There was a basket of eggs—fresh, she’d bet—and apples, as well as smaller baskets of cherries, blackberries, and fruits she didn’t know. Picking up a pear, Merce inhaled deeply as she asked if she could have it.
“Oh, of course. I never turn someone away when there are extras around. When you leave here, I’ll send a few things home with you. After dinner, of course.” Merce asked if she was staying for dinner. “You are. I’ve spoken to Del, and he said he wanted to speak to you about a couple of things. And the others are coming too. I’ll be in heaven.”
“Are James and Mary coming as well?” The knife that Katie was using dropped into the sink, and blood dripped from her hand. “You’re bleeding. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you, or whatever I did. Here, let me have a look at it.”
Katie allowed her to look at the cut. For whatever reason, she was sure this wasn’t her normal way of dealing with a cut. Having her sit down in a chair, Merce held pressure on the wound while Katie spoke. Merce watched the painful emotions as she told her what had happened.
“Several years ago, as if I didn’t have the date burned into my heart, I went out to see James. He and Mary were living in Texas then, and I had gone to visit them. James’s wife had just given birth, and I wanted to see their little baby. I was technically his grandma.” Merce didn’t need to encourage Katie to continue when she paused in her telling. However, it was on her mind that Katie wasn’t talking to her so much as she was just letting off a little pain. “James and Mary were my sister’s children. The obituary you were reading, that was her. I took them when their father, who had killed the three of them, was taken to prison. They’re older than my kids. In fact, I hadn’t been married yet, and we had no children. When Del and I had our first boy, the two of them seemed to start growing distant from me. But after a time, they seemed to get over it. Then the others came along. When Del was born, and my husband died, they were nearly out of school. James was living here going to college. Mary was going to a tech school to be a nurse.”
“They hurt you, didn’t they?” Katie told her it was far worse than that. “I’m so sorry. I’ve only known you for a few minutes, but I feel like you’re the best person to have in someone’s corner.”
“Thank you, my dear. That was very needed and extremely nice of you. When James had his son, as I said, I went out to see him. I was so excited. My Del, the youngest, had already started college. He was very smart and was taking night classes while finishing high school.” She smiled at her. “I’m putting off telling you. I need to, but I don’t want to as well. I was there for a day and a half when James told me that he wished to speak to me. Mary came over, and he sent his wife out to do some shopping. I didn’t understand. She took the little boy with her when I said I’d watch over him. James told me he didn’t want me to have anything to do with him or his family from now on.”
“I’m going to hunt him down and tear his dick out, just so you know.” Katie laughed, but Merce wasn’t kidding. “What was his reason for saying such a thing to you? He’d better have had a damned good one for it.”
“He said that when I took them in, it was all right with them to have lived here at first. Since I had no one but them to care for, Mary even agreed that they enjoyed being around me. After I married my Del, James told me it was all right because he had made it so I could devote all my time to them when he was away. Del traveled a great deal as a trucker, and I no longer had to work full time. Neither of us did, in actuality. We only did it because we got to know people around town. Not to mention, it was a nice way to find out what was needed to help out.” Katie got up and put a kettle with water in it on the stove as she continued. “Mary said I was selfish to have had other children, that I didn’t need them when I had her and her brother. That me not just being their mother was wrong of me, and they wished that instead of their mother dying, it had been me. I didn’t know what to say to them. I actually had a moment of fear that they’d killed her after the twins were born. Anyway. They went on about how I had ruined their lives. How I had stolen a good life from them by being a mother to my own children. They didn’t care, you see, that my own children were what made me happy. That raising the two of them for my now-dead sister was something I had thought was wonderful as well because they were all the connection I had to her. The two of them wanted things their way, and they were never going to forgive me for doing such a horrid thing as having a family of my own when I should have been there just for them.”
“They’re little pricks. You know that, don’t you?” They both turned when someone spoke from the doorway. It was Del. He agreed with her. “She was hurt by those two, and I’m going to hunt them down and take care of their asses. You want to join me?”
“Yes.” Katie hugged her son and then hugged him again as she cried on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Mom. I didn’t know anything had happened. Do the others know?”
“No. I know I should have told you all, but I was so afraid you’d tell me the same thing.” Del asked her if her head had been hurt while she was gone. “No. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t take the tone with me, young man.”
“I love you, Mom.” She kissed him on the cheek.
When he handed Merce the bags he’d had in his hands, she took them to the counter so she could help out, not sure what she could do, but she felt like an intruder right now.
“Merce, do I have you to thank for this revelation? If I do, then I thank you very much. I think she’s been holding it in for some time now.”
“Del, leave the girl alone. What did you bring home? Everything I told you?” He said he thought he had, but he kept staring at Merce.
Merce finally turned and looked at him. His mom kept talking about the food in the bag while the two of them stood there. The phone ringing took Katie out of the room, and Del asked her again if she’d done this.
“I only asked her about your stepbrother and sister and if they were coming over when she said she was going to call her kids here.” He nodded and laid a file on the table. “I’m sorry, Del. I didn’t know there was bad water between them. By the way, I want you to know that I like your mom, and right now, I want to go there and beat the shit out of the two of them. How could they do that to her?”
“I don’t know. She’s a wonderful person. But it’s all right. I think I’ve known for a while that she was hurting about them. I hadn’t noticed the missing cards at her birthday and the holidays until I came here to help her out. And no, I didn’t shove her down the stairs.” She told him she was sorry about that. “Don’t be. I owe you for this. I think she’ll be able to talk about it now that the wound is open. I really am grateful to you for having her talk about it.”
Merce hadn’t really done anything but talk to the other woman. And she really did like her. But those others, her stepchildren, needed to have their heads knocked around. Not a little bit either. She was beginning to like her grandda’s saying of sparing the rod would spoil the children. Their parents must have been real wieners.
Chapter 2
It was nice having her sons home for a while. They’d all brought her something too. Chocolates and roses. Plants she could put into her garden, as well as a few heirloom seeds they’d gotten off the Internet. Katie loved every one of the gifts, but her sons most of all. They were still waiting on Peter. He’d called and said he was picking something up. She wished they’d not gone to the trouble but was happy they cared enough.
“I’m here.” She went to the front door to scold her oldest when she saw what he’d picked up for her. There, standing in the flesh, was Delmar, her father-in-law. “I called him and told him to be ready to come out with me. I had no idea that he’d be packed up and ready to leave that place when I got there.”
“Delmar Archer, you’ve finally come to your senses? Are you finally going to be among the living again?” He said he would if she’d have him. “Of course, you old buzza
rd. I have been wanting to have you here for a long time. Come into the kitchen. You know that’s the meeting place.”
Katie made her way to the bathroom to gather her emotions around her. Delmar had been her saving grace for many years after her husband had passed away. Now with him feeling his age, what he’d told Peter on the way over, she wanted to help him. The knock at the door startled her. Opening it up, she wasn’t surprised to see Merce there looking concerned.
“Are you all right? Do you want me to beat someone up for you?” Merce was a breath of fresh air to her. Katie told her that her heart was taking a beating today. “Well, I would imagine it would be. Your father-in-law, Del introduced us to each other when you left, told me he thinks I’m a pretty little thing.” Merce snorted. “I can bench press a hundred and twenty pounds. I’m six foot one. I think I’ve not been called little since I was little. Are you really all right?”
“I am. I thought you were tall. My goodness. I believe all my sons are only a couple of inches taller than you are.” When Merce looked in the room where they were all standing, Katie noticed she only had eyes for Del. “Did he give you the project?”
“No. But he said he has a story to tell us at the table. Is that normal for these guys? To vent at the table? When I was little—there’s that word again—my brothers would vent too, but usually to me. They thought that since I was so much younger than them, I needed them to boss me around. I fixed that.” Katie hugged her. “You’re a nice lady, Mrs. Archer. I do hope you get the opportunity to make sure those other two get their heads out of their asses soon enough.”
“I do as well. And please call me Katie. There is more to this trouble with them than I told you and Del, but it’s all right now. Getting that off my chest and having Delmar here is making everything seem less stressful.” Merce told her that the guys were ready with dinner if she was. “I am. And I’m so happy you’re staying. It’ll be nice to have another woman at the table with me.”
“I’m not sure how much I’ll be helpful to you. I’m not what a person might call a girly kind of girl. I’m more of a spit in their eye sort of person.” Katie told her she’d gotten that. “I thought you might have. Del is a nice man. Everyone I’ve met so far is. Why hasn’t anyone snatched them up? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Not at all. I think it has more to do with the fact that they’ve been working on getting themselves established. Come on, Merce. Let’s go and let me brag on my children for a few minutes.” She asked her if she knew they were grown men. “Not to me. Not ever.”
The table was set, and she was happy to see they’d put the flowers they’d gotten her in vases on the table and around the room. The chocolates were on her candy tray that had been her mother’s. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d used this room. It had only been her and Del for a while now, and they usually ate in the kitchen.
After they filled their plates with the side dishes, Peter and Del brought in the steaks and chicken. She didn’t care for red meat, and they always made sure she had something to eat with them. Katie noticed that Merce didn’t take a steak either. But her potato was piled high with sour cream, chives, bacon bits, as well as cheese. However, Katie saw that she skipped over the salad.
“You had something to tell us.” Peter put some salad in a small bowl and set it in front of Merce as he spoke to Del. She promptly smacked his hand and put it back in the large bowl. “You need some greens to go with your dinner.”
“But Daddy, I had a salad last month. Doesn’t that count?” Everyone laughed, and Peter’s face turned a bright red. “I’m a grown assed woman, Peter. Leave me to my own eating habits, and I’ll leave your namesake where it is. Right between your legs.”
There hadn’t been this much laughter in their home for a while, Katie realized. The last time the boys had been home all together was last Christmas. And they’d been so busy it had been just the single day with them before they were running off again. This was, she thought, the best time she’d had in a long time. Even Delmar was laughing at the antics going on. Peter reminded his brother again of his story.
“Yes, all right. I had some appointments today to find out if there was someone local that could do this project for the new equipment we’re manufacturing. The first one I went to, the owner met me at the door. He wouldn’t even let me in.” Merce asked him if it was Mr. Donaldson. “Yes, that’s right. Do you know him?”
“Sort of. He’s an ass and thinks if he doesn’t make whatever is being made, it isn’t worth his time to get it put together. If you’d like, you can run the other names by me, and I can perhaps help you out. I won’t down mouth them, I promise. But I will be honest about their work.” Del thanked her and then glanced at her. Smiling at her youngest son, he smiled back. “There are three other people that can do the work but won’t. Capital is the biggest thing. But back to Mr. Donaldson. What did he tell you?”
“Just what you said. That he didn’t come up with the design, and he didn’t think—no, he said he didn’t work on subpar designs that would have his name on them. Then he proceeded to walk me back to my car. What a jerk.” Robert asked him about the job. Del explained it to his brothers as they ate their dinner. “After I left his plant, I called it into the office and had him investigated, just to be sure he wasn’t having other troubles. He is. Big time. This project would have gotten him out of the hole, but turning it down because he’d not designed it is going to put him under, I’m betting.”
“My dad will more than likely end up purchasing the company. He’s really good at that sort of thing. Buying up failing companies, then making them viable again. I should have mentioned to you earlier that Lowery Construction also owns Arts Designs, as well as Shepherds Works. They don’t do what you need, but they are very good at working around designs for logos as well as advertising.” Everyone at the table turned to Merce. “What? You can’t tell me you don’t branch out on other things as well. I mean, how do you think we’re able to afford to get the equipment we need to make designs like you might need in the future?”
“For the most part, we’re attorneys. Darrel is a doctor. And Del is a designer for equipment he sees a need for.” She asked William if he liked his job. “What do you mean? Like being an attorney? It’s good pay, and I’m good at it. We’re partners in our own law firm.”
“But do you like it? Do you enjoy being an attorney? I really like what I do. So does my dad. We not only have several companies we work with to become viable again, but we also work with other companies that might need a hand-up once in a while. It’s fun giving back when we can.” Merce looked around the table. “Do you like being attorneys? Or doctors? I know Del loves his job. He shows it when he talks about it. But you guys, you just seem to have jobs that pay well.”
Katie watched her sons as they seemed to struggle with her question. She’d not thought they went to college to be attorneys for any reason other than that was something they wanted to do. But the looks on their faces told her they’d done just what Merce had pointed out to them—gone after their jobs because they paid well.
“You know what, I don’t care for it.” When Sherman said that, he smiled at Merce. “I’ve been thinking along the lines that since I have the education, I have money in the bank, and I’m good at it, I should keep at it. But I don’t like it like I think I should.”
“I do love it,” Robert spoke up, then shook his head. “No, that’s not true. I used to love it. I used to look forward to going to the courtroom and making sure my client got the best deal. But they’re all shitheads for the most part. What I’d really like to do is teach law. Be the person that can tell them exactly what to expect in the courtroom, not what it says in the books we got. To be able to tell them things you have to learn on your own. Such as, you study for years to become the best you can be, and all you have to show for it is a lot of debt when you get out and no place to hang your name. I was lucky in that my b
rothers and I decided to be together right from the start as a firm. But that wasn’t the right way to go either, I’m thinking. We have everything in common, but nothing to talk about but some dick we got off only to see him in the courtroom a few weeks later for the same thing.”
They talked over one another about how much they didn’t enjoy what they did. It was an eye-opener for Katie to see that they’d only done what they did for the money. As it turned out, the only one that seemed to enjoy being an attorney that he had gone to college for was Peter. But he only enjoyed the pro-bono stuff rather than going to court, as his brothers had pointed out, for shit heads.
“I used to love what I did for fun after retirement.” Merce asked Delmar what it was he’d done. “Believe it or not, I was a gardener. We didn’t need to work for the money after I retired from working as a county clerk for the tax department. So I started out by plowing up gardens around the neighborhood. Sometimes people having themselves a little plot of food growing was the difference between starving and having a good meal. But I began to branch out. Putting in larger gardens that would have trees and flowers and such. I think my old greenhouse is still on the property we used to live on.”
“My grandda used to plant flowers around the neighborhood when he was retired too. Nothing fancy, but he would load up his old beater of a truck and go around and plant flowers around the town. I think the courthouse was his biggest project, and he so loved having the pretty blooms to show off.” Delmar said he remembered him. “He might well remember you too if you were in the courthouse when he was around. He’s not doing well now. I think his heart just broke when my grandma died some years ago. I’ve been telling my brothers that he needs to get out of that place and live, but I don’t have any kind of power to do it.”
Delmar (Archer's Dynasty Book 1) Page 2