Free A Husband for the Holidays (Made For Matrimony 1) by Ami Weaver

regret on his face. “Thank you,” she whispered, feeling too emotionally flayed to pretend any different. It was the first time she’d cried over all this in seven years. Once she’d realized he was going to just let her walk away, she’d been unable to cry. To grieve what they’d lost. She’d locked it all down.
    They paid for their purchases and headed back to the elevator. There she simply stood next to him and drew from his strength. Their arms touched, and the small contact was enough.
    It felt good. She’d worry about how dangerous it was another day.
    * * *
    Back in the waiting room, Marla looked up when they walked in. Darcy knew her aunt took in her tear-ravaged face when her gaze softened. Mack held up the bag and inclined his head toward the cardboard container of drinks Darcy held.
    “Food and coffee. Both hospital-grade, but that can’t be helped.”
    Marla managed a small smile at his joke. “Thank you, you two.” She glanced at the clock. “Shouldn’t be long now.”
    Marla’s friend Carol came over, snagged two coffees and handed one to Marla. “Not too long,” she agreed.
    Darcy took her aunt a cookie and set it on a napkin next to her. Marla’s smile was faint but real. She reached forward and pulled Darcy into a hug.
    “Oh, honey. You okay?” she whispered.
    Darcy nodded. She needed to address this head-on. “I just had a moment. I’m fine now. You?”
    Marla sat back. “I’m hanging in there,” she said with a fierce nod. “He’ll be okay.”
    “Yes, he will,” Darcy agreed. It simply couldn’t go any other way.
    She couldn’t sit, so she walked back to the window while Aunt Marla’s needles clicked away. She held her cooling coffee in both hands and stared at the parking lot. A fine layer of snow coated all the vehicles in the lot. Mack came and stood beside her. He said nothing, just leaned against the wall near her. She decided to be grateful for that. She could allow the small chink in her armor.
    As long as she fixed it tomorrow.
    The phone rang and the nurse manning the station answered, speaking in low tones. When she hung up, she said, “Family of Joe Kramer?”
    Marla leaped up, Carol catching her knitting as it flew from her lap. Darcy hurried to her side, her heart pounding, her palms clammy.
Please, please, please let him be okay.
She slipped her arm around her aunt’s shoulders, felt her take a deep breath. “That’s us,” she said.
    “Come with me,” the nurse said. “The doctor will talk to you back here.”
    They followed her wordlessly back to the room she indicated, where the surgeon was already waiting. He rose to his feet and extended his hand to Marla. “Mrs. Kramer. I’m Dr. Peterson. First of all, let me assure you your husband came through surgery just fine.”
    Darcy’s breath whooshed out at the same time Marla said, “Oh, thank God.” Darcy hugged her aunt hard, relief flooding her.
    They sat and the doctor went over the details. The upshot was Uncle Joe would be sidelined for the next six to eight weeks. Darcy knew it would make him crazy.
    They shook hands with the doctor and went back in the waiting room.
    “He’s okay,” Marla said to Carol, and promptly burst into tears. Her friend opened her arms and hugged her close. Mack came over and stood next to Darcy, but didn’t touch her.
    “Good news,” he said quietly.
    She nodded and gave him a wan smile. “Very. A huge relief. They said Aunt Marla can see him soon, once he’s out of recovery.” She glanced at the clock. “Another forty-five minutes or so, I guess. He’s got a long road in front of him, but the doctor was optimistic.”
    This would mean Joe couldn’t work at the farm. They’d need full-time help. He’d check his schedule and see if Jennifer could take over a bit of his load, which would free him up to spend more time at the farm.
    Near Darcy.
    He wasn’t sure yet if that was a good thing or not. Right now they were on fragile ground, because she was