LITMIR.BIZ

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about the available places hereabouts and he said yours was the best of the lot, but that you weren’t interested in selling. But he did say that your place was needful of a man to work it, and you and the children were having a tough time keeping things going. I asked him to bring me out here to meet you, and maybe come to an agreement with you. This farm sounded like the sort of place I was looking for. Two hundred acres, a sturdy barn, a house that’s been tended over the years and only needs a coat of paint to bring it up to snuff. A woman and two children who’d benefit from a man around the place to keep an eye on things and keep them safe.”

      “Sounds like you’ve got everything all sorted out, mister,” Glory said sharply. “You sound like you’re ready to settle in and be a part of the picture.”

      “I’d like to at least talk about it with you, Glory. You’re a woman alone, and I’m a man looking to invest in a farm. I surely do admire you and respect you for the job you’ve done here. I don’t expect you’ve looked at me and seen enough to warrant inviting me to stay for a spell but I think we might be able to make a go of it, and hold this place together. Make it into a prosperous holding for Buddy to inherit. I like a challenge, Glory, and this farm seems to be offering just such a challenge to me. I’m not trying to push you into making a decision right this minute, but I’m willing to give it a chance to work out. Should you take me up on my offer to invest here and help you make a success of the place, we’d have to present a united front. Between us, we’d be supplying a good home in which to raise these two young’uns you’ve been caring for. They deserve a family surrounding them, and you and I could give them that very thing.”

      Glory looked shocked by his words. “If you’re talking about marriage, I’ll tell you right now, I’m not ready for that, Cade. I know these children need a father figure in their lives, but for now, we’re doing all right on our own. The question is, would a marriage be the best thing for them? Or for me? Might not a partnership work better?”

      “Look. Glory, since you’re not willing to sell your place outright, might you agree to me investing my money here and become half owner of the farm? I’ll work hard in the fields and teach Buddy how to handle horses and give him a chance to become a horse trainer himself if he’d like to learn the trade.”

      “The children and I are used to working hard, Mr. McAllister. I’ve carried my share of the load over the years and done whatever I had to in order to provide for Buddy and Essie.”

      “You earned your way here, if I see things straight, ma’am. You’re an intelligent woman, for you’ve had schooling beyond the ordinary, I’d say, from your speech and the ability you have to express yourself.”

      She nodded. “I went to college back home for two years. In fact, I have enough schooling to teach, should I ever want to. For now, just doing lessons with Buddy and Essie is satisfying enough for me.”

      Cade thought again of the man whose death had brought him here. “I can’t help but think that Mr. Clark would be pleased to have me here, ma’am. He thought enough of you to marry you and leave you with this place. I’d say you both gained from your bargain. What I don’t understand is why no one from town stepped up to offer for you after your husband died.”

      Glory pressed her lips together as if thinking of her reply. And then she sighed. “When the sheriff took Harvey in to jail, the story made its way around that he was a bank robber, and I had a couple of the hired hands from ranches west of here stop by and offer to look for the money Harvey was accused of stealing. I sent them off without much of an answer, just the shotgun in my hands. I don’t know if Mr. Clark did what he was accused of doing or not. But I don’t think there’s any money around here, for it seems that in three years I’d have found some trace of the gold he was supposed to have stolen somewhere around this house. And he sure didn’t seem to have any extra to spend. He was a thrifty man, but he took care of his own.”

      She looked up at him then, and her words were a warning. “If you’ve got any ideas about gold here, mister, I’ll tell you right now, there won’t be any digging around or searching my house for a treasure. The only thing worth having in this place is those two young’uns upstairs in bed. I don’t believe that Mr. Clark left anything more precious than that. He’d have told me otherwise.”

      Cade nodded thoughtfully, preparing the lie he was about to speak. “That may very well be, ma’am. At any rate, I’m not looking to find any gold. I don’t consider it important enough to be digging holes or searching through your attic in the hopes of finding a treasure. I’m looking for a place to work and make my way and maybe make something of what I’ve been offered.”

      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

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