A Man for Glory Page 22

  “But I’m your wife, Cade. I shouldn’t still be shilly-shallying around, not able to speak my mind.”

  “You can say anything you like to me. You know that.”

  “Then can I ask you something? Will Joe Larson understand about the gold? Will he believe that we didn’t know it was here until you found it in Buddy’s wall?”

  “He’ll know that I was looking for it. I told you I was a Pinkerton man, Glory, don’t you remember? I was hired to find the gold, but I got all caught up in you and the children and wanting to marry you, until I lost track of my reason for being here.”

  “It’s almost a blessing that when you hid the gold again till you could talk to the sheriff about it, it came to light when that man’s shotgun blasted through Buddy’s wall.”

  “I’m glad the gold was there, Glory, for it no doubt saved your life. If the shot hadn’t hit the gold, it would have hit you, full force, and might have killed you. As it is, the sheriff will get the gold and get it back to Pinkerton. He said he’d told them that it had been found, and I doubt they’ll want to know all the whys and wherefores of my finding it, just that it’s here and will soon be in their possession.”

  “I feel bad that Harvey Clark was a bank robber, for I’ve been thinking for years that he was a good man and a good father,” Glory said quietly.

  “Well, he was sure enough a crook, but that doesn’t take away from him being a good father to those two kids he left you with. He had some redeeming qualities, Glory, and yet he was a criminal and was executed for his crimes.”

  “I’m just glad you showed up here, Cade, and ended up wanting to marry me,” she told him.

  “But the fact remains that the real reason I came here was because I was sent by the Pinkerton Agency to find the gold, not because I was looking to buy a farm and settled on this place by chance,” Cade said, fearful that his words would hurt her more than the pellets in her arm had.

  “So that’s all you came here for, Cade? Just like the rest of the men who wanted to marry me in order to get rich?”

  “Not for that reason, sweetheart. I came because I was hired to do a job, and in order to do it, I had to live here. It wasn’t written in my orders to marry you, Glory. I married you because I fell in love with you and wanted you for my wife.”

  “But you lied to me and the children, didn’t you?”

  “I couldn’t do anything else, Glory. I know it’s hard for you to understand my motives, because I’m still not real sure just how pure they were. I was just doing my job and living day by day. Then I took a good long look at you and knew I was a goner. And I knew it wouldn’t be any hardship to marry you. You presented a mighty fetching picture the day we met. As a Pinkerton man it was like a gift you’d given me, accepting my proposal. I could live here and look at leisure for the gold. But in all the excitement of being married and having a family, I lost track of my reasons for being here. It wasn’t until I happened upon the gold in the wall where Harvey hid it that I knew I’d have to turn it over and then tell you the truth about myself. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, for I feared you’d not want me after you knew the truth. I decided then to put the gold back in the wall and wait to tell the sheriff. Just admitting out loud to you that I married you under false pretenses scared me half to death. I was so afraid I’d lose you, Glory.”

  “But you didn’t love me for real, did you, Cade? I’ve been holding a grudge against you for a while now. I felt like you were taking the farm away from me and making it your own. When you bought the horses and the heifers I was angry at you because I’d lost all control of things. And now I find that our whole marriage was a lie and I’ve been made a fool of.”

  “That’s not true, sweetheart. You’ve never been made to look a fool. I knew you weren’t happy about things of late, Glory, but I want you to know that my putting my cash into this place really is an investment for all of us. I wouldn’t take this place away from you for the world. It’ll always be your farm, yours and the children’s.”

  “I suppose I know that now. But it hurts to think you married me and told me you loved me and you were lying to me all along,” she said, tears flowing freely as she hid her face in her hands.

  “Don’t cry, sweetheart. I don’t know how to convince you that I love you and I want us to have a life together, just as we’ve talked of, all along. I don’t want to lose you, Glory. I won’t ever lie to you again, I promise. We’ll turn the gold over to the sheriff and we can make a fresh start and be a family, just like we’ve planned right along.”

  “I want to be your wife and I want us to be happy together, all four of us. No, all five of us,” she added quickly and then looked up at him with real fear shimmering in her eyes. “Those shotgun pellets could have hit me and hurt our child, Cade.”

  “Well, they didn’t. And for that I’ll be forever grateful. When everything is said and done, we’ll have us a new baby and a fresh start. I’m hoping Joe Larson will come out here tomorrow and pick up that box over there in the corner. I’ll be glad when it’s all settled and back in a safe in the bank in St. Louis.”

  “Well, I’m done worrying about it, Cade. I love you and in case you’re still fretting about it, I’ve forgiven you for telling me lies when you came here. I understand that it was a part of your job, and I can’t help but be thankful that Pinkerton sent you here, or I’d never have known you and had you in my life.”

  “You’re no more thankful than I am, sweetheart. There’s so much love for you within me that it kinda chokes me up sometimes when I think about it. I love Buddy and Essie and I know I’ll love our baby, too, but most of all, I love the woman I married. You mean the whole world to me, Glory. I want you to know that.”

  “I guess I do, Cade. When you hug me and kiss me and hold me close, the warmth of your feelings just kinda surround me. I named it once as my sanctuary, and I guess that’s about the best name for it. You make me feel safe and secure and loved, and you’ll never know how much I yearned for just such a thing for a lot of years.”

  Glory was quiet for a moment, then became animated again. “I hate to change the subject, Cade, but we’ve got a lot to talk about. First off, we need to talk about Buddy going to school. I’ll sew him some shirts and we can buy him new trousers to wear.”

  “Hold it right there, Glory. We’ll buy his shirts. You’ve got enough to sew, what with a baby coming and Essie needing stuff done for her. And don’t forget those wrappers. You’ll be needing a couple of them right soon, I figure.”

  “Now for another thing. Will Buddy be all right riding back and forth to school on the black mare?”

  “I don’t know why not, Glory. He sure did a good job of riding back and forth to town to get the sheriff and then the doctor. I think the black mare will work out well and she’s the one he’s kinda partial to, so let’s let it go at that. He’ll have other boys along the road probably to ride with, maybe even Etta’s boy next door. We’ll get him new shoes at the store along with the pants and shirts and fit him out in a big way. He’ll feel like a real big shot, won’t he?”

  “No, Buddy will never be too full of himself, Cade. He’s sensible and has a good head on his shoulders.”

  “I was just joshing you a little, girl. Thought you knew that.”

  She laughed. “I did. But I always have to stick up for my children, Cade. I’ve been doing it for a long time now.

  “There’s one more thing, Cade. And I need to spit it out right quick, for I’ve been mulling over it for a while and we need to bring it out in the open.”

  “What are you fussing over now, sweetheart? I thought we had everything out in the open already.”

  She took a deep breath and then spoke quickly. “Just who owns this farm, Cade? Is it mine or yours?”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “I told you the day we got married that the place is legally mine, Glory. Nothing has changed since then. It’s the law that a man holds title to anything belonging to his wife. I did
n’t make the law—I just live by it. As far as the deed to this place is concerned, it hasn’t been changed. All we have to do is go to the bank and the gentleman in charge will fix up the deed for us.”

  “And what will he put on the deed, Cade? How will he change it?”

  “Right now, I suspect it says Harvey Clark, and we’ll have it changed to Cade and Glory McAllister, with rights of inheritance to Buddy.” He looked down at her. “Is that his legal name? Just Buddy?”

  Glory shook her head. “No, he’s named after his pa, Harvey Clark, but his mama called him Buddy when he was little and it just stuck.”

  “Well, then, we’ll have it put on the deed as Harvey Clark the second, and he’ll have all rights to the title when you and I are gone.”

  “But in the meantime, it’s yours, isn’t it?”

  Cade shook his head. “You haven’t listened to me, Glory. It belongs to all of us. That sign I put up down by the road says it all. It’s the McAllister family farm. And on top of that, Buddy is wanting to make McAllister his legal name, so now that I think of it, we’ll just do that first and then his name on the title will be Harvey McAllister. And Essie’s will be McAllister, too. And what’s her proper name, anyway? Surely Essie is just short for something else.”

  “Harvey said her mama named her Esther and called her Essie. The day I came here, he told me Buddy was past school age and Essie was too young to be of much use to him yet.”

  “What made you marry him, Glory? In fact, why did you trust him enough to stay here with him?”

  She thought back and smiled, the vision alive in her mind. “It was the way he put his hand on Essie’s head, like he couldn’t help but touch her. I knew then that he was a good man.”

  “Well, we’ll be sure their names are changed as soon as we can see the judge. If Buddy wants it done, I think Essie will go along with it, too.”

  “They love you, Cade.”

  He nodded. “I know that, sweetheart. And you do, too, don’t you?”

  “You know doggone well I love you. How could I help it? You came in this house and took over and made me love you, just like snapping your fingers at me.”

  “What a thing to say, Glory McAllister.”

  “It’s true. By the time you’d pulled carrots in the garden and delivered those foals and made Buddy into a young man, I’d have been a fool not to love you. You’re exactly what we needed.”

  “And do you need me, Glory?”

  “More than I can say. I tried to tell you earlier, but I don’t have the right words, Cade. I need you near me, day and night. I want you in my bed when I go to sleep and when I wake up in the morning.”

  “Well, that goes both ways, honey. You know that.”

  “I just can’t seem to say the words that I want to.”

  “Are you wanting me to make love to you?”

  She buried her face against his chest and nodded. “I just don’t know if I’m able to or not.” She lifted her head and her lips touched his throat. Her whisper was low, but the message was clear. And Cade understood it without any difficulty. The moon cast its light upon them and the nightbirds sang in the darkness. And Cade loved his wife…. With tenderness and loving touches, he once more made her his own.

  Joe Lawson made his way to the farm the next day, as Cade had predicted, and sat at the kitchen table, sorting out the questions and answers that had puzzled him. Beside him on the kitchen floor was the box of gold, brought down the stairs by Buddy just moments before.

  “I suspected it was just about as you told me, Cade. I don’t blame you for fearing for Glory’s reputation. Although I never thought about her knowing of the gold, some of the townsfolk were suspicious. I can understand why you were concerned about bringing it out into the open.”

  “Will there be any problem with the bank in St. Louis? And will my name be mud as a Pinkerton man? By the way, I’ve got a letter ready to send them, giving them chapter and verse, mud on my name and all.”

  Joe laughed aloud. “Like you really care about mud on your name. You’re planning on quitting that job anyway, Cade. I’d bet my last dollar on that. There’s not a job in the world that could tempt you to leave Glory and these young’uns and go trotting off to earn a living as a detective. Besides, they’ll be so tickled to get the gold back, they won’t have a word to say. And there’s a nice reward for the finding of it, too. I’d say Glory was eligible for that, wouldn’t you?”

  “Sounds good to me,” Cade said. “Will there be enough to pay for Buddy’s education, do you think?”

  “I’d think so,” Joe said. “I’ll send a wire and find out in the morning. But first I’ve got to take this to the bank and have them put it in the safe till we get it returned. I think the fella in St. Louis will send out a couple of men to pick it up.”

  He stood to leave, putting the box on the table to tie it together with a length of twine Glory had brought from the pantry. He slid his hand into his pocket and drew forth a letter.

  “Almost forgot to give you this, Cade. Looks like it’s from your folks. Are they in Texas?”

  Cade grinned. “We’ll read this later on, after supper. For now, though, how about if I ride along to town with you, Joe?” Cade asked. “I’d feel better if you had company.”

  “Well, no one knows I’ve come to pick this up, but I can stand the company,” Joe said, waving to Glory, who watched from the porch.

  “I’ll send him back right quick, ma’am.”

  She nodded and went back in the house, Buddy holding the door open for her, intent on taking care of her while Cade was gone.

  The letter from Texas was long, and Cade read it to all of them after supper that night. They ate a meal fresh from Etta Bradley’s kitchen, for she’d come to spend an hour or so with Glory while Cade was gone, bringing a pot roast with her.

  “Earl butchered a young steer and I canned up a bunch of it, but I kept out a good-size roast for you and me to share,” she told Glory. “I figured your family would enjoy having a home-cooked meal tonight, and I didn’t think you were in any shape to be hoisting a roasting pan yet.”

  “I’m ever so pleased that you thought of us, Etta,” Glory said. “Cade will be, too, for he planned on making scrambled eggs.”

  “I’m glad you came over, Mrs. Bradley. My pa ain’t a very good cook,” Essie said, taking in the smell of bay leaf and onion as the neighbor lifted the cover from the roaster.

  “Well, I’ll be by in a day or so to get things redd up for you before the weekend, Glory. I know how it is when you can’t keep up with things. Might as well learn how you do things your way, anyhow, for before we know it, I’ll be here to tend you when that baby’s born.”

  “Will you help me make some little gowns for her?”

  “I sure will, honey. I’ve made a bunch of them in my time. I’m a good hand with knitting little booties and sweaters, too. Can you crochet? I’ve got a nice pattern for a shawl that would be pretty.”

  “I can learn,” Glory said, anticipating her friendship with the neighbor, recognizing that it would bloom in time.

  And so it did. Etta visited weekly, since Glory was a stay-at-home these days, the winter weather not allowing her to travel much. They sewed small seams and hemmed four dozen diapers and made new dresses for Glory’s comfort.

  Buddy rode to school every weekday on his black mare, bringing home books to study and read, and when the time came for a report card, he bore it into the house with pride, for Miss Thomas had written a glowing report on his progress, deeming him to be more than ready to handle any and all of the sixth-grade work.

  Essie thrived, dreaming of a new baby, practicing on her own doll baby, who slept nightly under the quilt she and Glory had put together.

  And when spring arrived in March, a new batch of babies was born on the McAllister farm, for the heifers gave birth out in the newly green pasture. Cade said that one fine specimen had the makings of a good bull for the future of the herd.

  The cat deli
vered another litter of kittens—three this time, of which Glory said two must be given away, much to Essie’s distress. But at the mention of her new brother or sister’s upcoming birth she allowed that she could exist with only one new kitten.

  The flowers in the meadow were blooming, the trees were budding out with apple blossoms and the days were growing longer when the time came for Glory to bear her child.

  Cade sent Buddy to school early that morning, telling him to stop at the doctor’s house with a summons to come to the farm, for Glory had said she might not last the whole day. And by noon, she asked Cade to go for Etta Bradley, lest the doctor not make it in time.

  But as it turned out, the doctor and Etta arrived at about the same time, the doctor bearing his black bag, Etta with a pouch of herbal tea that was guaranteed to ease the pain of labor. Between them they settled Glory on a well-padded mattress and prepared for a baby.

  A pan of hot water was readied for a bath, towels gathered up and small flannel items prepared for the infant to be dressed in. Cade paced back and forth to the barn, stopping at the house every fifteen minutes or so to check on things. Finally Etta told him to find something to do—she considered herself capable of helping in the bedroom without Cade’s interference.

  But it would not do, for by three in the afternoon, when it was time for Buddy to come home from school, Glory was calling for her husband, and Etta yodeled from the back porch. Cade hustled in the door, washing thoroughly at the sink before being allowed into the bedroom.

  He sat beside his wife, his eyes aching to see the strain on her face, the tears she could barely hold in check as the pains worsened. He rubbed her back, kissed her forehead and finally sat behind her and held her while she pushed when prompted, pleaded loudly for the doctor to hurry things along and squeezed Cade’s hands in her own, with each worsening pain.

  She leaned her head back on his shoulder and groaned a final time as the doctor laughed aloud, holding up a tiny mite for inspection to the three who waited impatiently for his verdict.

  “You’ve got yourself a daughter, Cade McAllister. A fine baby girl, with all the right parts. Ten fingers and ten toes and a good pair of lungs.” At that, the baby howled mightily, her red face wrinkled and looking like Cade’s grandmother, he said.