by Debra Holt
“I’ve got to pick up the tuxes in half an hour, so I’d better get a move on.” He rose from his seat. “I guess I won’t see you again until you walk down that aisle. This is becoming a habit with us.”
Mercy looked at him as he moved to stand beside her chair. She wished she had put on more makeup or maybe dressed in something a trifle more feminine than the sweat pants and T-shirt she had grabbed. He was in fine form in gray slacks and a black pullover that stretched nicely across broad shoulders and hard abs. Her head began to throb more.
“A habit?”
“Walking down an aisle together. Flowers … rings … romance.” His smile turned megawatt. “Oops, my bad. I mentioned the R word. You know, we need to have a talk after all this craziness dies down. I think we need some alone time.”
Talk about sending her heartbeat racing! Mercy almost choked on a sip of juice. Josh had lost his grin, replacing it with a dead serious expression. She suddenly needed him to leave, or at least she needed to put the width of the room between them. It was her move.
“Wow, oh my! Look at the time. Mom will think I’ve forgotten her.” Mercy popped out of her seat and headed for the connecting door in a flash.
“You can run now, Mercy Smith, but I know where to find you later.”
Josh’s words followed her, but she didn’t stop. Let him think what he wanted about her exit. She had a busy day ahead. Then, if she was lucky, she would figure out how to put some distance between them the rest of the time.
“Face it, dear brothers.” Mercy stood next to the pair of men as they watched their mom and Larry, now their official new stepdad, cut the cake and pose for photos. “You were wrong. Mom is very happy. Larry’s going to be good for her.”
“We were wrong? You’re the one who tracked her here to Vegas and tried to stop all this from happening.”
“Only because you two were about to stroke out. At least I had the sense to talk you both down, as usual. It’s tough, always having to be the more mature one in this family.”
“Give us patience,” Russ raised his eyes to the ceiling and sent the usual request for a higher power to help them with their sibling.
The trio dissolved into laughter. Mercy looped her arms through theirs as she stood between them. “I have to admit it’s good to have everyone together again. I wish you all would move back to Texas. Then we could do this more often.”
“Do what more often?” Steven teased. “Overthrow weddings?”
She pinched his arm.
“I’m serious.”
“You sound like Susan. She’s been at me to take retirement and for us to settle in Texas … maybe around the San Antonio area,” Steven admitted.
“That would be great!” Mercy beamed. “Not too close so we’d get on each other’s nerves, but a nice drive for a weekend visit.”
“Gee, thanks—I think,” he shot back.
“Now, how do we get you back to Texas, Russ?”
“A huge law firm that wants to make me a partner and a corner office … to start.”
“There are more important things than money.”
“I think my wife and kids would disagree with you on that one,” Russ stated dryly, nodding in the direction of his family across the room.
“Then it’s time their favorite aunt had a discussion with them.”
“Favorite? Aren’t you the confident one?”
She gave his arm a slight squeeze. “Whatever. I could get Susan to help me.”
“You used to be such a sweet, quiet child. What happened, Mercy?” Steven chimed in with a wink at his brother.
“So, Mercy.” Russ jumped in before she could respond. “Our new brother—is that what he is? He can’t seem to take his eyes off you. What gives?” The observation seemed casual enough as he took another sip of his punch. A quick flush came into her cheeks, and she glanced quickly across the way then back to the couple at the cake table.
“I’ve noticed that, too.” Steven took up the subject, much to her consternation. “What’s up with that? Should we be asking him what his intentions are toward our sister?”
“If you two had more than punch in those cups, I would say you both have had too much champagne and would cut you off. As it is, there’s no explanation for you both being out of your minds, except that it’s just normal for you. In order to have an adult conversation, I need to spend some time with your wives and my nieces and nephew now.” She gave a toss of her head and a brief wave of her hand as she left them.
“Love you, too, sis.” Russ chuckled.
The happy couple came through the glass doors and right into the middle of the group standing between them and the limo. In a gale of laughter, handfuls of birdseed rained down on them. Jan hugged everyone, turning last to Mercy. She looked right at her daughter, who stood to the side with Josh close behind her. She stepped over quickly and gathered her in her arms.
“Not again, Mom … go … before we cry some more!”
Mercy tried to keep the moisture out of her eyes for the umpteenth time that day. She watched her mom stand on tiptoe and plant a kiss on Josh’s willing cheek.
“You keep an eye on her for me,” she murmured as he bent his head to her.
Now why would she say something like that? Mercy wished she hadn’t. But then, everyone knew Mom took every opportunity to matchmake, and she’d made no bones the day before about favoring Josh as a suitor for her daughter.
“And this”—Jan thrust the bridal bouquet into Mercy’s hands in a quick move—“is for the next person to walk down the aisle.”
The shock on Mercy’s face as she looked from the bouquet to her mom brought laughter from the crowd. A few minutes later, the limo pulled smoothly away from the curb and Mercy stood watching as the car disappeared.
Her family began moving back inside the hotel, but for some inexplicable reason, a feeling of sadness came over her, touching her like a soft breeze.
“He’ll take good care of her. She’ll be happy.” Josh’s voice came as he stood beside her, his hand moving to rest lightly on her shoulder.
The touch drew her thoughts back from the melancholy of the moment, and she fought against the rebellious desire to tell him to go away.
“I know he will!” She moved her shoulder from beneath his touch. “Why do you always act like you know what I’m thinking?”
“Maybe because we’re more alike than you want to admit. We’ve had a connection since our eyes met in that helicopter on the day we were brought together.” He offered her yet another handkerchief from his inside pocket. “You might need this. You left your other one in the reception room.”
Mercy tightened her grip on the bouquet. “I’m fine. I don’t need that.”
“Sorry—it looked like there were some tears in those lovely eyes of yours.”
“Well, you’re wrong. Besides, what if there were? Weddings make people cry … for some stupid reason.” Mercy turned to go back inside, but his hand on her elbow turned them both in the opposite direction, toward the gardens.
“Let’s take a walk. The others have gone up to collect their luggage. We have a while before they leave for the airport.”
Mercy didn’t feel like making a scene, and that’s what would happen if she tried to disagree. Besides, the set of his jaw told her that Josh had something specific on his mind.
A few minutes later, they found a shaded bench under an arbor of vines. She perched at the end of it as Josh took the spot beside her. He removed his jacket and laid it across his lap. Mercy decided the bench wasn’t nearly big enough—their shoulders brushed far too much as he moved.
She rose. “How’s your leg? Maybe you should go upstairs and—”
“My leg is fine, Mercy. The nurse in you can relax. It’s the woman I want to talk with right now. Please sit, or I’ll have to stand, too.” Her heart skipped a few beats under that deep blue gaze. Her silence made him pause. “What? No comeback?”
She reached out and brushed away an imaginar
y speck of dust from the bench seat. “You seem to feel there’s something to discuss, so I’m listening.”
He waited until she sat down again. “First, I want to thank you for bringing your brothers around to the idea of this marriage. I know you had a lot to do with their being here.”
“It was the right thing to do. Plus, after they met Larry and visited with him, they saw the same thing I did. Mom’s happiness was all any of us wanted, and we know she has that with Larry. It’s her time now. We’ve had ours.”
“Yes, it was the right thing to do. This whole wedding has given me some hope that maybe your ideas on romance and all that stuff, as you like to term it, might be changing.”
“I wouldn’t push that if I were you.”
“You don’t make things easy, do you?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I think you do, but just in case there’s any doubt, let me say this.”
His hand went under the hair at her neck and held her still while his mouth found hers. This kiss, unlike the other ones they had shared, wasn’t light. It didn’t hesitate … it made a statement. Josh staked a claim, and Mercy’s lips answered of their own volition without waiting for her permission. Part of her mind begged her to pull back, but her heart overrode that thought instantly. In the end, she wasn’t the one who pulled away.
Reluctantly, Josh relinquished her lips. A fire burned in the depths of his eyes as he moved to gently cup her cheek with his hand. His gaze fell to the soft fullness of her kiss-swollen lips, then slowly returned to look into Mercy’s eyes.
“I hope that was plain enough.”
Mercy blinked in confusion, her mind still foggy from the impact of that kiss.
“You said a while ago that it was your mother’s turn at happiness; you all had yours. I beg to differ with that statement. Everyone deserves happiness, Mercy … and you still have plenty of time for your own ahead of you. With that in mind, let me make myself clear on the subject. I intend to court you, Mercy Ann Smith. Consider yourself warned. I believe our paths were meant to cross. There’s something between us, and it’s time we figured out what it is. It begins with dinner tonight. So after you see your family off, I’ll be waiting in my suite.” He stood then and placed a light finger on the tip of her nose for a second. His smile warmed her even more than the heat of the late afternoon sunshine. “Don’t forget to wear dancing shoes. You still owe me a dance.”
Mercy simply sat there as he walked away. She watched until he disappeared from view. What had just happened? Something earthshaking, for certain. When she looked around, things seemed different. The brightness of the sunlight still filtered through the trees, the sound of the water falling over the fountains still soothed, and the slight breeze still stirred the hairs on her skin. But something—no, everything— seemed different, much more vibrant. A shiver made its way up her arms and down her spine.
She wasn’t sure what had changed, but something had transpired. Something had vanished, and something new had begun in its place. It scared her. What was it that she had left behind? The old Mercy … was there such a person?
Whatever had occurred, the man who’d just kissed her was deeply involved in the transformation. Mercy rose and walked slowly toward the hotel. Her mind and senses conflicted with each other. That had happened a lot the last few weeks. If she thought back to the origins, she had the distinct feeling she would find he had been correct earlier. Her feelings for him had begun when she first looked down into a pair of blue eyes that had reached straight into her soul and saw what no one else could. Maybe it had begun at the same time Josh said he’d found his angel.
The Lord works in mysterious ways. The words filtered through her mind unexpectedly, and for once, she didn’t push them away.
Chapter Thirteen
“I should have checked with the airline. I probably could have booked a flight out tonight.” Mercy attempted small talk as Josh stood beside her in the elevator, but he chose to ignore it. The smile still lingered on his face—right where it had been since she’d given up wasting time in her room and entered the living room of his suite a few minutes earlier.
Josh had been patiently waiting there. He rose from his chair as she moved into the room. If she had allowed herself to meet his gaze for longer than a second or maybe two, Mercy might have ended up tripping over her own high-heeled feet. Foreign emotions reeled around inside her, keeping her off balance. The look in those deep blue eyes might have been the final undoing of her resolve.
“It’s good to take some time just to relax and be tourists. Tomorrow will come soon enough. Tonight is our time.”
He reached his hand out toward her. It was her move next. She extended her own.
Don’t overthink, not tonight.
Warm fingers closed around hers, and the way he looked at her punctuated the movement. At some point between the garden and her return to the suite, Mercy had decided to enjoy a nice dinner and some conversation with Josh Wellman. He was a good-looking, well-educated man … and now he was family. What could be the harm?
At least, that’s what she’d told herself. Now it seemed that might have been naivety on her part. She was a moth getting mighty close to a flame that could be dangerous to everything she held on to so tightly in her well-ordered life. Maybe that was the problem … things were too well-ordered.
A limo waited for them, curbside. Josh helped her in first and then slid in after her. He captured her hand and kept her from moving all the way across the seat as she had planned. Mercy found it much nicer to sit and enjoy the view of the Strip as they passed than it had been walking along the crowded sidewalks as they’d done their first evening of searching for the eloping couple.
“Do I get to know our destination for this evening?”
“It’s a surprise. But I thought you should see the city before we leave.”
“We didn’t see enough of it on our walking tour?” she asked with a smile, curious as to what he had planned.
“Let’s just say you’ll get a different perspective this evening.”
A few minutes later, they left the neon-lit strip and turned onto a road that skirted the airport. The limo came to a halt in front of a hangar. Josh exited first, and he reached in to help Mercy from the car. A grin crossed her face as she saw what awaited them.
“Are you serious? Is that our next ride?”
“Yes, ma’am. I know it’s old hat to you, but I thought we could get a bird’s-eye view of the city. And this time, I’ll get to enjoy the helicopter ride seated beside you, not laid out on a stretcher.”
Mercy’s smile met his. She couldn’t see the harm in having some fun on her last evening in Las Vegas. Josh was doing his best to be charming, and it felt … right. His hand on her elbow moved them forward to greet their pilot.
Mercy settled into the seat, enjoying the luxury around her. This machine was made for executive travel with its deep leather seats, individual stereo headphones, and a pilot who provided a commentary for them on the sights below as they lifted off and flew over the sea of lights. The city appeared far larger than Mercy had realized, and the lights looked amazing from above. Through it all, she felt very much aware of the man beside her. It was indeed far better to have him seated beside her than as a patient.
Thank you. She sent the sentiment out into the night sky beyond the window.
“I can see how flying like this could be habit-forming.” Josh’s voice came through the headset, and she smiled at him. “There is something to be said for it.”
Mercy shook her head and laughed. “Well, this craft is a far superior ride than what I’m used to. I’d trade that for one of these anytime.”
An hour later, they returned to the limo and headed toward the Strip once more. Finally, Mercy stood beside Josh as a glass elevator lifted silently to deposit them on the top floor of a revolving restaurant. The ambiance—deep burgundy pile carpeting, fine china, and sparkling crystal—captivated her. High-backed chairs,
which resembled curved mini-thrones and invited intimate conversation, sat at secluded white linen-covered tables. The pièce de résistance was an incredible floor-to-ceiling view of the city below them. Soft candlelight flickered on the tables, and a six-piece band played softly near the dance floor.
“I hope this meets with your approval. The concierge at the hotel said this was ‘the place’ to dine.”
“I think it’s lovely. The view is perfect.” Mercy’s eyes glowed with pleasure as she took it all in.
“Yes … it is.”
She looked across at him and felt a blush of heat cross her cheeks as she realized he hadn’t been referring to the view. Mercy sighed in gratitude when the waiter arrived to take their order.
Silence lengthened between them.
Say something.
She tried to find a subject that would keep things light and not too personal. Preferably, not something that would make her heart race any faster.
“What do you have against dancing?”
Mercy’s eyes flew to his. The unexpected question made her hesitate at first as her thoughts tried to form a coherent reply. Her fingers toyed with the stem of her water glass.
“I don’t have anything against dancing. I just haven’t felt the need to participate. In fact, the one we shared together on the Fourth of July was the first time I’ve been on the dance floor in a few years.” She hoped he would move on.
“I know you must have had opportunities in those years. Why not? You’re very good. Does it have something to do with your fiancé?”
The man didn’t know how to give up. Thankfully, their shrimp cocktails arrived then and allowed her a brief reprieve until the waiter stepped away. Mercy did her best to keep her voice level and any hint of sadness away from his gaze.
“It has nothing to do with David. My dad taught me the various steps when I was a little girl. I would stand on top of his shoes—he was a big man, had big feet—and he would move us around the room. He loved to whistle, and one of his favorite songs was “San Antonio Rose.” So we danced to that over and over.”