A Man for Glory Read online

  “You started this, Glory. I tried to talk to you about some plans I’ve been mulling over, and you’ve made it into a stone wall between us. Now you’ll listen to me.”

  She put her hands over her ears, shaking her head, feeling foolish, but unwilling to obey his edicts.

  His palms covered her wrists and he pulled her hands to his chest, holding them there, even as his body held her right where he wanted her.

  She pressed her lips together, unwilling to even speak to him, yet fearful of his mood, his anger and the power he held over her. She stood no chance of escaping him, for if she fought him, he could easily overpower her. In fact, he could have her on the bed in mere seconds, she realized. She was without protection from this man, and the fear of his reprisals against her accusations loomed before her.

  He lifted her from her feet then, almost as if he’d read her thoughts, and carried her to the bed, holding her in his lap, his hands firm against her waist and hip. One large hand rose to cup her cheek, and she was held immobile before him.

  She would not cry. She would not allow him the knowledge that she was frightened of him, of what his anger might cause to happen. For up until now, Cade had been only gentle and tender with her smaller frame and made concessions for her lesser strength. Yet now he faced her looking like an avenging angel, for when all was said and done, his face held a masculine beauty she could not deny. And even now, if she were to be honest, he had not hurt her nor caused her pain, but only held her across his thighs, perched nicely on his lap.

  She had not been fully aware of the depths of the man, she realized. And facing his fury head-on, while two children weeded in her garden and the day was only half begun, was not what she would have chosen to do at this time.

  “Cade, you need to let me up. What if the children come in the house? I don’t want them to find us in the bedroom in the middle of the morning. I know you’re angry with me, but—”

  “Hush, Glory. Not another word. You’ve got me ready to lose my temper in a grand way, and I’m trying to hold it in. And trying to threaten me with two little kids isn’t going to gain you any ground.”

  He met her gaze and his face cleared a bit, the anger giving way to a frustrated look that was new to her. His hands relaxed their hold a bit and he bent to kiss her.

  “Don’t be kissing me,” she said, almost snarling the words. “I don’t like you one bit right now, Mr. McAllister.”

  She turned her head from him but he would not be swayed, grasping her chin and holding her while he pressed his lips to hers. She tried to bite his lip, pushed at him and tried to kick her feet, all to no avail, for he was too strong, his arms a cage about her and she felt at his mercy.

  She quieted against his big body, uncertain where his anger might lead. “Please, Cade. Let me up and I’ll listen to anything you want to say. Just don’t hold me so tightly. It frightens me.”

  He released her, his arms falling from her as he lifted her to her feet. “I’m sorry, Glory. I was wrong to treat you so. I lost my temper and I’m sorry.”

  She trembled before him, her fears but naught as she heard his apology, and recognized it as sincere. “Can we just wait until later to talk any more, Cade. I can’t think straight right now.”

  He reached for her, touching her hand gently, rubbing her fingers and then turning it to lift it to his mouth. Pressing a kiss in her palm, he folded her fingers over it. His breathing had slowed a bit, and his voice was softer now, the harsh tones mellowing as he spoke. “Let me help you in the garden today, Glory. I’d like to spend time with you, and if you’re going to pick vegetables, I’ll help. The chores are done for the morning and we can talk while we work together.”

  Well, this is something new. Cade picking vegetables. She held back a smile and nodded. “All right. There are some stakes to put amid the tomatoes, so I can tie them up, and keep them off the ground. I don’t want them to lie on the dirt while they ripen. Makes them get moldy.”

  “What do you have cooking on the range?” he asked, lifting his head a bit and sniffing the aroma that had wended its way from the kitchen.

  “Just a bit of beef I’m fixing for dinner. I thought we’d have pot roast with potatoes and carrots around it. I’ve got a good crop ready to pull in the garden. They’re small yet, but they’ll be sweet.”

  His grin was quick, his hands warm against her waist as he rose from the bed to stand before her. “I sure lucked out when you said you’d marry me, Mrs. McAllister.”

  This time his use of her legal name sounded more to her liking, and Glory smiled at him.

  “Are you done being angry with me?” she asked softly, knowing that her eyes would give her away, what with the tears she was having trouble controlling.

  “I’m done being angry. I lost my temper, something I rarely do, Glory. I need to hang on to it better, for I’m ashamed that you saw me having a fit.”

  “Was that what it was?” she asked.

  He reached up and touched the corner of her mouth and higher to brush a tear from her cheek. “Don’t cry, sweetheart. I never meant to make you cry.”

  He caught her off balance and pulled her into his arms. They were warm about her, comforting rather than demanding, for he seemed to have changed tack. “Let’s go out to your garden, Glory. You can boss me around all you want and I’ll be willing to do whatever you like. At least for an hour or so. Then I’ve got a few things to tend to in the barn.”

  His grin did it. She nodded against his chest and then backed away from the warmth of his arms. He followed her from the bedroom, and she made haste to brush her hair back before they reached the kitchen, knowing she was flushed, her hair every which way.

  “You look fine,” he said from behind her, lifting a hand to tuck a stray tress behind her ear. “More than fine, in fact.”

  They reached the kitchen and Glory was pleased to hear voices from the garden through the open window. Buddy and Essie were discussing whose turn it was to empty the bucket of weeds, and Cade solved the problem nicely.

  Striding out onto the porch, he called their names and when they looked up, motioned at the bucket in question. “I’ll take care of it later. Leave it by the end of the row of beans and I’ll dump it out back of the barn when I go out. You can both be excused for a while. Glory will do sums with you later, Essie. And perhaps you’d better find a quiet spot to read your book, Buddy. You’re about done with it, aren’t you?”

  Buddy nodded, making haste to leave the gardening to Glory. Essie stood on one foot, her bare toes curling into the dirt, her lifted foot apparently needing attention.

  “Cade, will you look and see if I’ve got a thistle on my toe?” she asked, limping to where he stood. Cade sat her down on the edge of the porch and stood before her, lifting her foot and eyeing the small toes.

  “Sure ‘nough looks like a thistle to me, little girl. Let me pull it out.”

  He took hold of the offending bit of weed between his fingernails, noting Essie’s wince as he did, and with a swift movement removed it from her flesh. A tiny drop of blood remained and Cade wiped it off, lest she spot it and wail for a bandage. He’d have Glory wash it off and take a look at it later.

  “If you’re going to the barn, you need to put some shoes on, Essie,” he told her. “We can’t take a chance on you stepping on anything sharp out there.”

  Essie put her foot back on the ground and stepped on it fully. “It doesn’t hurt anymore, Cade. Thank you.” With a grin, she slipped into her shoes, left handy on the porch, and headed off for the barn. Unless he missed his guess, her route would be directly to the tack room where the four kittens were no doubt curled up next to the gray tabby.

  Glory came out on the porch then. Cade offered his palm, displaying Essie’s thistle for her, and Glory smiled. “She usually wants a bandage if she’s hurt herself. Must be she didn’t spot any blood.”

  “There was only a drop, and I figured you’d wash her feet before bedtime and look at the spot. See if it need
s anything. But I think it’s all right. All taken care of, sweetheart.”

  “You’re good with them, Cade.” Glory sat down where Essie had so recently placed her bottom. “I didn’t mean to cause such an uproar. We can talk later about the horse thing, but I want you to know that I won’t fight you on it. In fact Buddy will be delighted at the thought of helping with foals and doing whatever you do with young horses. But I’d sure like to know more about where you earned all that money. I’m going to want some answers from you.”

  Cade grinned at her, his arms itching to hold her against himself, so bright was her smile, so soft her countenance. It would pay, he vowed to himself, to keep her happy. A sense of shame filled him as he remembered his actions in the bedroom, and he thought to make amends.

  “Glory, I know I said I was sorry about my temper, but I want you to know that I truly apologize for holding you against your will. And we’ll talk later about my money.”

  “I’m all right,” she said, slipping down from the porch and standing before him. “Let’s just forget it for now, Cade. I’ve got tomatoes to stake and beans to pick. The first crop is ready to eat and I thought to have some for supper tonight.”

  She led him to the garden and he followed at her heels, willing to have the episode so easily put in the past, yet wary lest it come to life again should he mention horses or stalls or building the addition he’d been drawing on a piece of brown paper out in the tack room. It would do well for him to bide his time for a few days and let her cool down.

  He staked tomatoes, carried buckets of weeds and then pulled baby carrots from the ground for their dinner. After swiping one specimen across his chest to wipe off the dirt, he bit into it, savoring the sweet flavor as he chewed.

  “You’re right. They’re better when they’re small, Glory,” he said, bending to pull more of the vegetables from the ground. Snapping off the leafy tops, he deposited them in the weed bucket and held up his double handful to show her.

  “Here, put them in my apron, Cade.” She moved to where he stood and held her apron open for the carrots, adding them to the beans she’d already picked.

  “You want a pan for those?” he asked, willing to go to the kitchen should she need a container for the produce.

  “No, I’ll carry these to the porch and wash them in a bucket before I take them in the house.” Before long, a pile of vegetables sat on the end of the porch—the first of the tomatoes, a good batch of green beans, and the carrots, all blending in a colorful picture of their morning’s work.

  Cade brought a bucket of water from the pump at the horse trough and sat it on the porch, then watched as Glory washed the food, dumping the water on a small rosebush next to the steps, before she carried the empty pail into the house. Cade toted his third pailful of weeds to the back of the barn, and when he returned, he went into the house.

  “Anything else I can do for you before I turn Buddy loose with one of the foals?”

  Glory turned from the sink where she was scrubbing carrots and admiring the small tomatoes she’d picked. “No, I’m all set in here.”

  He looked out to where the lad was sitting beneath a tree, reading his beloved book. “Does the teacher in town have a supply of books she loans you, Glory? He’s just a few pages from the end of that one.”

  “When we go into town, we’ll stop and speak with her. But first, Buddy has a book report to do for me. I think he’s reading slower so as to put it off a bit.”

  “Maybe I can help him with it,” Cade offered. “I was pretty good at that sort of thing when I was his age.”

  Glory’s eyes lit, sparkling at him as he turned to look at her. “I’d be so pleased if you helped me with their schooling. It’ll give Buddy a head start before he joins the regular classes.”

  “I’m probably not as good at it as you, Glory, but I’m willing to help if I can.”

  She turned back to the stove, dumping her pan of carrots into the kettle where the beef simmered. “I’ll get the last of the potatoes out of the cellar. We’ll be doing without for a couple of weeks till the new ones come in, I’m afraid.”

  “I’ll go down and get them for you. And then leave you to your work while I finish up out back.”

  He brought the potatoes to her, placing them in the sink and then turned, his arms circling her waist. She was a little bit of a thing—a fact he recognized once again as she stood before him, for she barely came to his shoulders in height—and he lifted her, one arm around her waist and the other beneath her bottom, holding her within reach of his mouth, for he was possessed of a great desire to taste of the woman he’d married.

  Behind them the food she was cooking for him wafted its aroma throughout the room, and in his arms was the beguiling creature who made this house a home. He kissed her, reveling in the soft lips that responded to his touch, the arms that crept around his neck and clung unashamedly to his greater strength. His mouth roamed her face, from temple to throat and back, his murmurs of praise whispered in a steady stream of adulation.

  “My mother would love you. My stepfather would think you were the best thing he’d seen since Fido was a pup. I wish they could know you.” The yearning he felt in that moment for the family he’d left behind was enormous. Not often given to such a feeling, he recognized that it was Glory’s place in his life that had brought back the memories of home and the family he’d left behind.

  “You’re so lucky to have family, Cade. I have no one, but for you and the children. That’s enough, probably more than I’d ever hoped to have, but I miss my folks sometimes, like an aching in my heart that won’t go away.”

  He held her close as she spoke, feeling the pain of her loss, even as he admired the spunk it had taken to make her own way in the world. The day she’d walked away from the wagon train and come to this house had been the turning point of her life. For she’d put aside her past and concentrated on her future, and that was a big job for anyone to tackle.

  Let alone a young girl, not even out of her teens. “How old are you, Glory? I’d figured about twenty or so, but I’ve never asked.”

  “You hit the nail on the head. I’ll be twenty in …” She thought for a moment, and then smiled. “My birthday is next month, Cade. I’d forgotten about it. I came here when I was sixteen. I’ve always been grateful to Mr. Clark for taking me in and giving me a home.”

  “Buddy told me it was the best thing that ever happened to them. He remembers well the day you showed up at the door and Harvey told you to come in.”

  She laughed a bit, remembering. “I was scared to death, for he was a grizzled old fella, hot and sweaty from working in the hay field. But when he put his hand on Essie’s head and ruffled her hair, I knew he was a good man, for the children both looked at him like he was something special.”

  “And he never asked you to sleep in his bed?” Cade asked, even now seeking an answer to the question that had puzzled him.

  “He treated me like another of his children, or his little sister, maybe. He said he’d had a good wife and he wasn’t looking for another.”

  Cade dropped a quick kiss on her lips, unable to resist the lure of the woman he held. “I owe the man a debt I can never repay. Except maybe by doing the right thing for his children.”

  Glory leaned against him, her head on his shoulder, his long arms holding her close. “I feel safe with you, Cade. That’s one of the reasons I married you, knowing you’d take care of us.”

  His mouth tilted at one corner as she looked up into his face, and she recognized what was coming. Cade was about to spring another of his ideas on her.

  “You’re not building a new barn, Cade. I don’t care what you say, the one we’ve got is big enough for any number of horses.”

  His head tipped back and his laughter rose, his eyes dark upon her as he spoke. “You’re something else, Glory McAllister. You’re always one step ahead of me, aren’t you?”

  “Not lately, mister. I can’t even keep up with you most days.”

&n
bsp; “Well, this idea I’ve got is one I think you’ll like, Glory. I’d like to fix up my old bedroom, the one where Harvey slept for three years.”

  “You moving back in?” she asked slyly, intent on the grin he wore.

  “Not on your life, honey. But I think it would be a good place for Buddy. He’s got that little-bitty room that’s not fit for more than a closet. The boy never complains, but I think he should have more space. He’s got books and he’ll be collecting more as he gets older. On top of that, he needs space to do his schooling. Sitting at the kitchen table is all right, but he should have a quiet spot of his own.”

  Glory felt surprise trickle through her at his words. “I never thought of that, Cade. But you’re right. Maybe he could have shelves for his books and a better place for his clothes. He just hangs them on a couple of nails his father drove into the wall for him. And he’s never had a dresser or chest of drawers, just piled his things in boxes.”

  “Would you mind if I work at it, maybe put in a new window and get it fixed up nice. You could make him some curtains and we’ll get him a small chest of some sort.”

  Cade’s eyes were bright, his smile brilliant as he shared his ideas with Glory and she could only listen and nod as he spoke, for she found his ideas to her liking. Buddy would be thrilled, not only to get a larger bedroom, but for the fact that Cade thought enough of him to want to do this. It was no small task, of that she was well aware.

  And yet, it was well within Cade’s capabilities, the redoing and tearing out and rebuilding that would take place. And now it seemed he had more than one idea to present, for she saw a gleam in his eyes that could only mean he was not finished with his planning.

  “I thought about knocking out the wall between Buddy’s little room and the one Essie sleeps in, honey. It would give her a lot more space, and we don’t really need that small room for anything, do we?”

  “Oh, Cade. She’d be so thrilled. Her things are all squashed up as it is—her doll baby is plopped right in the middle of her underwear and dresses. There’s no room to put things.”