lost both my brothers, too.”

Nothing could have kept Laredo from reaching for her then. When he did, she came to him as though he’d held her a thousand times. It felt so...right to press her against his heart. Her body was warm and pliant, molding to his as naturally as if they’d been designed for each other.

Laredo had no idea how long they stood there. Not nearly long enough, of that he was sure. Savannah’s arms were around his middle, her face buried in his chest. His hands were in her hair, his eyes closed, savoring the wonder of being close to someone this beautiful and this good.

He didn’t hear the door open, but he should have realized it was bound to happen.

The screen door slammed and Laredo’s eyes shot open. Instinctively his arms tightened around Savannah before he reluctantly released her and faced her brother. Eye to eye. Man-to-man.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing with my sister?” Grady Weston shouted.

* * *

Grady mulled over what he had to say before he confronted Savannah. Pacing the living room floor, he carefully weighed each word.

Okay, so maybe he’d been out of line earlier when he found her and Smith clinging to each other like lovers. The sight had distressed him and before he could stop himself he’d exploded.

He didn’t want to fight with Savannah. She was his sister, but damn it all! Her infatuation with Laredo Smith—or whatever his name might be—had deprived her of all reason. It was more than he could bear, watching her make a fool of herself over this useless drifter.

Unfortunately his methods of convincing her hadn’t worked so far, and Grady realized he needed to change his tactics. To this point, all that his anger and frustration had netted him was the silent treatment. He’d never known a woman who could say more without uttering a word.

Okay, okay, he was willing to admit he’d made mistakes, too. Earlier in the week Savannah had cooked him his favorite dinner as a peace offering, but he’d been so angry he’d chosen to overlook the gesture. He’d been wrong to ignore her outstretched hand, but he was man enough to admit it. He hoped to make peace with her now—hoped he could persuade her to see reason.

Savannah had given him the cold shoulder since he’d walked in on her and Smith in the kitchen. For the rest of the day she’d conveniently disappeared and had retired to her room as soon as it was dark. She wasn’t asleep; he could hear her moving about upstairs, as restless as he was here below.

He continued pacing, then decided to talk to her now, before the opportunity was lost. Before he changed his mind. He headed up the stairs, taking them two at a time, paused outside her bedroom, inhaled deeply and knocked. Loudly.

“Yes?” his sister said through the door. Her voice was anything but warm, and the door stayed closed.

“Savannah, I’d appreciate the opportunity to discuss the matter of Laredo Smith with you,” he said. It’d taken him ten minutes to come up with those words, to strike the proper tone. He thought he sounded formal, calm, even lawyerly.

The door opened and she stood stiffly in the doorway, blocking the entrance. “Downstairs might be more comfortable,” he suggested, gesturing down the narrow staircase.

She hesitated, then reluctantly nodded.

Grady relaxed slightly, and wondered how much this peace was going to cost him. Being on the outs with his only sister distressed him more than he cared to reveal.

Savannah followed him down the stairs and took a seat on the sofa. “You owe me an apology, Grady.”

“All right, all right,” he said, raising both arms in surrender. “I apologize.”

“How about apologizing to Laredo?”

That was going too far, but Grady was smart enough to see that arguing the point wouldn’t serve his purpose. “I want to discuss Laredo,” he said again, and because it was impossible to hold still, he stood up and resumed his pacing. This next part was the most difficult. “I’m worried about you,” he said.

“I’m thirty-one years old and I don’t need my brother treating me like a child. You’re not my guardian. I was mortified today, Grady. Simply mortified.”

His behavior had embarrassed him, too, but he hadn’t been able to prevent it. Walking into the house and finding Savannah in a man’s arms had been a shock.

“I apologize,” he muttered again. He walked the full length of the room and turned back.

“Then why did you act like...like a bull on the rampage?”

Grady didn’t know what to tell her other than the truth. “I’m afraid you’re going to be hurt.”

“My life is none of your concern.”

On the contrary, he thought, what happened to her was very much his concern. He was her brother. She was naive about men—especially con artists like Laredo Smith—and whether she realized it or not, she needed him. At least he could be counted on to keep a level head. “Savannah, you’re setting yourself up for heartache, getting involved with a drifter.”

She sighed as if to say he clearly had no concept of how she felt. Perhaps he didn’t, but that didn’t change the facts.

“Laredo’s been the perfect gentleman,” she explained calmly. “I was crying and he comforted me.”

“He made you cry?”

“No.” The word was filled with exasperation. “I told him about Richard, and I always cry when I talk about Richard.”

Grady’s jaw tightened at the mention of his younger brother, but he didn’t want to discuss him now. He crossed to Savannah and squatted down in front of her. “Savannah, look at me.”

“I like Laredo.”

“I know you do, and that’s what troubles me.”

“But why? Haven’t you seen how hard he’s worked in my garden? He’s done nothing but show me kindness.”

Grady ground his teeth in frustration. “There are things about him you don’t know,” he said as gently as he could.

“Grady, look at me, really look. My youth is slipping through my fingers and I’ve been given this...this precious gift, this blessing, a chance to love and be loved. I’m not going to let you or anyone else ruin it for me.”