Heart of Texas Volume One by Debbie Macomber Read Free Book Online Page A

she’d generated, Savannah would be forever grateful that Laredo wasn’t with her. His presence would’ve set tongue wagging for sure.
    Laredo had worked all day Saturday building trellises, even though she’d insisted she didn’t require him to work weekends. He’d brushed aside her protests and pounded and sawed from dawn to dusk. By the end of the day, a long row of freshly painted trellises stood drying in the late March sun.
    After dinner he sat on the porch with her until Grady arrived. Her brother’s disapproval was evident in everything he said and did. She wanted to plead with Laredo to ignore him, wanted to insist she was her own woman, but again she remained silent.
    A coward, that was what she was. Savannah would’ve given just about anything to find the courage to tell him what was on her mind and in her heart.
    Actually, as Caroline had said, she’d done one thing that made her proud. She’d stood up to Grady, and because she had, Laredo was still at the ranch. Challenging Grady was no easy task. His strong personality had quelled braver souls than hers.
    The congregation stood, and Savannah reached for the hymnal and opened it to the appropriate page. Her soft voice lifted with those in the choir. She glanced over at Caroline, standing in the front row of the choir in her long white robe. Her friend must have noticed because she acknowledged Savannah with an almost imperceptible wink. Savannah relaxed for the first time since she’d entered the church that morning.
    After a closing prayer organ music once again filled the church and the service ended.
    Savannah followed Nell Bishop and her two children out of the pew. Jake Bishop had been killed in a freak tractor accident three and a half years ago. They’d always seemed the perfect couple, so deeply in love—a great team, everyone said. Savannah knew life had been difficult for Nell without Jake and she admired the other woman’s strength. Nell had refused to leave the ranch, working it herself. When asked why she hadn’t sold off the spread and moved into town, Nell had simply explained that keeping the ranch was what Jake would have wanted. Walking with Nell, Savannah felt safe from gossip. The widow was a private person, as she was herself, and would never pry into her affairs.
    Louise Powell stood in the vestibule, craning her neck. Savannah strongly suspected the woman wanted to grill her about Laredo.
    Savannah wished there was some way she could just vanish.
    â€œSavannah! Savannah, over here!” Louise raised one gloved hand and waved frantically.
    It would do no good to avoid her, Savannah decided miserably. If there was one thing she hated more than gossip, it was being the center of attention.
    As soon as she reached the vestibule, Louise was at her side. Louise had celebrated her fiftieth birthday in January and hated the thought of being a half a century old. In the weeks since, she’d changed her hairstyle and purchased a new wardrobe, trying for a younger look. Unfortunately she came across as a woman who was obviously fifty and dressed like twenty-five.
    â€œI met your new friend!” Louise exclaimed. Savannah suspected this was Tammy Lee’s influence on her. Tammy Lee— Louise’s new friend—was a middle-aged divorcée whose reputation could charitably be described as colorful. “What a nice young man.” She paused, waiting for Savannah’s comment, but when none was forthcoming, she plowed ahead, wrapping her arm around Savannah’s waist. “I understand he’s working for you.” An annoying giggle followed. “Savannah, I wonder if we really know you, after all. I’ve always thought of you as shy and retiring, but you know what they say about still waters.” The girlish giggle returned.
    â€œThere’s someone I have to see,” Savannah said in an effort to escape.
    â€œLaredo?” Louise asked. This was