“So, is he as cute as Ellie says?”

Savannah’s blush deepened and she raised her hand to her face. “I...I wouldn’t know.”

Caroline’s chuckle was full of disbelief. “Okay, if you won’t answer that, then tell me his name.”

No harm there. “Laredo Smith.”

“So you were able to talk Grady into hiring another hand. Where’d he happen to meet Laredo?”

This was where the story got difficult. “Grady didn’t exactly...hire Laredo.”

The brown eyes staring at her from the back of her mailbox darkened perceptibly. “What do you mean?”

Savannah sighed. She might as well explain it once and for all and be done with it. “Laredo isn’t working for Grady. I’m the one who hired him.”

“You?” Those same eyes narrowed. “Meet me up front.”

While Savannah had hoped to discuss the events of the day before with Caroline, she’d wanted to bring up the subject of Laredo in her own time. She certainly hadn’t expected an inquisition, especially this soon. But lately Caroline had been encouraging her to get out more, mingle. Savannah decided to accept her friend’s advice the day Caroline took it herself.

“You’ve got that look again,” Caroline teased when Savannah approached the counter.

“What look?”

“The one that says you’re...you know, perturbed.”

“Well, I am.” As far as Savannah was concerned she had every right to feel perturbed, annoyed and downright peeved. The entire town was discussing her life, or soon would be, particularly when it became common knowledge that Laredo Smith worked for her and not Grady. She absolutely deplored gossip and refused to partake in it. She’d never pry into anyone’s personal business. Why, she’d been Caroline’s best friend for ages, and not once had she asked who’d fathered five-year-old Maggie. If Caroline felt inclined to tell her, then she would, but Savannah would rather die than ask.

“Get over it, Savannah. It isn’t every day a handsome stranger wanders into town.”

“Laredo didn’t exactly wander into Promise.” She supposed she’d have to tell Caroline the truth. That’d be preferable to having her hear wild rumors later on.

“I know. His truck broke down. It’s the transmission, and with parts and labor it’ll be close to fifteen hundred dollars. Plus it’s going to take at least ten days for the parts to come in.”

Good grief, Caroline knew more about Laredo than she did! “Who told you all that?” Silly question when the answer was obvious. Wiley had mentioned that he was going to help Laredo tow his truck into Powell’s Garage that morning. Paul Powell’s wife, Louise, did the paperwork and was a known talker. Apparently she’d been at the garage when Wiley and Laredo arrived. To complicate matters, Wiley tended to have a loose tongue himself. Savannah had the sudden urge to sit down with an entire pitcher of iced tea, only she had the feeling that all the iced tea in the world wasn’t going to make anything better.

Caroline watched her closely. In a gentler tone of voice she asked, “You hired him yourself?”

“Yes. I’ve been looking for someone to help me with the garden and—and now that I’m starting to get more orders for my roses, well, it makes sense to hire some help.” She could have managed very well on her own, though, and Caroline knew it.

“You like him, don’t you, Savannah?”

“Of course I like Laredo. He’s kind and thoughtful and...” She couldn’t continue. “Grady was just awful! Oh, Caroline, I was mortified.” She brought one hand to her mouth, remembering the confrontation between the two men after dinner.

“Grady? What else is new?”

“I offered Laredo a job. I shouldn’t have done it without talking to Grady first, but he needed the work and you know how I’ve been after Grady to hire an extra hand.”

“So you hired him, and Grady didn’t appreciate your...help.”

Savannah looked away. “That’s putting it mildly. He insisted he didn’t need anyone else and offered to drive Laredo into town that very minute. He made it sound as if he wanted him off our property, the sooner the better. I didn’t know Grady could be that rude! I was embarrassed, and angry, so I...I stepped in and claimed I’d hired Laredo to work for me.”

Caroline’s eyes sparked with approval. “I’ll bet Grady just hit the roof.”

“Put it this way—he wasn’t pleased.”

Nibbling on her lower lip, Caroline crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. “So, tell me, how’d you meet your new employee?”

The questions weren’t getting any easier. “I saw him walking down the road,” Savannah admitted wryly, “and I...I stopped and offered him a lift.”

Caroline’s eyes widened at this, but she didn’t comment. Savannah continued, “He asked about work in the area, and before I could stop myself, I said there was a job on the Yellow Rose.”

“Which is why Grady took an immediate dislike to him,” Caroline muttered.

She knew Grady almost as well as Savannah did. “That’s right. He acted like a jerk for no reason other than the fact that I was the one to hire him. Oh, Caroline, I don’t think I’ve ever been more furious with my brother.”

“So what happened next?”

A sense of pride and satisfaction came to her rescue, and Savannah started to giggle. “If only you could’ve seen Grady’s face when I told him Laredo was working for me. I thought he was going to explode.” To give him some credit, Grady had kept his mouth shut. Instead he’d stormed out of the house like a two-year-old, leaving Savannah and Laredo standing there in awkward silence.

Caroline burst out laughing. “I can see it all now! Oh, Savannah, I’m so proud of you.”

“Really?”

“Really. It’s about time someone put Grady Weston in his place. Don’t get me wrong, I think the world of him, but he’s become such a curmudgeon in the last few years. He takes everything so seriously. I can’t remember the last time I heard him laugh.”

Savannah’s heart went out to her brother. What Caroline said was true, but it was only because Grady carried such a heavy load of responsibilities. In only a few years he’d taken the ranch from the edge of bankruptcy and made it viable again. Finances remained tight, but they were no longer in danger of losing the land that had been in the family for generations. Savannah reminded herself of all this every time Grady’s behavior distressed her. And it had never distressed her more than last night. His opinion of Laredo—and by extension, her—was so scathing. She knew very well that he considered her “a damned fool”—his favorite epithet—for trusting a stranger.

She lowered her eyes, not wanting Caroline to read her face. “Am I a fool, Caroline?”

“You? You’re joking, right?”

“No, please, I need to know. I...I’m attracted to Laredo. I’ve never felt this way about a man. He’s not like anyone else. He listens to me, and even though we’ve barely met, he...he understands me better than my own brother does. We spent an entire hour in my garden last night, and he let me tell him about my roses. His grandmother had old roses and he was genuinely interested in what I’m doing.”

Caroline’s features softened.

“And he’s honest. He told me he’d been fired from his last job and why. He didn’t have to do that, but he did and I respect him for it.” It sounded foolish now, as if everything her brother had said was true.

“What does your heart tell you?” Caroline asked.

Savannah wavered. When she was with Laredo, there was no doubt how she felt, but in the light of cold reality, she was forced to wonder if she really was as gullible and naive as Grady thought. “I’m not sure anymore.”

“Why is it so important that you have all the answers right this moment?”

“I don’t know, it’s just that—”

Caroline laughed. “Be more patient, Savannah. Life has a way of working things out. And for heaven’s sake, quit being so hard on yourself! It isn’t a sin to be attracted to a man. Why shouldn’t you be?”