The Marshal's Mission

by Barbara Goss

  “We do,” Spencer said. “Say…where have I seen you before?”

  “My name’s Griff Taylor. I worked here once.”

  Spencer snapped his fingers. “The drunk!” He realized how rude that had sounded and apologized.

  “No, it’s quite all right. I got paid good for that stunt.”

  Spence scratched his head. “What do you mean…stunt?”

  “The U.S. Marshals paid me a hundred dollars to get myself drunk and fired. They said they needed to make room for one of their agents. I did it the day before, and no one noticed, but it worked the second day because of the horse for sale.”

  Spence smiled and nodded. “I see. Well, you can have your job back, Griff. It all worked out well.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “But no drinking on the job!” Spence warned.

  “No, you can bet I won’t. It took me a week to get rid of that headache.”

  Two weeks later, Rory McKay came home. Rosa fixed up a first-floor bedroom for him, and Glenna fussed over him. He could talk some, but his face still sagged on one side.

  Spence told himself that as soon as Rory was well enough, he’d ask him for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

  He didn’t have much time to spend with Glenna as she nursed her father and he worked the ranch. Spence couldn’t let the ranch die. Most days, Glenna took her meals with her father and Spence ate alone, or with the chuck wagon crew. At night, he and Glenna took a walk, and he always hugged her goodnight at the end.

  Spence could tell she still loved him, but she was more subdued, as if she were worried about something, but it was probably just concern for her father. He’d ignore it and hope that as Rory improved, so would her mood.

  Finally, the stable addition was completed, with the help of some of the crew, giving them about twelve empty stalls to fill. Spence thought the time was right to broach a conversation with Rory McKay.

  He walked into the room and was surprised to see McKay sitting in a chair. Glenna wasn’t with him.

  “How are you feeling, sir?” Spence began.

  “Have a seat,” Rory said with a slight slur. Spence thought it was a huge improvement. His eye on the sagging side wasn’t as open as the other, but he looked so much better.

  Spence took a seat and clapped his hands together. “Well, the stable addition is finished, and you have twelve empty stalls to fill.”

  Rory struggled to smile. “Good.” He reached over, rang a bell, and Glenna came rushing in.

  She smiled at Spence and looked at her father as if wondering if something was wrong.

  “I need you to go to the bank and withdraw enough money so Spence can buy us some good horse stock.” His speaking was slow but clear.

  Glenna smiled at Spence again. “All right.”

  “Sir,” Spence said quickly before he’d lost the nerve. “I’d like to ask for Glenna’s hand in marriage.”

  Rory smiled as best as he could. He looked from Glenna—who had moved to stand behind Spence with her hands on his shoulders—to Spence.

  “Are you in love?”

  “Yes, sir, we are,” Spence said. “I promised I wouldn’t take her away from you, and I aim to keep that promise.”

  Rory nodded. “Thank you. I couldn’t be happier. You have my permission.”

  Glenna squeezed Spence’s shoulders.

  “I would like to take her to Arkansas for a visit to meet my folks, but I plan on staying here, in Salt Creek.”

  Rory said, “We’ll talk more about your future plans. I need to think, and it’s been hard to do lately—I can’t concentrate—but you two are welcome to live here—with me, and I’ll honor your request to visit your hometown after the wedding.”

  “The wedding!” Glenna exclaimed. “I have no idea how to organize it.” She gave her father a caring look. “Under the circumstances, we could get married right here, in this house.”

  Rory smiled at her. “It will be a September wedding in the gazebo out back.”

  Glenna looked at Spence, excitement in her eyes. “What do you say?”

  Spence wasn’t as pleased as he thought he’d be. He was glad he’d only have to wait a month to marry Glenna, but it seemed her father was calling all the shots, which didn’t sit well with him. He liked the man, but he’d offered them his home to live in, picked their wedding date, and had ordered him to buy his horses.

  “Spence?” Glenna asked.

  He tried to smile. “Let’s talk it over a little first. We could take a walk tonight and watch the sunset.”

  “By the way,” Glenna said, “was that Griff I saw cleaning the stalls?”

  “I hope it was all right to rehire him. It seems he was paid by the U.S. Marshals to get drunk and fired to make room for you to hire me.”

  Both Rory and Glenna’s eyes widened. “How clever,” Glenna said. “I’m glad. He really was a good worker before that day.”

  After dinner, which Glenna ate with her father and Spence ate with the crew, he met her in front of the house, and they walked together down the lane, holding hands.

  ~~~**~~~

  Glenna felt a duty to her father and was trying to nurse him back to health, but it meant that her time with Spence was limited. She squeezed his hand. “This is nice.”

  “I’m glad we were finally able to spend some time together,” Spence said.

  Glenna stopped walking and faced him. “I’m sorry, Spence. I just feel so badly for my father. I want to make him well again.”

  “I know, and I understand, but you do realize he’s still running things.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, he planned our wedding, he invited us to live here, and he told me to buy his horses. Does he think because I’m marrying you that I’ll be his new ranch foreman?”

  Glenna stared at Spence. This was the first negativity she’d ever seen in him. She hadn’t realized he was so sensitive. “He was making suggestions, that’s all.”

  Spence took hold of her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “I want to marry you more than anything, but I want to take care of my wife myself. The Bible says: ‘A man will leave his father and mother and be joined with his wife and the two shall be as one flesh.’”

  “You want me to leave my father alone?” she asked.

  “Not entirely. I want to get a job and provide for my wife. We could live close by or something.”

  “But Spence, this place is my inheritance, so you’d be building on what will eventually be ours one day.”

  “Yours, you mean.”

  Now, Glenna was irritated. “What do you want me to do, Spence? Shall I go in there and tell him you don’t want to buy his horses and don’t want to live with us? He’s liable to have a setback in his recovery.”

  “I guess we rushed into this too quickly. We need to talk and come to some sort of a middle ground here. I love you, but I don’t want to live off your father, have him call all the shots, and have my wife spend more time with him than with me.”

  “Spence!” Now she was angry. She spun around and marched back to the house in defiance.

  Glenna threw herself onto her bed and wept. How had things become so complicated? She’d seen a new side of Spence, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t see things from his point of view.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Spence felt terrible. Why hadn’t he planned his talk with Glenna better? He had his one chance to explain his feelings, and he’d botched it. Was it wrong to want to support your wife and family yourself? He didn’t want to move in with the McKays and forever be nothing more than a gofer and a guest. Still, it was Glenna’s beloved father, and she wasn’t likely to share his feelings. How could he make her see things the same way as him?

  He didn’t dislike Rory; he had respect for the man, but he didn’t want to share his wife and home with him. Was he wrong? That’s what he needed to find out. He wished he didn’t feel the way he did, but he also couldn’t live t
he way Rory and Glenna wanted him to.

  Spence thought his next move should be to show his bride-to-be that he was capable of providing for a wife. He’d look for a job in town as well as a nice home for them. She would still be able to visit her father, who Spence hoped would soon be well enough not to need a full-time nurse.

  The way Glenna had departed from their walk left him feeling miserable. They were so much in love, yet it hadn’t taken much to get their dander up. Was marriage the answer for them?

  Spence rode into town bright and early the next morning, headed for the lumberyard. He met the owner there to ask about a job, but things were slow there, and they weren’t hiring. He went to the flour mill and even applied at the butcher’s shop, but no one was hiring. Spence ran into Silas Jones on the wooden walkway.

  “What brings you into town today, Spence?”

  “I’m looking for a job,” he answered. “Not having much luck.”

  Silas shook his head. “Times are hard right now. It’s a small town, and people don’t have a lot of money. I’m doing all I can to keep this town afloat. I’m still looking for—say, would you be interested in becoming our next sheriff? I’m still trying to fill the position.”

  Spence was surprised at his offer. He hadn’t thought about doing that kind of a job. “I have no experience with the law.”

  “You did a good job with Zeke the other day, and you were a deputy marshal. I’ll train you. The pay isn’t the best, but the job has perks and ways of making extra money, and you’ll be keeping the town peaceful. You’ll also collect taxes and maintain the jail. This town isn’t as wild as some, but we have our problem residents. You also get to keep any bounties on the criminals you apprehend.”

  “Bottom line, Silas—what’s the pay?” Spence asked.

  “Three dollars a week and a room behind the jail, but you get extra from collecting taxes, and the salt mine alone would double that. Then, there’s the lumberyard, the mill, and of course, the smaller businesses; you’ll get a percentage of it.”

  Spence felt leery, not only of the meager pay but the duties, as well. It just wasn’t something he wanted to do.

  “I appreciate the offer, but I need to think on it. I’ll let you know what I decide by tomorrow.” Spence shook Silas’s hand and went back to the ranch.

  Spence knew he couldn’t support a wife and family on a sheriff’s salary, nor could the two of them live in the room behind the jail. If only he were in Arkansas and running the family lumberyard.

  Glenna had not spoken to him since they’d parted ways the night before. He felt the urge to seek her out and talk out their problem, but how could he do that when he didn’t have a solution?

  ~~~**~~~

  Glenna sat and ate lunch with her father the day after her quarrel with Spence.

  “Father, Spence feels like you’re calling all the shots in our life.” Her father’s eyes widened. She patted his arm and continued, “I know you mean well, Father, but Spence wants to support his family on his own. He feels like he’d be no more than a hired hand here.”

  Rory rolled his eyes. “Heavens! Was I wrong to have invited him into my home, expecting him to help out around here?”

  Glenna continued to pat her father’s arm. “I don’t completely understand his feelings, but I love him. I want to marry him more than anything. I know you meant no harm and were just trying to help, but he’s a proud man, and as it seems, a sensitive one. But it’s that very emotion that makes him so special. He feels deeply and not lightly.”

  Rory massaged his temples. “I’m getting a headache. I’ll nap for a while and think on the subject.”

  “All right, Father, but you need to know that I plan on marrying Spence Blackwood, whatever the terms. I can’t live without him. You were more than willing to allow me to marry Asa Livingston, and I would have lived in his castle with him, away from you—why can’t I live off the ranch with Spence?”

  Rory closed his eyes. “I’m going to nap now, if you’ll help me to the bed.”

  Glenna left the room, knowing she’d made no headway with her father. He was a stubborn man. She feared Spence wouldn’t want to marry her at all, now. She loved him so much and knew she couldn’t live without him at her side. She needed to do a lot of praying about the situation.

  More than anything, Glenna wished she’d eaten dinner in the dining room with Spence, but she couldn’t leave her father to dine alone. She knew Spence would choose to eat with the crew rather than eat by himself, and she sighed. Something had to be done before she’d lose him forever.

  When their meal was finished, she tucked Rory in for the night and went out to the stables, but Spence wasn’t there. Glenna figured he was in the bunkhouse, but she couldn’t go in there. She went back outside and sat on the front porch. Glenna had just about given up hope of seeing Spence when he rode up the lane. He must have been in town. He stopped, slid off his horse, and approached the porch. Spence stood there, leaning on the porch rail, staring at her and she at him.

  Finally, Spence said, “I’m sorry, Glenna.”

  Glenna jumped to her feet. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. It was rude of me to walk out on an argument instead of trying to work it out.”

  She leaned over the rail. “I love you, Spence, and there’s nothing I want more than to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “I feel the same,” he said. “Will you work with me to find a solution?”

  “As long as the solution doesn’t involve me hurting my father.”

  “Silas Jones offered me the job of sheriff—”

  “Oh, no! Spence, it’s too dangerous a job.”

  “I turned it down.”

  Glenna sighed with relief. “We need to pray about this. God will find us a solution. He knows our hearts.”

  Spence took one of her hands and kissed it. “I stopped to see Reverend Peters, and he said he’d be happy to council us. Would you be willing?”

  Glenna smiled. “Yes. I think he could help. The Bible is confusing on that subject. How can I honor my father and turn my back on him for my husband?”

  “We see him after church on Sunday,” Spencer said. “Come here,” he whispered.

  Glenna flew down the steps and into his arms. He held her close, just the way she liked. He kissed the top of her head. “We’ll solve this because our love for each other is stronger than any problem.”

  Spence and Glenna sat in front of the minister’s desk. She was nervous about what he’d say to them. Would he tell her she had to abandon her father if she married Spence?

  Spence explained their problem to Reverend Peters. Glenna was tempted to interrupt, but she kept silent, and prayed with all her might that things could be settled without having to hurt her father. Hearing Spence relate his feelings to the man of God helped her to understand his side of things.

  “I love Glenna,” Spence said, “but the Bible says a man and woman should leave their parents and be one with each other. I don’t think our marriage would be a happy one for me if I had to live under the authority of her father. A man needs to provide for his wife and family. I’d never feel like a true man if I allowed myself to take the easy road, live with the McKays, and become Rory’s prize gofer. I want my wife to look at me as if I’m the head of our household, and come to me for advice and not her father. Am I being unreasonable?”

  “No. As a man, I feel the same way,” Peters said. He looked at Glenna. “How do you feel about Spence’s position?”

  Glenna wriggled in her seat, feeling a bit uncomfortable. “I understand Spence’s mindset. I try to put myself in his place. If I had to live with his mother, who I’m sure is a wonderful woman, I wouldn’t want to have her planning our lives. I know I wouldn’t like it if Spence turned to her for advice rather than me. My problem is that I can’t hurt my father. He’s raised me since my mother died. We’ve been very close through the years and now, with his illness, he depends on me. I don’t know what to do.” She looked up at Spence wi
th watery eyes. “I love Spence and want to spend my life with him, but I’m afraid I’ll lose him.” She let out a little cry and covered her mouth and tears rolled down her face.

  Spence pulled her close. “It won’t happen. We will marry and spend our lives together. We just need to get past this.”

  Reverend Peters folded his hands on his desk. “Spence is right about God wanting a couple to leave their parents and become as one with each other. The marriage vows say, ‘what God hath joined together let no man put asunder.’ That includes parents. So many marriages are ruined because people don’t obey God’s rules. However, God also tells us to honor our parents. You might think this is contradictory, but it isn’t.

  “No relationship on earth other than my relationship with Jesus Christ and God, is more important than my relationship with my wife. That’s how it should be, and I don’t think my marriage would be as solid as it is if it were otherwise.

  “God doesn’t want you to hurt your father, Glenna, on the contrary, but your husband has to be number one in your life. Your father will have to settle for second place. He knows that deep inside because he was married once himself. The ceremony of marriage in most churches is for the father to hand his daughter over to the groom before the vows. That is intentional. It means he has given up his daughter to her husband.

  “I’ve known Rory for quite a few years, and he’s the stubbornest man I know, but he’s also a smart man. When you marry, Spence will be the main man in your life, not your father. You can still love Rory and spend time with him, but he needs to understand how it is. Show him love and respect, but let him know your husband is now your partner in life.

  “With your permission, I’d like to visit him and remind him of a few Bible verses. If he loves his daughter, like I know he does, he’ll come around.”

  “No!” Glenna said adamantly. “Let me handle it. It’s up to me to make him understand and I’ll do it.” She smiled up at Spence. “Let’s not even wait until September.”