Always Dakota - Debbie Macomber [103]
“Okay, I understand.”
“Matt and I talked afterward and…and it didn’t go well, but then nothing has since that paternity suit. You notice Sheryl Decker included me in that lawsuit? She wants everything she can get from me…. Maddy, if you’d read her demands, why, it’d make you sick to your stomach. That woman plans to use her baby like a…like a weapon against Matt and me.”
The picture was beginning to take shape in Maddy’s mind.
“You know who’s caught in the middle of this, don’t you?” Margaret continued. “Matt’s daughter. The situation’s horrible.”
“Oh, Margaret.”
“And now he’s gone. He did it for me,” she whispered. “He left to spare me any more grief.”
Maddy sensed that in talking it out, Margaret had been able to gain control of her feelings, and perhaps a measure of understanding.
“A divorce isn’t what you want, is it?” she asked quietly.
“No.” Margaret stood, her back straight, her shoulders square.
Maddy got to her feet, as well. “You love Matt, don’t you?”
Margaret didn’t so much as hesitate. “With all my heart.” Then as if it was all more than she could handle, she slumped back in the chair.
“I remember when you first told me about loving Matt Eilers,” Maddy reminded her, hoping the memory would somehow help her friend—bring her comfort and resolve. “Frankly, I took your declaration with a grain of salt. I assumed your feelings were basically a schoolgirl crush.” Maddy sat down again so they could meet eye to eye. “Then you said something I won’t forget. You told me you knew Matt was no saint, but you loved him, faults and all.”
The merest hint of a smile touched Margaret’s mouth as Maddy repeated those fateful words.
“I don’t like what’s happened—with Sheryl and her baby. I’m not sure I can accept there being another child in our lives.”
Maddy’s heart went out to her. The situation was painful and difficult.
“But I want to save this marriage,” Margaret said forcefully. “My baby’s going to need his father and…I need Matt, too.”
Maddy knew it wasn’t easy for Margaret to admit needing anyone or anything. Emotionally, Margaret Eilers was one of the strongest, most self-sufficient women Maddy had ever known. “So what are you going to do about it?” she asked.
Margaret’s shoulders sagged. “I don’t know where he moved—where he is. Oh, Maddy, all I want is for this pain to go away.” She stopped and swallowed hard. “When I realized he’d left…I felt this burst of relief…and then almost immediately this horrible emptiness. Nothing means anything to me without my husband.”
Confused and anxious—and pregnant. Margaret had every right to feel unsettled.
Joshua McKenna didn’t have much confidence in his skills as a father. Both his children had grown up to be decent, hardworking adults, but he accepted none of the credit for that. Marjorie had seen to the rearing of Sarah and Jeb, and he’d done little more than pay the bills.
Sarah had been a rebellious teenager, just like Calla was these days. History seemed to repeat itself. Marjorie had sat up many a night worrying about her failings as a mother, the same way Sarah fretted over how she’d failed Calla.
Jeb had always been an intelligent child—and much easier on his parents than his sister had been. Even before the accident that cost him his leg, he’d been an intense, quiet man. Joshua had watched with amusement the changes in his son since he’d married Maddy. She was everything Joshua had hoped Jeb would have in a wife. If only Marjorie had lived long enough to see their son this happy.
After nearly twelve years, Joshua still missed his wife. He realized he hadn’t appreciated her nearly as much as he should have. A sad but all-too-typical commentary on marriage, he supposed.
He poured himself a cup of coffee and then sat in the recliner in front of the television, hardly thinking about dinner or what he’d eat. Probably something from the freezer. Sarah had lived with him for so many years that he’d grown accustomed to having someone else cook. He’d hoped Calla would see to his meals the way her mother had, but