Always Dakota - Debbie Macomber [38]
Merrily was sobbing openly now. “My baby, my baby,” she whimpered.
Bob embraced her and she buried her face in his shirt.
“I don’t want to lose my baby,” she wailed.
“I don’t, either.”
“They’ll take him.”
“Over my dead body. I’m not going to let it happen,” Bob returned adamantly.
Heaving in a shaky breath, she raised her eyes to meet her husband’s. In him she saw resolve and determination. He wasn’t just going to fight to keep Axel; he was determined to win.
Six
When Margaret went after something, she did so in what could only be called a headlong manner, Matt reflected as he arrived at the Triple C the day of their wedding. She sure didn’t let any moss grow under her feet. No sooner had he accepted her proposal than she had them driving into Grand Forks to apply for the marriage license. Shifting schedules, the earliest possible day for the wedding was December seventh. He tried to forget that this was the same day the worst military defeat in U.S. history had occurred.
It didn’t help that on the morning of their wedding day, the weather dipped to record cold temperatures. The Grand Forks newscaster stated that it could be the coldest day of the year. One of her uncles, who lived in South Dakota, had planned to attend the ceremony, but he’d phoned that morning to cancel because of the weather. Her other two uncles sent their love and best wishes; since they’d recently made the long trip for Bernard’s funeral, they weren’t able to come for another visit so soon.
Margaret, never shy, met him at the door, and quickly ushered him out of the piercing wind and into the warm house.
“You haven’t changed your mind, have you?” she asked, looking worried. The wind wasn’t nearly as penetrating as her eyes. She seemed to gaze straight through him.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” The truth was, he had changed his mind. Four or five times in the past few hours, in fact, but each time he’d managed to set aside his guilt and his doubts. He was marrying her for all the wrong reasons—and all the right ones. No woman had believed in him the way Margaret did. None had looked past the polished exterior and seen his heart. And dammit, there were all those beautiful cattle. And the land. It wasn’t like he could ignore what she had to offer.
Now that he was at the Triple C, he had every intention of going through with the ceremony. If he was making a mistake, then he was doing it with open eyes.
Sadie’s disapproval was all too evident and implied that Margaret was the one making the mistake. She didn’t even try to hide her distaste for him. He felt her censure the instant he walked into the room. But no matter what the housekeeper thought, it wasn’t anything Matt hadn’t been saying to himself since the moment he’d agreed to this.
Margaret ignored Sadie, but Matt suspected the two women had done verbal battle over the impending marriage. Clearly Margaret had won the war, but he figured there’d been more than one battle from which she’d walked away wounded. She wanted him and she’d been willing to fight for him; that said a great deal.
“Pastor Dawson is already here,” Margaret announced, leading Matt by the hand into the library. “Jeb and Maddy are on their way. Gage and Lindsay are coming, too.”
“Hassie?” he asked, and swallowed tightly.
Margaret nodded. “And Leta Betts. Joyce Dawson’s here with her husband, as well.”
Matt wore his best clothes, a ten-year-old suit, and made small talk with Pastor Dawson while he waited for their guests. He was tense and tried to hide his nervousness, talking far more than usual. Everyone arrived within the next fifteen minutes. Soon they all gathered in the very room where Bernard Clemens had warned Matt against hurting his daughter. Now he was marrying Margaret and God help him, he sincerely liked her, but he didn’t love her. Not the way she deserved to be loved.
Glancing around uneasily, Matt was certain everyone knew why he was