He’d betrayed her.

There was nothing more to say.

Barely aware of what she was doing, Savannah stood and slowly placed one foot in front of the other. Hardly knowing how she’d managed it, she climbed the stairs to her room, dragging herself one step at a time.

“What’d I do that was so terrible?” her brother shouted after her. “Tell me, Savannah! I want to know!”

“Leave her alone,” Caroline said angrily, her voice drifting toward Savannah as she climbed the stairs. “If you can’t figure it out, trust me, I’ll be happy to fill in the blanks. And you know what? I’ll use small words so you’ll be sure to understand.”

***

Grady delayed speaking to Caroline about Laredo for ten days. He knew he needed to say something—to explain, to talk about Savannah, to ask her advice. He saw her enter the Winn-Dixie one evening and followed her inside. He didn’t want Caroline to assume he’d sought her out; he intended her to believe their meeting was accidental.

Taking a cart and maintaining a safe distance behind her, he trailed her into the produce section. Savannah was the one who did all the grocery shopping, and other than picking up a necessary item now and again, he was rarely in the supermarket.

He paused in front of a pyramid display of bright juicy-looking oranges, and with one eye on Caroline and the other on the task at hand, he reached for an orange. To his horror, the entire display collapsed.

Grady saw it happen as if in slow motion. He attempted to catch as many as possible before they tumbled to the floor, his arms moving frantically in every which direction. In the end he abandoned the effort, kneeling on the linoleum floor surrounded by fruit.

Everyone in the produce department stopped and stared at him. Even small children pointed and snickered. Grady smiled weakly and searched for a witty remark, but like everything else these past few weeks, his wit failed him.

He was about to turn tail and run when Caroline squatted down beside him. “This is another fine mess you’ve created, Grady Weston.”

He didn’t need Caroline to tell him that. If he wanted to make a fool of himself, he wouldn’t choose to do it in front of half the store. Nope, he preferred to manage that with just one or two onlookers. Like Caroline. And his sister.

Together they gathered the spilled oranges and set them back on the display case. “Is there a reason you followed me in here?” she asked bluntly.

“Was I that obvious?”

“Don’t apply to the Secret Service, all right?”

Since it was entirely obvious that running into her hadn’t been an accident, he got straight to the point.

“Do you have time for coffee?” he asked, and then because he was afraid she might think he was asking her out, he added, “I’m worried about Savannah. I’d feel better if I talked about this with someone.”

She checked her watch, and Grady had the feeling time wasn’t her major concern. “Talked about this with just anyone?” she asked.

“With you,” he amended, burying his pride. He owed Caroline this much.

“Let me phone the day care,” she said, “and then I’ll meet you at the bowling alley.”

“Okay. See you there in a few minutes.” He was eager to make his escape before he toppled a display of something really embarrassing—like feminine hygiene products.

The café in the bowling alley served some of the best food in town. It was certainly the most reasonably priced, with coffee only a quarter a cup. They served decent coffee, too. There was always a special; according to the reader board outside, today’s was T-bone steak and a baked potato. And the place stayed open all night on weekends. In Grady’s opinion, it was a damn good deal. Although he wasn’t interested in a steak at the moment.... Even if he’d been hungry, he couldn’t have choked it down.

Arriving first, he found an empty booth and turned over two mugs. The waitress brought him a couple of menus and smiled. “Haven’t seen you in a while, Grady.”

“Hello, Denise. How’re Art and the kids?” Grady had attended high school with Denise a hundred years ago. While he was out chasing cattle, his classmate had married, had three kids and started working here part-time.

“I can’t complain. Billy’s in junior high this year.”

Hard to believe, Grady thought. Art and Denise’s oldest boy was reaching his teens and he wasn’t even married yet.

Denise filled his mug with coffee. “Are you going to order something to eat?”

“Not me, but Caroline might.”

“Caroline Daniels?” Denise filled the second mug.

He nodded, disliking the flicker of interest in her eyes.

“Are you two seeing each other now?” she asked, her interest far too avid.

Grady opened his mouth to deny everything. He didn’t have to.

“No way,” Caroline answered for him as she slipped into the booth. She handed Denise the menu, effectively dismissing her, and reached for the sugar dispenser. “You had something you wanted to say about Savannah.”

“Yeah.” This was more difficult than he’d imagined.

“Is she all right?” Caroline leaned back against the patched red vinyl upholstery, and he noted for the first time how pale she was. He didn’t comment because sure as hell she’d make something of it—something he’d never intended. His only chance to have a peaceful conversation was to stick to the matter at hand and ignore everything else. Still, he wondered.

“How come you haven’t been out to the ranch?” he blurted. His sister needed a friend, and he’d expected Caroline to be there for her, especially now.

“I stopped by a couple of times when you weren’t around.”

“On purpose?” he asked, thinking she’d taken to avoiding him because of Maggie.

“No, it just happened to work out that way. I haven’t gone anywhere in a couple of days. I’ve been dealing with postal inspectors all week. I had my own crisis to handle, but fortunately that’s behind me now.” She cradled the mug between her hands. “I’ve phoned Savannah every day.” Her eyes held his. “Is something going on with her that I don’t know about?”

“Not with Savannah, exactly,” he said, then looked away, finding her scrutiny uncomfortable. “First off, I was wrong about Laredo Smith.”

That captured her attention, he could tell. She raised her eyebrows but said nothing. Not yet, anyway. Naturally she’d delight in hearing how wrong he’d been.

“I should have accepted Savannah’s assessment of his character,” Grady said, embarrassed that he’d allowed his fears to get in the way. Admitting he’d made a mistake had never come easy. “I...came to some, well, erroneous conclusions about Smith. The result was that he and I got started on the wrong foot.”

“You should tell Savannah this, not me.”

“I have!” he snapped, then took a deep breath in an effort to control his impatience. When he spoke again, he lowered his voice. “I did tell her, but I wanted you to know, as well.”

“Should I be grateful?”

Grady decided to ignore the sarcasm. “Laredo came to me and asked for a loan. Despite what you think, I’m not blind. I knew something wasn’t right. I didn’t want him to leave and I told him so.”

This appeared to surprise Caroline. Her eyebrows rose again. “You did?”

“Yes—not that it did any good. In the end I agreed to lend him the money and he insisted on giving me the title to his truck. The day he left I apologized for the scene at Richard’s party and we shook hands.” He stared into the steaming mug. “I took my aggravation with Richard out on Laredo and made a complete ass of myself.”

Caroline didn’t disagree with him. Not that he expected she would.

“Although it’s none of my business,” he said, “Laredo as much as admitted he loved Savannah.”

“He told me that, too.” Caroline shook her head in dismay. “What I can’t fathom is why he felt he had to leave. What is it about men? I don’t understand it. Laredo Smith is loved by the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful woman he’s likely to meet in ten lifetimes and what does he do? He walks out on her without a word. It doesn’t make sense.” She tossed her hands in the air as if to say she’d never understand the male of the species.