Road to Glory (25 page)

He stood in the kitchen and rubbed the cold can across his forehead, hoping to lower his blood pressure. Across the pasture of the Glory B, the shadows increased, yet there were no answers. They had it all—the contract for Glory’s bull and an offer for him to ride again. But when he thought about it, the only thing that seemed exciting was the fact that Glory had gotten a contract. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

Travis dampened his lips with the edge of his tongue and flipped the cover open. His fingers flew across the pad, and then he held it to his ear. It rang three times before someone picked up.

“Hello,” a deep voice said.

“Dad.” Travis clutched the phone tight. “Dad, it’s me.” He waited for someone to speak. “It’s Travis.”

“Hello, son. Long time no talk.” Lonnie Hargrove’s voice grew strong.

“Dad, I-I need to talk to you. I need some advice.”

“I’ve been waiting for this phone call for a long time, son. You see, I’ve been needing to apologize.”

Travis paused. “Apologize?”

The line went still for a beat of his heart, then his father cleared his throat. “Your sister convinced me to go to Alcoholics Anonymous. I’ve been sober for nearly three months.”

“Hey, Dad, that's great!” Travis felt the pressure slide from his shoulders.

“It’s helped me realize I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you all. Travis, I was a fool. I hope you’ll forgive your old man. I know I’ve got a lot to make up for. I can’t change the past, but I can change the future. I want to be part of your life, son, as well as your brother’s and your sister’s. I hope you’ll let me?”

Travis leaned against the wall and something inside him shifted. “I’d love to have you in my life, Dad. In fact, I’m sort of in need of some great fatherly advice about now.”

“Well, I guess this time our stars are going to finally align. What can I do you?”

“Funny, I’m not sure where to begin.” Travis chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Best start at the beginning,” his father advised.

“I-I met a girl. Dad, I’m in love. Only she’s pushing me away. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to lose her.”

“Is it over your rodeo career? Have you given up your dreams?” Travis heard him ask.

“Yes and no.” Slowly, Travis explained how he’d come to the Glory B to get his life together. How he and Glory had grown close. How he’d ridden today, but there wasn’t the usual joy.

“I guess it boils down to the one question that plagues the Hargrove men—can you live without her?”

Without hesitation, Travis gave his answer. “I’d rather be dead than leave the Glory B.”

He heard his father chuckle. “Then give her room to come back. Like a scared pony, she’s gonna shy away. Give her space, son.”

Travis asked, “Is that what you did with Mom? Gave her space?”

Lonnie hesitated. “No, I was a fool. I made her come back to a place where there was no room for her dreams. Don’t make my mistake, Travis. Find a way to compromise.”

“I will, Dad. Thanks.”

“You call me. I’ve always had a desire to be the best man, when all my life I’ve been the worst.”

Travis smiled. “You were never that, Dad. Maybe just misunderstood.”

****

For the next two days, Glory kept to herself. Everything about the ranch seemed dull. Travis had packed up, the night she pushed him away, and gone to town. Now, standing there in her darkened bedroom, gazing out at the unlit mansion, she felt dead inside. What was she going to do without Travis? How could she live? A hot tear wove its way down her face. She didn’t want to live if he wasn’t there.

Closing her eyes, Glory brought her sleeve up and wiped her face. There was only one thing to do. Talk to Alma. She moved quietly down the stairs, and, finding the kitchen empty, made her way to the steps to wait. Sometime later she watched a car pull up, and Alma emerged.

“Glory?” She heard Alma draw out her name in that high lilting tone of Carolina sing-song. “Glory, honey, what are you doing sitting out here in the dark?”

The car door slammed as Alma moved to the porch of the old farmhouse. Glory turned her head and looked over her shoulder.

“Thinking, Alma. I’m just thinking.”

From the light streaming through the screen door, she watched Alma’s head tilt as if studying her. There hadn’t been a way to hide the pain in her voice. The facts be known, Glory’s very soul ached.

“Hmm. Doing a powerful piece of thinking, too, I suspect.”

Usually, she could find some comfort in the lilt of the housekeeper’s voice, but tonight there would be no comfort. She felt her life had come to an end. When she didn’t answer, Alma sighed and moved to the first step.

“Scoot your tiny self over while I ease these weary bones down and let them wear a hole in this porch myself.”

She looked up and watched as Alma eased her body down. Across the meadow, right at the horizon, the sky was tinged with gold as dusk settled over the land. Her profile backlit with the light from the kitchen, Alma gazed toward the endless sky.

“Lord, I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of this. I love watching that sunset. Told your daddy that, when he first brought me out to here, to see if I could stay.”

Glory glanced over at her and watched the setting sun’s reflection on Alma’s dark skin. “If I remember correctly, you had just lost your husband.”

In the light, she could see the housekeeper’s eyes fill with tears. A thin smile threaded across her face. “That may be the truth. I lost my man back in the big ole hurricane down along the South Carolina coast. Your daddy told me I needed to find another place to live. Couldn’t stay with the Air Force no more. Yes, indeed.” Alma paused to get her second wind. “Your parents, they were good friends.” She chuckled. “Wouldn’t hear of me staying alone after that. He drove all the way to the base, packed me up, just like your momma told him, and brought me out here.”

Silence engulfed the dusk. In the distance, a whippoorwill began his lonesome call for his mate.

“Is it hard?” Glory asked, her voice soft as her chin rested on the arms she’d folded over her knees.

“Hard?”

“You know, hard, living here without love?”

Glory heard Alma’s cotton dress rustle and knew she’d turned to face her. She could feel her dark eyes as they bored a hole into her soul. All her life she had been aware of Alma’s ability to see through to her heart. She’d never been able to tell a fib or keep a secret once Alma gave her the evil eye. Now, she didn’t want to give her a chance. Glory ignored the stare and focused on the horizon.

“Child, you done gone and fell in love. I see it now.” It was more of a statement than a question. “Glory?”

She sighed, her heart heavy. “He-he doesn’t love me,” she whispered.

“Doesn’t love you?” Alma gasped. “Travis Hargrove, not in love with you? Ha!”

Glory shook her head. “He never said he loved me. But I do love him.”

“He done gone and touched you, didn’t he, baby.” Alma’s voice sounded cross in the darkness.

“No, no, oh, Alma, it’s not like that,” Glory exonerated him.

The air grew still around them before Alma spoke. “Child, if you love him, you’re gonna have to fight for him.” Her voice issued a rude warning with the word “fight.”

“How? How can I fight when it’s his dream I’d be killing? Travis has a chance to go up the ladder in the rodeo. I won’t ask him to give up his dream.” The words sounded as if they had been torn from her chest.

“Why, you’re going to summon up that Beebe courage.” Alma’s tone lifted as if it were a revelation. “You got to go to him. Get him on to see what’s between you there.” She pointed at Glory’s middle. “Why, it’s your strength.” Her hand moved toward the sky.

Glory followed Alma’s hand movements and stared at the darkness overhead. “I don’t know if I can.” She sniffed.

“Sure you can, if you love ’im.” Alma waited while Glory lifted her arm to dab away the tears with the sleeve of her shirt. “Your momma, God rest her soul, she pulled your daddy back from the brink a few times.” Then she laughed. “They fought like cats and dogs. Oh, Glory, your daddy, he was so afraid when your momma told him you was coming… Stood right there on that kitchen floor and told her she didn’t need to keep you.”

Glory gasped. She knew part of the story, but this had been left out for nearly twenty-four years.

“Yep, that’s right,” Alma said triumphantly. “And she told him if she didn’t make it he needed to step up and raise the precious gift God Almighty gave them, and if he didn’t, he wasn’t no man of hers.” Alma cackled.

Glory smiled at the words, but she knew the truth. Her momma had been one determined woman. She could remember the firm lines of her lips and the set of her shoulders when she got her dander up. It hurt that she had passed away before Glory was old enough to truly appreciate her. “I miss her,” Glory admitted.

Alma stole an arm around her shoulders. “’Course you do, baby. She was your momma, and Lord knows she went too soon. Your daddy, he just pined himself to death. He tried, but his heart just wasn’t there. So it’s been just you and me, for these last few years. But I think this is going to change now.” Alma grasped Glory’s arms and turned her around. “Like it or not, I’m telling you, just as if you were my own kitten—you love this man, you got to fight for him.”

In the shadowy light, she watched Alma ball up her fist and wave it at her face. Glory could feel the rush of air as she shook it.

“You got to make him see you are his chance. You got to be that knight in that shining armor and slay that doubt dragon of his. Fill him with your love, baby girl. Don’t you go and settle for nothing less, if he’s the one.”

“He’s the one, Alma. I’m sure he is.”

“Then you go,” she said firmly. “You go and you get that hardheaded man to see reason.”

“But—”

“Ain’t no buts. Billy goats butt. You got to take that bull by his horns and show him, Glory. You got to.”

Glory felt her body being propelled forward off the steps and heard Alma opening the door. “Alma?” Her voice shook. Before Glory could put her foot on the first step, Alma had already swung the big back door shut. Glory’s eyes widened as she heard the lock snap.

Then, from inside, she heard Alma’s voice. “No, now, you get. You go find your man, and you make him see you are the one for him. I’m not going to let you in this house till it is said and done. You get him to make a proper woman out of you.”

“Alma,” Glory cried out and rushed up the steps to the back door. Her hand grasped the handle and she shook it, but the lock held. “Alma!” Balling up her fist, she banged on the back door. “Alma, open this door!”

Behind the wood, Glory could hear Alma’s sweet voice singing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

“Alma, you stop singing and open the door!”

However, the voice rose higher, drowning out her cries. “Alma?”

As Alma reached the chorus, Glory backed down the steps and stared at the door. Shock setting in, she realized her housekeeper wasn’t going to let her in.

With nowhere else to turn, Glory headed toward the barn. The moonlight gleamed on the metal of her old Chevy truck. Her brow furrowed and her heart raced. Alma’s words rang in her ears: “Go and get ’im. Make him see you are the one.” Hopping into the pickup, she turned the key, and the truck roared to life.

She eased on the gas and lumbered out into the drive. Hitting the headlights, Glory wiped the tears from her eyes and pressed the gas pedal. As she rolled down from the house toward the highway, she spoke aloud. “Dear God, help me,” she whispered as she swung the pickup onto the road. “Don’t let me be too late.”

Chapter Nineteen

She pulled into the rodeo grounds just as the last of the fireworks drifted down in shimmering waves of silver and gold. Opening the door, she looked around and spotted John Parker standing at the fence.

“Mr. Parker?” Glory called out, and he turned. Stepping out of the truck, she hurried toward him. “Mr. Parker, have you seen Travis since the rodeo this afternoon?”

“We had a drink over at the Hitching Post. I offered him a spot on the semi-pro circuit, right up there with Peterson. It would be his chance to go pro as soon as he had some wins under his belt.”

“Oh.” Her heart fell. “So he’s going?”

John Parker gave a shrug of his shoulders. “Don’t know. He didn’t say.”

“Do—do you know where he is? Now?”

“I hear he’s over at the Tomahawk Motel. Waiting.”

Glory stared at him. “Waiting?”

“It seems he has some unfinished business. He said if I were to see you, I should send you over there. Muttered something about dreams.”

Her heart quickened. “He said dreams? Are you sure?”

The stock manager nodded.

“Thank you, sir,” Glory called over her shoulder as she sprinted toward the truck.

What was she going to say? She didn’t have anything prepared. Weaving through traffic, Glory honked her horn impatiently at the cars slowly trying to negotiate the curve out of the fairgrounds. He was waiting. Waiting for her. “Hurry up,” she fumed. When the car in front of her moved onto the highway, she didn’t bother looking right or left, just gunned the gas and zoomed past. A man like Travis Hargrove wouldn’t wait forever.

Twenty minutes later she pulled into the motel parking lot. The Tomahawk wasn’t a fancy place. It was a long, two-story structure that held twenty rooms, and when the fairgrounds were in use, the motel stayed full. It wasn’t hard to find Travis’ truck. Pulling up behind it, she jumped out, not bothering to cut the lights or shut down the motor. Her eyes scanned the rooms. It would take too long to bang on every door. She needed him to know now. Scrambling up on the hood of her truck, Glory took a deep breath and shouted, “Travis Hargrove, where are you? You come out here and meet me right now! Right now, do you hear? This isn’t over between us.”

One by one the lights in all the rooms came on. People dressed in their nightclothes lumbered out, some still in their jeans but no shirt. They came out into the parking lot and against the porch railings to stare.

“Travis Hargrove!” Glory shouted. When he didn’t come out, she hopped down and moved back to the cab and leaned on the horn.