A Piece of My Heart

by Sharon Sala

  Mercy was trying not to stare at Duke but after the absurdity of his last statement, she was officially giving up trying to understand what made him tick. “Thank you for the information, Duke. I suppose that would be a valid thing for any cook to know.”

  “See? I knew it was something she would like to know,” Duke muttered.

  Mercy left the brothers still quarreling. She wasn’t sure if that was normal family behavior or if they were really arguing, but it made her antsy. She went upstairs to change and then came down with her purse, picked up the debit card Jack had left on the counter beside the list, and within a few minutes, she was on her way out the door.

  The day was clear, but the brisk wind in her face was cold. She had her leather jacket over her sweatshirt, and her jeans tucked into the tops of her boots. She jumped into Jack’s blue truck, started it up, and put it in gear, then breathed a sigh of relief as she drove away. This trip made her feel like she was running away. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but solitude suited her, and she’d had little of it since her arrival.

  The grocery list was in her pocket, her purse with the debit card on the seat beside her, but she was thinking about Lon Pittman as she drove. He’d said to let him know when she was coming to Blessings, only he’d just made the offer a few hours earlier. She didn’t know if he’d meant to be taken seriously so soon, but as she braked at the end of the driveway, she sent him a text before pulling onto the main road.

  On my way to the Piggly Wiggly.

  Then she laid the phone in the console and continued her journey. She hadn’t gone far when she heard her phone signal a text, but the blacktop had too many twists and turns to look at anything but the road. Waiting to see what he said amped up her expectations and made the trip into town seem that much shorter.

  She passed the city limit sign and then drove up Main Street, glancing at the police station as she passed, then at the Curl Up and Dye and Phillips’ Pharmacy before turning into the Piggly Wiggly parking lot.

  The moment she parked, she grabbed the phone and pulled up his text.

  This day just keeps getting better. You. Me. Granny’s Country Kitchen? Time?

  Mercy smiled, glanced at the clock, and then sent another text.

  3:00 p.m.

  She was walking into the store when she received his answer.

  Thank you for the opportunity.

  She laughed beneath her breath as she grabbed a cart, and then did a little dance step as she headed down an aisle, searching for the things on her list. She began with the items Jack had listed—a large box of oatmeal, eggs, milk, laundry soap, and toilet paper. It took her a couple of minutes to find the aisle with cleaning supplies, and she went from there to canned vegetables and fruit. She saved the baking aisle for last, and one by one, began going down her list, picking up flour, two kinds of sugars, and the little papers for cupcakes. Then on to a couple of bags of chocolate chips, a bag of white chocolate chips, and a couple of packages of nuts. Hope’s assortment of spices was suffering, so she added cinnamon and cloves, a small can of cream of tartar for making meringue, and bottles of vanilla and almond flavorings. She went from there to choosing canned fruits to make pie fillings, and at the last minute added a bag of sweetened coconut before heading to the checkout.

  The clerk smiled at Mercy as she began emptying her cart onto the counter. “Afternoon. I’m Lorene.”

  “Hi,” Mercy said.

  “Did you find everything you needed?” the clerk asked as she began scanning Mercy’s items.

  “Yes, thank you,” Mercy said.

  When the clerk totaled it, Mercy scanned the debit card, then handed it to the clerk with her ID.

  “You’re using a card on a Talbot account?”

  “Yes. Jack gave it to me to use for the family groceries. Hope is my sister, and I’m staying at the house with them for a while.”

  “Oh, you’re the one on the motorcycle!” the clerk cried as she handed back the card and Mercy’s ID. “That was really something, finding your sister like that.”

  “Yes, ma’am, it was,” Mercy said, and started putting sacks back into the basket to carry out to the truck.

  “Oh, honey, there’s no ma’am around here! Call me Lorene, and it’s real nice to meet you.”

  “You too, Lorene. See you next time,” she added, and headed out the exit pushing the cart full of sacks.

  Chapter 13

  The cold wind hit her head-on as she left the store, making her shiver. She wasted no time unloading the groceries into the backseat of the pickup, putting the perishable items in an ice chest, and then getting inside.

  It was ten minutes to three.

  Excitement upped her pulse rate as she drove out of the parking lot and headed further up the street to the cafe. From the number of cars parked on both sides of the street, it looked as if Granny’s was doing a brisk business. She noticed a sign that stated parking was also available behind the cafe, so she took the turn that led to the larger lot. She found a place to park and then hastened her stride as she ran back to the street to the front entrance, anxious to get out of the wind.

  The dining room was more than half full of what Mercy always called the idlers…the older retirees who no longer had to punch a time clock. They were two and three to a table, sharing coffee and conversation, and now and then, a piece of pie. But they all looked up when she walked in, and then looked again because she was a stranger, and then kept staring because she was so damn pretty.

  Mercy was still looking around to see if Lon was there yet when the door opened behind her. She felt a cold rush of wind and then a hand slide around her waist. “I’ve come to claim my opportunity,” he said in her ear.

  Mercy’s laugh was uninhibited and infectious as she turned to greet him, and every man, including Lon, fell a little bit in love. “You are the most outrageous police chief it has been my pleasure to know,” she said.

  “Good, then that means I’m at the top of your list. Let’s grab a booth against that wall, okay? It’s a little warmer there.”

  He cupped her elbow and led her to the booth, and the waitress was right behind them with menus and a smile. “Afternoon, Chief,” she said.

  “Hi, Della. This is Mercy Dane, Hope Talbot’s sister. She likes hot chocolate. I’ll have coffee, and they make really good coconut cream pies. I’m going to have a piece. How about you, Mercy?”

  “Oh, I’ll pass. I made blackberry shortcake at home, so I’ve already had my sweets for the day.”

  “Nice to meet you, Mercy, and I’ll be right back with your orders,” Della said.

  Lon took off his Stetson and laid it in the booth beside him, then eyed Mercy without comment until she felt like a bug under glass.

  “What?”

  “I know. I’m staring and I’m sorry,” Lon said. “You have two eyes, a nose, and a mouth, like everybody else. You have hair on your head and two ears to hear with. Your head sits on your neck just like mine, and yet I have never seen all of that put together quite as perfectly as it is on you. You were pretty when I first met you, but now, you are a work of art.”

  Mercy frowned. “So, all that rattling that just came out of your mouth was you saying you think I’m pretty?”

  Lon grinned. “I also think you’re smart and strong, and I admire you greatly as a person…and when we make love, you take my breath away.”

  Her eyes narrowed, and she had yet to crack a smile. “Are you flirting or stating a fact?”

  His grin turned into a chuckle. “And that comment right there is why we’re having this moment. You are the real deal, a straightforward woman with principles. I knew a woman like that once. She was the first woman I ever loved. Her name was Ethel Milam, my first grade teacher. The relationship was doomed from the start. I was only six, and she was dating the high school football coach.”

  Mercy g
iggled in spite of herself.

  Lon grinned. “She broke my heart when she and the coach got married.”

  Mercy laughed. “Here comes your pie. Maybe now you’ll stop talking crazy.”

  Della delivered the order, filled Lon’s coffee cup, and set the thick mug of hot chocolate with marshmallow topping in front of Mercy with a wink. “It’s hot, so blow on it a bit before you take a sip or you’ll burn the hair right off your tongue,” Della said.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Mercy said, and began eating the topping down to the drink, giving it time enough to cool, while Lon dug into the pie.

  “This is my favorite pie, although I have never turned down a piece of pie in my life, regardless of the flavor.”

  “So, you like pie and you lock up the bad guys. Where did you grow up?” Mercy asked.

  “Blessings. I never wanted to live anywhere else, so after I graduated from the police academy and was getting certified at the Council for Law Enforcement Education, which, by the way, was what I was doing when we met, I came back here to work.”

  “And your family?”

  “My parents moved to Arizona after Dad retired. He has asthma. The weather is so much better for him there. My brother is a pilot. He works for an oil company flying the big shots around the world and ferrying workers back and forth from offshore drilling rigs.”

  Mercy watched the way his eyes lit up as he talked about his family, and she could tell they were close by the love she heard in his voice.

  “So you always wanted to be in law enforcement?”

  He nodded. “What about you?”

  “I didn’t want to be in law enforcement,” she said.

  It didn’t take a genius to figure out Mercy didn’t like talking about the past, so Lon changed the subject by offering her a bite of pie.

  Surprised by the gesture, Mercy opened her mouth like a baby bird.

  “Mmmm,” she said as she chewed and swallowed. “That is good pie.”

  Lon forked another bite and carefully popped it in his mouth while trying not to think that her lips had just touched his fork. If he’d still been in middle school, he would have considered it as good as a kiss. But he wasn’t a kid, and he was slowly coming to terms with the fact that he wanted far more from her than sharing a bite of pie. “What’s your favorite kind of pie?” he asked.

  “I think maybe pecan. Either that or key lime. Yes…key lime first, pecan second.”

  He grinned. “Options. I like options.”

  She was focused on a tiny piece of coconut caught at the edge of his lip. “You like opportunities too.”

  The comeback surprised him. “Yes, I do,” he said, then felt the coconut on his lip and absently licked it away.

  Mercy took a drink of her hot chocolate as she watched him finish off the pie. She decided Lon not only made love like he meant it, he had a great butt, a real pretty mouth, and he was funny and interesting. She was glad she’d said yes to the coffee and to the man.

  After that, time passed far too swiftly. “I really should be getting home,” Mercy said as she noticed the time. “Hope will think I’m lost again.”

  “I don’t want this to be over yet, but I understand. This was fun. We have to do it again,” Lon said.

  Mercy finally smiled. “I would do this again too.”

  Lon signaled the waitress to bring their check, and while they were waiting, Ruby Dye came into the cafe on the arm of Peanut Butterman. When she saw Mercy, she smiled and waved. Mercy waved back.

  “I see you know Ruby,” Lon said.

  “She was one of the first people to welcome me to Blessings,” Mercy said.

  “That sounds like the Ruby we all know and love,” Lon said, and then looked over Mercy’s shoulder at the trio of women walking toward them.

  “Well, good afternoon, Lon! Being chief of police surely suits you. You look all handsome and official.”

  “Yes, official,” the other two echoed, and gave Mercy a look without speaking to her.

  “Thank you, ladies,” Lon said. “Have you met Mercy yet?”

  “Why, no, we have not had the pleasure,” Tina Clark said as the trio shifted their focus to the stranger.

  “Mercy, from left to right, this is Tina Clark, Molly Frederick, and Angel Herd. Tina’s husband and Molly’s husband are on the city council. Angel’s husband is a local judge. Ladies…this is Mercy Dane. She’s Hope Talbot’s younger sister and a new resident of Blessings.”

  Tina smiled. “Oh yes! We heard about you! It is such a pleasure to meet you.”

  Molly wiggled her fingers, a gesture meant as a greeting. “How nice.”

  Angel smiled, but it never reached her eyes as she gave Mercy the once-over. “Bless your heart! How special to find family in such an unexpected way.”

  Mercy knew women like this. She felt the chill beneath their smiles and silly giggles. And she knew exactly what that “bless your heart” meant. Coming out of a Southern woman’s mouth, the closest translation was probably “Kiss my ass.”

  “Yes, ma’am, and I do thank you for the blessing,” she drawled and caught their glare.

  By referring to Angel Herd as ma’am, Mercy had publically addressed the fact that Angel was older. Lon missed all of the subterfuge and smiled, assuming Mercy was being properly welcomed by three of Blessings’ finest.

  The moment they sat down in the booth behind him, he lost sight of them, but Mercy saw everything, including the looks of disapproval. She’d been disrespected most of her adult life by women like them. Three more weren’t going to make a difference. But their presence had taken the glow off her time with Lon, and when she heard chatter on his two-way, she guessed their time was about to end.

  Lon frowned. “Hey, Mercy, I need to call in. Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay,” she said.

  The moment he got up and walked out of the cafe, the women in the booth took advantage of his absence to dig their claws into Mercy’s composure, raising their voices to make sure she heard every word they were saying.

  “Disgraceful is what it is,” Angel said. “Coming here and trying to step into respectability through Hope and Jack.”

  “I can only imagine what Hope must be thinking, finding out her long-lost sister belongs to a biker gang,” Molly said.

  “God only knows what kind of life she’s led, but I wouldn’t close my eyes with her under my roof,” Tina said. “I can’t imagine what Chief Pittman is thinking, being seen with someone like her. He has his reputation to consider, you know, being the chief and all.”

  Mercy lowered her head and pretended to be looking through her purse to hide sudden tears. She didn’t see Ruby Dye’s shock, or the glare she shot at the trio, and even if she had, it wouldn’t repair the damage of what had been said about her.

  Certain she was going to burst into tears at any moment, Mercy stood and walked toward the exit. She heard them laughing and couldn’t get out of the cafe soon enough.

  Lon was in his patrol car still talking to the dispatcher when he saw Mercy come out of Granny’s. He waved, but she wouldn’t look his way, and when she got into the truck and drove away, his heart skipped a beat.

  What the hell?

  He quickly ended his call and went back into Granny’s to pay for their food.

  The women in the booth chatted amiably, arguing the benefits of shrimp salad over Caesar salad with chicken strips, when he tossed some money on the table. He scanned the dining room, trying to figure out what could have possibly happened, when he saw Ruby wave him over. As he approached, he could tell by the look on her face she was upset. “Yes, ma’am?” Lon asked.

  Ruby’s cheeks were pink, and she looked fit to be tied as she pointed to the booth behind the one where he and Mercy had been sitting.

  “If you are wondering why your girl left
so abruptly, ask them. In less than two minutes, they insulted her in every possible way, insinuating she was from a biker gang, that she was ruining your reputation, and that she was surely dangerous to be around.”

  The color faded from Lon’s face so fast Peanut Butterman thought the man might pass out. He wondered if those women realized they’d just made an enemy of the wrong man. As for Ruby, they were three of her regular customers, but she was so indignant on Mercy’s behalf she didn’t care if she ever saw them again.

  Lon turned and walked back to where the women were seated. They’d heard enough of what Ruby told him to know he wouldn’t be happy, but when they saw the look on his face, they froze. He looked at them long and hard and then walked out of the dining room without saying a word. He got into the patrol car and called Mercy’s phone. It rang and rang, but she didn’t answer. He leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes, so hurt for her that he couldn’t think. All he could do was send a text.

  Ruby told me what happened. I am so sorry. They are hateful bitches who saw you as a beautiful woman, something they will never be, and wanted to hurt you. Please don’t let what they said make a difference in our friendship. Please. I like you, Mercy Dane. A lot. I will call you tomorrow.

  He started the car and was backing out of his space when he noticed a car in handicapped parking without a sticker. Then he saw one parked in front of a fire hydrant, and another with an out of date tag. And he knew who drove them.

  * * *

  The ladies in the booth were no longer as elated with themselves after facing Lon Pittman and knowing they’d been found out.

  Tina shivered, and then tried to laugh it off. “What did he expect, right?”

  Molly shrugged. She wasn’t sure, but they might have overstepped themselves.

  Angel was worried. A judge’s wife never purposefully committed a social faux pas. She glanced at Ruby and then quickly looked away. They certainly hadn’t thought that through. Putting their hairdresser out of sorts with them was a risky move too.

  Their orders came, and they had just taken a few bites when they saw Chief Pittman come back into Granny’s. He walked up to their booth with a daunting lack of expression.