Page 30 of Texas Glory
He planted his elbow on the table and set his chin on his palm to keep his face from falling to the table.
“ ’Preciate you hauling me to bed last night,” Austin said.
“Couldn’t very well leave you in the back of Houston’s wagon.”
He remembered thinking how comfortable Maggie looked curled up in the wagon, and he’d climbed in beside her. His mouth felt as though he’d swallowed the cat’s tail.
“What time you gonna pull your fence back?”
“I’ve already pulled it back.”
Grimacing at the censure in his brother’s voice, Austin forced himself to meet Dallas’s gaze. “Reckon I should have been there.”
“Reckon you should have been, but it’s done now. You planning to go into town today?”
“I don’t think I could sit in a saddle for more than five minutes without puking.”
Dallas shook his head. “What in the hell were you and Cameron thinking?”
“We were trying not to think.”
Dallas leaned back in his chair. “I’m going to work on my books for a while, and then I need to check on the herd. Will you be able to take care of my wife if she needs anything?”
Austin glanced quickly at Cordelia and nodded.
“Good.” Dallas scraped his chair back and picked up his plate.
“I’ll clean that for you,” Cordelia said softly.
Austin had never seen Dallas look as though he didn’t know what to do, but he sure looked hesitant now. They weren’t accustomed to having a woman around to see after their needs.
“I don’t mind cleaning up after the meals,” Cordelia said.
Dallas set the plate on the table. “Fine, then. I appreciate the gesture.”
He strode from the room, and Austin wished he could have left with him, but he knew too many things remained unsaid between him and Cordelia, and living in the same house would be hell until everything was settled.
He took a long drag on his coffee, hoping to clear his head. Then he leaned toward her. “Do you mind if I call you Dee? I know Cameron does.”
She glanced up, then back down. “That’s fine.”
“No, it ain’t fine, and we both know why.” He put his hand over hers, and she snapped her gaze up to his. He gave her a sad smile. “You heard something last night that you were never supposed to hear.”
She lowered her gaze. “It doesn’t matter.”
He squeezed her hand until she looked at him again. “It does matter. When men get drunk, they say things they shouldn’t. I won’t deny that Dallas wants a son … bad. But I also know he’ll treat you right, the way a man ought to treat a woman.”
“Cameron told you I didn’t have a nose?”
Austin grimaced. “Yeah, I don’t know why he did that.”
“And you told Dallas.” “Yep, and I don’t know why I did that.” “And he still married me. He must be desperate indeed.”
He took her hand between both of his. “You have to understand our family. You’ve seen Houston. Men don’t come much more scarred than he is. Amelia fell in love with him. After seeing that, I reckon we just don’t put much stock in looks.”
“What in God’s name did you think you were doing this morning?”
Dallas glanced up from the spittle that had landed on his desk and met Angus McQueen’s fiery gaze.
