“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?”
“Yes,” he stormed. “I’m afraid he’d going to take advantage of her. I’m afraid Savannah’s going to end up alone and pregnant.”
The eyes that had just a moment ago revealed the first shred of understanding and compassion flickered with a jolt of unanticipated pain. It took Grady only an instant to realize what he’d said.
“In other words you’re afraid your sister will end up like me?”
Grady struggled for the words to apologize. They didn’t come easy to a man like him. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” he said.
“Of course you did.”
He probably should have left well enough alone, but he was desperate and he knew Savannah would listen to Caroline before she would him. “Will you talk to her?” he asked hopefully. At her absent look he continued, “About getting rid of Smith before he can hurt her.”
“No,” she said flat out.
“No?”
“You heard me. If I was going to talk to anyone about this, it’d be you.” Caroline’s voice gained strength. “And what I’d say, Grady, is leave Savannah to live her own life.”
“And make a fool of herself?”
“Yes, if that’s what it takes. She’s not a child to be chastised and ridiculed. She’s a woman with a woman’s heart. Grady, I swear if you do anything to spoil her chance of finding happiness, I’ll never forgive you.”
“Happiness with a saddle bum like Smith?” He might have laughed if there’d been any humor in the suggestion.
“Yes,” Caroline responded without hesitation.
Furious, more with himself than with Caroline, Grady stalked out of the office. He should have known better than try to reason with Savannah’s best friend. She was as stubborn as his sister. And less tactful about it, too.
“GOOD AFTERNOON, LAREDO,” Savannah said shyly as she joined him in her rose garden. She carried out a tray and two tall glasses of iced tea. Rocket was at her side, so old now that he found it difficult to move. Generally he stayed in the house, but he appeared to be a little more energetic than usual just now and had followed her outside and into the warm sunshine.
Laredo’s efforts were in evidence in every corner of her small paradise. Never had her garden looked more beautiful. The beds were meticulously groomed. Even the roses themselves had responded to his care. They’d burst into flower days earlier than anticipated. Some would claim it was due to the unusually warm spring, but Savannah chose to believe it was because of the love and care she and Laredo had given them.
“Afternoon,” he said, leaning on the hoe.
It never failed. Her heart—like her beautiful roses— bloomed with excitement and joy whenever she saw him. He was tall and strong and lovely. She realized that lovely wasn’t a word often associated with men, but she could find none more appropriate. Beyond everything else Laredo had given her, the most precious was the way she felt around him. Savannah had never considered herself beautiful, but that was how he made her feel. Beautiful. Feminine. Desirable.
“Would you like some iced tea?” she asked.
“That’d be great.” He set the hoe aside, removed the tray from her hands and led the way to the small wrought-iron table in the farthest corner of the garden. She’d purposely placed it there amidst the old roses in order to enjoy their fragrance and special beauty. Rocket followed them there and with a groan sank down in the table’s shade.
“I’m about finished with the hoeing,” Laredo said, bending down to stroke the dog’s ears.
This was a problem. He completed each task with speed, skill and determination. She longed to urge him to slow down, to linger over each small assignment so that the work would last, but he never did. From the first he’d set out to prove his worth and he’d done so, many times over.
Another day, two at the most, and he’d have completed her list. Everything thereafter would be a make-work project. Not that she couldn’t come up with some.
“Wiley stopped by earlier,” he said, and downed half the tea in a series of deep swallows. He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, then leaned forward and stroked Rocket’s ears again. Savannah’s gaze rested on the dog who’d once belonged to her father and she smiled as he snored softly, already asleep.
“He told me about Roanie’s sore leg and he asked me to look at it. You don’t mind, do you?”
If anything, Savannah was relieved. All three realized it’d be best if Grady didn’t know about Laredo doctoring one of the horses. Nevertheless it’d be a shame to let the old roan suffer. Especially when Laredo could help—save them the expense of calling the vet.
“Of course I don’t mind,” she assured him.
“I’ll probably need to rub in some ointment and wrap up the leg.”
She nodded. “I’m grateful.” If Grady wouldn’t say it, she would, but her appreciation extended far beyond any expertise Laredo offered in the area of horses. He’d blessed her life in the week since his arrival. One week. Seven fleeting days, and yet it felt as though he’d always been part of her life. People would say it was fanciful or ridiculous, but in an odd way, Savannah felt as if her life had been on hold while she waited for Laredo to find her.
She smiled to herself, amused that Grady was making such a fool of himself, all the while calling her the fool. Considering the fuss her older brother had made, anyone would think she’d become Laredo’s lover when in reality he hadn’t so much as kissed her.
But she wished he would…. She’d dreamed of it endlessly, hungering for his touch. Grady had chastised her for claiming to love Laredo on such short acquaintance, and for the first time in recent memory she’d lied to her brother. She’d told him she didn’t love Laredo but that she could.
The truth was she did love him. She loved him for the gentle care he gave her roses. For his loving way with animals. For his honesty. For his tender patience with Maggie, and most important, for the joy he’d brought into her life. Each day she awoke happy and excited, knowing he’d be in the kitchen to greet her. Each night she laid her head on her pillow, her mind full of dreams she’d never dared to believe possible, never believed were meant for a woman like her.
So, while it was true he hadn’t touched her except for that one time he’d held her in the kitchen, she knew instinctively that he shared her feelings. She felt his love in a thousand ways. Unspoken, but real. As intense as her own for him.
Yes, Grady had called her a fool, and perhaps she was. But if being considered a fool meant she was this happy, then he could call her whatever name he liked.
“Is there anything more I can do for you this afternoon?” Laredo asked.
She shook her head. “I’ll be leaving soon.”
“If you’re going into town, would you mind checking on my truck at Powell’s Garage?”
“I…I can do that for you later in the week, if you want, but I wasn’t planning on going into town.” Savannah had hoped to avoid any questions about her destination. She’d hoped to slip quietly away and return to the ghost town. It had taken her a full week to gather the courage to go back, but despite her reservations, she’d decided to do it. She was sure there were more old roses to be found.
“Savannah,” Laredo said, touching her hand. “You’re headed back to Bitter End, aren’t you?”
She lowered her eyes and nodded, knowing that, like Grady, he’d disapprove. “I want to look
for more roses. If the plants in the cemetery survived, there’re bound to be others.” In the days since her last visit Savannah had managed to convince herself that the darkness, the sense of oppression, had come from her own imagination. It’d been nerves and excitement, that was all. Grady had warned her about the ghost town so often that her head had been filled with nonsense. After a while she’d come to believe it. And even if what she’d experienced was real, she’d managed the first time and would again.
“Your brother—”
“Grady disapproves of a great deal in my life just now. I’m going back to Bitter End, Laredo, with or without Grady’s approval.”
The strength of her objection appeared to catch him unawares. “Surely your brother has a reason for not wanting you there?”
“You know Grady,” she answered. “He’s overprotective.”
“I don’t know your brother,” Laredo told her quietly, “but everything he says and does is because he loves you and is concerned about you. It might be best to heed his advice.”
If Savannah hadn’t fallen in love with Laredo already, she would have lost her heart right then and there. He’d defended Grady, when Grady had done nothing but cause him problems.
“He doesn’t understand,” she murmured.
“Where is this place?” Laredo asked. “I haven’t heard anyone else talk about a ghost town in this area.”
“I don’t think many people know about it.” Grady had located the town as a teenager and promised he’d take her there himself. It was the only time she could remember her brother breaking his word. “Grady was there once, but he refused to talk about it afterward. No matter how much I pleaded, he refused to give in. All he’d say was that he was never going back and he certainly wasn’t going to take his little sister there.”
“Then how’d you find the place?”
She laughed lightly. “It wasn’t easy. It took me weeks.”
“Why now? Because of the old roses?”
Savannah smiled. “I read an article in one of my gardening magazines about a man who found a huge number of old roses in a ghost-town cemetery. I’d nearly forgotten about Bitter End, but once I remembered, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I asked Grady as much as I could without arousing his suspicions, but eventually he caught on and wouldn’t give me any more information.”
Laredo frowned. “Savannah,” he pleaded, “if your brother’s that worried about it, then so am I. Don’t go.”
Her heart sank. Not Laredo, too. “Please don’t ask that of me,” she whispered.
He got up and walked around the table to stand in front of her. “Then don’t do it alone,” he said urgently.
“But there isn’t anyone—”
“There’s me.”
Savannah leaned back to see him more clearly. “You’d do that for me?”
He nodded and knelt in front of her, his expression earnest. “Promise me, Savannah.”
“I promise.” She needed to touch him. She couldn’t have explained why, but the yearning inside her was too strong to ignore. Hesitantly she pressed one hand to his cheek, her palm curving around his jaw. The skin was stubbled with his beard, and yet she’d never felt anything more sensual.
Laredo closed his eyes and gripped her wrist with a strength she hadn’t expected. “You make it damn near impossible,” he said from between clenched teeth.
“Impossible?” she whispered. She found it difficult to breathe or swallow. Her heart beat at an alarming rate, and she feared he would guess how his closeness unnerved her.
“Don’t you know?” His words were half groan, half speech, as if her touching him, even in the most innocent way, caused him pain. She felt the urgency in him and the restraint. She honored him for that restraint—but she didn’t need it anymore.
“I want you to kiss me, Laredo. I’ve dreamed about you every night.” Her raspy voice was barely audible.
“Savannah, please.”
“Please what? Ignore my heart? I can’t! I tried, Laredo, I really did.”
He cradled her face, and their eyes met. In his she read determination and a kind of desperation. “Grady’s made it difficult enough for you,” he said. “I can’t, I won’t make it—”
“I don’t care what my brother thinks,” she choked out, stopping him by placing her fingertips to his lips. “I know my heart, Laredo, and my heart wants you very much.”
His hands slid from the sides of her face and into her hair. Then slowly, inch by thrilling inch, he brought her mouth to his.
The instant their lips touched, Savannah felt her heart leap with a burst of joy. It overtook her, drove everything else from her mind.
His mouth was warm and moist, and he tasted of iced tea and fresh mint. He moved his lips hungrily against hers, molding her mouth to his with a heat that seared her senses. Although her experience with lovemaking had been limited, she’d had her share of kisses. But never like this. Never with this kind of heat, this degree of passion. Had it happened with anyone else, it would have frightened her.
Soon their arms were wrapped completely around each other in a struggle to get closer. She realized the fierceness with which they clung must be hurting his ribs. She tried to say something, to shift her hands, but he wouldn’t allow it, his movements urging her to hold him closer, hold him tighter.
The kiss grew hotter and hotter as they each sought to give more, take more, be more. Laredo’s breath came hard and fast. Her own echoed his.
With a moan, Laredo finally broke away, his shoulders heaving. “That shouldn’t have happened,” he said in a tortured voice. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You could never hurt me,” she assured him, her face against his chest. In all her days she’d never been more brazen with a man, asking him outright to kiss her, to hold her. But hard as she tried, Savannah couldn’t make herself regret what she’d done. If anything she wondered why it had taken her so long. She’d had no idea kissing could be this…incredible. Her friends should have told her!
“Say something,” she pleaded. “I need to know you’re feeling it, too.”
“I think I knew the minute you stopped to offer me a ride.” He got to his feet and walked away from her.
“Laredo?”
“I promised Wiley I’d check on Roanie. Remember?”
In other words their discussion was over; he had nothing more to say. Nor did he wish to hear what she might say. “All right,” she said, hanging her head in defeat.
He got as far as the garden gate, then turned back. “You won’t go to the ghost town without me?”
“No,” she promised.
He nodded. He seemed about to speak again but hesitated. If he dared apologize for kissing her, she didn’t know what she’d do. Probably scream in frustration. That would be an unprecedented event—Savannah Weston screaming! She gave an involuntary giggle.
Savannah watched him leave, then carried the tray of empty glasses back into the house. Despite his withdrawal, his abrupt departure, she felt like dancing around her kitchen. He’d kissed her! And it had been wonderful.
Not only had Laredo kissed her, he’d said he’d been thinking about it for days. The same as she had. That was enough to make her heart wild with joy. But there was more. He’d as much as said he loved her.
“Oh, please,” she prayed, closing her eyes and clasping her hands, “let it be true. Don’t let this be a cruel joke.” But she knew otherwise; she’d felt it in the wonder of his kiss.
With the afternoon free, Savannah baked chocolate-chip cookies, one of her many specialties. She tucked a dozen inside the freezer to save for Maggie’s visits and filled the cookie jar with the rest.
Because the kitchen door was open, she heard Grady’s truck pull into the yard, followed by his near-frantic shout.
“Savannah!”
It wasn’t her name that shook her, but the way he yelled it. Rushing to the door, she found him stalking toward the house.
“Grady, for heaven’s sak
e, what’s wrong?”
“You’re not to talk to him!”
“Grady,” she said, her patience gone. “We’ve already had this discussion. Laredo—”
“Not Laredo,” he barked as if she were slow-witted or being purposely obtuse.
“Who?”
“Richard.”
“Richard?” She saw him then, her younger brother. Her “big boy,” the baby she’d loved and cared for and spoiled. He walked slowly down the long driveway, hefting his suitcase, eyes focused on the house as if the sight of it was the only thing that kept him on his feet.
“Richard,” she cried and pressed her hands to her mouth. “Grady, how could you drive past him like that?”
“He’s not welcome here, Savannah.”
“Grady, he’s our brother.” Not caring what he thought, she flew out the door and raced down the stairs. Richard. He was here at last. Now they’d learn the truth, the real truth, and everything would be right with their world again.
Richard had come home.
CHAPTER 5
RICHARD HAD CHANGED, Savannah mused. Although dusty from the road and weary to the bone, he’d acquired a look of sophistication she hadn’t seen six years ago. This was Richard, her brother, but at the same time he was someone she no longer knew. None of that mattered, however, the instant he wrapped his arms around her and joyously hugged her close. Her tears mingled with laughter and pleas that he put her down.
“Savannah, oh, it’s so good to see you.” His face brightened with excitement. “You’re even more beautiful than I remembered.”
Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she smiled up at him. “I can’t believe it’s you.”
“I’m home. You have no idea how good this old place looks.” He gazed longingly toward the house.
Her heart warmed in that moment, and she was almost willing to forgive him the agony his betrayal had cost them.
“Don’t get comfortable, little brother.” Grady’s eyes were savage. He stood on the top step, feet apart, arms akimbo, barring the door.
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