Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (23 page)

Glory
wanted to say that
Patrice
was
h
er
affair, but nodded dutifully. Setting down
her
backpack in the hallway,
s
he headed toward the kitchen.

“
Glory
.
”

“Yes?”
She
turned around to face
him
.

“I’m sorry about what happened out in the barn.”

Not knowing what to say,
Glory
glanced up the stairway and shrugged.

“I’m trying my best to raise you right, but I make mistakes sometimes.”

“I know.”

Glory
took a
d
eep breath and
asked the question that had been hanging over her head like a storm cloud. “
A
re the child welfare people monitoring us again?”

“Uh,
yes,
”
Dad
paused a
mom
ent, “
Yes,
they are.”

Glory
’s mouth went dry.

“Don’t worry
.
I
love you kids and I
’m not going to let any nosy social worker take you away from me
.
”

But, did he love them enough to stop the drinking and raging
?
Glory
wanted to
know.
“Desert
S
and will look nice,
Dad
.”

“Your backpack doesn’t
belong there.”

“Right
.
”
Glory
picked it up and started up
the steps.

“Oh, and
Glory
...
”

“Yeah?
”

“
When I get back from town
,
t
here
will be
a paintbrush with your name on it, so don’t wander too far.”

With a sigh
,
s
he continued up the stairs to do homework.

A
s the sun set a
couple of hours later
,
the
Alley
s worked side-by-side paint
ing
the living room
.
Patrice
set the music streamer on the floor so everyone could listen while they
covered years of neglect with one coat
.
Dad
,
Brandon,
Patrice
, the twins and
Glory
scraped and painted until late in the evening
.
Glory
worked up a sweat, but the opened windows let in a welcome co
ol breeze and kept the air fresh.

Spilled drops of paint on the carpet set
Dad
off into a string of curse words, but overall the painting session was a calm affair. When
every
inch of wall
was covered in pristine beige
,
the
All
e
ys
looked around to admire their hand
i
work
.

“It looks so
...
so
clean,”
Glory
marveled.

“
It’s going to need
two
coat
s
,”
Dad
announced
.
“
But not tonight
.
Time to pick-up.”

Glory
gathered paintbrushes in a coffee container while the twins rolled up the drop cloth and sheets
.

“It’s amazing what a coat of paint can do for a place,”
Patrice
said for the
third
time
.
“When I have my own place, everything will be lily white.”

“We know,” Brandon said
.

Nana
came out from the kitchen wearing a tomato
-
stained apron around her waist
.
She glanced around the room. “It’s amazing what a coat of paint can do
for a place
,” she said.

Patrice
grinned sheepishly.

An old
song
came from the music streamer, filling the living room with the sound of stringed instruments
.
A man’s voice crooned on and on about the moon and his fair lady.
Nana
stood in the doorway, wiping hand
s
on apron
.
“I haven’
t heard that song in ages,” Her eyes misted.

Dad
faced
Nana
and tipped
a pretend hat he
r way, offering
his
hand
.
When she stood there, looking confused, he took her hand in his and turned
to the kids with a f
l
ickering of eyebrows.
“Watch and learn
.”

Dad
waltzed
Nana
through the living room
.
Nana
protested, but not very much
.
It took them a minute to get their
stride
, but soon they glided over the carpet like graceful ice skaters on a frozen pond.

“Wow, you two are like
...
good,” Randy said.

When the music stopped,
Nana
was panting, but looked pleased
.
“I almost forgot what a good dancer you are.
”
She pinched
Dad
’s cheek
.
“And such a gentlem
a
n when you want to be.”

“You know,
Nana
,”
Dad
said
.
“Anything good about me I got from you and
Grandpa
Kracker
.
If you two hadn’t taken me in as a kid, I don’t know what would have happened.”

“Your father was a mean, s
on-of-a-bee
.
”
Nana
’s voice tightened and her lips thinned whenever she spoke of Grandpa Norman Alley. The mere memory of him seemed to make her angry.
“The only good thing that ever came
from
that man was you and Martha.”

Dad’s father
had always been a sensitive subject
.
Dad
was only ten when things finally got so bad at home
that
the Krackers invited him and his sister,
Au
nt Martha, to stay with them
.
Glory
didn’t want to ruin the mood, so
s
he steer
ed
the conversation elsewhere.

“Where did you learn to move like that,
Dad
?
”

“Y
our mom
loved to dance, so I let her drag me to lessons.”

“Not bad,” Brandon said, “
—
for senior citizens
.
But watch how the cool people do it.”

“Hit it,
somebody
.”

Randy
pressed a button on the streamer and a new song began with a light drumbeat.

Patrice
joined Brandon in the middle of the living room. They faced each other and leaned forward until they were ear to ear
.
The strings joined the drums
and
the two of them began to move their necks like pecking chickens
.

“You call that dancing?
”
Dad
mocked
.
“It’s plain silly.”

The beat strengthened and the footwork began. Hand motions went with it
.
It wasn’t fancy, but
Patrice
and Brandon synchronized as if they’d practiced it a hundred times
.

“Pretty impressive
.
”
Glory
admitted out loud.

“It’s the rage at all the clubs,” Randy said, crossing his arms over his chest
.
“Anybody can do it.”

The music stopped
.

“Again!
”
George
clapped
from the doorway
.
“Again!”

Patrice
pressed the button again and all the kids began to gyrate across the floor
.

After a minute
,
Dad
shut it off. “Enough horseplay,” he growled. “
The living room won’t clean itself.
”