Always Dakota (25 page)

He lowered his gaze. She had him there and he knew it.

“It didn’t hurt that you inherited the ranch. I won’t lie about that, but it wasn’t the only reason.” He hesitated and swallowed convulsively. “You were the first person who ever believed in me. I told you that before, and it’s the truth. You had faith in me. I’ve never had anyone stick up for me the way you did. Never had anyone look past my faults and love me despite them. Not like you—not with such sweetness…such innocence.”

“In other words, I was a naive idiot.”

“I never meant to hurt you. If I could go back and change any of this I would.”

Margaret couldn’t look at him and not feel the urge to forgive—but she refused to do that. He’d hurt her too deeply. “You can’t change the past.”

He gripped his hat with both hands and boldly held her eyes. “You got what you wanted.”

She frowned in confusion. “I wanted this kind of pain? I wanted this agony? Never in my life have I hurt more! It wasn’t this bad when my father died, and now you’re telling me it’s what I
want?
You’re crazy!”

“You wanted me, remember?”

Unfortunately she did remember, all too well.

“I’m no prize. You knew that when you married me.”

“All I want…” she sobbed “…is for all this pain to go away.”

“If I could make that happen, I would. But I can’t.” He moved toward her, then stopped when she tensed. “I’ve talked to Sheryl and her attorney. The baby’s due the end of June and she’ll be my responsibility.”

“It’s a girl?”

He nodded.

“You’ve spoken to Sheryl?” She couldn’t keep the dejection out of her voice.

“It was while I was in the attorney’s office, and it wasn’t a friendly conversation. Mostly I let him do the talking….”

She swallowed the huge lump that filled her throat.

“You’re right, I didn’t love you when we married. I’m guilty of that crime, but I didn’t marry you just for the ranch. I needed someone to believe in me, and even if it was only for these five months, all I can do is thank you. I’ve learned to love you, Margaret. Heart and soul, I love you.”

She could feel herself being drawn toward him, being lured back into his arms. Despite her own intentions, she was affected by his sincerity. “You love me,” she repeated doubtfully. “That’s mighty convenient, isn’t it?”

“Assume what you want, but it’s the truth.”

Margaret needed to think, needed to sort through the pain and all the confused emotions. It was too easy to allow herself to be swayed.

Pressing her hands to the sides of her head, she closed her eyes. “I can’t think now.”

“Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere. When you’re ready to talk, I’ll be here.”

That was fair, and necessary. She nodded, turned her back on him and walked inside.

S
arah couldn’t sit still. She paced the living room and glanced at the clock every other minute, waiting for Dennis to come home. She would have driven down to the service station and confronted him, but it was his day to make fuel deliveries. Briefly she considered waiting for him there. However, when she was this angry, she preferred to discuss the matter in private.

An hour later, the door off the kitchen swung open and Dennis came in, still wearing his grease-smeared coveralls. From the way he dragged his feet, she knew he’d had a long, hard day, but that didn’t stop her. She had to know.

“Did you and Calla have an argument last week?” she demanded.

Dennis snapped his head back, as though her sharp words had caught him by surprise.

“Did you have it out with my daughter?” she asked again, with the same outraged intensity. The anger had been festering inside her since morning and wouldn’t easily be quelled. Not until she’d heard from her own husband exactly what had happened.

Not responding, Dennis walked into the bathroom and proceeded to climb out of his coveralls.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about,” she cried, refusing to be ignored.

“I’m not.” He turned on the shower and started to undress.

“Answer me, will you?” After waiting all afternoon to talk to him, she wasn’t willing to be put off.

“We’ll talk about this when I’ve had a chance to unwind.” With that, he eased her out of the bathroom and shut the door.

Standing in the hallway, her arms crossed defiantly, Sarah blinked. He’d actually removed her from the room, then calmly closed the door in her face.

Not knowing what else to do, she returned to the kitchen and chopped green peppers and tomatoes for the dinner salad. By the time she’d finished, the vegetables looked pureed.

Ten minutes later, Dennis entered the kitchen, his hair damp from the shower. He wore a clean pair of jeans and a short-sleeved shirt, suitable for the unseasonably warm May weather.

“Are you ready to talk now?” she asked, doing her best to hold back her irritation.

“In a minute.” He got himself a beer from the fridge, poured it into a glass. Then he sat down at the table. “All right,” he finally said with a beleaguered sigh, “what do you want to know?”

“Did you or did you not have words with Calla?” She was incredulous that it’d taken nearly a week for news of the confrontation to get back to her.

Dennis nodded.

“You didn’t say anything about it to me,” she accused him, furious that he’d hidden this from her.

“I couldn’t see the point. I knew it would upset you, and—”

“You’re damn right I’m upset! I can’t
believe
you’d do something like this.” In all the years of their relationship, Sarah had never known Dennis to lose his temper. She couldn’t imagine what had happened, what Calla had said or done that would evoke such a reaction from her husband. And she worried that this might further damage her own fractured relationship with her daughter.

“Did Calla tell you?” Dennis asked, his eyes narrowing.

“No!” Calla rarely shared anything with her, and dammit, that hurt. Now Dennis was excluding her, too, and that hurt even more.

“Jeb?”

“No, Maddy happened to mention it. But she didn’t do it maliciously.” Her sister-in-law didn’t have an unkind bone in her body. The conversation had occurred earlier in the day, when Maddy had driven into town on some business concerning the grocery. She’d stopped at the quilt shop to say hello and innocently asked about Calla. Reading between the lines, Sarah soon understood that her daughter had visited the ranch the week before and been upset and shaken by a confrontation with Dennis. Apparently Calla had talked to Maddy about it at length.

“I suppose you want to hear my version?” Dennis asked in a tired voice.

“Of course I do!” Since Calla’s return from Minneapolis, Sarah had slowly but surely been rebuilding their relationship, taking one small step at a time. In the space of a few minutes, her husband had ruined months of effort.

“She insulted me, and—”

“What did she say?” Sarah broke in, not allowing him to finish.

Dennis cupped the glass with both hands. “For starters, she asked Jeb what I was doing at the ranch.”

Still pacing, arms folded, Sarah frowned, sure she’d misunderstood. “That was an insult?”

“I was standing right there. The least she could have done was address the question to me.”

Sarah felt sick.

“Sit down, Sarah,” he urged, pulling out a chair. “All this anger can’t be good for the baby.”

“Let me worry about the baby.”

“It’s my baby, too!” He took a deep breath. “Look, Sarah, I’ve stayed out of the situation with Calla because that’s what you wanted. You insist on handling everything yourself, carrying the full load. I’m your husband—”

“Then start acting like one,” she cried. She saw the hurt in his eyes, but ignored it. “Don’t you realize how hard I’ve tried with Calla? Everything is so tentative with her…. Your little outburst might have destroyed everything I’ve worked so hard to build.”

“Then so be it,” Dennis shouted, shocking her by banging his fist on the table.

She leaped at the unexpected noise. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Calla. You. Everything. I’ve stood silently by, put up with her bad moods and insults for years. I’m not having a teenager talk to me like I’m scum, nor will I allow her to insult my wife.”

“She’s my daughter—”

“I’m your husband.”

“Don’t you see—”

“All I see,” Dennis said, rising to his feet, “is the two of us walking on eggshells in an effort to appease her. I’m fed up with it, fed up with watching what she does to you—the way you feel whenever she rejects you.”

“I was the one who lied to her…I should have told her…”

“You were protecting her just like you are now. She doesn’t need your protection anymore. Furthermore, she doesn’t want it. She was seventeen last month and it’s time she grew up. Time she accepted responsibility for her own life instead of blaming everyone else.”

“But—”

“You’re allowing the guilt you feel about your first marriage to affect our lives. I won’t stand for it any longer.”

Trembling, Sarah sank into the chair. “I can’t believe you’re saying these things. Don’t you realize…Don’t you understand?”

“I understand that you’ve placed me in an impossible position. If Calla can’t treat me with the respect due another human being, then she’s no longer welcome in my home.”

“This is my home, too.”

Dennis sadly shook his head. “I’ve told you the way I feel. How you respond is up to you, but if Calla’s ever here when I come home, I guess that’ll be my answer, won’t it?”

“She’s my
daughter….
” Sarah didn’t know why it was so important to keep reminding him of that, especially when the girl had chosen to live elsewhere. Calla had repeatedly turned her back on Sarah. The situation just never seemed to get better, despite all her efforts, and now it was creating tension in her marriage.

Dennis reached for his beer, raised it to his lips, then put it down. “I need to think,” he said. “I’m going out for a while.”

“You’re leaving?”

He was already halfway out the door. “Yeah,” he said, “I’m leaving.”

Sarah watched him go, then buried her face in her hands. The entire conversation had gone badly. She’d been angry and frustrated and she’d taken everything out on Dennis.

Sarah felt sick again, both emotionally and physically. She was trapped between the two people she loved most in this world. Calla had been rude and spiteful to Dennis all along, going out of her way to cause problems.

If that was her goal, then she’d succeeded.

Sarah acknowledged that her daughter had inflicted numerous cruelties on Dennis and that Dennis had never let her goad him into overt anger. Maybe it
was
time for some decisive action. Maybe Sarah had to stand up for her husband and say no to Calla.

Dennis didn’t return for dinner. Because of the baby, Sarah forced herself to eat, but she could only stomach a few small bites. At ten, she turned out the lights and went to bed. After years of sleeping alone, she was surprised to discover that a bed could feel so empty.

Sleep was impossible. Shortly after midnight, when she heard the front door open and the floor creak, she tossed aside the covers and hurried into the dark living room.

“Dennis?”

“I’m here.” He switched on a table lamp, casting the room in a muted glow.

She flew into his arms, hugging him. “I’m so sorry,” she wept, “so sorry.”

He nuzzled her neck, his hands in her hair. “I’m sorry, too. I’ll try to be more patient with Calla.” He breathed the words, as though it’d taken great effort to speak them.

“No—you’re right. We can’t let Calla behave this way. I won’t let her come between us.”

Dennis held her face tenderly between his hands and kissed her. “I love you, Sarah Urlacher.”

“I love you, too,” she said, and slid her arm around his waist. She led him toward the bedroom, knowing she’d be able to sleep now that she’d made peace with her husband.

“I’m supposed to do
what?
” Jeb demanded of Maddy as they drove into Buffalo Valley.

“We’re having a meeting about the town park,” Maddy reminded him patiently, although he was well aware of the purpose of this venture into town. “I told you about it last week, remember?” And the week before, as well. She’d quickly learned that her husband conveniently forgot things when it suited his purpose.

Jeb glanced at her and sighed expressively. “You know how I feel about meetings.”

“Yes, I do,” she said, and slipped her arm through his. Leaning her head against his shoulder, she reflected that his being part of this committee was no small thing. He’d agreed when she’d first mentioned it. Only later did he start muttering, and Maddy had the feeling it was mostly for show. Gage and Lindsay were also on the committee, along with Rachel and Heath Quantrill, and Joanie and Brandon Wyatt.

The weather was lovely and Maddy was convinced that, with a minimum of effort, they’d be able to get a group of volunteers together right away. She and Rachel Quantrill were spearheading the project. Everyone seemed to be waiting for someone else to do it. Maddy understood; people were busy with their own lives. Well, she, for one, was determined to see this park become a reality.

“I wouldn’t do this for anyone in the world but you,” Jeb muttered, his voice gruff.

“I know, honey, and I appreciate it.”

“Is Dennis going to be there?”

Maddy shook her head. “Not that I know of.”

“How come he gets out of this and I don’t?”

“Would you kindly stop your complaining? If all goes well, by the end of the summer, we should have a real park.”

He muttered something else, but she noticed he didn’t complain again as they continued the hour-long drive into town.

Lindsay and Gage were the only people already at the vacant lot when they arrived. Gage was carrying his daughter, Joy, and Julianne automatically went into Jeb’s arms when he removed her from the car seat. Not long from now, the girls would both be walking. It seemed impossible to Maddy that just a year ago she’d been pregnant. So many wonderful changes had come into her life since the move to Buffalo Valley.

Lindsay and Maddy immediately started chatting. Now that they were both married, they didn’t have nearly as much time as they would have liked to maintain their friendship. They found themselves depending on phone calls and even e-mail; at least they could stay caught up on news.

Gage and Jeb had their heads together, too.

“Hmm. There’s a sight you don’t see every day,” Hassie commented as she approached the small group.

“What?” Lindsay asked.

“Two men, holding their baby daughters on their hips. I gotta tell you, it does my old heart good to see those two married and settled down.”

Maddy and Lindsay glanced at each other and shared a smile.

“Is everyone prepared to work hard to make this park happen?” Hassie asked loudly. “It isn’t going to come together by itself, you know.”

“Maddy,” Jeb called.

She walked over to him and he handed her Julianne. “Gage says he can get the tractor out here to churn up the land and get the grass planted.”

“You’d be willing to do that?”

Lindsay stepped next to her and elbowed Maddy’s side. “Don’t look a gift tractor in the mouth. He volunteered, didn’t he?”

“I can set aside some time next week,” Gage told her.

“Wonderful.” Maddy beamed at him.

“Harvey Hendrickson from the hardware store volunteered wood for a couple of picnic tables,” Hassie added.

“I could build those,” Jeb chimed in.

Joanie and Brandon Wyatt arrived, followed by the Quantrills, and Maddy updated them on what had been discussed.