Always Dakota - Debbie Macomber [60]
Bob had made it plain when he married her that from this point forward they were partners in life. Her disappearing acts were over. She’d agreed to those terms, welcomed the opportunity to be a wife and…a mother to Axel. She would have done anything, signed any contract, to ensure a stable life for her son.
In the weeks she’d been away, a whole lot could have changed. Merrily didn’t know what Bob had told their attorney about her being gone, or if he had. All that money spent and for what? It wouldn’t get Axel back. Nor did she know what awaited her in regard to possible jail time. There was every likelihood that there’d been an arrest warrant issued in her name. That was all part of the risk she was taking. Nevertheless she headed back because the life she had now was no life. With Bob there was a chance—there was love.
It was late when she hit Buffalo Valley. Almost midnight. The only light came from the streetlamps, which she saw even before she turned off the highway. Bob would have closed the restaurant for the night, but the bar might still be open.
Sure enough, the neon sign for 3 OF A KIND glowed in the window. Merrily studied each store, each business, on Main Street. So Joanie Wyatt had gone ahead and opened a video rental place. Although the sign was turned off, Merrily saw the storefront. In the years she’d known Bob, she’d watched this town grow. She’d taken comfort in that, seeing the changes in Buffalo Valley, believing they paralleled the changes in her own life. Changes for which she thanked Buffalo Bob Carr.
Winter in North Dakota was dark and cold. Barren. Snowbanks lined the sides of the streets. Merrily parked with difficulty and climbed out of her car, then walked the short distance toward 3 OF A KIND. A look through the window revealed a couple of men sitting at the bar, drinking beer.
Bob was nowhere in sight.
Taking a calming breath, Merrily stepped inside. She saw him immediately and just as importantly, he saw her.
His eyes narrowed as he paused, a beer mug in one hand. That was when she noticed the cast on his right arm. Apparently he’d broken it. A chill went through her that couldn’t be attributed to the cold or the wind; she knew it was brought on by the realization that the man she loved had endured terrible pain.
“What happened?” she asked, walking toward him, her gaze on his arm.
His eyes held hers. “You left.”
The two men sitting at the bar stared at her and then each other. Merrily had seen them before, but she didn’t remember their names. She ignored them and they turned away and pretended to ignore her.
“I’m back now,” she told Bob, hoping he understood that this time it was forever.
“Should I throw a party?” he asked.
She deserved his sarcasm. “I realized something important,” she said in a low voice. “I don’t belong anywhere but with you.”
He looked as though he didn’t believe her and she couldn’t blame him. “I love you, Buffalo Bob Carr.”
He set the frosty mug down and turned away. “I’m sorry, fellows, but I’m closing up early tonight. I got a problem here that’s going to demand my full attention.”
“Sure thing, Bob.”
“Yeah. I should be leaving, anyway. See ya, Bob.”
Both men left cash on the counter, although he hadn’t presented either one with a bill. Casting a wary eye in her direction, they ambled out the door.
After the men had gone, Merrily stood in the center of the room, waiting. Unable to read Bob’s response, she wasn’t sure what to do.
He frowned, standing behind the bar as if it offered him some defense. “I risked everything for you, and then you walked out.”
“I know—I thought you’d betrayed me.”
“I was protecting you, protecting Axel. Protecting us.”
She didn’t want to hear it, hadn’t traveled all this way to argue. “I’m not leaving again.”
“I’ve heard that before,” Bob muttered.
“This time I know there’s nothing out there that isn’t a thousand times better right here.” She stepped