Cade cleared his throat, considering the lie he’d just spoken so readily. He’d traveled the country in his job, for being a Pinkerton man paid well and he’d never come out empty handed at the end of a quest. Still, he felt guilty for lying to Glory.
He eyed the woman before him and knew that his plan was more tempting than it might have been had Glory Clark not been so lovely a woman, had she not appealed to him so much. Offering her the story he’d halfway conceived in his mind, he began, knowing he would be living a lie with every breath he took.
He doffed his hat, and his gaze on her face was hopeful. “I’m thinking if you marry me, we could kinda work things out for everyone’s benefit, ma’am. I never planned on this sort of thing, And if it’s any comfort to you, I’ll make a vow to you that I won’t be looking for gold while I’m here. I’ll be too busy with working and fixing things up the way Mr. Clark would have wanted it.
“I’m changing topics here, ma’am, but I think it’s important to settle one thing. Did anyone ever come looking for your husband? Maybe strangers who might have known him from the past? It seems like he’d have been the object of a search of sorts over the years.”
“Not that I know of,” Glory said slowly, her thoughts scanning the years past, seeking answers to his questions. “We lived from one day to the next, not a lot of money to do with, but enough to get along. He didn’t seem to have any secrets that I could tell. But he did seem to keep a good eye out, making sure no one was around that didn’t belong in the area.”
“Well, keep thinking about it, Glory. You may remember something that seemed unimportant at the time. And in the meantime, consider my plans for our future.
“My father died when I was but a child, about Buddy’s age—ten, I think—and left my mother with a place to keep up and bills to pay and no cash coming in.”
“I’d say that sounds familiar,” Glory said softly.
“Yeah, well, it’s what happened, and we were left in a tough spot. There was a neighbor man, a widower, who came by a few days after the funeral and spoke with my mother, told her he was willing to take on the job of husband and father if she was agreeable to it. To make a long story short, she took him at his word, and he became my stepfather. He didn’t adopt me—my name is the same as my natural father’s, but in every way that counted he was our dad, me and my brothers’. He raised us, took care of my mother and ran the farm for her. I don’t know if he loved her to begin with—probably not—but he saw a need and knew he could fill it. So he did. He made a success out of the place, made good money, and best of all, they were happy together.”
“And did you see the same sort of need here?” she asked, studying the ground beneath her feet.
“Yeah, you could say that, I suppose. I could almost hear my dad speaking in my ear. Telling me this was my chance to show my gratitude for what he’d done for my family all those long years ago. I won’t tell you any tall tales, or make up a glowing picture of our future together. But I will tell you I’ll be faithful and honest and do my best to help you and the children, just the way Harvey Clark would have wanted.”
Glory looked up at him, admiring his height, the broad shoulders that pulled his shirt tight over his chest. He was a good-looking man, surely a man most women would admire, and she was no exception. But she needed to be sure that he was on the up-and-up before she made any drastic decisions.
“I’m not sure I want to be an object of charity, Cade, but I suspect I can see better why you’re doing this. It made me wonder about you, why a man would take on a family and be responsible for two children the way you’ve said you would.”
He grinned and shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll admit that the idea of having a place of my own appeals to me. This is your farm, but if I stay here, it won’t be just as a hired hand. There’s the matter of marriage to be settled, Glory. It won’t work any other way.”
He lifted his hand to her face, tilting her chin up so that she met his gaze. His voice softened as he spoke. “I will tell you that you’re a woman who’d appeal to any man with eyes in his head. I don’t understand why half a dozen men haven’t asked you to marry them.” And then he hesitated.
“The town will no doubt look askance at me being here, living with you and the children, without a wedding taking place. I’ll not cause you to fret about that part of it tonight, but we need to be making a decision right quick.”
“I’ll think about it, Cade. In fact, I probably won’t be thinking of much else.” With but a moment of hesitation, Glory slid from her seat on the edge of the porch, and then climbed the steps and went into the house.
The man took her breath. He made her tremble deep inside where her heart dwelt.
She made her way in the dark, through the kitchen and up the stairs, to where her bedroom was tucked beneath the eaves. She’d slept alone there for three years, dependent upon Harvey Clark for a place to live. He’d been good to her, and though he’d probably made mistakes aplenty in his life, he hadn’t caused her any grief. He’d only done as he’d promised. She tossed her dressing gown over a chair and crawled into bed, clad in her long white nightgown. There to sleep fitfully, her dreams filled with visions of the man who slept in the barn. A man who tempted her as had no other.
Chapter Three
Cade walked slowly back to the barn, his thoughts filled with the prospects he might find here. Glory was the first woman he’d thought about with an eye to the future. But first, he’d have to find the gold he was certain was hidden somewhere in the house, and which he’d been contracted to find. But then … then he’d concentrate on Glory. The thought of marriage with the woman was more than appealing. Perhaps it was time to settle down, once this job was finished.
He climbed the ladder to the loft and sank down into the pile of hay where he’d tossed his bedroll. Settling in, he allowed sleep to overcome him, his body weary from a long day’s labor.
Daybreak was announced by the rooster in the chicken coop and Cade awoke, refreshed and ready to look over his surroundings. The barn showed the hand of a good carpenter in its construction, the joists joined properly, the roof intact, the floor solid beneath him. He folded his bedroll, climbed down the ladder and opened the back door of the barn, looking out to where fields stretched almost to the horizon. Those near at hand were lush with grass, pastureland any farmer would hold dear.
Beyond the pasture, a field of hay gleamed in the sunshine, ready for cutting, a crop that would more than fill the hayloft where he’d slept. Harvey Clark had owned a farm worth having. The sheriff had said it comprised two hundred acres, and should the rest of his land show the promise that lay before Cade now, it was a dream come true for the roamer who surveyed it this morning.
Should the woman marry him, he would be the owner of a fine piece of land. The future took on a new look for the man who gazed out upon waving grasses and sunlit fields of hay. It seemed the trail he’d followed for the past few years had finally come to a halt at the end of the rainbow. He’d worked and saved his wages and been a success as a Pinkerton man.
The promise of a good reward for the gold he sought was worth working for. He’d worked long years as a Pinkerton man and it was time to settle down and seek a future. A future that beckoned him and promised ample reward for the hard work he was willing to put into it. If things worked out as he hoped, his career as a Pinkerton man would be at an end and he would spend his life as a married man should Glory be agreeable. At that thought he grinned, for if Glory went along with his plans, she would be a prize worth having.
He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the sight of her, dark hair a cloud about her as she walked in the orchard. The woman appealed to him in a mighty way, and he vowed to himself that he’d be in her bed within a week or so.
He heard the sound of Buddy’s voice outside the barn, and the big door slid open, revealing him to Cade’s sight. The boy headed for the first stall where the cow awaited his attention, and speaking softly, he soothed the anim
al, “Don’t be scared, Daisy. It’s just me, comin’ to milk you and give you some hay.”
“And I’ll probably feed the chickens,” Cade muttered beneath his breath as he walked from the back door of the barn to where the boy had begun his task.
“Morning, sir,” Buddy said looking up with a quick grin, his dark hair still tousled from his pillow.
Cade’s index finger rose to touch his hat brim. “Your stepmother fixing breakfast?” he asked.
“Yeah, Glory cooks real good, mister. My pa always said that her staying with us and taking care of us was the best thing that ever happened in our family. ’Course, the baddest thing was when my mama died.”
“Was that a long time ago, Buddy?”
“Yeah, I was pretty little then, and Essie was just walking good. She was a bitty little thing, with her long yellow hair and big blue eyes. And then it seemed like a long time before Glory came to the door and she needed a place to live and my pa said she could stay with us if she married him.”
Cade felt the hair on his nape quiver. “Your pa wanted to marry Glory?” he asked mildly, even as he felt like balling his fists at the thought.
“He told Glory when she came to stay that she couldn’t live in the house with us without them being married. He said it wouldn’t look right.”
“So they got married?” Cade kept his tone mild, silently urging the boy to continue.
Buddy obliged as if he enjoyed Cade’s company. “Yeah, but it didn’t make a lot of difference to my pa. Just meant that Glory took care of us and did the cooking and stuff and taught me my letters on account of school is so far away in town. But she told me I could go to ‘real’ school after the harvest this year if we could afford a horse for me to ride back and forth. But that was before all the trouble with Pa, and now I don’t know if I’ll still be able to go. There’s gonna be lots of work to do and Glory can’t do all of it by herself.”
“Can you read pretty good, Buddy? Do you have books?” Cade wondered privately just how accomplished a teacher Glory was, though two years in college would have given her a pretty good education. But Buddy left him in no doubt as to her prowess.
“Of course I can read,” he said stoutly. “Glory got books from the real teacher in town and I can read all the way through the hardest one she’s got. I know my numbers and I can multiply and everything. That guzinta stuff is hard, but I’m working at it.”
“Guzinta stuff?” Cade searched his mind for what the boy spoke of but Buddy enlightened him promptly.
“Yeah, you know. Like four guzinta eight two times.”
“Oh.” A smile fought to appear on Cade’s face, but he resisted it manfully. There was no way on God’s green earth he would make the boy think he made sport of him. Still, the description of division struck his funny bone and he had to turn away lest he insult the lad.
Buddy propped the pail between his knees and reached for the cow’s udders. “Reckon I’d better get busy with the milking. Glory was mixing biscuits when I left the house and she said she’d make rice pudding today ‘cause we got lots of extra milk. And then I gotta put the horses out to graze.” He muttered the last words, listing his chores and Glory’s activities in a muddled rush. One Cade surprisingly found no difficulty in following.
The cow’s tail swished, causing Buddy to duck, and he cautioned the animal with a stern word, causing Cade to laugh aloud as he made an offer of help to the boy.
“Tell you what, Buddy. I’ll go stake the horses in the field out back and then gather the eggs and feed the chickens while you milk. That way, we’ll be done about the same time and we can go eat that breakfast your stepmother is putting together.”
“Would you really, sir?” Buddy’s grin was wide as he heard the offer of help, and he hastened to settle down to his chore.
Cade led the four horses out to the knee-high grass behind the corral and pounded stakes he’d found by the back door into the ground. They settled down to graze and he returned to the barn, brushing a quick hand over Buddy’s hair as he passed by on his way toward the door and the path to the chicken coop.
The hens were hungry, and when he rattled the feed pan they deserted their nests and made their way with haste to the fenced-in yard. Cade spread the grain with a generous hand and gathered the eggs without event. He made his way to the house, egg pan in hand, and called out from the porch.
“Glory? I’ve got the eggs and I spread chicken feed for the hens. Buddy is about done with the milking and he said he’s ready for breakfast.” He opened the screen door and entered the kitchen. “He told me you’re a good cook and I’m willing to sample whatever you’ve made for us this morning.”
Glory grinned, her blue eyes flashing as she shot him a quick look. “Well, come on in, Cade McAllister. Put the eggs in the pantry and wash up at the sink.”
“You know, a good crop of hay, two perhaps, would ready this place for the winter, with plenty of feed for the animals. The corn is coming up well, and with some diligent hoeing and hilling, we could have a good crop for the corn crib,” Cade said as he found his seat at the table.
“You’ve obviously learned how to garden well, Glory,” Cade said. “Your patch near the house is certainly thriving. Hardly a weed to be seen,” he said with a grin.
“I put in a good garden, Cade. And we’ll put most everything into Mason jars for the winter. There’s tomatoes and potatoes and carrots and all the rest. I planted corn and beans and onions and between Essie and me, we’ll fill the pantry with enough to do us for the winter.”
“I’ve spoken of marriage, Glory. The choice is up to you, but I’ll admit I’m more than ready to move in and take care of the hay and all the rest before winter.” His eyes were intent on her as he spoke. Even without considering the gold he’d contracted with the Pinkertons to find here, Glory was more than worth an offer of marriage. Things were looking up, Cade decided. It might take some time to woo Glory into a wedding, but he had a whole heap of that to spare.
“We having scrambled eggs to go along with that this morning?” he asked, peering over her shoulder as she stirred a pan of sausage gravy.
“I’ll put them in the other skillet in just a few minutes, soon as the gravy is ready to put on the back burner,” she answered. She glanced at him, a sharp look that gauged his mood and put him in his place. “Don’t sneak up behind me, Mr. McAllister. I don’t like surprises.”
His grin was unrepentant, she noted, but his words made a stab at sincerity. “Yes, ma’am. I’m sure sorry. I’ll make more noise next time I look over your shoulder.”
She turned from the stove, the big spoon held before her, sausage gravy dripping from its bowl, and his long index finger was quick, catching the tasty drop before it could splash on the floor, and instead sliding it between his lips.
Buddy had followed him into the house, bearing a heavy bucket of milk. “This here’s last night’s milk, Glory. I’ll put it in the pantry. I covered it good last night with a clean towel before I put it in the springhouse.” He stowed the pail under a shelf, out of the way from straying feet, and returned to the kitchen, his eyes swerving directly to Cade.
“Like I was tellin’ you out in the barn, Mr. McAllister, if I go to real school after the harvest and the last of the hay is cut, Glory says I should do good. She thinks I’m right smart.”
“I wouldn’t doubt that one little bit,” Cade said agreeably. “While I’m thinking about it, son, I’d think you could call me Cade. My pa was Mr. McAllister and I ain’t got used to the name yet. Been Cade all my life.”
“Yessir, I can sure do that … can’t I, Glory?” he asked when he caught a stray glance from his stepmother, who’d turned back to the skillets on the range. “If he says I can call him Cade, it’s all right, ain’t it? Makes him seem sorta like a friend, don’t it?”
Glory nodded as she turned from the stove where she’d poured the bowl of beaten eggs into an iron skillet and faced the two males at her table. Buddy was grinning, and Cade lo
oked right comfortable where he sat, watching the breakfast she cooked. “I’m thinking we’ll eat better if there’s plates under these eggs and gravy,” she said sharply. “Would you see to it, Mr. McAllister?”
“Yes, ma’am, I surely will,” he said as he stood and approached the dresser where he’d seen Essie finding dishes and silverware. Four plates and a like number of knives and forks appeared on the table in moments, and he stood behind his chair, waiting.
“Anything else I can do to help, ma’am?” And then, more softly, he said, “I’d like to talk to you after breakfast about what we discussed last night.”
“I thought you’d already made up your mind,” Glory told him, pouring the sausage gravy into a bowl, then scooping the eggs into another. She placed them on the table, then reached into the warming oven atop the range to pull out a pan of biscuits she’d stored there. In moments, she’d filled the glasses with milk, poured a cup of coffee and put it in front of Cade, and called out for Essie to come to the table.
The girl appeared from the direction of the hallway, a braid hanging ragtag down her back and a look of chagrin on her face. “I can’t do my braid the way you make it, Glory. I tried three times already and it don’t look right no matter what I do to it.”
“Sit down and eat, Essie. I’ll braid it up for you after breakfast. It just takes a bit more practice. You’ll catch on.”
The food smelled tasty, Cade decided, the eggs and gravy steaming in their bowls, the biscuits crusty on the outside, and when he broke one open the inside was light and looked to be tender.
“Mr. McAllister …”
He glanced at her. “Ma’am?” He looked askance, then noted the folded hands the children held before themselves, and bowed his head, holding his own palms together as he’d been silently directed.
A Man for Glory Page 3
