by Lisa Olsen
I held the small engagement party for Matty and Oriana at my place. It was cheaper that way, even though Parker generously offered to host it at the club. Oriana still wasn’t good with large crowds and the music there might have easily overwhelmed the sensitive girl. There were only a few people there I didn’t know, friends of Matty’s I’d never met, other than that it was the usual crowd I called family. Parker brought Luz, and I was glad to see them still together.
My mom was still holed up in The Edgewater, there was no rush to hurry back to California in her jobless state. After Adam’s disappearance, I’d called the hotel to inquire into her bill, knowing I’d be in serious debt if she stayed too much longer, but I was informed that all the arrangements had been made for her indefinite stay. I could practically hear Adam telling me not to worry my pretty little head about it, so I didn’t.
I expected she’d go home at some point, but with the baby coming, she’d been dropping more and more hints about being there for me when the time came. I was of two minds about that. Part of me was grateful for the offer of help. No matter how flaky she was in other parts of her life, she had given birth to the two of us, and raised us through infancy without any major mishaps, and I was glad for that experience. At the same time, I knew I’d have to endure the endless litany of advice whether I asked for it or not over every facet of my existence. The jury was still out over whether or not it was worth the trouble.
For the time being, my mom filled most of her days worrying about the upcoming wedding though, and the engagement party was less of a party than a last minute strategy session to try and get my brother and his fiancé to go with her choices whenever possible. I stayed out of it as much as possible, keeping to the mundane details of keeping the bowls of chips full and the drinks coming.
Still, the night wasn’t without its entertainments. I was in the middle of eavesdropping on Matty explaining to Oriana (with exquisite patience) why there was no moral obligation to pick angel food cake over devil’s food cake, when I saw Daphne’s face light up with happiness. That could only mean one thing.
Sam.
I let them have their joy-filled reunion without intruding, smiling openly as Daphne tackled him with a big hug. Instead of freezing as he might have done only a few months ago, Sam wrapped his arms around Daphne, lifting her into the air with a spin, both of them laughing like fools. A lump rose in my throat, but I did my best to keep smiling, happy for them at least.
After a few minutes, Sam made his way back to me in the kitchen, his smile fading to a much more somber nod of greeting.
“Did you find him? Have you talked to him?” Even before I asked the questions I knew the answer wouldn’t be good, or he’d have had a dazzling smile for me too.
“I’m sorry, Mercy. Adam doesn’t want to be found.”
“But you’re not done looking, right? You still have other places you can check.”
“I truly have no idea where he has hidden himself. For all I know he has returned to Midian.”
“No.” I could feel him out there through our bond of shared Grace. He was far, but not that far. “Wherever he is, he’s here on the face of the Earth. Isn’t there anything else you can think of?”
“I have made many inquiries on your behalf. If he turns up in any of those places, I’ll hear of it.”
It was the best I could hope for, and I gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks, Sam. I really appreciate you giving it your best shot.”
“I only wish I could do more.”
“Adam knows where I am. I guess I’ll have to wait for him to come back in his own sweet time.” Hopefully he’d measure his time in human years, and I wouldn’t have to wait a hundred years or more to see him again.
“And how are you? The child grows well?” His eyes dipped to my abdomen, voice lowering discreetly.
“It’s okay, the secret’s out. Everybody knows about the baby. Yes, I’m doing fine. Thanks to the tea Luz gave me, I don’t even feel all that sick anymore, either.” I still got tired a lot easier, and I cried at the drop of a hat, but I was able to get through most days without a meltdown.
“Then you are adjusting to the idea of becoming a mother?”
“It’s starting to grow on me, yes,” I smiled. It still scared the hell out of me, but I was definitely adjusting to the idea of carrying a baby. Already Nelo had baby-proofed the place, and declared we should move to an apartment on the ground floor. I was just glad I hadn’t given my landlord notice before Adam disappeared, or I’d have to deal with finding a new place on top of everything else.
“I’m glad,” Sam gave me his sunny smile. “Did you know there are websites online that have thousands upon thousands of baby names with their meanings and etymology?”
“That’s already been decided. I believe you said you’re going with Parker, whether it’s a girl or a boy, isn’t that right?” Parker sidled up beside me, a teasing grin on his face.
“You can’t seriously expect to hold me to that, I was kidding at the time!” I laughed, elbowing him in the side.
“Why not? I still think it works, for either a boy or a girl.”
“I have often thought Sam to be an appropriate name for either gender as well,” Sam volunteered, and I couldn’t help but grin wider.
“Not you too. Since when is Sam a girl’s name?”
“Isn’t it the witch’s name on TV?” As if there was only one show with a witch ever made.
“The witch’s name?”
“Yes, married and keeping house with her husband Darren. Daphne and I often watch her juggling life as a mortal with her meddling mother and crazy uncle.”
“Oh, you mean Samantha from Bewitched. That wouldn’t be my first choice, but I’ll keep it in mind.” He looked a little crestfallen by that, but brightened at the offer of a glass of chocolate milk from Daphne.
“You got a minute?” Parker leaned close, lowering his voice for my ears only.
“Barring a pretzel emergency, I think I can spare you a few minutes. What’s up?”
“Let’s step outside for a bit.” Despite it being mid-January, we were treated to an unusually mild day out. While it wasn’t exactly balmy, the sun made it more than bearable out there without a jacket.
“Okay.” Following him out onto the small patio, I watched him carefully shut the door behind us. Whatever it was he wanted to talk about, he wanted to do it in private. “So… what did you want to talk about?”
“We haven’t really talked about this much, but you know I know you’re pregnant.”
“The secret’s out,” I nodded. My thoughts turning suddenly, I shot him a sidelong look. “You’re not going to tell me you don’t want a pregnant lady working behind the bar, are you?”
“What? God no, angel. You’ve got a job for as long as you want one, that’s not what I wanted to say at all.”
“Oh, good,” I relaxed, looking out over the street below. “That’s the last thing I need right now, to lose my job on top of everything else.”
“But it hasn’t escaped my notice that you’re on your own right now.”
“That much seems certain.” Especially given Sam’s news.
“And not to rub salt in the wound, but it doesn’t look like Adam’s coming back anytime soon.” I didn’t bother to respond to that. Whatever point he had to make, I wished he’d make it soon. “I thought maybe…” He took a deep breath. “I think maybe we should get married.”
“Oh God, that’s all I need now…” my head swiveled to stare at him. What was he thinking? He could step into Adam’s shoes and I wouldn’t notice the substitution?
“What? Your baby’s gonna need a father.”
“And you think you qualify?” Parker seemed miffed by my response, and I laid a hand on his arm to soften the blow. “I’m sorry, it’s just… Come on, Parker… you as daddy material? Can you honestly say you’re ready to wake up all hours of the night, changing diapers, feeding, burping, the crying…” I didn’t think I was ready for i
t myself.
“That’s my point. You need someone to share the burden.”
“I don’t want anyone to think of my baby as a burden,” I frowned, and he waved that away.
“Poor choice of words then. I didn’t mean it like that, darlin’. I meant it’s a lot for you to handle on your own. It’s okay to ask for help.”
“Then I reserve the right to ask Uncle Parker to babysit whenever I need a mental health break.” After a careful period of observation of course, so I knew he’d actually watch the baby instead of park it in front of the TV with a game on.
“You know you need more than that. Let me help you, Mercy. I know I might not seem like the kind of guy you can count on…”
“No, that’s not my objection. I know I can count on you, Parker. You’ve really been there for me, and please don’t think I don’t appreciate it, really. But marriage…” I let out a drawn out sigh. “I’m already engaged.” My eyes went to the ring I hadn’t taken off since Adam placed it on my finger.
“So that’s it? You sit and pine while Adam takes his sweet time deciding if he wants a family or not, and the moment he crooks his finger you come running?” His tone sparked with bitterness, and I struggled to reply in a way that didn’t make me sound utterly pathetic.
“I wouldn’t put it that way, but essentially… yeah. This is his baby, he deserves to be the father, nobody else.”
“What if he never comes back?”
A thought I’d tried not to dwell on too much. “I’m not ready to give up yet. It’s only been a few weeks. I know he loves me, and he won’t be able to stay away forever,” I said with more conviction than I felt.
“Okay, but will you promise me you’ll think about it? Come on, Merce, it wouldn’t be that bad. We have a lot of fun together, don’t we? And I wouldn’t expect you to, you know…”
“What?
“You wouldn’t have to sleep with me. Well, unless you wanted to,” he grinned.
I hadn’t even taken it that far, but it was obvious he’d put a lot of thought into it. I couldn’t imagine a marriage like that in name only, even between friends, and I couldn’t imagine what he hoped to get out of it. “Why are you doing this?”
“I told you, I want to help you.”
“This doesn’t sound like a very good deal for you. You help me out and expect nothing in return?”
“Well, not nothing,” he grinned wolfishly.
“See, you do have expectations!” I punched him in the shoulder and he was quick to backpedal.
“I meant cooking! Mercy, I was kidding around, you look so serious.”
“Crazy me, I thought we were having a serious conversation,” I snorted.
“No, you’re right, we are. All kidding aside, I’m very serious about this. I really think we can make it work.”
“What about you and Luz? I thought you were dating.” Was it strange that he’d brought her to the engagement party as a date, obviously intending to propose the entire time?
“We are,” he shrugged. “But we’re all adults. We all recognize certain needs that require filling. I think we can handle it.”
He said it so calmly, like we were talking about sharing a car or something. “I can’t believe we’re actually talking about this. Parker, I really appreciate the offer, but I’m not going to marry you just to give my baby a father. I don’t think I could marry anyone unless I loved them.”
Parker nodded, his face inscrutable. “I can understand that. But the offer still stands if you need me.”
“You’re a good friend, Parker,” I reached up to give him a hug. “I’ll definitely give you a call when things get rough, but I don’t want you putting your life on hold for me. Now get in there and get back to your date, I’m sure she’s wondering what happened to you.”
“Are you coming?”
“No, I think I’ll stay out here and enjoy the brief glimpse of sunshine while I can. I’ll be in soon though.”
I didn’t have long to wait before Luz stepped out onto the terrace with me. I’m not gonna lie, I immediately felt awkward around her, wondering if she knew about Parker’s proposal or not. If she knew, she gave no sign of it, though. Instead she chatted with me about pregnancy symptoms and her experiences while being pregnant with her two boys and having to raise them alone after their father left.
It was nice to have that common ground, and I immediately forgot to feel weird around her, until she followed up a particularly gruesome description of childbirth with, “He’s in love with you, you know.”
“He has a funny way of showing it by taking off when I need him the most.” There was no disguising the bitterness in my voice. On the off chance Adam was nearby listening in, I wanted him to know how much anguish his disappearance had cost me.
“I meant Parker.”
Oh yeah, she definitely knew about the proposal… “I know he does, but it’s not like that. We… we go way back, that’s all. He thought he was making this gallant gesture, but I think we both knew it wouldn’t work.”
“No, it’s deeper than that, I can tell.”
Shit. Now things were going to be screwed up between them because of me. “Luz, I can promise you, there’s absolutely nothing to be jealous of. He made an offer to help me out, and I turned him down, plain and simple. Parker knows I’m in love with Adam. Besides, I thought things were going well between the two of you?”
“They are,” she shrugged, looking out at the setting sun. “We both know what it is and what it isn’t.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means we have something comfortable, but we both know it’s nothing more than that. Especially when he’s in love with someone else.”
“I’m sorry,” I ventured, not knowing what else to say.
“No, don’t be,” she turned, smiling warmly, and I wondered how she could be so enlightened. If I was in her shoes, I’d be tossing me over the balcony. “It isn’t your fault. I’m still looking for my knight in the shining armor, and I could do a lot worse than to have Parker warming my bed in the meantime,” she winked. “Ven, let’s go inside, it’s starting to get cold out here.”
The party was starting to wrap up as we stepped inside. A knock at the door had Daphne up to answer it, only to have her wave me over a second later. “They have to have you sign for it, it’s certified.”
A courier stood outside, waiting politely, a large cardboard mailer tucked under his arm. “Oh, sure, do you need ID?”
“Just the signature, ma’am.” A few seconds later and I was the proud owner of said envelope, the return address from an attorney’s office I didn’t recognize.
“What is it?”
“I have no idea, it’s from some lawyer,” I shrugged, handing her the outer envelope as I found a sealed letter inside.
“Finch and Graybill… I know that office. They make arrangements for me whenever I run short of funds,” Sam offered, looking over her shoulder.
“They make arrangements for you from Adam?” My heart quickened as I tore open the inner envelope. Maybe Adam decided to contact me though his attorney’s office because he thought it was safer? The typewritten letter read:
Dear Ms. Renault:
Please contact the undersigned at your earliest convenience to discuss disbursement of a sizeable trust account and properties in your name.
Very truly yours,
John M. Finch, Attorney At Law
“It’s a letter asking me to call them about some money in my name,” I frowned, turning the paper over, but there wasn’t anything else included.
“There’s another letter in here,” Daphne held up a single sheaf of folded paper with my name on it, sealed with a blot of red wax. Even before she gave it to me, I knew who it was from. With trembling fingers, I accepted the letter, breaking open the seal. I read the brief letter three times through before I looked up, my eyes shiny with unshed tears.
“What is it, baby?” My mother wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “What’s
wrong?”
“It’s from Adam. He’s not coming back.”
Look for Mercy’s adventures to continue in the next book of The Fallen series, Child of Mercy.
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Read on for a special preview of Lisa Olsen’s novel, Pretty Witches All in a Row, available now!
Books by Lisa Olsen:
Pretty Witches All in a Row
The Touch
Moonsong
Nine Steps to Sara
The Fallen Series
Angel of Mercy
Mercy for the Wicked
Mercy for the Damned
Child of Mercy
Forged Bloodlines Series
Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down
Meet Me When the Sun Goes Down
Find Me When the Sun Goes Down (Spring 2013)
For more information, visit the author’s website at http://www.lisaolsen.net
Pretty Witches all in a Row
Chapter One
Prin lumina acestei lumânări
Conjur puterile întunericului
The words reverberated through her mind, indistinct; she couldn’t quite place the language or make out the intent. The air grew oppressively hot, the scent of bitter herbs permeating the room. Her breathing came in shallow gasps as an unreasoning panic seized her limbs. She was in grave danger…
Să îmi dea puterea
Să îmi recapăt tinereţea şi să îmi dea viaţă de-a pururi
Suddenly there was no air, no breath, no light; only a terrible sinking sensation, as though she was being sucked into a black hole. A terrified scream ripped through her, drawing her out of the void, even as the final words hovered in the air.
Aşa cum am spus aşa sa fie…
Annaliese clutched at the twisted bed sheets, chest heaving as she sucked in a greedy breath. Her entire body was covered in a fine sheen of sweat, heart beating like a jackhammer as she grew more aware of her surroundings. All a dream…