Heart of Texas Volume 1: Lonesome Cowboy

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.

Louise Powell stood in the vestibule, craning her neck. Savannah strongly suspected the woman wanted to grill her about Laredo.

Savannah wished there was some way she could just vanish.

“Savannah! Savannah, over here!” Louise raised one gloved hand and waved frantically.

It would do no good to avoid her, Savannah decided miserably. If there was one thing she hated more than gossip, it was being the center of attention.

As soon as she reached the vestibule, Louise was at her side. Louise had celebrated her fiftieth birthday in January and hated the thought of being a half a century old. In the weeks since, she’d changed her hairstyle and purchased a new wardrobe, trying for a younger look. Unfortunately she came across as a woman who was obviously fifty and dressed like twenty-five.

“I met your new friend!” Louise exclaimed. Savannah suspected this was Tammy Lee’s influence on her. Tammy Lee—Louise’s new friend—was a middle-aged divorcée whose reputation could charitably be described as colorful. “What a nice young man.” She paused, waiting for Savannah’s comment, but when none was forthcoming, she plowed ahead, wrapping her arm around Savannah’s waist. “I understand he’s working for you.” An annoying giggle followed. “Savannah, I wonder if we really know you, after all. I’ve always thought of you as shy and retiring, but you know what they say about still waters.” The girlish giggle returned.

“There’s someone I have to see,” Savannah said in an effort to escape.

“Laredo?” Louise asked. This was accompanied with a squeeze tight enough to make Savannah wince. “If you run out of work for him, you send him my way, understand?”

“If you’ll excuse me, please...” Savannah said a little desperately.

The Moorhouse sisters, Edwina and Lily, stepped into the vestibule, distracting Louise. Both were retired schoolteachers. Miss Edwina had been Savannah’s first-grade teacher and Miss Lily her third. The two were inseparable and Savannah loved them dearly.

“Good morning,” Savannah mumbled as she slipped past the elderly pair.

By the time she walked outside, she felt like gasping for air. Reverend McMillen stood just outside the large double doors and greeted each parishioner by name. Wade had a way of looking at a person and seeing more than the obvious. “Are you okay, Savannah?” he asked, holding her hand between both of his. “You’re looking flushed.”

“I’m fine. Just a little warm.” Her discomfort had more to do with attracting unwelcome attention. All she wanted was to hurry home before someone else had the chance to corner her.

“Savannah! Savannah!” Maggie Daniels, Caroline’s five-year-old daughter, raced to her side and proudly offered her a crayon drawing she’d made in Sunday-school class.

“Hi there, Maggie-may. What’s this?” Savannah asked, studying the paper. Maggie was her joy, the child of her heart. It had been a shock when Caroline Daniels announced she was pregnant her senior year in college. From the beginning there’d been plenty of speculation about the father of Caroline’s child, but Caroline had never said, and no one had ever asked. Caroline’s mother, Florence, had served as postmistress in Promise for years, and when she died last spring, Caroline had taken over her duties.

Maggie had apparently transferred her love for her grandmother to Savannah. It made Savannah feel privileged, and she reciprocated the child’s feelings a hundred percent. Recently Caroline had relied more and more on Savannah to babysit, but she never minded. It was a delight to spend time with the little girl.

“That’s Joseph,” Maggie explained now, pointing to a lumpish figure in her drawing.

“Ah, I see,” Savannah said. “He’s wearing his coat of many colors. Look what a good job you’ve done!”

Maggie glowed with pleasure. She tucked her small hand in Savannah’s. “Where’s Mommy?”

Savannah was about to ask the same thing. The question was answered soon enough when Caroline exited the side door with the other members of the choir. It generally took her a few moments to hang up her robe and put away the music sheets.

“Mommy, Mommy, look!” Maggie cried, rushing toward her mother, pigtails bouncing. The youngster threw her arms around Caroline as if it’d been a year since they’d seen each other.

“Would you like to join us for brunch?” Caroline asked, lifting Maggie into her arms.

Savannah declined with a quick shake of her head. “I put a roast in the oven before I left.”

“Did Louise corner you?” Caroline lowered her voice.

“She tried.”

“Hey, give the old biddy something to talk about.”

“Caroline!”

“She’s jealous, that’s all.”

“Jealous of what?” Savannah wanted to know.

“Of you. For being young and pretty and having a good-looking man in your life.”

“Laredo’s not in my life—at least not in the personal sense,” Savannah felt obliged to protest—although she wished it wasn’t true. She’d like him to kiss her or hold her hand—anything so she’d know he felt the same things she did. Once she’d caught him looking at her and she thought he seemed...interested, but she couldn’t be sure. If she’d had more experience, she’d know.

“Well, more’s the pity,” Caroline said with a laugh. “A little romance would do you a world of good.”

“What about you?” Caroline was a fine one to talk. Savannah couldn’t remember the last time her friend had gone out on a date.

“Me? Romance?” Caroline shook her head. “No, thanks. I’ve had enough romance to last me a lifetime.”