Always Dakota - Debbie Macomber [61]
Merrily’s arms had felt empty from the moment Bob pried Axel from her embrace. They’d ached for five very long weeks. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered and broke into sobs.
It was the sound of her tears that seemed to break the spell. Bob stepped around the bar and strode toward her, and she fell into his arms, the tears burning her eyes, streaming down her face.
The instant Bob’s arms closed around her, Merrily felt the throbbing pain in her heart diminish. For the first time since Axel had been taken from her, she felt as though she didn’t stand alone. Her husband was with her, and to her amazement he loved her. Still loved her. He was willing to forgive her, and take her back.
They clung without words, like the lone survivors of an accident, trembling and in shock. The cast on his right arm dug into her back, reminding her that she should find out what had happened. Had he fallen? Been in a fight?
“I lost Axel,” Bob whispered, “and then you.”
“Oh, Bob.” He didn’t understand that he hadn’t lost her. Couldn’t. Not anymore. She was a part of him and he a part of her.
“Don’t leave me again…I can’t bear it.”
“Never,” she promised, and this time she knew it was true.
Nine
“You ready?” Jeb asked, coming inside, out of the cold, to collect his wife and daughter. In addition to a number of business-related errands she needed to do, Maddy planned to visit Sarah—and she was anxious to talk to Buffalo Bob and Merrily. They’d phoned the night before and asked if she could stop by for a few minutes to answer their questions. They were looking for advice to help them win back Axel.
“Ready,” Maddy told her husband, carrying a bundled-up Julianne in her combination car seat/baby carrier. Jeb had thoughtfully gone out to start the car for her.
He took Julianne’s carrier from Maddy and tucked their daughter safely into the Bronco’s back seat. Maddy waited by the driver’s side and glanced at her watch. It was now 12:30. “I’ll be back by four,” she told him.
He nodded, his eyes serious. “Drive carefully.”
“I will,” she promised, and they briefly kissed before she climbed into the driver’s seat. The vehicle was warm inside; she was grateful to Jeb for that. She didn’t know if she’d ever become accustomed to the frigid winters in North Dakota. The blizzard a year earlier, in which she’d almost died, had been an accurate indication of what the weather could be like.
Jeb remained standing in the driveway, watching her leave. Although he’d encouraged her to talk to Bob and Merrily, she knew he’d rather she stayed off the icy roads. But he, too, was concerned about the couple.
Maddy had been the one who’d recommended Doug Alder. From her work with Child Protective Services in Savannah, Maddy knew and trusted the attorney. He was the best—compassionate, yet tough and realistic. The situation with Axel was complicated, but she’d seen Doug succeed in similar cases. Still, the main thing Bob and Merrily—all of them—needed to remember was that Axel’s welfare came first.
Bob had sounded worried when he’d phoned. Maddy wasn’t sure if she should stop by to see him right away or wait until she’d talked to her sister-in-law, Sarah Urlacher. Sarah’s pregnancy continued to have problems, and between boredom and physical weakness, she found the required bed rest increasingly difficult.
Rather than delay talking to Bob and Merrily, Maddy decided to drive over to 3 OF A KIND immediately. Merrily hugged her, and it seemed she clung an extra moment before she left to get Bob.
The three sat at a table in the restaurant, nursing cups of coffee. Nine-month-old Julianne sat in the high chair, gnawing contentedly on an arrowroot cracker. Several times Maddy caught Merrily glancing toward the infant with a look of longing.
“We heard from Doug Alder,” Bob explained. He met his wife’s eyes and she reached for his hand. He clasped her fingers tightly.
“I think I told you Axel’s father is in prison,” Bob went on.
Maddy nodded.