Always Dakota by Debbie Macomber

Author:Debbie Macomber
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781426817595
Publisher: Mira
Published: 2000-11-10T23:00:00+00:00

There were already hints of spring, and it wouldn’t be long before the first calves of the season arrived. When Margaret woke Monday morning, she suggested they work on cleaning out and preparing the calving barn. Matt agreed. After breakfast, they started, working side by side, laughing and teasing one another.

“How many calves have you delivered?” Margaret asked.

Matt doubted it was as many as his wife. He was about to answer when Sadie appeared, looking more than a little displeased.

“Phone call,” she said in that spiritless monotone of hers. “For you,” she added, pointing at Matt.

Matt could easily guess who the call was from.

Sheryl.

“Take a message,” he said curtly.

“Who is it?” Margaret wanted to know, staring from her housekeeper back to Matt.

“The call is for Mr. Eilers,” Sadie responded diplomatically.

“Matt?” Margaret looked at him. “Problems?”

“No,” he muttered, and without another word, followed Sadie toward the house. His steps were heavy with dread. When he hadn’t heard from Sheryl for several weeks, he’d hoped that meant she’d accepted his decision. Apparently not.

The phone was just inside the kitchen, and by the time he reached it, he was furious.

“Hello!” he half yelled as he picked up the receiver.

“Matt…”

It was Sheryl, all right, and hearing her voice was enough to set him off.

“What does it take, Sheryl? I can’t be any more blunt than I was before. There’s nothing between us and there won’t be in the future. Don’t call here again, understand?”

“But, Matt—”

He didn’t wait to hear her response; instead he slammed down the phone. Sadie stood with her back to him, slicing vegetables, but Matt knew she’d heard every word. Good. He wanted the housekeeper to realize he wasn’t cheating on his wife.

“Sadie.”

She turned and for the first time since he’d married Margaret, he thought he saw her smile. “I told you before, if Sheryl phones again, hang up on her.”

“Hang up?” The housekeeper gave him a sour look. “I didn’t know if you meant it or if that was just for show.”

“I meant it, all right. Would you please do as I ask?”

Sadie muttered an unintelligible response, and Matt wondered, not for the first time, if the woman was trying to make trouble.

Margaret was waiting for him when he returned to the calving barn. “Who was that on the phone, Matt?” she demanded the moment he walked into the stall he’d been hosing down with antiseptic.

“Just now?” he hedged.

“Of course just now!” She scowled. “It was a woman, wasn’t it?”

He was tempted to lie. That would have been an easy out, but then he remembered what Margaret had said—she considered him an honorable and decent man. He felt obliged to live up to that, even if it cost him. He lowered his gaze and nodded.

Margaret didn’t say anything else, simply turned her back and continued to work.

“It’s not like it sounds…” Matt tried, hating the look of hurt and disappointment in her eyes, hating the way her shoulders slumped forward. “I was hoping you’d hear me out.”

“Answer me another question first,” she insisted, slamming the pitchfork into the ground.

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