Always Dakota - Debbie Macomber [36]
When she went to investigate, she saw it was Matt Eilers. Dressed in her thick flannel robe, she unbolted the lock and hurriedly let him in. His face was red with cold, his jaw tight.
“All right,” he said abruptly.
Not understanding, she stared at him.
He grasped her by the shoulders and brought her close. His kiss was as wild as his eyes and revealed none of the finesse she’d experienced in their earlier kisses.
“You want me for your husband?” he demanded roughly. “Fine, I’ll marry you, but you don’t have a clue what you’re getting yourself into. Not a clue.”
“Don’t be so sure,” she told him, her pulse going crazy. His dark eyes burned into hers. Reaching for his collar with both hands, she jerked his mouth back to hers and kissed him with the same urgency.
She’d waited her entire life for this man and wasn’t about to be shortchanged now. If anyone was in for a surprise, Margaret reasoned, it was going to be Matt Eilers.
Merrily had never thought of herself as an especially perceptive woman, but when it involved Axel she was almost psychic. The Monday following Thanksgiving, she found Pastor Dawson and Bob deep in conversation. They sat at a table on the far side of the restaurant, hunched together, talking quietly.
He knew.
This churchman had figured out that she’d stolen Axel. He knew she and Bob were hiding the boy from his birth parents and from the authorities. What he didn’t know was all the whys and wherefores. She doubted the circumstances made any difference to nosy do-gooders like Pastor Dawson. If he’d guessed the truth, he was sure to consider it his God-given duty to call the state police and have her arrested.
That meant she and Bob had no choice. None. They had to protect their son and Merrily was prepared to do so at any price.
Thankfully, Axel was down for his nap when Pastor Dawson finally left. Merrily could barely wait for the other man to walk out the door before she confronted Bob. Her husband still sat at the table, his hands in his hair, staring blankly at the wall.
“He knows?” She whispered the question.
Bob nodded.
“How?”
“Does it matter?”
Weak and shaky, Merrily pulled out a chair and literally fell into it. Having Axel taken away was her greatest fear. He was her son. He might not have been born from her body, but he was as much a part of her as if he had.
Bob rubbed his hands down his face, glanced at her and then looked away. Something was wrong, she could see it in his eyes.
“What?” she pleaded.
Her husband shook his head.
“Tell me!” she demanded.
Bob continued to stare at the wall. “Pastor Dawson didn’t know for sure…. He asked a few questions….”
“Yes?” she prodded.
“I told him about Axel.”
It took a moment for the implication of what he’d said to sink in. “You told him!” The anger inside her was explosive. “Why would you do such a thing?” Bob knew how dangerous that was. He’d purposely put their son at risk. She wanted to lash out at him, slug him, cause him the same kind of pain he’d caused her.
“He’d already guessed.”
“You couldn’t keep your mouth shut?”
Bob’s eyes were empty, his complexion ashen, as if he were about to be violently ill. “He knew, Merrily, he already knew. He just didn’t have proof. He asked if there was anything he could do to help. He saw the flyer, recognized Axel’s name. He didn’t threaten to turn us in….”
She started to tremble, and struggled to control the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. “What kind of questions did he ask?”
“Questions that told me he’s figured out what we’ve done. He knew you weren’t Axel’s biological mother…that I wasn’t his father.”
“But how?”
“Because of the flyer. And probably because we’ve made such an effort to keep Axel out of sight lately.”
“That’s crazy!” None of this added up to Merrily. Besides Axel had suffered with chicken pox. It was only natural that they not expose anyone else to the illness.
“He asked about Axel’s family and when I didn’t answer—”
“You could have explained that we didn’t know each other—that you weren’t in my