Caroline restrained her daughter by placing her hand on Maggie’s shoulder. “Let Savannah open it when she’s ready, okay, sweetheart?”

The child looked disappointed, but she nodded.

Savannah slid her fingers over the top of the box, but lacked the courage to look inside. All her strength went into holding back the tears that burned her eyes.

Laredo was gone. Without a word of farewell, without a note. Nothing. The pain of his leaving had devastated her. But in some odd inexplicable way she understood why he’d left so abruptly.

Laredo Smith couldn’t say goodbye. He loved her too much to hurt her more. Loved her too much to refuse if she’d asked him to stay. And so he’d done the only thing he could. He’d slipped away like a thief in the night; he’d stolen her heart and taken it with him.

“Savannah, are you all right?”

She nodded even as she felt swallowed up in the emptiness.

Caroline’s fingers gripped hers tightly. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

Somehow Savannah managed to look at her friend. She could lie and offer reassurances, but she hadn’t the strength to maintain a facade. It would be easy enough to fool Grady and Richard, but not Caroline.

“It’s a shawl,” Maggie blurted, unable to hold back any longer. “A pretty white one with gold—”

“Maggie,” Caroline snapped.

The little girl lowered her head and bit her lip.

“A shawl... How nice,” Savannah said, struggling. Knowing Maggie was impatient for her to open the gift, she pulled off the lid. The child was right; the shawl was quite possibly the loveliest one she’d ever seen. Lifting it from the tissue paper, she let the delicate fabric slide across her fingers. “Was there...did he give you any message for me?”

Caroline hesitated, then said gently, “He wanted me to thank you.”

Her heart was breaking, the pain raw and real, and yet—despite the emotional intensity of the moment—Savannah smiled.

“Thank you.” She repeated his message. This, too, she understood. The simple words held a wealth of meaning and in some ways were more valuable to her than the gift he’d asked Caroline to deliver.

Despite his desertion, Laredo had thanked her for loving him. Even though he’d walked out of her life with the same suddenness with which he’d entered it, he’d wanted Savannah to know her love had touched him. He couldn’t say it himself, so he let someone else say it for him.

Caroline’s eyes flashed with anger. “I don’t understand why he’d do such a thing! He admitted he loved you—he said as much.”

“I know.”

“But when I asked why he was leaving, all he’d say was that sometimes love wasn’t enough—whatever the hell that means.” Caroline sat down, then got to her feet again and started pacing.

Savannah didn’t try to explain. What Laredo apparently didn’t grasp, and what she’d been unable to make him believe, was that his love was the one thing she’d ever need.

He seemed to think a prosperous ranch would make her happy, or a million head of cattle. A luxurious ranch house. A rose garden. Those things gave her security and contentment, true. But Laredo’s love gave her happiness, and it gave meaning to everything else in her life. She’d tried to convince him that she’d happily work at his side, that their love would allow them to create a new security and contentment of their own. Why couldn’t he believe her?

“Can I go sit on the swing outside?” Maggie asked.

Caroline nodded. “Stay on the porch.”

Maggie assured Caroline she would, and the screen door slammed behind her. Caroline brewed Savannah a cup of strong coffee, then brought it over to the table. “Drink this,” she ordered. “You look pale as a sheet.”

Savannah raised the cup to her lips. Surprisingly the coffee revived her.

Caroline poured herself a cup and sat down next to Savannah. “I know you probably don’t want to hear this at the moment, but I’m going to say it, anyway.” She paused long enough to inhale deeply. “Right now, you’re hurting too much to believe that everything happens for a reason. I don’t know why, but that’s the way it seems to work.

“When I discovered I was pregnant with Maggie, I felt as if the world had caved in on me. I was young and stupid and determined not to let a mistake ruin my life. First I thought the father would marry me, but...well, that was impossible. I’d already decided I wanted to have this baby, so I was left to deal with the pregnancy alone.”

In all the years they’d been friends, this was the first time Caroline had discussed anything to do with Maggie’s birth. Or Maggie’s father.

“When I couldn’t hide that I was pregnant any longer, I had to tell my mother. I expected her to be furious, to call me all the names I’d called myself. Instead, Mom asked me a few questions and then held me. We both cried.

“It was what I’d needed most—her love. She talked about how difficult it must have been for me to keep this pain bottled up inside me all those weeks. I didn’t want to tell her about Maggie’s father, but I did, and how stupid I’d been to think he actually loved me...” Her voice wavered and it was a moment before she could continue. “You see, Savannah,” she whispered with emotion shining in her eyes, “this mistake was really a gift. I made a mistake, but Maggie’s not a mistake. She’s my heart and my joy. I can’t imagine life without her.”

The screen door opened just then, and Maggie flew into the room and raced across the kitchen. Breathless, she wrapped her arms around Caroline’s leg, hiding her face against her mother’s jeans.

Grady followed her inside, looking frustrated and confused.

“What’d you do this time?” Caroline demanded.

“Not a damn thing,” Grady said. “I saw Maggie outside and thought it was time the two of us talked, but it seems she’s not ready.”

Maggie clung to her mother’s leg all the harder.

“It’d help if you hadn’t yelled at her on the phone,” Caroline suggested calmly.

“How was I supposed to know it was Maggie?” he shouted in return.

“He’s yelling again,” Maggie surfaced long enough to announce.

“Explain to her that it was all a mistake, would you?” Grady said in a strained voice, gesturing at Maggie. “She’s right, I was a beast. But I’m willing to be a prince, too, if she’ll give me the chance.”

“You’re too mean to be a prince,” Maggie said next. Breaking away from her mother, she climbed into Savannah’s lap and locked both arms around her neck. “I don’t like Grady ’cause he yells.”

“He’s not one of my favorite people, either,” Caroline said, glaring at Savannah’s brother.

“What’d I do now?” he groaned. “Damn, but it’s hard to understand women. I haven’t talked to you in days—what could I possibly have done to offend you?”

“You know very well what you’ve done.”

Clearly perplexed, he shrugged. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to tell me, because I haven’t got a clue.”

“You’re lower than a...a worm,” Caroline said.

“So what else is new?” Grady sounded bored.

“Caroline?” Savannah said her friend’s name softly, confused by the display of anger. “What did Grady do?”

Still glaring at him, Caroline crossed her long legs. Her foot swung with a furious rhythm. “I wasn’t going to tell you,” Caroline said, speaking to Savannah, “but you’ll figure it out soon enough. Grady gave Laredo the money so he could pay off the repairs on his truck.”

Savannah felt as if she’d been punched, as if the air had been forced from her lungs. She looked at her brother in shock and pain and disbelief. The abruptness of Laredo’s leaving was almost more than she could bear, but knowing that her own brother, her own flesh and blood, had made it possible—had no doubt encouraged it—was like a knife in the back. She gasped. “Grady?”

“I didn’t give him the money,” Grady said, and his gaze darted between her and Caroline as if he didn’t understand what he’d done that was so wrong. “I lent him the money.”