Heart of Texas Volume 1: Lonesome Cowboy. Debbie Macomber
interior of the post office was blessedly cool, and Savannah glanced toward the front counter, relieved to see no other patrons. Deciding to pick up her mail first, she found her postbox key and inserted it into the lock. The metal door swung open to reveal Caroline’s nose and brown eyes.
“Is it true?” the postmistress demanded.
“True?” Savannah blinked back her surprise at discovering Caroline’s face thrust at her though the small opening.
“I thought I was your best friend.”
“You are,” Savannah said.
“Then one would think you’d have told me about a handsome stranger working at the Yellow Rose.”
Savannah felt color explode in her face. Apparently word of her hiring Laredo had already spread through town. In less than twenty-four hours, too! How, she didn’t know—didn’t even want to know. This was the problem with living in a small town. Nothing was private. Unnerved, she closed the small door and twisted the key, locking it.
“Savannah!” came Caroline’s muffled voice.
Reluctantly Savannah unlocked the box and opened the door. “Who told you?” She withdrew the few envelopes from the box and thrust them into her bag.
“Ellie Frasier, and she said he’s cute, too.”
“Ellie met him?” Savannah asked. Ellie was the daughter of John Frasier, owner of the feed store. She was young and pretty, and she had a lively, fun-loving personality. More than once Savannah had hoped Grady would notice her, seeing as he made weekly trips to Frasier’s for grain and such. Savannah had hinted a couple of times that he needn’t rush home—that maybe he could invite Ellie out for coffee or a cold beer. Her suggestions had been met with a glare and a low growl that said he didn’t take kindly to her matchmaking efforts.
“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.”