I roll my window down to see if I can hear anything. Then I hear her voice as she waves and turns to walk back to the car, “I love you two. Be good. I’ll be here at six to get you.”
That’s not the way anyone talks to a neighbor’s or friend’s kids, is it?
Mercy has kids! And she lied to me when I asked her that question!
Why would she lie to me?
Following her to the spa, I can’t even think about what I’m going to say to her. She lied to me!
I’m too pissed to face her right now, so I take the next left and change my plans for the day. I won’t be going to the spa today. I have no idea if I’ll be able to contain my pissed off state.
Instead, I think I need some more information and I think I might know how to get that. Mercy may not be willing to let me in on why she’s hiding those kids from me, but there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
A little phone call has me well on my way to finding out what her deal is. “Hi, I was wondering if you would be willing to accept a donation of children’s books.”
The woman answers enthusiastically, “Of course!”
I thought so. “Can I bring them by this morning?”
“That would be great. Anytime will be fine. Just ring the bell and I can come check your ID and let you inside. Your name is?” she asks.
“Jude Hurst,” I tell her.
Quickly, she asks, “Oh! Of Hurst Oil and Gas?”
“Yes, mam. Our company is helping out some of Dallas’ daycares and I picked yours.”
She squeals with delight. “Will the news media be with you?”
“No, this isn’t a public outreach program. This is private. Very private. What are your policies on reading to the kids?” I ask as my wheels are turning in my head as I’m trying to figure out how I can get to talk to at least that little boy who seems like he’s old enough to be able to carry on at least a little bit of a conversation.
“If you’re talking about you reading to them, that will be fine. Your reputation is very public. You have no criminal history and that’s what we care about. So when can we expect you? I’ll set up a little reading time today if you want.”
“How about around nine. I’ll bring some fruit trays so the kids can snack while I read them a few stories. I really love children,” I say as I head out to a bookstore to load up on some books.
“That sounds wonderful!” she gushes. “See you then.”
As I drive down the road I get the sudden urge to give Mercy one more chance to come clean with me before I go all undercover on her. She answers her phone, “Good morning, Jude. Will I be seeing you this morning?”
“No,” I say. “I have things to do this morning.”
“Oh! Okay. This afternoon then?” she asks, sounding a little disappointed.
Well, so am I!
“I’m not sure yet. Mercy, are you sure you don’t want to tell me why you are so busy? You know, the real reason why you can’t do more with me or let me come to your house?”
“Jude, for God’s sake, let it go. Crap!”
She sounds exasperated and now I am too. I mean, damn! I told her kids were not a deal breaker so what the hell is her problem?
“Fine, Mercy! Forgive me for giving a fuck about you!”
“I’m sorry, Jude,” she says as her voice goes very soft. “Call me when you figure out if you’re coming to the spa today or not. Okay?”
“I will,” I tell her then hang up.
Why the hell would she hide her kids from me? Or is there more than kids she’s hiding?
Protective Urges Part 6
Billionaire’s Quarry
By Michelle Love
JUDE
Carrying a box full of children’s books, I ring the bell outside of the daycare and find a young, dark haired woman answering the door. She’s all smiles as she looks at me through the glass window then I hear a buzzer and the door opens. “You have to be Mr. Hurst.”
“I am,” I say as I go inside. “And you are?”
“The kids call me, Miss Abigail,” she says as she leads me down the hallway. “Follow me. I have the older kids in the reading room and they’re pretty excited about the new books.”
As we walk into the room, the kids jump up and down and cheer as if I was carrying in toys for them all. But all I can do is scan them all for the little boy who has on a Spiderman shirt and a pair of khaki shorts and short blonde hair. The one I saw with Mercy early this morning.
It would be great if I knew his name too as I see three little boys wearing similar outfits, all of them have short blonde hair too. Crap!
I did not see this coming. So I adjust my plan and place the box on the table the young lady is gesturing to. “Here you go,” I say as the kids rush to the box.
“Hold on kids,” Miss Abigail shouts. “First things first. What do we have to say to Mr. Hurst for giving you all these books?”
“Thank you, Mr. Hurst,” they all yell at the top of their lungs.
One of the little blonde, Spiderman shirt wearing boys hugs my leg and looks up at me. I run my hand over his head and see no resemblance to Mercy but give the kid a smile anyway.
“Thanks for the hug. What’s your name?” I ask as I pat his head like a dog and stop because that just seems wrong.
“Hank,” he says then lets me go. He points to the other two who also have on the shirts. “These are my best pals, Cody and Carter. We all wanted to match today.” He tugs at his shirt.
I wave at the other boys and ask, “So, who wants to pick out a book for me to read?”
The kid named Cody raises his hand and the kid named Carter takes a seat. His eyes are a little glassy and he has slightly dark circles underneath his little blue eyes.
Mercy has blue eyes and if she had that virus I bet her kids did too. So I ask the kid named Carter, “Hey, man. You feeling okay, buddy?”
He nods and looks down. He’s shy too and quiet and the way he moves his arms to cross over his chest reminds me of how Mercy does that all too often.
So I grab a book out of the box and go take the tiny chair next to him. “Do you like books about dogs, Carter?”
He nods and runs his hand over the cover that has a bloodhound puppy on it. “I like dogs,” he says.
“I happen to have me an old dog that looks like this guy on the cover,” I tell him then decide to add, “Have you been sick recently?”
He looks up at me with wide eyes. “Yes. How did you know? I threw up like crazy the other day.”
“I had a virus too the other day.” I run my hand over his little head. “It was awful. I can see it really took a lot out of you.”
He nods. “It did. Me and my little sister both had it. My Aunt Mercy took her to the hospital late at night then when we came home I got sick too. It was terrible. Aunt Mercy got sick the next day. It was a terrible way to start the week.”
And I have it all now. The kids are her niece and nephew. Now, why would she feel she had to hide that?
So I dig deeper. “I see. That does sound terrible. But why did your aunt take you instead of your mommy or your daddy?”
He looks down again and his arms go back to cross his little chest as he whispers, “They’re dead.”
My heart stops and I find the words coming out of my mouth even though I should shut the hell up. “Dead? They’re dead?”
Suddenly Miss Abigail is touching my shoulder. I turn to look at her and she motions for me to follow her. I get up and go to a corner of the room where she whispers, “That’s Carter and his parents died in a car wreck two years ago along with their mother’s parents. Their aunt took them over as her own. We don’t like to talk about it because it still upsets him. You understand, don’t you?”
I nod. “Sorry, yes. I won’t ask him anything else like that. How is his aunt handling all that? It has to be rough on her. Does she have anyone to help her?”
Miss Abigail shakes her head and looks sad. “No, she has no help and won’t allow a
ny. She’s taken them all on her own and refuses to really talk to any of us. I have no idea about her personal life. But as far as the kids talk, they spend their time alone with her. No mention of friends or boyfriends or anything like that.”
I feel as if I’ve been punched in the stomach. My heart aches for Mercy and I’ve been a fucking asshole all this time.
But now, more than ever, I know I have to get her to let me into her real life. She really needs me!
Going back to the kids, I take the book Carter has and ask, “Would you like me to read this one, Carter?”
He nods and says, “Please.”
Such a nice kid!
So I sit down in a chair that Miss Abigail has pulled out from behind her desk so I don’t have to sit with my knees up around my ears in one of those tiny chairs and I hold out my hand to Carter. “Carter, would you like to sit on my lap and help me read this book to your friends?”
He nods and smiles and climbs right up on my lap and leans his back against me and I think I might just cry. A lump in my throat has me swallowing it down and I clear my throat to completely get rid of it then I start reading the story and wonder how I can get Mercy to let me in.
MERCY
The whole day has gone by without a word from Jude. I’m not sure what to make of it. And I have to admit I’ve not only missed the sound of his voice, I’ve missed seeing him too.
The man has managed to grow on me very quickly. As I went to check out the empty space where his training facility will be, I found myself thinking about running into him around the spa. And maybe little secret sessions in my office and his.
It had my mind occupied all day long as I thought about us taking lunch together every day except Thursdays when I eat with the kids at their daycare. And I did think about letting him do some personal training on me. It had my pulse going faster with just the thought of it.
Since I’m on my way to pick the kids up, I think I should give him a call before I have them with me. So I make the call and find it goes straight to voicemail. Just like it has the other five times I’ve called him today.
Man, I can’t believe I’ve turned into one of those women!
I’m sure he’s just very busy today with something. Or someone.
Please don’t let him be with another woman!
I know I’ve been holding him back with a ten-foot pole. But the fact is I wouldn’t be if it wasn’t for the kids. I’d be all over that man if I didn’t have them to consider.
My phone rings and I jump as I see it’s him. “Hi!” I answer all fast and breathless. “I missed you today.”
Did that really just come out of my mouth?
“Good,” he says. “I’ve really missed you too. Wanna grab a bite to eat with me?”
“Damn it,” I say. “I can’t.”
“Oh?” he asks. “Well, that’s too bad. I guess I won’t see you until tomorrow then. I’m about to leave the place I’ve spent the day. I was hoping to take you to dinner but if you can’t then you can’t.”
“Wow, you took that awfully well, Jude.” I’m kind of surprised he isn’t asking me why I can’t go to dinner with him the way he usually does. “So where did you spend your day?”
“Just doing some community PR work for the company. You know how people love to hate oil companies. So from time to time we do things to reach out to the community to let them put a face to the company.” I hear a woman’s voice call out to him. “Honey, can I call you later?”
“Sure,” I say as he ends the call and I find myself feeling kind of lonely and sad. I do wish I could go out to dinner with him.
I wore this nice bra and panty set in hopes of him being at the spa today and I’ve been itching to feel his hands run all over my body like crazy. And now it seems he decided to spend the day with some other people, and at least one woman.
If I could let him in, I would. Why does this have to be so damn hard?
The daycare comes up on the right and I turn into the parking lot and get out of the suburban to go inside and get the kids. A melancholy feeling flows through me and I think I need to have a heart to heart with Jude later tonight.
Maybe I could let him in on the fact I’m getting pretty excited about seeing him at work every day. Maybe that will keep him interested in me. A fear is creeping in that if I keep being too distant he’ll move on and forget about me.
And I have to be honest with myself and say that thinking of never being in his arms again or feeling his lips on mine again is a thing I would miss more than I can even imagine.
As I go into Mrs. Jensen’s room to get Mia, I find her sitting in a corner of the little room designated for the two-year-olds, looking at a book. “Hey, Mia.”
She looks up and jumps off the chair, tossing the book on the floor, holding her arms out as she hollers, “I missed you, Aunt Mercy!”
Grabbing her up, I hug her tight. “I missed you too, Mia!” I give her chubby cheek a kiss then carry her over to gather her things into her backpack. “And how was school today?”
She giggles as she runs her hand along my ponytail. “It was pretty great. We got new books.”
“How nice,” I say.
The teacher’s chair turns around and I see it’s not Mrs. Jensen in it. “Hello,” the older woman says. “I’m Miss Daphne. The teacher got sick earlier and I came in to sub for her.”
“Is it that awful virus?” I ask. “Did it get her too?”
“I think so. They told me she hauled booty out of here. When I came in a couple of the other teachers were spraying disinfectant everywhere. I feel relatively safe.” She laughs and spins around in the chair like some kid would. “It was nice to be here today. I’m getting up there in age and my kids don’t come around much. I liked being around the kids today.”
“That’s nice. I’m glad you enjoyed your time with them instead of looking at it like a chore.” I gather up the filled backpack and head out to get Carter. “Bye. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you tomorrow. I had that virus the other day. It wipes you out.”
She waves at us as we leave the room. “Bye, Mia.”
Mia waves back as she looks over my shoulder then she says, “I like that lady. She’s very nice.”
“That’s good. I’m glad you liked her,” I say.
Then she wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me tight. “I really wuv you, Aunt Mercy.”
With a laugh, I hug her back and say, “I really wuv you too, Mia.”
Turning into Carter’s classroom, I see that it’s empty. I get his backpack and see a note on the desk saying they’re in the reading room so I head out with his things and go down the hallway.
“Do you know if Carter’s teacher got sick today too, Mia?” I ask as I’ve never had to go find any of the kids before.
“Nope. Some man brought the books and stayed all day. He’s very tall and I think he’s cute,” she says then giggles like crazy. “So the big kids went to the reading room to listen to him read. I heard one story when he came and read to us at nap time.”
“How nice,” I say as I turn into the door to the reading room. “Carter, I’m.”
When I see Carter and see him sitting on a man’s lap, I freeze. “Hi,” the man says.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I shriek.
Miss Abigail comes quickly toward me. “Miss Noland! Language!”
Mia turns her head and points at the man, I have already recognized. “That’s Mr. Hurts,” she says.
I correct her, “Mr. Hurst, baby. Carter, come on.”
My eyes stay glued on Jude’s as he smiles at me and Carter climbs off his lap. “You must be Carter’s aunt. He’s told me so much about you,” he says.
“How could you?” I ask as tears fill me eyes. “How could you do this?”
Carter comes to me and takes my hand. “What’s wrong with you?” Carter asks me.
I can’t even talk I feel so side-swiped by Jude. I just tug at Carter to come with me as I have to use everything i
n me to hold back the tears and rage I’m feeling.
JUDE
I don’t know how I thought that would go, but I didn’t ever picture it going the way it went!
I jump up and hurry after Mercy as she hauls ass out of the building. Not saying a word to her, I stay just behind her as she takes the kids to her car. Then I step up as she unlocks the doors and offer my help. “Let me help you get them into their car seats.”
Mercy spins around and I can see the tears rolling down her red cheeks. “Don’t!”
“What’s wrong with you, Aunt Mercy?” Carter asks.
“Nothing, just climb into your seat, Carter,” she says with tear-filled words. “Get away from us, Jude.”
I can’t just get away from her, but I do back up and let her get the kids put in their seats, remaining quiet as I have no idea what I should say. This is not going well at all!
After she gets Carter in, she slams his door and takes the little girl to the other side. I follow and wait quietly. When she’s done she slams that door too and reaches for her door.
I reach out and take her by the arm. “Mercy, stop.”
Her body is shaking as she turns back to look at me with eyes filled with anger. “You get your fucking hand off of me right now.”
“Mercy, we have to talk,” I tell her.
“You need to get the fuck away from me. We’re done! I’m going to tell the Cofield’s that you’re some kind of a fucking stalker and to forget about doing any kind of business with you. Now leave me alone, forever, Jude Hurst.”
I have to let her go as I think she’s on the verge of having a stroke and there are also people looking at us now with their mouths hanging open. Taking a step back, I let her go and let her drive away then go get into my brother’s car and follow her at a safe distance.
I know this is just more stalking on my part but I can’t let her shut me out. Not now that I know why she’s been so closed off this whole time. The woman really does need me.
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