It Adds Up for Mary [Hardwick Bay 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Morgan Henry

  “Ah, yeah. Just me, thanks. Could I get a coffee?” The high, slightly whiny quality of her voice did nothing for Mary’s plan to be smooth and polished.

  “Sure.” With a sympathetic smile, Gina disappeared.

  Mary looked down at the menu. She was not going to look at her men. She did not want to be caught staring at their fine bodies. They were off limits now anyway.

  Still, she knew they made their way over to her table. She could feel their approaching presence like a tractor-trailer creeping up behind her little car on the highway.

  “Would you join us?” Logan asked when they stopped at her little table.

  “Are you sure?” Mary couldn’t help asking, her traitorous voice cracking again. She wouldn’t put it past them to ask as a polite gesture not because they wanted her company.

  “Yes, Mary, we’re sure.” Derek’s voice didn’t seem to hold any reservations.

  She got up and allowed them to lead her over to a larger table. The three settled in, and the men ordered coffee as well.

  “Give us a few minutes with the menus, would you, Gina?” asked Logan politely.

  “No problem.” Gina left their coffees and wandered off to check on her other tables.

  “I saw the specials were chicken Parmesan and chili,” Mary said. Jeesh, as if they didn’t know that already. You sound like an idiot.

  Derek shut his menu and laid it on the table. “We didn’t expect to find you here, but I’m glad we did.”

  Mary wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. What did it mean? Did they just want to practice being cordial to her in public? Did they want to “be friends”? Because she wasn’t sure she could do that just yet.

  “I didn’t feel like cooking,” was her lame reply.

  “Neither did we.” Logan grinned at her, and Mary couldn’t help but grin back.

  She stopped, though. Logan hadn’t been as angry as Derek. Did he want to be friends, but Derek didn’t?

  There was more awkward silence. Mary’s gut churned, and suddenly she didn’t want dinner. She realized she was tired and wasn’t up for whatever this was. She wasn’t ready to be graceful and polite, and she wasn’t strong enough yet. “I, um, look I’m not really hungry…” She trailed off at Derek’s look.

  She wasn’t sure if that expression on his face was disgust or pain or what?

  “I wasn’t quite ready for this,” he said.

  “Oh.” She guessed he wasn’t quite ready to see her around town and have to make nice. “I can leave.”

  “No!” Derek and Logan both spoke at the same time.

  “That’s not what I wanted,” added Derek. His menu was in danger of being ruined with his frustration as he clutched it.

  The three of them looked at each other, the tension as thick as the smell of mouth-watering cooking in the air. Mary wasn’t sure what came next. Was she supposed to say something?

  “I’m sorry, Mary.” Derek set down his menu and smoothed it out. “I shouldn’t have been taken in by your mom and read your email even though she forwarded it to me. It was private, and in hindsight, the only reason she sent it on was to hurt. I should have said no and talked to you directly. I was upset with you for not telling us the whole story about your job and the condo, but I understand it wasn’t meant to hurt me personally. I get how it happened. I would prefer that we were more open with each other in the future, though. I’m sorry I overreacted to the situation.”

  “I’m sorry about the entire thing, I really am.” Mary looked at both men. God, she hoped they believed her. “But I’m mad that you didn’t talk to me after my mother got her manipulative claws into you. I know I lied by omission, but you’re not blameless in this whole thing. I’m surprised you didn’t learn from Alan and Zander’s mistake with reading emails.”

  “Yeah, we should have.” Rueful didn’t begin to describe Derek’s voice. “I should have.”

  “And we should have talked to you before shutting you out,” Logan added.

  “And I should have been more open from the start.” Mary just wanted the whole thing to go away.

  She had been mad. Not in the crazy, angry, unforgivable sense, but she knew what Derek had done was wrong, and she found it in her to be pissed. It had taken her a couple of days to realize it. Mary was so focused on not making waves she’d forgotten what it felt like to be justifiably angry.

  She forgave them when they apologized, though. Everyone did stupid things now and then. Why should they be any different?

  But she was so tired of it all.

  Tired of feeling guilty, angry, and lonely all rolled together.

  “I really do think I should go.” Mary wanted to go home and go to bed, curl up under the covers, and wait for spring. She started to slide out of the booth to leave, trying to prod Logan out of the way.

  “No,” he said. “We all need some dinner.”

  “And we want to start over, Mary. Can we do that?” Derek asked.

  She stilled. “What do you mean?”

  He snorted. “Starting over sounds so ridiculous. Like any of us can forget what we had and did. I mean can we forgive each other and try this relationship again? With a more firm commitment to be honest, talk to each other, and not read private email accounts? I swear I have no desire to talk to your mother ever again. Well, maybe I want to tell her how wonderful you are and how stupid she is to cut you and Karen out of her life, but that’s it.”

  Was this what hope felt like?

  A tiny flame inside her heart, just bright enough to get her attention and hot enough to sting?

  “Can we do that, Mary?” asked Logan, ducking his head a little so his eyes looked into hers.

  “I think so,” she replied, not entirely willing to believe, despite the truth she saw in Logan’s eyes. “But I think I need slow. I feel like everything has been a rush since I came here, and I need to slow down a bit.”

  “That’s not a bad idea at all,” agreed Derek. “I realize I love you, Mary, and I’m not going anywhere in a hurry. Slow it is.”

  “Are you referring to the service here?” asked Gina tartly as she came up, order pad in hand. “Because I was giving you space. It’s obvious you needed it. Have you paid any attention to the menus while you were working out your romantic issues?”

  “I’ll have the chili with the works, Gina,” said Mary. She was suddenly hungry enough to be interested in what was sure to be the super-sized special.

  Her men ordered, and Gina disappeared again.

  “So, Mary…” started Logan. “Some friends of ours are getting married on Saturday. We’d love for you to accompany us to the ceremony.” He gave her a flirty grin.

  “Oh really?” Mary decided to play along. She knew damn well he was talking about Cailynn and Hanna.

  “Yes, it should be fun.” Obviously Derek was playing too. “There will be some other ménage families there too, so you won’t feel awkward.”

  “Well, my sister is in a ménage, so I’m pretty comfortable with it.”

  Logan smacked his head in mock obtuseness. “Of course, how could we forget?”

  “I thought we were just going to take it slow, not forget we had a relationship,” Mary reminded them, though she was at least a little amused.

  “Sorry, I forgot and got into the starting-over thing. You will still go with us, though?” Logan only half-smiled, betraying his anxiety.

  “Yes, of course. I would have gone without you anyway,” she pointed out. “And I would have been sad the whole time,” she added with an eyelash flutter to placate their fragile male egos.

  The food arrived as they were laughing, and they dug in, talk turning toward the wedding and the storm swirling outside the window.

  Derek and Logan drove Mary the short distance home. She was glad, as the temperature had dropped further and there was a respectable amount of snow on the ground.

  “I think I’ll say goodnight here,” she said as the truck pulled into the alley.

  “Let Derek walk
you to the door at least.” Logan was driving, and he leaned away from the wheel to give her a hug and a gentle but thorough kiss. He rested his forehead against hers. “I wish you would come home with us, but I understand. Slow.”

  Derek walked her to the door and stayed with her as she deactivated the alarm. He pressed her gently against the wall opposite the door and took his turn at kissing her. His kiss was more demanding and desperate. It was as though he knew how close they had come to never tasting each other again. It made her forget how Bob had slammed her against the wall in the same place.

  “I don’t think I like slow,” he said, breathing heavily as he ended it. “Set the alarm, Mary,” he added as he slipped out the door.

  * * * *

  After days of intermittent snowfall, the day of the wedding was supposed to be clear.

  It wasn’t.

  There were lazy flakes still drifting down from the cloudy sky as Mary delivered the boxes of wedding favours. At least the roads were drivable.

  Karen was already at the hall helping to decorate.

  “Thanks! How’s everything at the store?” she asked.

  “It’s fine. Busy,” Mary added hastily at the slight wrinkle of worry in Karen’s forehead. Christmas was supposed to be a busy time of year for chocolate sales. Karen’s other employees were on duty today because Karen was Hanna’s matron-of-honor. “There is tons of stock on the shelves, so don’t worry. Everything is going fine. This place looks awesome,” she said with admiration looking around the room desperate to divert Karen.

  It did look amazing.

  They had re-used the fireplace mantel from Karen’s wedding and decorated it with holly, evergreen ropes, and a mass of white candles where the fire would be. Twinkling lights were wound in the greenery, and there was a grinning snowman at either end of the mantel.

  The tables also had snowmen surrounded by evergreen and holly as the centerpieces with tea lights interspersed. The white boxes with the red and green bows would add a little more colour to the white linens. Oversized silver snowflakes hung from the ceiling, catching the lights.

  “We’re pretty much done, so I’m going to head to the spa with the girls and get prettied up.”

  “Have a great time. I’ll see you in a few hours.” Mary kissed her sister on the cheek.

  She was happy that Karen was getting a day off at this crazy time of year. She was still busy helping Hanna, but it was different than being obsessed with her store. Mary now understood the value of even a small break.

  She finished putting out the boxes of chocolates and headed back to the store. It was full of shoppers, so she put on an apron.

  Mary had intended to help out just for an hour or so, but the store was so busy she lost track of time.

  “Mary! You’d better get your dress on!” Margaret admonished her. “The wedding’s in forty-five minutes.”

  “Oh, crap!”

  Mary shucked the apron and shoved it into Margaret’s hands. She raced upstairs and had the quickest shower she could manage. Damn it! She had wanted to take her time and look extra-special tonight.

  Thank goodness she had put out her clothes earlier. And that she’d had the foresight to put them where Sammy couldn’t lay on them and get his orange hair all over them. That would be just what she needed—cat hair in her sexy thong.

  She put on her bright red matching lingerie, slipped the wine-coloured dress over her head, and decided to skip the nylons. She finished her makeup just as the bell rang.

  She dashed down the stairs, purse in hand, and opened the door.

  Oh. My.

  There were two very hot men waiting on the other side.

  Chapter 28

  Derek and Logan cleaned up so well.

  Both men were freshly shaved and wearing crisp black trousers. Their blue eyes lit up when she opened the door. Logan was in his black leather bomber-style jacket while Derek had on a longer heavy black leather coat with a military collar.

  “I think you should put on some shoes, Mary,” Logan suggested playfully.

  “I was planning on it,” Mary replied with a huff. Then she decided to tease a little.

  She grabbed her high-heeled leather boots, which went up to her knees, and slowly put them on, stretching each leg as she sat on the step to zip them up. She was hoping to flash them a little of her red thong, and by the narrowed eyes and increased breathing, she judged herself successful.

  Derek held her long black wool coat, and she slipped her arms into the warmth.

  “You’re a very naughty girl,” he murmured in her ear.

  Mary didn’t answer. She fished out her red leather gloves from the pocket of the coat and put them on. They fit her hands perfectly, and she caught Logan staring at them. “Do you like them?”

  “I noticed they match part of your outfit.” He grinned. “Will you be wearing them later, and do you have heels that colour?”

  Mary blushed and gave a nervous laugh. She did have red heels. “We’ll be late.”

  Derek snorted. “Like Hanna’s going to be on time.”

  But he held her elbow as they walked to the truck and made their way to the hall arriving just in time for the ceremonies.

  The weddings were lovely.

  Each trio had their own ceremony, but they had the consideration to keep the nuptials short since they were asking the guests to sit through two. Cailynn and Hanna married one of their men legally, but the ceremony included all three in their commitments to each other.

  Mary sat with Derek and Logan. It was wonderful to have them on either side, a hand from each man on her body somewhere. Not like sitting at Karen’s kitchen table less than two weeks ago when everything had fallen apart.

  Allan and Zander were at their table too, and Karen joined them after the ceremony for dinner. They grinned at each other across the decorations.

  “I’m stealing this centerpiece idea for our Christmas dinner,” Karen told Mary. “In fact, I may steal the centerpiece itself.”

  Allan’s family was joining them for Christmas. Karen and Mary’s parents would obviously be absent.

  “Are your parents coming for Christmas?” Mary asked Derek and Logan.

  “Yes, they’re arriving on the twentieth. They can’t wait to meet you.” Logan grinned at her.

  Mary realized he was grinning at the shock on her face. She hadn’t thought of meeting their parents so soon. They were going slow, weren’t they?

  She realized that it was too easy to go back to where they had been. Where she wanted to be again.

  “Yeah, it’s going to be quite a shock that they’ll have to stay in the guest bedroom. In the past, we’ve given them the master suite, but it’ll be occupied,” Derek added.

  Mary winced. “What happened to slow?” she asked.

  Derek leaned down and put his mouth near her ear. “Slow left when you flashed us those red panties.”

  Mary gave her head a little shake. She should have known that would get her in trouble. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that when I was the one who said we should take things easy.”

  “What did you do, dear sister?” Karen asked with narrowed eyes.

  Mary blushed, and the rest of the table laughed.

  “I’ll get it out of you eventually,” her sister threatened.

  Zander took pity on her. “So did the brides ban the chicken dance, or are we going to have to suffer through that stupidity?”

  Though the chicken dance was indeed banned, Cailynn and Hanna wanted most of the wedding traditions observed. They cut the cake, removed the garter belts, and threw the bouquets. Though Logan shamelessly jumped for one of the garter belts, Mary carefully avoided catching either of the bouquets, even though she suspected Hanna had aimed hers at Mary.

  As the party was winding down, Mary slow danced with both her men.

  Logan was cradling her from behind, and Derek was pressed against her front.

  “So, you’re coming home with us tonight, and we’re hoping f
or a giant storm to keep us inside for days,” Derek said in her ear.

  “I can’t. I didn’t bring a bag with me.” Mary sighed as they swayed.

  “Karen smuggled one to us earlier. And she’s looking after Sammy tomorrow morning for you. Come home with us,” Logan whispered.

  Was she deluding herself that they could go slow? Probably.

  Did she want slow? She wasn’t sure.

  It seemed that rushing ahead had caused her disaster, but was the speed the trouble, or was it her lack of complete honesty? Damn, it was hard to think about this in the middle of her friends’ weddings. It was hard to think with two handsome men plastered against her.

  “Sweetheart, what’s going on in there?” asked Derek, kissing her temple.

  “I…I’m trying to figure out…” Mary dropped her head to Derek’s shoulder.

  “Let’s not try to figure everything out right now,” Logan suggested. “Why don’t we spend tonight together and talk some more tomorrow?”

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  * * * *

  Logan’s chest loosened and he could breathe again.

  Mary had agreed to come home with them, and he hoped she would stay this time.

  The last couple of months they had all changed and grown a little. Logan thought they had grown in ways that would make them stronger together. He just had to make sure Derek and Mary saw it that way.

  As the song ended, he made his way to the bar to get some water for the three of them.

  “Weather’s getting worse outside again,” commented Mike Barber as he poured from one of the pitchers at the end of the bar. “We’re heading out as soon as Lisa says goodbye.”

  “Thanks for the heads-up,” Logan responded, and he went to look out the window. The snow was indeed falling thick again, though there wasn’t much wind.

  He handed Derek and Mary their glasses. “We should think about heading out. The weather’s deteriorating.”

  “Let’s say our goodbyes and go then,” Mary agreed after a peek out the window.

  They gave their congratulations to each of the blissfully wedded trios and headed out.