“You can use my Jag,” comes Jude’s quick response.
“I’m afraid to drive that expensive car, Jude,” I whine. “What if I do something to it?”
“Then insurance will cover it,” he says with a laugh. “Go find Rose and get on a bikini and get your hot little fanny back out here so we can play with the kids together, Mercy. Scat!”
“Yeah,” Mia says with a giggle. “Scat!”
Getting up to go back inside, I find myself a mixture of happy and sad. I’m happy and appreciative I have someone in my life to help me now. But sad that I’m losing the strength I felt I had built up after my family left us.
The massive rooms of the estate are overwhelming. I haven’t ventured away from the path through some media room off the patio and through another room that seems to be a library, then there is a large staircase that leads up to the wing where Jude’s suites and those of his siblings are located.
Near the end of the hallway is Rose’s rooms. I knock and wait for her to answer. When she opens the door, I find her wiping her eyes which are red-rimmed. “Oh, hi, Mercy.”
“Hi, Rose. Your brother told me to ask you for a bathing suit. He’s adamant I join him for a swim,” I say then ask, “You want to talk about why you’re crying first, though?”
She shakes her head and goes to grab a suit out of one of her drawers. “Just man trouble. If you can call him a man.”
“What happened?” I ask as I follow her into her room.
“He’s been using me,” she says with a sniffle. “Donald has been using me all along! He has a wife back in England! I’ve been supporting that deadbeat and his wife all this time!”
“You have to get him the hell out of here before your brothers find this out. They’ll kill him!” I say as she starts to wail.
“I know,” she cries then grabs me and we hug as she lets it all out. “I thought he loved me!”
Poor girl, I think to myself. She’s so pretty and nice when she wants to be.
“Come on, I’ll help you line up a plane ticket for his rotten ass and we’ll get him out of your life forever,” I tell her as I pull back and look at her. “I’ll help you. This can be our little secret. You can tell your family that you decided to end it because he wouldn’t get a job. That way they won’t question your judgment and give you a bunch of grief about this.”
She sniffles and looks at me through the tears. “Thank you. You don’t know how bad they can be. This isn’t the first time a man has used me for my money and I know the whole family will treat me like an idiot if they find out I’ve been fooled again.”
“Your secret is safe with me. Now come on, let’s get the ass out of Texas,” I say then we get to work, making the arrangements to get him on the first flight out of Dallas.
Rose looks at me with a smile on her face. “You’re acting a heck of a lot like a sister, Mercy. I like that.”
I smile and nod but a lump forms in my throat as the thought of my real sister moves through my head. Will I ever get past missing them all?
Jude
An evening rain starts with a loud clap of thunder, sending Mia, Carter, and I into the house as we were just about to go on a ride with my father around the ranch. Abandoning the topless jeep, I grab Mia who holds my neck as if it’s a lifeline. “Oh no!” she shouts.
“It’s okay, pumpkin,” I tell her as Dad picks up Carter so we can get inside faster. “It’s not like the last time. Don’t you worry.”
Once inside we can hardly tell what’s going on outside. The kids perk right up and Carter laughs. “This place is like the mall. You have no idea it’s even raining!”
Mia wiggles to be let down, so I place her little feet on the floor and she and her big brother run to play with the toys I bought them. Dad and I take seats on the dark leather sofa in the playroom. Mercy’s at the meeting with her bosses and I’ve yet to hear from her.
I have to admit I don’t mind if she gets that job back or not. I have my own idea about a training gym and I’d like her to manage it. I’d like her to do more than just that, though. I want her to become my partner in it. If she’s able to keep the job at the spa, then I think that will have her holding off on my project.
“Where is everybody?” I hear my sister shouting.
Dad yells, “In the new playroom, Rose.”
* * *
Her eyes are a little puffy as she comes in and joins us on the sofa. “I have news I want to say only once so you two can let the rest of our nosy family know that Donald Pendergrass and I are over. He had a specific amount of time to find a job and he didn’t do it, so I sent him back to England, spending the last amount of money I will ever be spending on him again.”
I’m more than a little shocked. We’ve had to help her with the last three men she ended up taking care of. My sister is beyond naïve when it comes to men. They always take advantage of her.
“Are you growing up, sis?” I ask as I look at her and notice the end of her nose is red too. She was crying but at least she took care of the deadbeat on her own this time.
“I just might be,” she says then looks at the kids. “How are they taking the news they have to go away after Mercy gets back here?”
Placing a finger to my lips, I shush her then say, “We haven’t told them that yet. I’ll let Mercy deliver that bit of news to them on her own. And I do plan on trying to get her to stay at least one more night here.”
Dad sighs and I see he looks deep in thought. “You know, son, that young woman has a lot going on inside of her. Don’t push her too hard or you may end up driving her away. She’s been through a lot and I can see something in her that isn’t ready to give up and hand the reins off to anyone. No matter how capable they are.”
With a nod, I agree with my father. “I know. It’s so damn hard to not take over for her. But I know you’re right.”
* * *
Rose giggles out of nowhere then says, “She’s a good one, though. I’d love it if you got to keep her around. She’s the first real person any of us have ever brought home. I like her.”
“You do?” I ask as she was just telling me before the storm hit Mercy’s house that I should leave her alone so her turnaround has me a bit confused.
She looks at me and pats my hand. “I know I was against this at first. The kids, though, that’s what made me see you two in a different light. You’re doing so well with them. I’ve watched you four together a few times this weekend and you already seem like a little family. It’s cute.”
“But go slow, son,” Dad reiterates. “She’s fragile. I can see it. Too fast and she’ll bolt. She’s skittish.”
“Okay, I can hear people talking but I can’t seem to find you,” I hear Mercy shouting.
I jump up to go get her. The house is enormous and she seems to get lost in it very easily. “Stay put, I’m coming for you, baby.”
I find her only two rooms away and she looks mad and hurt so I pull her into my arms. “They said they couldn’t trust me. They said I could argue all I wanted and it would do no good. They told me if I used them as a reference they’d say I was dependable but secretive. So I can’t even use them. I’m back to square one, Jude.”
She lays her head on my shoulder and I feel her body shaking as she holds back the tears I know are threatening her. “It’s going to be okay. I’m in your corner. I have an idea anyway and if you had kept that job you’d never accept my offer.”
Moving to sit in one of the large chairs in the main dining room, I hold her on my lap and stroke her hair. She looks at me with worry-filled eyes. “Jude, I have to do this one my own. I have to. You can’t hand me everything. I have to know how to pull myself back up on my own. This is important to me.”
“And you will do it all on your own. You see, I want to partner up with you and open a gym, but one like no other. I want to hire personal trainers that I make out plans for them to follow. I want you to manage the entire thing. It’ll be a lot of work and will take a lot of ingen
uity. But the best part is, I want it to have a childcare center. That way the kids will be right there with us.”
Her eyes are sparkling as she searches mine. Then she shakes her head and throws me into a tailspin.
Why can’t she just accept help?
Mercy
“I can’t be your partner, Jude. I have no money to invest,” I tell him as he holds me on his lap.
He looks dejected as he says, “But I want you to be my partner, fifty-fifty. I want it. Just say yes and don’t make me beg you to become rich, Mercy. In the end, you will accept it, anyway. It’ll be the best decision you’ve ever made to join me on this venture.”
“I’ll accept a job as the manager but how could I possibly accept a partnership without putting any money into it?” I ask him as he has that determined look in his dark eyes. He’s going to be bratty about this, I can already tell.
“Mercy, this is a great opportunity for you. Don’t let your foolish pride get in your way. If you were offered this deal by anyone else, you know you would take it.” He leans in and kisses me with a delicate, light kiss that sends my head into the clouds.
“But no one would offer me such an outlandish deal, Jude. So, you can accept my offer to become the manager or I can look for something else,” I tell him as he narrows his eyes at me.
“I need you to be more than that. I need you to make up a business plan, head up the whole thing with me. We’ll have to make this thing from the ground up and I’ll be counting on you to do the majority of the project management aspects of this endeavor. I need you, Mercy. I’ve never had one goal in my life and now that I have one, I need someone’s help to see it through. I want your help. I need you, Mercy.”
I cannot stand his puppy-dog eyes as he stares at me. So I finally say, “Alright.”
* * *
He’s elated as he gets up and tosses me into the air, making me scream then he catches me and hugs me. “You’ve made me the happiest man ever!”
If he’s this excited over giving me something like this, how much happier could I make him?
“Jude, you’re crazy!” I say as he spins me around with him.
Stopping the spinning motion and leaving me a bit on the dizzy side, he says, “First thing in the morning, we’ll go scout out places to either build the place or find a place that’s already built and we can revamp it. And tonight we can work on a name for the place. You need to stay here so we can do that.”
“I really should go to the house. The kids need to get settled in. I stopped by there and your staff has it looking ten times better than it had ever looked. They really know how to clean. And the bunk beds in my old bedroom are appreciated. The kids will love that since they have to share.”
He looks at me with a determination I’ve yet to see in him then he sighs. “Okay, let me come too.”
“To the new house?” I ask. “What will the kids think? I mean, you’d have to sleep with me and what would they think? Oh, no. You can’t do that.”
He pulls me in tight and rocks us back and forth as he presses his forehead to mine. “You and I and those kids have slept in the same bed for the last two nights. So what’s the big deal if I share your bed?”
“I don’t know. Damn, Jude! You just don’t understand. I feel like I have to keep a stable situation for those two. Right now, they think you’re my very good friend. We don’t kiss or touch too much in front of them. They’ll know there’s more between us if you’re spending the nights with me in my bedroom,” I say as he starts kissing my neck, making my knees go weak.
“They’ll handle the news we’re a couple just fine. Give the kids some credit. I’m positive they’ll be fine with us in that way. They already love me. Mia told me while ago, I was her cute boyfriend and that she loved me so much.”
“Great, see? She thinks you’re available. She’ll be devastated when she sees you and I as a couple. This is never going to work. I should just let you go.”
His arms squeeze me tight. “I never want to hear those words come out of your mouth again. Not ever! You can’t just let me go because I will never let you do that. I can be very determined when I set my mind on something and my mind is set on you, girl.”
“Your Jag is going to look stupid in that driveway,” I say as I know he’s going to get his way. “You know that, right?”
He laughs and kisses me. My arms wrap around him and I run one through his hair as his tongue moves around mine and his hips grind against mine. He’s going to come home with me, to my old house and he’s probably going to try to stay every single night with me.
And I shouldn’t let him. I should put my foot down and tell him, no. I know it’s not a word the man hears much but I know I should do just that. But his mouth is making me wet and making my stomach tighten. His hands move down my back and he cups my ass in them.
When he pulls his mouth from mine, we’re both breathing hard. “I win,” he says with a chuckle.
“Well, now you’ve gone and messed up, Jude. I can’t let you win,” I say with a giggle as he runs his hands up my sides.
“I won! Admit it!” His fingers move over my waist as he begins to tickle me and I giggle some more.
“I’ll never admit that! You didn’t win, I just changed my mind is all!”
* * *
His laughter along with mine has the kids seeking us out and I hear little screeches of laughter peeling through the air as they run into the dining room. Carter grabs my leg and looks up at me. “What’s so funny in here?”
Mia is tugging at Jude’s pants leg and holding up her chubby little arms. He lets me go to pick her up and kisses her cheek. “There’s my girl.”
She puts her little hands on both of his cheeks and kisses him on the tip of his nose. “My cute boyfriend.”
Jude cuts his eyes at me then cocks his head to the side and says, “You know I love you, Mia. But your Aunt Mercy is my girlfriend. You can accept that, right?”
Mia’s little eyes go wide as she looks at me. “Your cute boyfriend, Aunt Mercy?”
I nod, hesitantly. “Are you okay with that?”
She shrugs her little shoulders. “Sure. As long as he’s one of our cute boyfriends.”
Carter claps his hands and jumps up and down. “We have an uncle now!”
Jude and I lock eyes. And now there is nothing I can do to stop this from rolling forward. The kids are over the moon about him and he’s a part of us now, no matter what I say.
How can I be letting myself get so completely tangled up with this man so damn quickly?
Jude
The house is tiny and not anything I’ve ever stayed in before. But I want to be with Mercy so I’m trying to make myself comfortable here in these surroundings. It’s been a while since anyone has lived here and I swear it feels like it’s been abandoned and shadows seem to ebb and flow throughout the small house.
The kids have to share a bedroom so I had a set of bunk beds brought in and the old double bed that had been Mercy’s before her family was killed was taken out and given to the local thrift shop.
I also had new bedroom furniture put in the bedroom that had been her parents. I tried hard to erase some of the things that might trigger bad or sad feelings in her.
Mercy comes out of the bathroom with Mia wrapped in a towel and sighs as she walks toward the bedroom that was hers up until that terrible night when the accident left her with a couple of huge responsibilities. Responsibilities she’s taken great care of but it’s taken a toll on her. Anyone can see that.
Getting up off the couch, I call out to her, “I’ll start the water for Carter now.”
“Thanks,” she shouts back at me. “This one bathroom thing is a real pain in the badonkey-donk.”
I laugh with her colorful use of language. “Watch your mouth, young lady!”
She laughs and I hear Mia giggle too. “He told you to watch your mouth, Aunt Mercy. Unckie Jude is too funny!”
“Yes, he’s a real riot,” Mercy says.<
br />
After I get the tub ready, I go try to pry Carter away from the television and the cartoon he’s been watching. “Bath’s ready, Carter.”
“Okay,” he says without taking his eyes off the television screen. “I’ll go in a minute.”
“Well, the water’s warm right now. It’ll get cold if you wait. You should also hurry because the bubbles I put in it will all be gone if you wait,” I tell him in an attempt to entice him into the bath he desperately needs. The kid has played hard all day and he smells like pure little kid funk.
The bubbles worked I see as he jumps up and sprints toward the small bathroom. “Bubbles! Yes!”
His clothes are hitting the floor as he goes and his little butt is bare just before he gets inside the bathroom. I laugh and go along behind him, picking them up and putting them in the hamper. “Holler when you’re ready to get out and I’ll help you, buddy.”
He splashes into the bubble filled tub and smiles like a kid on Christmas morning. “Okay.”
Closing the door half-way, I make my way to see how Mercy’s coming along with Mia. I find Mia dressed in some cute little Hello Kitty pajama set and Mercy combing out her wet hair and putting it into a braid as they talk. Leaning on the doorframe and watching them without either realizing I’m there, I listen to their conversation.
“He’s so nice, right, Aunt Mercy?” Mia asks as she plays with a little Barbie doll I let her pick out before we came here. I let both kids pick out a toy to start their new toy collection here.
“Yes, he is,” Mercy agrees, making me smile.
“And he’s so cute,” Mia says.
Mercy makes a long sigh. “Yes, he is.”
“And he’d be a good daddy,” Mia says.
* * *
Mercy nods but doesn’t say anything. So I clear my throat to let them know I’m here and say, “Looks like you have her pretty much squared away, Mercy. I’m going to run over to that little store on the corner up the street and get you and I some adult beverages to enjoy after we put these little cherubs in bed. Do you want anything else? Some beef jerky or anything like that?”
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