Heart of Texas Volume One (7 page)

“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.”

“Love.” The word felt like acid on his tongue. “You
love
him? You hardly know him!”

She lowered her gaze to her clenched hands. “I
could
love him, I know I could, and he could love me, too. He understands me and I understand him.”

“You've known him what? Three days? Four? Savannah, for crying out loud, what's happened to you?”

She looked at him then, and to his amazement she smiled. “Something wonderful, Grady, something really wonderful.” She touched his arm and nearly blinded him with the brilliance of her smile. “I feel alive, truly alive for the first time in years. I'd forgotten how good it felt.”

“Savannah, Savannah,” he moaned. She made this so damned difficult.

“Grady, please be happy for me.”

“I can't.”

“Then don't ruin it for me, please. That's all I ask.”

He stood, feeling the pain of what he had to tell her until the words felt like bricks loaded on his back. “You can't trust him.”

“How can you say that?” Her face wore a look of pure puzzlement. “Laredo's been nothing but trustworthy.”

“You can't trust him,” Grady repeated.

“I'd trust him with my life. Do you honestly think I'm such a bad judge of character? He's patient and generous, and for you to say otherwise proves you don't really know him.”

“You're naive. He'll use you, and when he's finished, he'll leave you to face the consequences alone.”

His words were followed by a shocked angry silence. Then she said, “That comment was unworthy of you.”

Well, she'd wait a long time before he'd apologize. He hated what he had to tell her next. Hated to be the one to destroy the fairy tale she'd built around this cast-off cowboy. “Ask me where I was this afternoon,” he demanded.

Savannah blinked. “Where were you?”

“I stopped off at Cal Patterson's to make a phone call.”

“You couldn't do it here?”

“No. Cal's got the names and phone numbers of all the district members in the Cattlemen's Association.” He waited until the information sank in.

“You tried to find out about Laredo,” she said, and her voice dropped to a whisper.

“Savannah, listen to me. It gives me no joy to tell you this, but your precious Laredo Smith was fired from his last job.”

She remained outwardly calm, but Grady noticed her clenched hands in her lap. “I talked to Earl Chesterton myself,” he continued. “Smith was fired and for a damn good reason.” If that didn't convince her of the truth about this man, nothing would.

A moment of shocked silence followed, or what he mistook for shock. To his amazement, Savannah slowly smiled. “Oh, Grady, how worried you must have been, but there was no need. I already knew all about that.”

G
RADY WASN'T LOOKING FORWARD
to talking to Frank Hennessey, but he'd delayed his visit to the sheriff long enough. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel as he drove toward town, and his thoughts darkened with his fears. It bothered him that his sensible intelligent sister had been taken in by a lowlife like Smith.

One thing Grady couldn't tolerate was a thief. As far as he was concerned, stealing what belonged to another was about as low as a man could go. His feelings, no doubt, were influenced by what Richard had done. From the time his younger brother was an infant, he'd been spoiled and coddled by their parents. Savannah was guilty of catering to him, as well— along with everyone else. Even in high school, when Richard should have been maturing and accepting adult responsibilities, he'd made it an art form to pawn off his obligations on others. From early childhood Richard had charmed his way through life. How that boy could talk, Grady recalled cynically. He'd often watched in astonishment as Richard, so glib and smooth, managed to get out of one scrape after another. Nothing had been his fault. Someone else was always to blame. His brother had continually found ways to shift the responsibility for his failures and problems onto other people.

Richard was a charmer, a ladies' man and a smooth talker, but Grady had never suspected his brother was a thief. Then he'd learned the truth. After the shock of the theft had worn off, Grady had been left to face the reality of their dire financial circumstances. He'd even blamed himself. He should never have taken Richard to the Brewster bank or let him know where he kept the key to the safe-deposit box. But Grady had trusted him. And learned the hard way that it had been a mistake.

He wasn't willing to make a second mistake, especially not where his sister was concerned. Savannah was all the family he had left, and he wasn't going to lose her.

In the beginning Grady's opinion of this outsider had been tainted by Savannah's attitude. For the first time in more years than he could remember, she'd challenged his judgment. So Grady's natural inclination was to dislike the man she'd favored against his advice. But he
had
tolerated Laredo Smith's presence. He'd even taken some good-natured ribbing from Wiley and Caroline Daniels about being unreasonable. Given time, he might have put the drifter on the payroll himself. As Wiley and Savannah had reminded him often enough, they needed extra help.

He wouldn't hire Smith now, though. Not after what he'd learned. No way in hell would he offer a job to a known thief.

Grady had discovered everything he needed to know about Laredo Smith in his short conversation with Earl Chesterton. He wanted Smith off his land as soon as possible and as far way from Savannah as could be arranged. Frank would understand, and because the sheriff was fond of Savannah, he'd be eager to help Grady send him packing.

His sister's words
—Don't ruin this for me—
echoed in Grady's head, and although he believed he was making the right choice, he felt a sense of guilt. The last thing he wanted was to see Savannah hurt. He wanted to get rid of this drifter, but he had to manage it in such a way that Savannah would agree it was the only prudent course of action.

For that he needed Frank Hennessey's help.

Grady considered it his duty to protect his sister. She claimed she knew everything necessary about Laredo; Grady doubted that. A thief was a thief, and if Smith had stolen once, he'd steal again. Grady strongly suspected this cowboy had tangled with the authorities on more than one occasion. That was what he intended to find out from Frank Hennessey. Faced with the raw truth, Savannah would have no qualms about sending Smith on his way.

Grady found Frank Hennessey relaxing at his oak desk, feet propped on the edge and hat lowered over his eyes as he enjoyed a midafternoon snooze. Frank had represented the law in Promise for as long as Grady could remember, and while an able lawman, he took business in his stride.

Grady closed the door a little harder than necessary and Frank used his index finger to lift his Stetson off his forehead just enough to let him take a peek at his visitor.

“Howdy.” Frank greeted him lazily with the familiarity that years of friendship allowed. “What can I do for you, Grady?”

Grady hesitated, unsure how to begin. At last he blurted, “I've got trouble.”

The older man's smile faded and he slowly straightened. “What kind of trouble?”

Grady removed his hat and rubbed a hand across his brow. “I need to ask a favor of you, Frank. Now, I know you wouldn't normally do this sort of thing, but it's the only way I can think of to save Savannah.”

“What's wrong with Savannah?” Frank asked abruptly, gesturing toward the hard wooden chair that sat alongside his desk.

It gave Grady no pleasure to drag family business into the open; however, he had no choice but to involve Frank. “You've heard about Savannah hiring a drifter to work in her rose garden?”

Frank's mouth angled into a half smile. “The story's been all around town twice by now, and Dovie was full of the news.” He paused to chuckle appreciatively. “Apparently Dovie didn't think Savannah had it in her to stand up to you.”

Grady hated the thought of folks talking about Savannah behind her back and let Frank know his feelings on the matter with a dark scowl.

Apparently Frank got the message because he cleared his throat and looked apologetic. “You know how women love to gossip,” he said with a disapproving frown—although it was well-known that the sheriff wasn't opposed to indulging in the habit himself.

The fact that the news had spread all over town complicated things. Grady figured all he could do now was get to the point and leave the problem in Frank's capable hands.

“I don't trust him. First off, I've got to think Smith's a phony name.”

“He might have picked something more original than Smith if that's the case, don't you think?” Frank asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Why he chose that name isn't the point,” Grady argued. “‘Laredo Smith' sounds about as real as a three-dollar bill.”

“Other than not liking his name, have you got a reason not to trust him?” Frank asked next.

“Plenty.” Surely Frank didn't think he'd come to him over something trivial! “Smith mentioned that he last worked for Earl Chesterton on the Triple C over in Williamsburg, so I called Earl and talked to him myself. Found out Earl fired Laredo Smith for stealing.” He spit out the last word. Even saying it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Frank's eyebrows lifted. “Why didn't Earl press charges?”

“I asked him that myself.” The other rancher would have saved Grady a great deal of trouble if he had. “Apparently it was one man's word against another's and no way to prove who was telling the truth and who wasn't. Earl fired them both.”

“I see,” Frank murmured. “Seems to me that if Smith had something to hide, he wouldn't have mentioned working on the Triple C.”

Grady sighed and wondered why no one else viewed the situation with the same concern he did. “I'm asking you to do a background check on Smith,” he said and realized he was expecting a great deal of their friendship. Frank had every right to turn him down, but Grady hoped he wouldn't.

The sheriff frowned and his chair creaked noisily as he leaned back and considered Grady's request. “I understand you're worried about Savannah and I can't say I blame you. Your sister is one of the most kindhearted people I know, and if this saddle bum hurts her, he'll have me and half the town to deal with.”

“You'll do it, then?” Grady said with relief.

“I'll check him out,” Frank said reluctantly.

The two exchanged handshakes and Grady left. On his way out of town, he decided to stop off at the post office and talk to Caroline. If he couldn't get through to his sister, maybe her best friend could. Reversing direction, he headed down Maple, then sat in the parking lot, debating the wisdom of his decision. In the past year or so he'd begun to notice Caroline Daniels. She was younger than Savannah, and while they'd been friends for several years, he'd always thought of her as a kid. For some time now it'd become difficult to view Caroline as anything but an attractive woman.

However, Caroline was also opinionated and headstrong. More often than not, her views clashed with his own, and as a result they argued frequently. Another problem existed, as well.

Maggie.

Grady enjoyed the five-year-old, but for reasons he didn't understand, the little girl was terrified of him. Savannah baby-sat her on Monday nights while Caroline did volunteer work, and it had reached the point that Grady stayed out of sight rather than intimidate the little girl.

Things being what they were, it was a risk to ask for Caroline's help, but one he was willing to take. More than anything, asking Caroline to join forces with him proved how desperate he'd grown to get Savannah to see reason.

Thankfully Caroline was alone when he approached the front counter.

“Hello, Grady,” she said, glancing up from the mail she was sorting.

“Have you had lunch yet?” he asked.

Her eyes widened—but she was no more surprised by his invitation than he was himself.

“It's three-thirty.”

“Coffee, then,” he suggested gruffly, feeling gauche for not looking at the time. No wonder his stomach growled; he'd missed lunch entirely. Which also went to show how desperate he'd become.

“I don't suppose it'd hurt if I took a few minutes off,” she said and set the mail aside.

Definitely curious, Caroline invited him behind the counter. She located a clean mug for him in the back room and filled his cup and her own. “What's on your mind?” she asked.

“Savannah.” Grady couldn't see any need to beat around the bush. “I'm worried about her and that drifter.”

“He has a name,” Caroline said, stirring a spoonful of sugar into her coffee.

“Sure.
Smith.
”

“Laredo Smith.”

“All right, Laredo Smith,” he said impatiently. Grady didn't know what it was about Caroline that attracted and irritated him at the same time. Lately he found it difficult to carry on a decent conversation with the woman, although he did actually like her.

“What's the problem?” Caroline asked, her eyes meeting his above the rim of her mug.

“I'm afraid he's going to abuse her generosity.” In Grady's opinion, the wrangler was already guilty of that and more.

“Don't you trust your sister's judgment?”

“Of course,” he flared. “It's just that she's naive and vulnerable. Savannah doesn't have a lot of experience with men, especially smooth talkers like Laredo Smith.”

“Laredo's a smooth talker?” Caroline echoed. “I hadn't noticed.” The mug was at her lips again, and it seemed to him she purposely held it there to hide a smile. Apparently his concern for Savannah amused her.

“Is something funny?” he challenged, disliking the way she made him the target of her humor.

“Of course not.” the amusement left her eyes, replaced by a mock seriousness that infuriated him even more.

“I can see coming here was a mistake,” he said, putting the mug down with a clatter. “I should have known you'd find this all a joke.” He turned away, but she stopped him.

“Grady.”

He hesitated.

“Listen, I doubt there's as much to worry about as you think. Savannah's the most levelheaded person I know.”

Grady used to believe the same thing. “She's not herself. He's changed her.”

“Yes, he has,” Caroline admitted.

At last they could agree on something. “Then you know what I'm saying?”

“Grady,” she said, her look gentle, “Laredo
has
changed Savannah, but he's changed her for the better. Don't you see how happy she is? You can't be around her and not feel it. I might not be the best judge of character, but I don't think Laredo is evil incarnate the way you seem to. Maggie was full of stories about him Monday night after I picked her up. She thought he was great. It isn't every man who'd sit and read to a five-year-old until she fell asleep. Savannah said the three of them spent an hour in the calving barn, showing Maggie the newborn calves.”

“In other words she likes Smith,” Grady muttered. Maggie liked Smith but not him. Caroline apparently didn't realize the insult she'd delivered.

“It's much more than that.”

“Really?” He didn't even try to hide his sarcasm.

“What is it you're really afraid of?” she asked.

For the first time Caroline sounded concerned. He held her gaze a long time, then finally said, “I don't want anyone to take advantage of her.”

“She's old enough to know her own mind.”

“She's too damn trusting.”

“Is that bad?”