“It isn’t your fault.” Grady blamed himself as much as anyone. It’d been a mistake to let Richard stay at the ranch for even one night. He knew the kind of man his brother was, and still he’d allowed Richard to take advantage of him. Well, no more. He was sending that bastard packing.

“I’ll take the suit back,” Max said.

“I’ll personally see that he returns it,” Grady told him. “I can’t tell you how bad I feel about all this.”

“And the other money he owes? Richard had me put it on the family account, but so far I’ve mailed all the bills to him.”

“I’ll make sure he takes care of it right away,” Grady pledged. Richard would pay one way or another, he decided. He should have realized sooner what was happening. His no-good brother arrives in town, throws himself a party and buys some fancy duds to go along with everything else.

Max Jordan wasn’t the old fool; Grady was. Why hadn’t he guessed where Richard’s clothes had come from? Why hadn’t he known Richard would pull something like this?

The evening that had started out with such promise was ruined. Grady changed his mind about meeting his friends for a beer and headed directly back to the ranch, instead. He was having this out with Richard once and for all.

The lights in the house were off when Grady got home. He attacked the stairs with a vengeance and didn’t bother to knock on his brother’s door. It shouldn’t have surprised him to find the bed empty, but for some reason it did. Although it was about midnight, Richard wasn’t anywhere to be found. Why the hell shouldn’t he party half the night, seeing as he hadn’t done a lick of work all day, or any day since he arrived? Grady resisted the temptation to slam the door shut.

He lay awake half the night, listening for his brother’s return. Eventually he’d fallen asleep and never did hear him come home. But then, Richard seemed to have a sixth sense about such things; even as a child, he’d been able to smell trouble and avoid it.

In the morning another check of his brother’s room showed that Richard hadn’t been home that night.

“Have you seen Richard lately?” he asked his sister when he went downstairs for breakfast.

Savannah shook her head. “He’s probably still sleeping.”

“His bed is empty.” Grady used his fork to grab a pancake from the stack in the middle of the table. “When you see him, tell him I need to talk to him, all right?”

“Problems?”

Grady didn’t want to involve Savannah in this, but she knew him too well not to realize something was wrong. He tried distancing her with another question. “Did Laredo leave the house already?”

“What’s Richard done?” Savannah asked, ignoring the question.

Grady sighed and set down the jar of maple syrup. “Max Jordan talked to me last night about some money Richard owes him. Apparently our dear little brother has charged a few things at Max’s he hasn’t bothered to pay for.”

Savannah didn’t comment, but he saw sadness on her face.

“It makes me wonder if he’s been doing the same thing with anyone else in town.” Grady grabbed another pancake and picked up the syrup again.

“He has,” Savannah confessed in a small voice.

“And you knew about it?”

“I...” She bit her lip. “I just found out about it myself. Millie Greenville talked to me last week. She suggested that perhaps we could trade something for the money Richard owes her. My roses, for example.”

Grady slammed the syrup jar down. “You didn’t agree to this, did you?”

“No.”

“Good.”

“But—”

“I won’t hear of it, Savannah, and neither will Laredo. Richard’s the one who owes that money, not you and not me. He’s going to repay it, too, if it’s the last thing he ever does. Every penny.”

“I know,” she said. “Laredo and I’ve already discussed what to do, and he’s as adamant as you are.”

Grady’s fork sliced viciously across the pancake. He forced himself to relax, knowing his anger would ultimately hurt him far more than it would Richard.

Laredo had saddled the horses and was waiting for him outside when he finished his meal. Savannah walked out, too, and with an agility Grady envied, her husband leaned over his horse’s neck and kissed her.

“If Richard shows up, tell him...” Grady paused, then shook his head. “Don’t tell him anything. Let me do the talking this time.”

Savannah nodded. “He’s been making himself scarce lately.”

“Now we know why, don’t we?”

The sadness was back in his sister’s eyes before she turned away and hurried into the house.

***

Richard dominated Grady’s thoughts for the rest of the day. By the time he got home, he was ready to read his brother the riot act. To his surprise Richard was there waiting for him.

“I understand you want to talk to me,” his brother said.

Grady was so angry he needed every bit of self-control not to explode with it. “Damn right I want to talk to you.”

“It’s about the stuff I charged in town, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I can’t believe you’d take advantage of our good name to—”

“Listen, Grady, you’ve got every right to be mad, but I don’t need a lecture.”

“That’s too bad because—”

“Before you get all bent out of shape, let me say something. I’ve been sick with worry about those charges. Ask Savannah if you don’t believe me. I have some money owed to me, quite a bit as it happens—you know that. It was supposed to have been mailed to me long before this.” He frowned thoughtfully. “It must have been misdirected. I’ve spent weeks trying to track it down.”

If anyone knew what it was like to be low on cash, it was Grady, but he wasn’t falling for his brother’s lies again. He opened his mouth to tell him so when Richard continued.

“I figured I’d have those bills paid off before now. I haven’t charged anything in weeks.”

“What about the suit?” Grady flared.

His brother’s expression became pained. “That was a...mistake. I was tricked into thinking Ellie had agreed to marry me and didn’t learn until later it wasn’t true.” He inhaled sharply. “In my excitement I went down and bought myself a decent suit for the wedding.”

“Max said he’d let you return it.”

Richard smiled slightly. “As it happens the money was at the post office when I picked up the mail this afternoon. The first thing I did was pay off all the bills.” He slid his hands into his jeans pockets. “I realize it was a mistake not to discuss this with you earlier.”

“Yes, it was.” Grady’s relief was tremendous. The problem was solved and the family’s good name redeemed. And none of the business owners was losing any money.

“I’m sorry you had to find out about it the way you did.”

While reassured that the money matters had been properly dealt with, Grady wasn’t willing to make any further allowances for his brother. Richard had worn out his welcome. “Now that your money’s here, you’ll be reimbursing me—and then moving on, right?”

“Yes. I appreciate you letting me stay this long. I know it’s been an inconvenience, but I didn’t have anywhere else to go. We’ve had our problems over the years, and I’m hoping we can put those behind us now.” He held out his hand for Grady to shake.

Grady accepted it, glad to see that his brother had revealed the maturity to confront him man-to-man.

Perhaps there was hope for Richard, after all.

***

Ellie had been restless all day. With the big Fourth of July weekend coming up, business was slower than it had been in weeks. She found herself waiting, watching, hoping to see Glen—and was furious with herself for caring.

She was finished with men, Ellie told herself. She’d rather herd goats than be married, but even as she entertained the thought, she realized it was a lie. Although she was fond of Savannah’s goats, she was more than fond of Glen Patterson. Not that he deserved her affections!

Once the store had closed for the day, she returned home. The afternoon heat was intense, so she made herself some iced tea. She tugged her shirt free of her waistband, propped her bare feet on the coffee table and let the fan cool her. But it was going to take more than a fan and a glass of iced tea to revive her sagging spirits.