LITMIR.BIZ

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shot a conspirator’s look at Glory, obviously secure in his advanced knowledge and willing to concede a bit to his little sister. “This here is a good book, Glory. It’s about the country of France and the people rebelling.”

      “Is it one the teacher sent?” she asked

      “Yes, ma’am. It’s called A Tale of Two Cities. A man named Charles Dickens wrote it.”

      “I’m proud of you, Buddy. You’ll be more than caught up with the rest of the children your age when you go to school in town after the harvest. You read as well as I do already. After you finish that book I want you to write a report on it for me.”

      His forehead wrinkled. “What sort of report, Glory?”

      “We’ll call it a book report. You can decide what you’ve learned from the story and what it meant to you. You’ll have to name the main people in it and tell what happened to them. It’ll help you get ready for writing such things in school. And it’ll be something for us to show the teacher when you start your first day. Kinda let her see what you can do, so she’ll know which grade to put you in.”

      He seemed to be agreeable to the idea and turned a page in his book, in moments deeply involved once more in the story he’d been reading. Glory watched for a moment, pride alive in her heart for what this boy had accomplished, satisfaction filling her depths because she had had a part in bringing him to this point. And sadness that she had done all it was possible for her to do for him. He needed schooling, more than she could give him, no matter how hard she tried.

      And now, with the presence of Cade McAllister in their lives, perhaps she could find the way to do right by the boy.

       Chapter Four

      “Why don’t you take your book to the parlor to read, Buddy. And you can put away your slate and chalk, Essie. I’ve got to be getting dinner ready. Cade will be hungry, what with working on the fencing all morning.”

      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

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