A Man for Glory

If the eager look on Cade’s face was anything to go by, he was more than ready for dinner when he came through the back door less than an hour later. Glory was alone in the kitchen, mixing dumplings in a bowl to put atop the beef stew she’d readied.

“How’d you get that cooked so quick?” Cade asked, leaning over her shoulder to peer into the kettle simmering on the back of the stove.

“I had beef canned up from a side Mr. Clark bought from the neighbor, Mr. Bradley, last fall. I only had to add a Mason jar of vegetables to it and heat it up good. I’ll put dumplings on top in just a minute and cover it tight. We’ll be ready to eat in about twenty minutes.”

She cast him a dark look, hands on her hips. “At least we’ll be ready to eat if you get yourself out of my way so I can get these dumplings on the stew.”

He laughed and backed away from the iron range, the sound of his humor a bit rusty as if he hadn’t found much to amuse him of late. He watched her from his stance by the table, and when she’d completed her task and then clapped a cover on the bubbling stew where dumplings floated on top, she turned to him.

“You spend a lot of time keeping an eye on me, McAllister.”

“Not near as much as I plan to in the future, Miss Glory. And that’s something else we have to get straight.” His jaw set and a stubborn gleam warned her that the man was putting on his cloak of arrogance again.

“I agree with what you said about Mr. Clark. I feel the same way he did. It looks to me like I’ll be here for a good while and I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to be living here without us being married. The people in town will be talking about you. And that’s something we don’t want happening. Buddy and Essie don’t need any bit of gossip going on about you.”

“Can we talk about that later on?” Glory asked quietly. “Maybe tonight?”

Cade nodded a reply, apparently willing to do as she asked. “I want to tell you something I’m thinking about, Glory. I’m going to look at horses at your neighbor’s place later on. He’s got a fine crop of mares and foals in his fields, and a number of mares about ready to drop their foals. I’d like to make a deal with him.”

“There’s no money available for new horses,” she said firmly.

His grin was quick. “That’s where you’re wrong, ma’am. I’ve got more than a bit put aside and if the fella is reasonable, I think I can make a deal with him.”

“You’re going to invest in my farm?” Her look was skeptical.

“Yes, ma’am. That’s exactly what I’m going to do. I can’t make a success of this place without putting money into it.”

“And will that make it yours? When you’ve invested in it? Are you planning on the deed being in your name?”

“Not now, Glory. We’ve got other things to be concerned about. Just know that as long as you and the children live, this place is your home. Nothing I ever do will change that. We’ll be partners here, all four of us and any more young’uns who might happen along to join us once we get married. Buddy will someday own this place, just as his father planned for. But in the meantime, you and I have to come to an agreement.

“We need to talk about this marriage thing. Like I said before, I don’t want the folks hereabouts talking about you or spreading gossip.”

“Why worry about my good name? Won’t they gossip about you, too?” she asked, tilting her chin and glaring at him, her heart pumping rapidly from the anger he seemed to inspire in her.

“Women always manage to be the topic of gossip, Glory. Men can get away with most anything, but the woman ends up paying the piper. You know that as well as I do.”

“I haven’t done anything wrong, Cade. I think the folks in town consider me to be a decent woman.”

“You’re certainly that, Glory. But you’re a good-looking woman, too, and I won’t have you being the topic for folks’ gossip. We can fix the problem easily with a marriage between us. I’ve done a lot of traveling around over the past few years, and most of the time I’ve been looking for a place to settle.

“I wonder if it wasn’t the hand of fate that led me here to this town. It was almost like hearing about you from the sheriff and him bringing me out here to meet you was meant to be. I know you came as a surprise to me, for I certainly wasn’t looking to find such a perfect spot to settle, with a couple of young’uns and a pretty woman living here. Getting married just seems like a good idea, Glory. For I’ll admit I’m attracted to you in a mighty way. I’m hoping you’ll agree with me, for it seems like the time is right for us to do this.”

“I’ve often wondered myself how I came to knock at the back door here that day over three years ago,” she said. And then she looked up at Cade, her eyes shiny with a glaze of tears.

“I decided that sometimes we don’t need to know everything ahead of time, Cade. Sometimes things just work out right for us if we do our best and make our own way in life. It was right for me to marry Mr. Clark and care for his children three years ago. Maybe it’s right for me to marry you now and let you take over with caring for the three of us. We sure could use a man’s strong arms to do the heavy work here. Some days I get mighty weary, Cade. And lonesome, too, to tell the truth. I don’t know about attraction, like you said a few minutes ago. But I like you and I think you being here would be good for the children, especially Buddy. But just so you know, I’m not much for fancy love words or flirtin’, if you know what I mean.”

“You don’t have to worry about that sort of thing, Glory. As long as we like each other, we’ll have a good beginning. I hope you’re at least pondering marriage. I know you’ve been unsure of it, but I’d like to think you’ve kinda made a decision today, looking at the future with us a married couple, making a family here. You’re a woman needing a man to tend to things and I sure won’t mind doing that very thing. Living with you won’t be a hardship for me, Glory.”

He stepped closer to where she stood and his arm slid around her shoulders, tugging her closer to him. His other hand moved slowly to rest against her waist, and for a moment she felt enclosed, captured by his big body in front of her, the stove behind. She tilted her head back, and without a pause he bent to her, his mouth touching hers carefully, brushing the tender flesh with a kiss of promise. His words were a whisper.

“One thing you need to understand, Glory. When I’ve said the words in front of a preacher, I won’t be sleeping in the bedroom at the back of the house. You can choose where, but you’ll be next to me and I’m thinking we’ll both fit into your bed.”

His breath was fresh, his words spoken softly, as if he would not chance the children hearing him. And then he kissed her again, less of a testing caress, more of a demand for her mouth to welcome his, to return the brush of lips, to accept the promise of intimacy to come.

Glory had never known a man’s touch in such a way, for as a young girl, she’d been protected, though she had known young men and even danced with several while her parents looked on. But none had strayed beyond friendship. She’d never been offered the kisses of a man courting a young woman. She trembled beneath his hands—not with fear, for she did not distrust Cade, but with uncertainty. His hands were careful of her, not gripping her tightly, and she knew he would release her if she demurred and stepped away from him.

“Cade?” Even to her own ears her voice sounded wary, uncertain. And from Cade’s grin, she suspected he was aware of her flustered state.

“I won’t hurt you, Glory. I’ll never do anything to cause you pain or give you reason to fear me.”

She nodded. “I’m not afraid of you. I just feel … sort of shaky right now. I think you’d better go sit down at the table and let me get supper on.”

His grin did not depart from his lips as he obeyed her, pulling out his chair and then watching as she found plates and silverware to set the table. She unwrapped the last of the bread, a loaf she’d baked two days ago that was almost stale. It would be time to set a batch to rise in the morning.

She cut the bread and placed the slices on a plate, then found a fresh jar of jam in the pantry. “Our meal will be a little sparse, I fear. I’ll make up for it tomorrow though,” she said as she finished putting the food together and carefully lifted the lid of her big kettle on the stove.

The dumplings had risen to the top of the kettle and she touched one with the tip of her index finger, testing it for firmness. “I think these are done. I’ll call the children in to eat.” And in all her fussing and fluttering around the kitchen, she’d been careful to keep her eyes averted from him, as if she dared not meet his gaze.

Cade felt a wash of desire sweep through him. Not the carnal lust he’d felt in the past for a woman when he’d gone through a long dry spell without a female body to hold close in his bed. This was different, for she appealed to him to the depths that craved a woman of his own.

It was a yearning he’d never experienced, Cade had never thought of any woman in such a way until he’d met Glory, for his job had always come first with him. But it seemed that the way to achieve his goal now was to enter into a marriage. Living here was looking better all the time.

The children came to the table and he watched them closely. Saw the smile Essie shot in Glory’s direction, noted the gentle touch of Glory’s hand on Buddy’s shoulder as he settled into his chair. They were secure in her love and it showed.

The four of them sat around the table, the steaming kettle of stew in the middle, and Cade bowed his head. He hadn’t prayed in a long time, only shot small petitions upward as he thought of those he’d loved in his lifetime. His mother and stepfather, still at home in Oklahoma, the friends he’d left behind when he set out to find his own niche in life. But the prayer he offered for their food came easily to him and he spoke the words he’d often heard his stepfather say before meals back home.

Though this was all a part of his mission here, finding the gold would be an easier chore to tackle once he was living in the house. Being settled here was a good feeling, he decided, and he had much to be thankful for, not least of which was the meal before him. One of many meals he would eat here with Glory and the children, who seemed fated to be a large part of his life.

It was not a surprise that the sheriff paid them a visit the next day, for Glory had expected him to be at her door, checking up on Cade, looking in on her and the children. He was a good man and she knew he felt a sense of responsibility for her, after having dropped Cade into her life as he had.

“Have you read the papers Mr. McAllister gave you, Mrs. Clark?” he asked her.

Glory nodded in reply and smiled. She’d been pleased by the facts laid out in the legal documents she’d perused. Cade appeared to be all he’d promised, honest, diligent and possessed of enough ready cash to invest in the farm as he’d promised to do.

“Have you reached any sort of arrangement between you?” the lawman asked, turning to Cade, but asking the question of both the man and woman before him.

“We’re still on speaking terms, so I suspect we’ll iron things out before long,” Cade said with a grin.

“For now, he’s sleeping in the barn and working on fencing and such,” Glory said.

Cade nodded. “I’m thinking about fencing the pasture. I figure with Buddy’s help and a posthole digger, I can put in enough fencing to keep the animals closed in. We’ll see how it goes.”

“I’ll check back with you, McAllister. Just wanted to make sure that Mrs. Clark had read your credentials and was aware of your plans.”

It seemed that the man’s life was an open book, Glory decided. The sheriff was prone to trust him, and so, she decided with surprise, was she.

Glory finished her chores in the kitchen and went to the porch, settling on the small rocker there. She’d used this chair when she snapped beans and shelled peas while she rocked back and forth, watching the comings and goings of Mr. Clark.