Carter is curled up on the hospital bed, sleeping. It’s two in the morning and not exactly what I had in mind for tonight. I’ve needed to catch up on my sleep since Saturday night was so eventful.
The fleeting thought of Jude and his strong arms as he held me the little I slept that night has me aching inside for him again. I sure could use him right now.
The sound of fabric swishing as someone walks quickly toward our little curtained off room makes me pick my head up as it seems to have fallen on top of Mia’s for a moment as she’s fallen asleep, snuggled into my chest.
The curtain is slid back and the young doctor steps inside of our tiny domain. “It’s that virus that’s been going around. It usually lasts only twenty-four hours. She should be fine by then.”
“Okay,” I say as I get up, holding Mia and I look at the sleeping Carter and hate that I not only have to wake the little four-year-old up but I have to make him walk too.
The young doctor looks at my situation and frowns. “No daddy?” His light blue eyes look at me with more than a bit of sorrow.
I shake my head. “Nope. So, I guess it’s the usual thing for her. Plenty of fluids and rest?”
He nods and goes to pick up Carter. “I’ll take him out to the car for you.”
* * *
I breathe out a sigh of relief and he hears it and it makes him frown even more. “Thank you, Doctor Stevens. I really appreciate it. Chances are he’ll get this next and he really needs his rest.”
He follows me out, carrying the still passed out Carter and says, “It’s really none of my business but why don’t you let their father help out? Even if you guys aren’t together, he should still help.”
I slow down so he can walk next to me. “Their father passed away two years ago. Their mother did too. I’m their aunt. Their single aunt.”
“Oh,” he says as his cheeks go pink with embarrassment. “Sorry. I didn’t realize that.”
His silence is why I avoid telling people about my situation. It’s uncomfortable and people always try to find something to say. Some special words to make it all better. Guess what? There are none.
The walk to the car in complete silence is excruciating. I know it shouldn’t be. Maybe because I tell so few people about the tragic events that led up to me being a single mommy is why I feel so uncomfortable. I don’t know or care, I just wish it wasn’t this way.
Grabbing my keys, I unlock the doors on the Suburban and point at the back passenger side door. “That’s where his car seat is. Just set him in it, I’ll buckle him in after I get her squared away. Thanks, Doc.”
Walking around the car, I put Mia in her car seat and pray she doesn’t spew again and make a mess that will make me sick too. I notice the young doctor strapping Carter in anyway and it makes me smile.
After he’s done, he looks up and smiles at me. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”
“Sure,” I say as I finish the job of securing my precious cargo.
He points to the back of the car. “Meet me at the back.”
I close the door and wonder what he could possibly want. But to the back I go and find him waiting with one hand on the back as he leans against the black car. “Yes, Doctor Stevens?”
“My name’s Collin. I graduated from college early because I started it when I was fifteen. I became a doctor last year. I’m twenty-five. Young for a doctor.” He looks me over and I suddenly feel really uneasy.
I have on an old T-shirt, a pair of elastic waist shorts, house shoes that have seen better days and a tacky, red robe because Mia puked all over my good one. My hair is pulled back into a very messy bedhead ponytail and there’s no way I look attractive in the least, yet I think he’s about to ask me out.
“You must be one of those geniuses,” I say then feel really stupid for saying it.
He nods. “Yeah, anyway, what I wanted to talk to you about is really none of my business but I feel I have to say something.”
Now, I’m getting uneasy as shit and shift my weight to my left foot as I cross my arms over my chest. “What is it?”
He looks at me with a smile and says, “Have you seen a therapist about this?”
Fuck!
I nod. “I see her once a month. At first, it was once a week, but she thinks we’re making progress. Is my insanity really that obvious?”
He laughs. “I wouldn’t call it insanity. I would say you’re taking this all on yourself and that you shouldn’t be. Don’t you have a friend who you could lean on during the hard times?”
* * *
“Only the daycare workers know about me having the kids. I like it that way,” I say as I shift my weight again and feel very awkward.
Here I was thinking he was about to ask me out and instead he’s thinking I’m a lunatic. How embarrassing!
“Why is that?” he asks me then reaches out and unfolds my arms and holds both of my hands. “You don’t have to close yourself off to me. I’m not judging you. I only see that you’re making things harder for yourself than they have to be and I don’t think you have anyone around you that’s told you that.”
A lump forms in my throat as tears start to fill my eyes. “Their mother was my only sibling. We were very close like best friends close. She and her husband went out on a double date with our parents. Within fifteen minutes of them leaving their house, and me with the kids, our entire family left this world forever, leaving us behind, alone.”
His hands tighten around mine as he says, “That must’ve been very hard to deal with. All alone with a couple of little kids. You said two years ago so that means Mia was just a baby and her older brother was only two. That’s hard for the most seasoned mother to take, much less an aunt.”
I nod and feel the tears spilling down my cheeks. “It was. It is.”
“You know, I bet if you really look around and stop trying to keep all this to yourself, you’ll find at least one person who you can feel comfortable talking to about this. At least one person to help you with this tremendous burden that was placed on you.” He pulls me in for a hug and rocks back and forth with me as I start bawling like a baby.
Damn doctor!
I hate when this happens to me! It’s never happened when anyone else was around. I’ve always managed to keep my outbursts private. Then this damn young man comes along a sets my emotions free.
I sniffle and get a hold of myself. “I’m sorry.”
He takes me by my arms and holds me back as he looks at me. “Don’t be. And do yourself and those kids a favor and find that friend who can help you with this. We all need help. We’re not meant to take on things like raising a family all alone.”
And with his words, I feel terrible. I feel terrible because as well as he means, he has no idea what it’s like. He has no idea of the huge responsibility I have to make sure those kids never get hurt again.
Letting in another person is just too risky at this point. How come no one can understand that but me?
Jude
Making my way to the meeting room where the owners of the spa are with Mercy, I take the wine and cheese basket I brought for them and walk down the long hallway some lady who works here pointed me down.
Behind the clear glass door, I see Mercy sitting with her back to me and an older couple sitting across from her. I push the door open, making Mercy spin around in her chair and look to see who has interrupted their meeting.
“Jude!” she says as she hurries to get up. “What are you doing here?”
Her boss, Lester Cofield, lets her know why I’m here as he says, “Mercy, we invited him.”
She spins back around and looks at her boss. “Oh, I had no idea.”
I place the basket on the table and take Lester’s wife, Janice’s, hand. “A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Cofield.”
“You too, Mr. Hurst. My, you are so handsome,” she says with a blush on her pale cheeks.
“And you are gorgeous,” I say with a smile.
Her husband laughs and stan
ds up to shake my hand. “Jude, great to have you here.”
“Thanks for allowing me some of your time, Lester,” I say as I shake his hand then take a seat right next to Mercy who is pale, with dark circles, she’s tried to conceal with makeup, under her eyes.
Under the table, I run my hand over the top of her thigh which is covered by a pale blue, form-fitting skirt she has a white, silk shirt tucked into. “Mercy, how are you doing today?”
She gives me a nod then says, “Fine, anyway like I was saying, our sales went up this last month and I think the advertising we came up with is doing that for us.”
Lester looks at the wine and then at me. “Mind if we open that up, Jude?”
I get up and open the cellophane that’s holding in the delicious contents. I made sure there were four wine glasses and a corkscrew added to the contents of the basket filled with two bottles of red wine and some cut up fruit and cheese packages.
Mercy seems tired and distracted as I open the wine.
“Mercy, would you get the little fruit and cheese packages out so we can enjoy those with the wine?”
* * *
She gets up and takes the rest of the things out of the basket and places them in nice little piles on the platter I bought for them to go on. “Looks like there’ll be no need to go to lunch after our meeting today,” she says as she arranges everything perfectly.
“Nonsense,” I say. “I’ve made reservations at Abacus for us at one.”
Lester smiles at me. “You don’t say. How extravagant of you, Jude. And appreciate as well.”
Mrs. Lester adds, “I haven’t eaten there. I’ve heard great things about the food, though. And after the trip in from our place in Montana, I could use a fancy meal. Thank you, Jude. You’re not only handsome but very sweet. So would you like to tell us what you can add to our little spa?”
“I would,” I tell her as I place a glass of wine in front of her then hand one to Lester before I hand one to Mercy and take mine with me to sit down again. I rest my hand on her leg again with no one the wiser as it’s hidden under the table. “You did get my business plan in the email I sent you, right?”
“We did and I have to say it looks great,” Lester says as he picks up an apple and tops it with a piece of cheddar cheese. “If we decide to take you up on your offer, you do understand our girl, Mercy, here will still be making sure you run your section up to our very high standards? You don’t have a problem taking orders from a woman, do you?”
I look over at her and watch her take a drink of the wine. “Nope.”
“Great,” Lester says then pops the food into his mouth.
“Is there anything you’d like to know, Mercy?” I ask her.
She shakes her head. “No.”
Mrs. Cofield giggles and asks, “Is it his good looks and great body that have you acting so meek, dear?”
Mercy chokes on the wine as her face goes red. I pat her back and take the glass out of her hand to help her as I laugh a little. “You okay?”
She nods then stops coughing. “I’m fine. And his looks aren’t a problem. Well, not to me, anyway.”
Mrs. Cofield grins as she pulls the glass to her lips. “Of course, they’re not.”
Lester gestures to Mercy as he says, “Our girl, Mercy, here, is not normally this quiet, Jude. She’s a great gal and knows how to run a tight ship. She’ll eventually get used to you and then you can bet she’ll tell you how to streamline your process and let you know the most efficient and profitable way to run your section of our spa. I think it would be best if the two of you had a few meetings to get to know one another and make this thing work for us all. You can do that, can’t you, Mercy? You can have a few private meetings with Mr. Hurst and talk to him to find out how we can make his gym and personal training center work best, right?”
“Of course, Mr. Cofield. You know you can count on me, sir,” she says with a slight nervous tremor to her voice.
I feel like something’s wrong with her. Like something’s bothering her that she’s not told anyone about. I don’t think it’s merely my presence here.
Moving my hand over her upper thigh, I feel it tense up. “You know I think you should let me do a bit of personal training with you, Mercy. Then you’d know what it is I do and can do to make this business more profitable for the Cofield’s.”
Mrs. Cofield claps her hands as she says, “That’s a marvelous idea, Jude! Mercy, you could really learn about what he does to make his body so perfect and you could get all fit, absolutely free, dear.”
“Sounds great,” she says as she takes another drink of the wine. “So, I’ll get to work on that project as soon as I get time.”
Lester picks up another piece of cheese as he says, “Make that the top priority, please, Mercy. I want to get things going ASAP.”
“Yes, sir,” she says and I can’t shake the feeling she has something going on she’s trying to hide.
* * *
So I press it a bit to see if she’ll come clean with any information. “How about this evening, after you get off of work? I can take you to my gym at home and show you what it is I do.”
“No!” she says so quickly, it startles Mrs. Cofield and she drops her apple slice.
“No?” Lester asks.
“No, I can’t do anything after work hours. I can’t!” she says then fans herself with her hand.
“Mercy, we’ll gladly pay you overtime to do it,” he says. “We don’t expect you to do anything without being compensated for it.”
Mrs. Cofield adds, “We will need you to work a few extra hours each day until we have that new section running perfectly, you should realize that, Mercy. And let’s be honest, spending a few hours after work with Mr. Hurst here will most definitely be very enjoyable.”
Mercy looks at me with huge eyes, her lips are forming one straight line and she seems to be mentally telling me that this little venture of mine is fucking up her life.
Well, now what the hell do I do?
Mercy
Damn this man!
Mentally, I’m throwing daggers at him for making things so difficult for me. Not only did I get very little sleep last night as both kids started puking as soon as we got back home from the emergency room, but I had to call Becky and get her to babysit since they couldn’t go to daycare and I couldn’t miss this meeting.
I had plans to take off after lunch and go home to take care of the kids, but now it seems like I’m going to have to make Jude and his venture into the spa industry my everything.
And he’s only doing it to so he can spend more time with me!
If my bosses weren’t sitting here, looking at me like I’m crazy, I’d let Jude really have it. He’s so completely spoiled he doesn’t even realize he’s asking too much out of me.
Mr. Cofield looks at his watch and says, “Well, look at the time. If we’re going to make that one o’clock reservation, we better get a move on. We’ll take the new limo we bought for the spa.”
“I’ll just freshen up a bit and meet you all out front,” I say as I get up and hurry to my office to take some aspirin for the headache this business of seeing to Jude and his whim of making some type of a personal trainer space here is giving me.
Closing the door behind me once I’m in the safety of my office, I lean against the door and fight the urge to start crying. “Calm down, Mercy. It will all work out,” I say to myself.
Then a tap on the door makes me jump. “Mercy?” Jude asks.
Stepping away from the door, I run my fingers underneath my eyes just in case any tears have slipped out of them. “Yes?”
He opens the door and comes inside. He scoops me up in his arms and I want so badly to cry and tell him everything. But I can’t, so I simply rest my head against his wide chest and let him hold me.
His lips press against the top of my head as he asks, “What’s wrong, baby?”
“Nothing,” I mumble. “I’m just really tired.”
He holds me bac
k and looks at me. “And why is that?”
Because two little kids puked all night long and I had to take care of the poor little things and a doctor made me cry. But I say, “I had trouble sleeping.”
“You should’ve called me. I would’ve come over,” he says as he pulls me back close to him. “Maybe you couldn’t sleep because you missed me. I know I missed you.”
Wrapping my arms around him, I hug him tight and wish like hell I could lean on him. But I can’t and I need to set myself straight. “Jude, I wish you wouldn’t make things hard on me.”
He eases the hug and pulls back to look at me. “Is my opening a personal trainer thing here really too much work for you, Mercy?”
* * *
How can I tell him that I can’t possibly spend more time than I already do away from the kids, he knows nothing about? “Jude, you heard what they said. A few hours after work, that’ll make it around nine before I get off.”
He frowns at me then sighs. “Look, I can let this thing go. For you, I’ll let it go.”
“You really would?” I ask as I look into his eyes.
With a kiss to the tip of my nose, he says, “I’d do anything for you, Mercy. Anything.”
I hug him again and wish this could all be swept away. Only I know now that the owners want this, it will have to be done. “You know Mr. and Mrs. Cofield aren’t going to let it go, Jude.”
His chest heaves with a sigh. “Mercy, can you tell me what it is that has your time so taken up?”
“It’s just that I have to have a certain amount of downtime. That’s all,” I lie.
“It really won’t take any time to set things up. I don’t need your help. I can pay people to do it all. You and I can go eat dinner then make a stop back by here to make sure things are done each day. If they’re not, then I will take care of that. You don’t need to do a thing. I’ll pamper you like you’ve never been pampered before. So you’ll have better down time than you could ever get at home alone.”
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