A Chance at Forever

by Melissa Jagears

  But Mercy? Yeah, he’d risk getting hurt if Mercy was willing to become a part of his life. He wanted to have her trust more than finding a good job, getting through to Jimmy, or gaining anyone’s forgiveness.

  But that didn’t mean he’d give up on Jimmy. “I’ll pray for you.”

  The boy didn’t respond, so Aaron followed Nicholas out of the jail and through the office.

  Once they exited the building, Nicholas looked at him. “You look rough.”

  “I’m sure I do.” Aaron ran his hands through his hair and scratched an itch behind his ear. He sure hoped he hadn’t picked up any bugs while he was in there. Since he hadn’t bathed for days, he stepped away from Nicholas to keep from offending his nose. “Thank you for getting me out.”

  Nicholas sighed. “I’m just sorry you were there so long. Officer Foster’s drunk with power, but he generally does as he should. He’s not the worst officer in the place, but if you bullied him in the past, he was likely enjoying his power more than usual.”

  Aaron took a deep breath. Dennis may have dragged his feet, but he’d finally done what he was supposed to. Aaron kicked a rock onto the street. He would have to let it go. “I hope you don’t take offense at Jimmy not trusting you. I grew up in a predicament like Jimmy’s, and it’s hard to trust people.”

  “I didn’t have a childhood like you two, but I had a rough couple of years in my twenties. I know how it is to have a hard time trusting.” He tucked his hands into his pockets. “It’s certainly not a fun way to live.”

  “No, it’s not.” Aaron rubbed his eyes and yawned. He’d had nothing to do for five days, yet his brain hadn’t shut off enough to get decent sleep. “Thank you for believing me. I don’t know why you did, but I’m grateful.”

  “You’ve done nothing to make me doubt your word.” Nicholas slapped him on the back and jostled his shoulder. “You’re a hard worker who requires little oversight. Plus, you completely changed Mercy’s mind about you, and if you could do that—”

  “So she doesn’t believe me a thief?” His heart lifted.

  Nicholas didn’t make eye contact. “I’m afraid we both couldn’t reconcile the evidence and your extended disappearance with any other conclusion.”

  Aaron’s heart plummeted back down. He trudged forward alongside Nicholas. “Well, no matter. I mean, I can see why. I’ll just have to explain.”

  After crossing an intersection, Nicholas cleared his throat. “To do so, you’ll have to write her in Kansas City.”

  Aaron somehow continued to walk despite his body going numb. “Kansas City?”

  “Did you meet Evelyn Kingsman at the auction? She’s a tall lady with dark hair, and she was wearing a dark blue felt hat. Her husband has several businesses in Kansas City, and Mercy’s hoping they can help her find a job there.”

  “But why would Mercy need a job? What about the orphanage?”

  Nicholas walked in silence for a bit. “Timothy and I came to the realization that there was no reason for them to continue on at the orphanage. Mercy and her brother had a falling out, unfortunately, so she decided to find somewhere else to live.”

  She hadn’t bothered to wait around to see how he fared in court? To hear his side of the story? He ran a hand through his hair, and his feet quit moving.

  About ten paces ahead, Nicholas turned and headed back. “Something wrong?”

  “I-I just thought she’d believed in me. I know she informed you of how I treated her when we were children, but I thought I’d proven that I could be trusted, that I . . .” He swallowed.

  Oh, what did it matter now?

  “Well”—Nicholas put his hands back in his pockets—“you might be interested to know that Mercy told my wife if you weren’t guilty she wanted you to know where she was.”

  His body started to tingle back to life.

  “And several days ago, Dr. Freedman, a school board member, took it upon himself to come to my office and inform me I should fire you. He said he’d not realized who you were at the interview, but after Mercy recommended you for the teaching position this past Saturday, he’d figured it out. He was flabbergasted she’d vouch for you but was thankful she resigned days later. Told me a woman’s emotions couldn’t be trusted, and if she championed you, I should fire her too.”

  She’d voted to give him the job at the high school?

  “Do you still want to teach?”

  He started walking again. “Yes, but since the board decided against me, I’d have to look elsewhere.”

  “I hear there are plenty of teaching positions in Kansas City.”

  37

  KANSAS CITY

  “King me!” Alex Kingsman, Evelyn’s adorable seven-year-old adopted daughter, plunked her red chip onto the opposite side of the board.

  Mercy tried not to giggle at the girl’s lack of sympathy for having jumped two of Mercy’s pieces to land in that spot.

  Scott, Alex’s older brother and another former Teaville orphan, just shook his head as he drew in a sketchbook. Evidently he and his father sketched together every Sunday, but today David had been called to his office for an unexpected business visit.

  Evelyn snickered a bit but kept her eyes on her needlework.

  Mercy sighed as she stacked Alex’s pieces and then pushed one of hers forward on the board. She’d been in Kansas City a little over two weeks but had yet to find a job. She couldn’t do much for the Kingsmans, since their staff took care of everything, but she could play the fun aunt on a visit.

  Alex jumped three chips in a row. “You’ve got to start trying, Miss McClain.”

  “I am, actually.” She hadn’t meant to set the girl up for that triple jump. As happy as she was to play games with Alex—so Evelyn could work on a layette for the fall baby she was expecting—she couldn’t keep her mind on the game.

  She looked toward the letter tray again, knowing it was as empty as it had been five minutes ago. Why hadn’t Lydia sent her any mail?

  Had Max and Robert gotten off to Boston all right? Had Jimmy been found safe? Was Owen adjusting to being the only orphan at the mansion, or had others arrived while she’d been away?

  Surely Lydia would let her know what happened to Aaron—if he hadn’t completely disappeared.

  “Are you going to take your turn or not?”

  “What?” She shook her head and looked at the board. Her two remaining pieces were stuck in the corner, trapped by Alex’s seven.

  “Love.” Evelyn put down the little cotton nightgown she was covering with white work. “I think Miss McClain is preoccupied. Why don’t you get your drawings and work on them? Your father should return soon and will be happy if you joined him.”

  Mercy took in a deep breath, hoping that it would help her focus. “I don’t mind playing.” It wasn’t as if she was doing anything else in this house to earn her keep. She’d hoped to have a job by now, but the Kingsmans mainly had contacts with factory owners, since reformed prostitutes wanted to blend in with the masses. But millwork, sewing, and the like weren’t places for a woman who’d slow production.

  With each passing day, she came to a better understanding of how desperate women could do desperate things if they hadn’t good friends or family.

  Hopefully they’d hear about a childcare position for her soon, or else she might as well go back to Teaville and . . . what? Beg her brother to take her back?

  She pushed her checker forward and immediately winced.

  Alex took the piece with her king.

  “Mercy?” David came into the parlor. His broad grin lit up the room.

  “Yes?” If he wasn’t married, she might’ve found herself trying to get him to smile at her more often. Her friend had certainly married a handsome man.

  “Are you free?”

  “If being utterly annihilated by your seven-year-old makes me free, then I certainly am.”

  He tsked at his daughter. “I told you not to be ruthless. You’ll scare away our guest.”

  Alex rese
t the board. “She hasn’t left yet.”

  He came over and mussed his daughter’s blond hair. “You’ll have to save your next trouncing for later. She has a job interview.” His smile was much brighter than such news demanded.

  “You mean right now? On a Sunday?” Mercy felt her hair to make sure her simple twist hadn’t fallen.

  “Yes. And after listening to this man’s offer, I think this is the job we’ve been praying for.” He reached for his wife’s hand and squeezed it. “Someone I trust implicitly recommended him. If you want the job, I think you should take it.”

  Mercy blew out a breath and smoothed her skirt, her heart skittering uncontrollably despite the good news. But if David was certain this interview would end with her employment and it didn’t, what hope was there she could ever get a good job?

  And if she wasn’t chosen, would their hospitality wear thin?

  She shook her head at the thought. They wouldn’t kick her out, but it would certainly make her feel better if she wasn’t a complete charity case.

  Evelyn smiled at her from her chair. “Good luck.”

  David kissed the top of his wife’s head before leading Mercy to his office. He opened the door, winked, put a hand to her back, and pushed her in.

  The door clicked shut behind her.

  He wasn’t even going to introduce them? She took a deep breath and scanned the room to find a man in the shadows staring out the window. His dark hair needed a trim and curled over his suit coat’s collar, his shoulders were . . .

  She frowned as she scanned the large man again. Aaron?

  He turned around and confirmed her suspicion. The expression on his face was an odd mixture of worry and delight.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be . . . ?”

  “In jail?”

  She swallowed hard. He wouldn’t hurt her. Somehow she believed that, no matter what he’d done. But if he’d evaded capture . . .

  “No. I’m not supposed to be in jail. Though, for all the rotten things I’ve done, it would be a fitting place for me.” He sucked in a loud breath. “Having me behind bars would no doubt make some happy.”

  It wouldn’t make her happy. “Did Nicholas drop the charges?”

  “Yes, because those things weren’t in my cabin because I’d stolen them—I was keeping Jimmy and Zachary from doing so.”

  Jimmy? That wasn’t hard to believe at all. The tension in her muscles fled, and she sat before her legs failed her. She no longer had to scold her heart for thinking about Aaron every day. “But why didn’t you tell us where you were?”

  “Seems Cook wasn’t on the up-and-up. I sent a note, but she intercepted it and left. And then I found myself behind bars. Unfortunately, my jailer—Dennis Foster—decided to bully me as I’d done to him so long ago.” He came to sit in a chair beside her. “As for Jimmy, on the night of the auction, he told me he was forced to steal and was afraid of what would happen if he didn’t deliver the things he was supposed to. I told him I’d keep him safe, but he disappeared on me.”

  “And then you disappeared.” She watched him rub his palms against his slacks repeatedly. Why was he uneasy? Her heart picked up. “Please tell me Jimmy’s all right.”

  “He’s safe. He was caught burglarizing another home in hopes of replacing the things in my cabin. He had a week to think through his future in jail, but the fear of his mother didn’t go away as long as she was free. But we found her.”

  She frowned. “You mean he wasn’t an orphan?”

  Aaron shook his head. “His mother had him tell Nicholas she was dead so he could steal from the Lowes. Whenever you tried to adopt him out, he behaved badly so he could remain at the mansion.”

  “So now that his mother has been caught, is he . . . better behaved?” Somehow she couldn’t imagine a well-behaved Jimmy.

  Aaron snickered. “He tells staff where he’s going now and attempts to do his chores without a fuss, but he’s still . . . hard.” He sighed and looked at his hands between his knees. “I’m afraid I know all too well how difficult it is to feel safe enough to be vulnerable.”

  She picked at her skirt. As much as she was glad to hear Jimmy was safe, she almost wished Lydia had told her in a letter rather than having Aaron come and talk to her so . . . businesslike. She swallowed against the tightness in her chest and stared at her lap. Perhaps she still did have to tell her heart to stop thinking about him so often. “So what happens when his mother gets out of jail?”

  “In hopes of getting a lighter sentence, she gave up her rights to Jimmy. I intend to adopt him.”

  “That’s going to be . . . difficult.” Would Nicholas let Aaron have both Jimmy and Owen? It would be a lot for one man.

  “Correct, but difficult things need to be done by somebody, yes?” A ghost of a grin showed up on his face. “I could wait until I felt more prepared or to see if someone else might take him, but how many months or years would go by without Jimmy feeling secure or wanted?”

  She could only sit and stare at the man she’d once thought the world would be better off without. What would’ve happened had someone chosen to love him as a child despite his behavior or showered him with the prayers she’d thought he didn’t deserve?

  She couldn’t imagine he’d have turned out better, but he’d probably have less guilt and shame to deal with, and fewer people would’ve been hurt.

  “I’m sure it wasn’t easy for you to confront Mrs. Sorenson about her attitude toward Sadie, but it was right, so you did it anyway.” He turned to look at her, his dark brown eyes filled with the same pleading look she’d caved to the day of his interview. “Nor could it have been easy to champion me for that teaching position after the board called your sanity into question after figuring out I’d once bullied you.”

  He’d heard about that? She stared at David’s mahogany desk. “I knew what sort of man you’d become. You deserved the position.”

  “So I’ve convinced you I’m not who I used to be?” His smile trembled a bit.

  “You’ve proven yourself to be one of the best men I’ve ever met, and I should’ve . . . waited for you to come back, to hear your explanation, but . . .” Her throat closed off with tears.

  “But what?”

  She rubbed her eye. “I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing you again if you weren’t the man you’d convinced me you were.”

  “Then you left because you were upset with me?”

  She shrugged. It was more because she’d been gutted, believing her dreams of a future with him had been nothing more than fancy, as Mr. Carter had said. She fiddled with the pleats of her skirt. “Partially, but I also need a job and figured this would be a better place than Teaville to look.”

  “Yes, in light of that . . .” He moved to sit on the edge of his seat, his knees now only inches from hers. “I’ll be teaching math here in Kansas City come fall.”

  “That’s wonderful.” Though what did his job have to do with hers? Wait, hadn’t David said this was a job interview?

  “I plan to adopt both Owen and Jimmy before moving, and, well, a new job and two children is a lot to juggle. I’m willing to sacrifice an easier life to help them, but I’m not dense. I know I’m going to need help. That’s why I came to see you.”

  So this was the job? “Since you’ll be teaching, they’ll have the same hours as you. They’re not young. You won’t need a nursemaid.”

  “Well, no.” He fidgeted in his chair enough she could feel the floor wiggle beneath them. “But you see, I never had a good example of parenting, but I figure yours must’ve been great. You were such a good kid. When I treated you poorly, you never retaliated.”

  Oh, why must he compliment her after the weeks she’d treated him unfairly? “What would you have me do?”

  “Love the boys.”

  She shrugged. “I already do. You don’t have to pay me for that. If I find a job here, I’m willing to visit them weekly, if you’d like.”

  “I’d rather have you around more often.”
He took her hand. “Although I don’t doubt you’ll continue to love them, what I’m hoping for is that you’ll love me.”

  Her heart stuttered. There was no need for him to hope for that—she already did.

  He played with her fingers, rubbing them between his calloused ones. “I’ll be returning to Teaville to garden until the end of the summer, as I promised Lowe. So what I came to ask was, would you be willing to return to the mansion and get to know all three of us better, in hopes you’ll move here with us in the fall as my wife and their mother?”

  How was she supposed to answer such a question when her throat was filling with tears?

  His eyes seemed even darker as he frowned at her attempts to keep from sobbing. “The Lowes said they’d be happy to have you back to help the Cleghorns adjust to their new role as directors.”

  She cleared her throat, hoping she could answer his question without garbling it completely, but she couldn’t force out a word.

  He looked down. “You don’t have to promise me anything.” He put a fist against his chest. “I realize I’m probably the last man you wanted to end up with. And though I have the noblest intentions with the boys, I’m afraid I might not be the greatest parent. If we were to have children, you’d have to be sure I’m the father you’d want for them.” His breath came out stuttered. “And though I don’t want to live up to my name—the name given to all the eldest males in the Firebrook family, including my uncle George—I’m hoping you’d be willing to live up to yours, because I will need mercy, and lots of it, because things from my past still haunt me. I definitely don’t deserve the mercy you’ve already bestowed upon me, so if you choose to tell me no, I’ll understand.”

  She cupped his bristly cheek with her hand and smiled through her tears. “It’s me who doesn’t deserve you.”

  He captured her cold hand with his warm one and closed his eyes.

  “However, I’ll only go back to Teaville with you if you promise one thing.”

  His eyes flew open. “What’s that?”