Debbie Macomber - Always Dakota

September

B ernard Clemens was dying and he knew it, despite what the doctorsall those fancy specialistshad said about his heart. He knew. He was old and tired, ready for death.

Sitting in the den of the home hed built thirty years ago for his wife, he closed his eyes and remembered. Maggie had been his great love. His only love. Delicate and beautiful, nearly sixteen years younger, she could have had her choice of husbands, but shed chosen him. An aging rancher with a craggy face and work-roughened hands. A man who had simple tastes and lacked social refinement. And yet shed loved him.

God help him, hed loved her, loved her still, although shed been gone now for nearly twenty-seven years.

Her love had been gift enough, but shed yearned to give him a son. Bernard, too, had hoped for an heir. Hed purchased the Triple C as a young man, buying the land adjacent to his parents property, and eventually hed built the combined ranches into one huge spread, an empire to pass on to his son. However, the child had been a girl and theyd named her Margaret, after her mother.

The pregnancy had drained Maggie and she was further weakened that winter by a particularly bad strain of the flu. Pneumonia had set in soon afterward, and before anyone realized how serious it was, his Maggie was gone.

In all his life, Bernard had never known such grief. With Maggies death, hed lost what he valued mostthe woman whod brought him joy. When they lowered her casket into the ground, they might as well have buried him, too. From that point forward, he threw himself into ranching, buying more land, increasing his herd and consequently turning the Triple C into one of the largest and most prosperous cattle ranches in all of North Dakota.

As for being a father to young Margaret, hed tried, but as the eldest of seven boys, he had no experience in dealing with little girls. In the years that followed, his six younger brothers had all lived and worked with him for brief periods of time, eventually moving on and getting married and starting families of their own.

Theyd helped him raise her, teaching her about ranching waysriding and ropingand cussing, he was sorry to admit.

To this day, Margaret loved her uncles. Loved riding horses, too. She was a fine horsewoman, and more knowledgeable about cattle than any man he knew. Shed grown tall and smartnot to mention smart-mouthedbut Bernard feared hed done his only child a grave disservice. Margaret resembled him more than she did her mother. Maggie had been a fragile, dainty woman who brought out everything that was good in Bernard.

Their daughter, unfortunately, revealed very little of her mothers gentleness or charm. How could she, seeing that shed been raised by a grief-stricken father and six bachelors? Margaret looked like Bernard, talked like him and dressed like him. It was a crying shame she hadnt been a boy, since, until recently, she was often mistaken for one. His own doing, he thought, shaking his head. Had Maggie lived, she would have seen to the proper upbringing of their daughter. Would have taught their little girl social graces and femininity, as mothers do. Bernard had given it his best shot. He loved his daughter, but he felt that hed failed her.

To her credit, Margaret possessed a generous, loving heart and she was a fine businesswoman. Bernard couldnt help being proud of her, despite a constant sense of guilt about her unconventional upbringing.

There was a light knock. At his hoarse, Come in, the housekeeper opened the door. Matt Eilers is here to see you, Sadie announced brusquely.

With effort, Bernard straightened, his fingers digging into the padded leather arms of his chair as he forced himself to meet his neighbor. Send him in.

She nodded and left.

Less than a minute later, Matt Eilers appeared, Stetson in hand.

Youll forgive me if I dont get up, Bernard said.

Of course.

Bernard gestured toward the matching chair on the opposite side of the fireplace. Sit down.

Matt obliged, giving Bernard his first good look at this man his daughter apparently loved. Frankly, he was disappointed. Hed seen Matt at social affairs, the occasional wedding, harvest dance or barbecue, but theyd never spoken. Somehow, hed expected more substance, and he felt surprised that Margaret would be taken in by a pretty face and an empty heart. Over the past few years Bernard had heard plenty about his neighbor to the west, and not much of it had been flattering.

I imagine youre wondering why I asked to meet with you.

I am, Matt said, perching on the edge of the chair. He held his hat in both hands, his expression questioning.