“I wanted to write,” Richard said, leaping on her words. “I tried. As God is my witness, I tried, but I was never good with words. How could I possibly explain everything in a letter?”

Grady snickered loudly. “Seems to me you’re about as slick with words as a snake-oil salesman.”

A flash of pain appeared in Richard’s eyes. “You really hate me, don’t you, Grady?”

“How could we hate you?” Savannah answered in Grady’s stead, fearing his response. “You’re our brother.”

At her words Richard rallied somewhat and gazed around the yard. “You’ve obviously done all right by yourselves. The ranch looks great.”

“No thanks to you.”

“Think about it, Grady,” Richard challenged. “What good would I have been to you if I’d stuck around? As far as I’m concerned, cows smell bad, have a negative disposition and are always needing something done to them. If I’d stayed, I wouldn’t have been any help. Okay, I admit taking the money was pretty underhand, but all I really did was lay claim to part of my inheritance a little early.”

“We almost lost the ranch,” Savannah felt obliged to tell him. Surely he must have realized that? “Richard, I don’t think you have a clue how hard it’s been for Grady and me,” she said.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated with what sounded like genuine regret. “How many times do I need to say it?”

“Sorry?” Grady said the word as though it were the foulest obscenity.

Richard ignored the outburst. “I’ll admit that what I did was rotten, but would it really have been such a bad thing if you’d been forced to sell the land?”

“What do you mean?” Savannah asked, certain she wasn’t hearing him correctly. This land had been in the Weston family for generations. Their ancestors had settled here, worked the land, raised cattle. Generations of Westons had been buried here in a small cemetery plot overlooking the main pasture. This land was their heritage, their birthright. Their future. That Richard could suggest selling it revealed how little he understood or appreciated the legacy.

“These days everyone knows its not a good idea to eat a lot of red meat,” he explained when it became apparent that his words had upset her. “The beef industry’s been declining steadily for some time, or so I hear. Actually I’m surprised you’ve held on to the old place this long.”

Savannah’s heart sank. It seemed impossible that Richard shared the same blood that flowed through Grady’s veins and hers. But he was her brother and she refused to turn her back on him, despite his shortcomings. Despite his betrayal.

“You think because you say you’re sorry it makes everything right?” Grady asked, his voice shaking with such rage Savannah feared he was near exploding. “Do you honestly believe you can walk back into our lives as if you’d done nothing wrong? I’m here to tell you it’s not going to happen.”

Confused and uncertain, Richard looked to his sister for support. “But I’m willing to do whatever’s necessary to make it up to you.”

“Give me back six years of constant hard work,” Grady shouted. “Days that stretched fifteen hours without rest. Days in which I did the work of two men. Backbreaking work. Can you do that, little brother?”

Richard stood still and silent.

“For six long years I fought off the wolf at the door. For six years I dealt with grief and stress and worry so bad I couldn’t sleep.” He climbed down the steps, one step for each statement. Anger seethed below the surface unlike anything she’d ever seen in Grady. Not the explosive kind common with him, but the deep bitter anger that gnawed at a man’s soul.

“I can’t change the past,” Richard muttered, his shoulders hunched, “but I’d hoped we could put all this behind us and start fresh.”

“Not on your life,” Grady said. He stood face-to-face with Richard now, glaring at him. “You haven’t shown any true regret. Not once have you asked Savannah and me to forgive you. As far as I’m concerned, you got your inheritance, and you wasted it. Now get off our land.”

“You want me to leave?” Richard sounded incredulous. He looked at Savannah but she turned away. “You’re my family!” he cried. “The only family I’ve got. You don’t mean this. Okay, okay, you’re right, I should have asked you to forgive me. I meant to—that was the real reason I returned. Like I said, I want to make it up to both of you.”

Savannah wavered, ambivalent.

“You should have thought of that sooner,” Grady replied, his voice clipped.

She’d hoped they could resolve their differences and make Richard a part of their lives again, but Grady was right. Richard hadn’t revealed any sincere sorrow for the agony he’d caused them. But then he’d always been weak and easily influenced. Nevertheless he was their brother; it came down to that. If for no other reason than to honor the memory of their parents, she wanted there to be no ill will between them.

“You’re serious?” Richard’s face clouded with disbelief. “You want me off the ranch?”

“I’ve never been more serious in my life.”

Brother stared down brother.

“I...I’m without a job. I was working at...at a sales job, and they downsized. I don’t have anywhere to go. I left instructions for the check from my severance package to be mailed here.” He glanced hopefully at Savannah and then at Grady.

Savannah silently pleaded with Grady, but he refused to look in her direction. It was hell staying quiet, especially when Richard begged for her help.

“You, too, Savannah?” he whispered in the hurt voice that tugged at her heart. “Do you want me to leave, too?”

Savannah was in torment, not knowing how to respond. Of course she wanted him to stay, wanted their lives to return to the way they’d been before. But she didn’t know if that was possible.

“I’m ruined,” he whispered brokenly. “The money’s gone. I lost my job and I have no savings. All I could think about was getting back to you and Grady. Making things right again.”

Tears filled her eyes and she bit her lip, trapped as she was between the strong wills of her two brothers.

Not waiting for her reply, Richard leaned down and reached for his suitcase. Apparently he was weaker than they realized because he staggered, but caught himself in time to keep from collapsing.

Savannah could hold her tongue no longer. “Grady, please! He’s about to faint. One night,” she begged, sliding her arm around Richard’s waist. “Let him stay one night.”

For a moment she didn’t think Grady would relent. “All right,” he gave in, his reluctance clear, “but he sleeps in the bunkhouse. First thing in the morning he’s out of here. Understand?”

“Thank you, brother,” Richard said softly. “You won’t be sorry, I promise you that. I’ll find a way to make it up to you and Savannah. I didn’t know, didn’t realize...I’ll do whatever you want if you’ll just let me stay. You’re the only family I’ve got.”

***

Laredo hadn’t meant to listen in on the scene outside the house. But he’d been in the garden at the time, and it had been impossible to ignore. He wasn’t sure what had finally occurred between Savannah and her two brothers, but the three had apparently come to some kind of understanding. He didn’t see Savannah again until dinnertime, and when he entered the house, she was all aflutter. He smelled biscuits baking, their aroma more enticing to him than the world’s most expensive perfume. An apple pie cooled on the kitchen counter beside a standing rib roast, recently taken from the oven.

When she saw him, her beautiful face brightened with a shy smile of welcome. “Richard’s here.”

“So I understand.” Laredo had tried to put the events of the early afternoon behind him and hoped she had, as well. Kissing her had been a mistake, one he regretted. His weakness for her complicated an already difficult situation.

The last thing he wanted was to let her believe in something that could never be. His property—three hundred acres in Oklahoma—was waiting for him. That and his horse. They were all he had. And they were almost nothing compared to the Westons’ huge spread. Compared to what Savannah had now. It would be cruel to mislead her into thinking she could be part of his future. But if the kissing continued, it’d be as hard for him to walk away as it would be for her to let him go.