Page 42 of Tate (The Montana Marshalls #2)

A beat, then, “Tate left you? C’mon?—”

“He kissed me, and the media found out, and Mother?—”

“Oh. Glo.”

“Yeah. And then he was quitting and walking out of my life and…” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. He’s trouble. Did you know that the last woman he protected was killed ?”

“Knox told me the story. She wasn’t a woman he was protecting. She was his girlfriend.”

Glo nodded. “He was in love with her.”

“Which probably gives a good reason why he’s a little rabid about protecting you.”

“Well, the threat is over—or it never was. The Bryant League wasn’t behind the bombing, and all the rest of the crazy moments have been, well, just crazy moments. None of it is connected. I’m perfectly safe.”

“Even from Sloan?”

“Sloan? Please. He’s harmless. Protective, but that’s all.” Poor man—he deserved better from Glo.

“What are you doing tonight?”

“It’s a dinner for my mother and Isaac White. Don’t tell anyone, but my mother is going to be announced as his running mate.”

“Your mother agreed to be VP? You’re kidding. What about President Jackson?”

“He was leading in the polls, and the party put their heads together and decided he had a better chance. But yeah, she’d been planning it since before Vegas.

In fact, the rumor about the Bryant League, even if it wasn’t true, helped turn the tide her direction.

Made her both sympathetic and tough and gave her a base with her new party.

And her female voters have come over with her, so… it’s a strong ticket.”

“Oh my, who are you?” Laughter from Kelsey’s end of the phone and with everything inside her, Glo wanted to be with her, curled up on the leather sofa of the Marshall home.

“I don’t know,” Glo said, the words just rushing out. “I…oh, Kels, I made a terrible mistake. Tate asked me to go with him and I said no.”

A hiss at the end of the phone. “Oh boy.”

“Poor man stood there practically letting his heart bleed on the floor, and I…I did nothing. My mother was standing there telling me how much she needed me and I…I even asked him to stay and…”

“Your mother fired him.”

“I know. I know. But it was David all over again, though. Me begging him to stay, him walking away. And I just…I got angry. I couldn’t believe after all his promises that he was just…just leaving .” She sighed. “I should have gone with him. I don’t know why I didn’t.”

“I do. All your life you’ve wanted your mother to choose you. And suddenly she does, and you’re going to throw that away?”

“For Tate. The man who would protect me with his life, and I just stood there and shook my head.”

“For Tate, the man who has a scary past that shows up in Vegas hotel rooms. I know that wasn’t his fault, but Tate has a lot of skeletons. The kind that gets people he cares about hurt.”

She closed her eyes. “Don’t say that.”

“His girlfriend was killed because of a choice he made.”

She swallowed. “Whose side are you on?”

“Yours, honey. I’m just giving you a brutal dose of reality.”

“Feel free to take it down a notch.”

“How about this. I like Tate. A lot. He’s a Marshall. And I do think he’d die for you, Glo.”

“That’s not making it better.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s just…he asked me who I was. Accused me of being all things to all people.”

“You are. You show up in people’s lives, you stick around, you are who they need you to be. Tate needed someone who believed in him, despite his scars. And that was you, Glo.”

She still believed in him. “He believed in me too. He liked the Glo I was, with the leather and the tattoos and the sappy country songs.”

Kelsey’s voice turned soft. “She was my favorite too.”

Tate’s words at the door, softly spoken, tunneled in and drew blood. Wow. Did I read that wrong.

No, Tate you didn’t.

But maybe Glo didn’t know who she was if she didn’t have the Belles and her sister and her mother…and Tate.

“I guess the question is—is loving Tate worth the trouble he brings?” Kelsey asked.

“You sound like a country song.”

Laughter. “Listen. I’m not really talking about Tate’s past, or even life, but rather…the trouble with love is that it’s always going to involve risk. You putting yourself out there, not knowing if you’ll be loved in return.”

“That sounds like something you said in Vegas when you talked me into singing my song. Which started this entire fiasco.”

“I think my words were something along the lines of stop being so afraid and sing your song. I can’t be responsible for what happened after that.

But I think it’s more than just putting yourself out there to let Tate love you…

What if you stopped blaming yourself for Joy’s death and just… just let God love you?”

“And now you’ve been around Knox and his family too long.”

“Not long enough. But you’ve spent your entire life showing up for everyone else. What if you let God show up for you? Show you that you don’t have to do anything for Him to love you.”

“I think I’d be setting myself up for another broken heart.”

“Glo—”

“No, Kels. Why would God show up for me? Please… How are things with you and Knox?”

A pause, then, “Would you be upset if we eloped?”

Glo drew in a breath. “Really?”

“I don’t know. I think he might ask. And if he does, I’m saying yes.”

“But it’s only been a few months?—”

“I’ve waited for this man my entire life, Glo. He’s the one. He makes me feel safe and, most importantly, I like the person I am with him. He made the songs stir out of my soul.”

“You should write that down.”

“I have. I am. I have a slew of songs for you to put music to when we get back together. Please tell me it’s soon.”

A knock came at the sliding door behind her and she turned. Sloan was standing there, pointing to his watch.

“I don’t know. Maybe a few more months. After my mother gets elected.”

“Glo—give God a chance.”

“I gotta go, Kels. The VP is waiting.” She hung up before Kelsey’s words found too tender soil.

As it was, her question dug deep and hung on as she opened the door to Sloan.

What if you let God show up for you? Show you that you don’t have to do anything for Him to love you.

God didn’t work that way. Really. She knew from personal experience.

“Ready for an amazing evening?” Sloan said. He’d rolled his cuffs down and donned a coat. “I promise, it’s going to change your life.”

Yeah, that’s what she was afraid of.