Thirty-one

Glory sat on the porch steps, contemplating her life and the challenges that brought her to this place. She leaned to scratch the soft fur of Miss Minnie and babies who cavorted at her feet. Five days had passed since Luke proposed again. He hadn’t let her answer that night—told her to think it over until he brought her father home.

The only reply she wanted to give wouldn’t be fair to the man who’d given her sunbeams, rainbows, and…a toothbrush.

Did he truly know what he asked?

The faint rumble of a wagon interrupted her thoughts. Her ears perked up. The unmistakable sound of a horse team turned onto their land.

“Mama, come quick!”

The screen door creaked. “Oh, dear heavens!”

“ls it them, Mama? Is it Papa and Luke?”

“I do believe so, daughter.” She put her head inside. “Girls, your father”—and then, her voice becoming quiet, her words filled with doubting disbelief—“has come home.”

But whether breathing or in a pine box? They’d taken so long. Glory wondered what it would do to her mother should Luke have failed. “Do you see him?”

“Luke’s on the seat.” A strangled sob caught in Hope’s throat. “Someone is lying in back.”

Mother Mary, they’d let him die in prison!

Stabbing pain created a hollow crater where her heart had been. Barely aware, she heard the rig come to a stop a few yards away.

“Papa! It’s Papa,” Patience screamed, flying past her.

Great sobs rocked her mother. “My Jack.”

“Is it him?” Glory asked.

“See for yourself.” Luke lightly brushed her cheek with a knuckle, and helped her down the steps.

“Great day in the morning! Ain’t it fine to be home?”

Although the voice had long been absent, and the effects of illness had robbed it of a vibrant timbre, Glory had no trouble recognizing it.

“I can’t believe it’s really you.”

“In the flesh. Come and hug your old papa.”

* * *

Amid hugs, tears, and more happiness than they had a right to, they settled Jack Day into the bed he shared with Mama.

While the rest busied with cooking, cleaning, and a dozen other little details that required tending to, Glory perched beside him. She smoothed the covers over his thin frame. He seemed a mere shadow of the robust man she adored, lost beneath the quilts.

She didn’t know how long before the good Lord would take him. But he’d come home at last. That fact brought a measure of peace. They’d make the time he had restful and full of every ounce of pampering he could hold.

He took her palm, his frail grip shaking. “You don’t know how I prayed for this moment. I lay awake nights thinking I’d never see this land again. Or be with Mama and my girls.”

Thickness lodged in the back of her throat. “We…I missed you. When you left, you took our sunshine.”

How could she ever have harbored such anger for him?

“For me too, Glory.”

“I’ve heard people speak of prison and how awful it is.”

“Believe everything you’ve heard and multiply it by three. Don’t be sad, it’s behind me now.”

“I wish we’d have known what Foster did. If Penelope Tucker had—”

“Shh! Don’t speak ill of the dead.” He had changed from the man she knew. Instead of turning his heart to stone, prison made him forgive. “Having a hand in creating my children has to rate as my single best accomplishment. I love Hope and Patience dearly, but I’ve always been a bit partial to you, Glory. I knew I could count on you to keep things going. You have the same steel in your spine I once had. McClain told me how hard you worked making this possible. That was a brave thing you did, trailing that outlaw and spying on them.”

“McClain exaggerates. I was scared stiff.” And mad afterward that Foster would plan such a heinous act against the people she loved.

“Daughter, a healthy dose of fear keeps our blood pumping. You showed bravery despite facing every nightmare you ever had. You spat on it, daring it come get you. I couldn’t be more proud.”

“Horace Simon deserves most of the credit.”

“Nothing much changed about you. You’re modest to a fault. You know, I like that fellow McClain. Me and him had a nice long talk.”

Stillness came, the kind that warned of loss.

“Luke’s a fine man.” The cigar band encircling her finger reminded her how honorable.

“He asked for your hand. I said I’d be proud to give my girl to him.”

“You didn’t!”

“Sure the hell did. What’s wrong with that?”

“Because…” She struggled for a logical reason, yet none came to mind. At least none she wanted to share.

“I thought you liked the man.”

“I… Yes, I suppose he’s better than most.”

“You don’t want to marry him?”

“It’s not that cut-and-dried.”

“On account of your blindness? Glory, you need someone to take care of you.”

When did a body know the difference between a want and a need? Which was necessary and which an extravagance? Having a want tip the scales of the fine balance could destroy the love between a man and a woman. She would make any sacrifice to prevent that. Her selfish desires had already brought enough destruction.

“Luke deserves more than a burdensome wife. If I can’t carry my share of the load, we should go separate ways.”

Somehow, she’d have to forget the stranger who’d shown her the beauty of life and made her believe she could reach for the stars and hold them in her grasp.

She had to let the man with the key go…if she could.

* * *

Luke’s breath caught when the silken-haired beauty slipped into the barn.

The first rays of dawn cast an eerie light through the doorway behind her. He hadn’t slept a wink for thinking of the answer he meant to have before morning passed.

Funny how one little word could bring sun rays or the darkest, most desolate midnight.

She lifted the feed bucket and scooped up oats for the animals. The sway to Glory’s walk brought indecent images into his head. She could do that to a man and not even half try. His gaze followed each line of the curved hips that made him forget how badly the dangerous thoughts scorched him.

Soldier and the white mule sat up and said howdy as she rubbed them between the ears after giving each a portion.

He’d do some nuzzling, too, for less than a little oats.

Envy still rifled through him when she took the pitchfork and thrust it into the hay. The bending movement stretched the britches tight across her backside, outlining her long legs with painstaking clarity.

Have mercy! Hot blood flooded his groin.

“Luke?”

Her upturned face swept to the loft. She had heard his subtle movement.

“Yep, I confess.”

“I felt someone watching me.”

On the climb down, he marveled at her uncanny sensing ability. She seemed to grasp mere thought in the same way her hand did.

“Caught me red-handed.” As he faced her, his voice turned husky.

“Not all I took unaware, it appears.”

Damn! He flung his hands across the tight front of his trousers.

“For someone with no sight, you can darn sure see good.”

“What? Mr. George catching a mouse? I heard the scurry and the satisfied meow.”

Dunce, he called himself, releasing the hold. “Oh, that.”

“My goodness, what did you think I meant?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all.” Lifting a loose curl, he rolled it around his fingers. The satiny texture cast a balm around the ache inside that only she could fix.

“I thought you left—went home to Tranquillity to visit your father’s grave.” Glory seemed a mite breathless.

“Not much I can do for him now. I will soon though. I wanted to be close in case you needed me for something.” Anything, any reason to be near her. “Or in case you might want to talk. How’s Jack?”

“Considering the arduous trip…his time grows short.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t give you more.” He caressed the delicate lines of her face before slipping to the long column of her neck.

“I must look a fright.” She fussed with her hair.

“Darlin’, I’ve seen you at your best, your worst, and everything in between. You happen to be an exceptional, very beautiful lady.”

“Trying to turn a girl’s head with all this sweet talk?”

“Is it working?”

A rosy blush colored her face. The flustered, disarming smile fed his fancies. Yet, it was her slightly parted mouth he found he had no resistance to.

She came easily, her trim waist a snug fit in his palms. Through the thin, worn shirt, her breasts nestled against the hardness of his chest.

He pressed his lips to hers, knowing if he wasted one second it would be way too long.

A groan crept from the place he discovered he never wanted to leave, a paradise where no one could run him off with a stick. Well, wouldn’t make any never mind to him if they tried, he’d only come back. She hadn’t reached for the Winchester yet, or stabbed him, so he reckoned he must stand a chance.

However, dying in her arms had certain merit too. No other place he’d rather be, he reckoned. She already knew how he wanted his tombstone to read.

When at last he dragged his lips from her sweetness, he could barely speak. “Have mercy! Please. Or I’ll have to make an honest woman of you.”

“Before I give my answer, I have to know some things.” Glory ran her tongue with maddening slowness across white teeth.

“Fair enough.” It was agree to that or carry her to a bed of hay.

Both ideas brought repercussions.

“Understand, I won’t ask you to give up your intention of becoming a full-fledged lawman again.”

Strange how the importance of the Ranger’s job that he once ate, slept, and breathed ranked far down the list.

And the silver badge he once would’ve died for?

Law work wasn’t everything. He could learn to farm. Hell, he’d consider himself the luckiest man ever born if he could spend the rest of his days waking up with her beside him!

“It’s my choice. Sure as I stand here, I want you more than I ever wanted anything.”

“What if you find out later you’ve made a terrible mistake? What if you grow to resent having to shoulder the full load? What if—”

Luke kissed the end of her saucy nose. “My father, God rest his soul, believed we were given a knotted rope when we’re born. As we pass through life, each lesson we learn we untie a knot. Maybe, with a little luck, by the time we die, we’ve gotten all the kinks straightened out.” He cupped her face between his hands, tilting it up. “I figure both of us still have a few left and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather untie my knots with.”

“My goodness, that’s the dearest thing I ever heard. I regret I won’t have the pleasure of meeting Walt McClain. I would’ve liked that.”

“Darling, I will be your eyes if you’ll teach me how to see inside here.” He gently placed a hand over her heart.

“I have to say you mount interesting arguments.”

“Listen to me. Nothing on this earth will make me happier than if you’ll quit all this worry and say yes. Take my love and cherish it as I’ll do yours.”

“Love? Are you saying…?” Tears sparkled in the depths of her stonewashed gaze.

“I don’t think I stuttered.” He pulled her into the circle of his arms. “You’re my one and only, Glory. My love, my life, my all. Now, madam, what is your answer to that?”

She sucked in a deep breath. “I do. I will, for all eternity.”