by Sharon Sala
She shed her clothes in her bedroom and crossed the hall to shower. She smelled like burger grease from the grill and fried shrimp. Today was all-you-can-eat shrimp until close. However, Mercy never had to stay for closing. Once her baking was done for the day, she clocked out. The only downside of the job was that as the only baker, it was 24-7. Riding home tonight it occurred to her that Lovey needed to think about hiring a couple more people to train with Mercy so she never got caught like this again.
However, there was way more on her mind tonight than the job. She came out of the shower, dried in a hurry, and made a mad dash across the hall to get her phone. She pulled up Lon’s number, typed him a message, and then shivered as she hit Send.
* * *
Lon was on his way home when he saw three women hurrying along the sidewalk toward the park. It was nearly twilight, so why they would be carrying what appeared to be a long white banner was beyond him. When he recognized who they were, he pulled over and stopped, thinking, and rightly so, they were up to no good.
The women saw him and halted, their expressions a reflection of their moods.
“Ladies, might I ask what you three are doing?”
Tina sighed. “We’re following Judge Herd’s ruling.”
Lon frowned. “And that would be?”
“Besides the money we all had to pay at court, we are required to make a public display of the apology we owe Miss Dane.”
“Let me see,” Lon said.
“But we’re not there yet,” Angel said. “It’s heavy, and we just got it all rolled up so we could carry it.”
“I still need to see it,” he said.
“You don’t trust us?” Molly asked.
“No, ma’am, I do not.”
“Fine, but now you’re going to make us late getting to the park. I don’t want to be down there in the dark.”
“Then you shouldn’t have waited until the sun had set to do this. Show me.”
With a lot of moaning and groaning and hateful little snaps at each other, the banner was finally unfurled.
He read it and nodded. “That’ll work, but I don’t think it’ll get all that much notice at the park. I think you need to walk this up Main Street and string the banner across the empty lot between the shoe store and the travel agency.”
“But that’s all the way up Main.”
“Walk or drive. Makes no never mind to me,” he said.
They rolled it back up and headed to their cars. He watched them load it and then take off toward Main. He stood watching from a distance until he saw they were in the act of stringing it across the space before he left smiling at what the banner said.
Mercy Dane must be an angel. Saved her sister’s life and Granny’s biscuits.
We are so sorry. We were so mean.
This message approved by: Tina Clark, Molly Frederick, and Angel Herd.
Lon drove away. As far as he was concerned, it could hang until it rotted away.
He got home, grabbed a cold beer, and took it with him to the shower. By the time he’d washed the remnants of his day away, the beer was gone, and he was clean. He put on a pair of sweats, a long-sleeved T-shirt and some fur-lined moccasins, and was going to the kitchen when his cell signaled a text.
He stopped to read it, and then his heart thumped once so hard he almost lost his breath.
SEX
He grinned as he sent a text back and then went to grab a clean uniform and his work boots to take with him in case he had an emergency during the night and had to leave. He was as excited as he’d been as a kid packing for a sleepover with a friend, only better, and out the door in minutes, his heart racing with every step.
Mercy stood at the other end of the conversation, waiting for an answer. Then it occurred to her that he might not get that for hours if he was working some incident or case. She plopped down on the side of the bed butt-naked and sighed. This was going to be such a letdown if—
Ping, ping.
It was Lon. Her heart pounded as she pulled up the text. A slow grin, a heartfelt sigh, and then she closed her eyes and shivered.
Don’t mind if I do.
* * *
Lights: Dim to none.
Music: Willie Nelson’s classic—“Always on My Mind.”
Action: Coming in the door.
Mercy heard his car drive up. Heard his footsteps running up the stairs and got hot all over. He wasn’t wasting a minute. He knocked.
“It’s open,” she called out.
He opened the door, and for a moment, was little more than a silhouette against the street light behind him. “There is a password,” Mercy said. “Come into my parlor.”
“Said the spider to the fly?”
“Lock the door behind you.”
Lon stepped across the threshold, tossed the stuff he was carrying on the sofa, and did as she asked.
He began taking off clothes where he stood, while waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dark, and then he saw her, a shadow in an unlit hall, and walked toward her. It didn’t take long to see that she wasn’t wearing a damn thing, not even a smile.
He stopped. “We’ve been here before,” he said softly.
“But in a darker, sadder time.”
“Then why don’t we start over on the right foot…and the right name?”
He heard her sigh. “Hello. Thank you for coming to my aid. My name is Mercy Dane.”
“How could I ignore a sweet woman’s request? Nice to meet you, Mercy. My name is Lonnie Joe Pittman, but you can call me Lon. Is there anything I can do for you?”
Mercy shivered. “Just love me.”
He wrapped his arms around her as he whispered in her ear. “I already do.”
She pointed to the faint glow of blue light emanating from an open doorway. He swept her off her feet and carried her toward it, then into her bedroom, and laid her down on the bed.
She was shaking. “Are you cold?”
“Just remembering,” she said.
He groaned. “Have mercy.”
Mercy answered. “Please do.”
And so it began. Two people needing what the other had to give. An awakening of kindred spirits chasing one goal. One minute led to another, and then another, until time ceased to have meaning.
Lon was lost in the heat, trapped within the clutch of lithe legs locked upon his back—of long fingers kneading, urging, searching. He could feel the muscles within her beginning to contract.
Mercy’s breathing quickened as she rose up to meet each urgent thrust. Nothing was better. Nothing felt as good as that thick shaft buried within her warmth—the constant hammer of body against body. She felt it coming. Didn’t want this to end, but couldn’t stop. And then they exploded in a frisson of heat. As their bodies trembled, they rode the fire down in silence. The music switched off. Nothing to be said. Nothing to be heard but the shattered rhythm of their breathing.
For Lon this night of making love to Mercy was one of the best things he’d ever done. His heart was full, his body a slave to inertia. He wanted her to love him. He wanted her in his life forever. He wanted to have a family—grow old with her. She’d been cheated out of a childhood, but they had the rest of their lives to make things better. He wrapped his arms around her and rolled until they were face to face.
“You look beautiful in blue,” he said.
“It’s my favorite color. It’s why I wore it for you,” she said.
He eyed the blue lightbulb beneath the lamp shade. “How do you look in red?” he asked.
She never cracked a smile. “Too hot to handle.”
Lon laughed, and then pulled her close. “You are for sure a hot mess,” he whispered, and kissed the hollow at her throat. “So what do you have to say for yourself?”
He saw her eyes narrow, as if she were giving though
t to her answer, and then she slid a hand down his belly, pausing just below his belly button, waiting to pull the trigger.
“Can we do that again?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said, rolled her over on her back, and proceeded to show her that love was always better the second time around.
* * *
They made love and slept, made love and slept, until Mercy’s alarm went off the next morning. The first thing she thought was “There’s a man in my bed.” She looked at him, remembering waking up all those years ago and leaving him sleeping. She would never do that again. She leaned over and gave him a kiss behind the ear, then ran a hand down his back, and cupped that cute, tight butt. “Lon, Lonnie Joe…sweetheart?”
“Hmmm?”
“Are you awake?”
“Yes,” he muttered, his face still mashed into the pillow.
“Okay…just didn’t want you to think I was running out on you again. But I have to get ready for work, so I’m headed to the shower.”
“What time is it?”
“Four.”
He rolled over and sat up, rubbing his face with both hands. “In the morning?”
She laughed. “Yes, and don’t complain. The sex was heavenly. Worth losing sleep,” she said, and got up.
“Oh. Speaking of heavenly,” Lon said. “The three witches from Granny’s hung a banner on Main Street in your honor last night. The judge ordered them to make a public apology, and they did.”
“You’re kidding. What does it say?”
“I’m not telling. I want you to see it for yourself as you ride to work.”
“I can’t wait,” she drawled, and headed across the hall in a long, lanky stride.
Lon groaned at the full view of her backside. “Perfection, thy name is Mercy,” he mumbled, and went to join her in the shower.
Fastest sex and shower in history, but they were both out the door in plenty of time for Mercy to clock in at Granny’s and Lon to go home and shave. He took the clean uniform and dressed for work from there. But in the back of his mind, he already dreamed about the day that would no longer be necessary.
As for the banner, Mercy saw the white canvas strung across the empty lot facing Main, and as she rode closer, she saw the words and grinned.
“Saved my sister and Granny’s biscuits,” she read, and laughed as she turned and rode behind Granny’s to park.
Lovey’s car was already there. She heard Elvis’s truck rolling up behind her and two of the waitresses arriving together. It was time to start another day.
Chapter 23
For the first time in Mercy’s life, she was completely happy. She had hope. She had a future, because she had the cop. He was what had been missing. Not just a man, but the man meant for her.
She loved him. So much. Even though she had yet to come right out and say it. But she would because he had so lovingly and freely said it to her. She went into Granny’s with a bounce in her step, exuding joy. “Morning Elvis, morning Lovey, looking good, Chet. Let’s make some biscuits.”
Lovey looked up from her laptop and smiled. “Someone is sure happy today.”
“That would be me,” Mercy said as she strode past her with that steady stride and locked up her things. She came out of the break room tying a clean apron around her waist, adjusted the bib, and then reached for the baking pans.
Elvis banged the spatula on the side of the grill, his way of announcing he was about to speak. They all looked up. “You gonna be making them heavenly biscuits today?” Elvis asked.
Mercy grinned. They’d seen the banner! “Yes, thank you. I am.”
Lovey shook her head. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here the day that happened.”
“No matter, Lovey. Ruby Dye must have stepped in for you because the way I hear it, she pretty much cleaned house on my behalf.”
Elvis banged the spatula one last time. “Next time you need to give someone a whipping at work, you tell me.”
“Thanks to all of you for having my back,” Mercy said, and then flour began to fly.
* * *
The ensuing months flew by in flour-filled, sugar-sprinkled days, and Mercy’s prowess in the kitchen had become a well-known fact. After a conversation Mercy had with Moose one night, talking about her job and how much she loved it, Moose made sure to spread the word. After that, anytime someone mentioned her name, he told them she was no longer serving drinks, but baking full-time at a little place in Blessings called Granny’s Country Kitchen.
Truckers were always on the lookout for a good place to eat, and when they heard that, they spread the word too. And as the word spread, truckers began to show up at Granny’s, and there were a few times a week when customers actually had to wait to be seated.
The first trucker caused quite a stir when he tried to find a place to park his big rig. He’d come a long way for a good piece of pie and didn’t quit until he found one. But after the truckers became commonplace, the city council cleared the zoning on a big graveled lot that had once been a used car business so it could be accepted parking for big-rig diners at Granny’s. It was a block-long walk for the truckers, but none had voiced a complaint. And every time one came in to eat who had known Mercy from the Road Warrior Bar, they always yelled at her through the pass-through before they left, giving her two thumbs up for her biscuits or the dessert they’d eaten.
At Mercy’s suggestion, Lovey had hired two part-time bakers and then trained them under Mercy so that on her two days off, there would be no danger of running out of cakes and pies, or the heavenly biscuits, as they’d become known after the banner had been hung. If Mercy was an angel, then it stood to reason why her baking was so good. Thus the phrase “heavenly biscuits” was born.
Mercy made sweets in the day and sweet love to Lon every night, and settled into Sunday dinners at the Talbot farm like she’d been doing it all her life, with the cop at her side.
And so it is with the way of people, memories of the shaming incident Mercy suffered had dimmed, and the women were slowly forgiven. Ruby was cutting the judge’s hair again and taking appointments for Tina, Molly, and Angel. The uproar settled as spring came to Blessings.
* * *
It was a week before high school graduation when the weather brought a two-day bout of heavy rains. Roads flooded. Low-water bridges washed out, and travel in the area was limited.
Mercy had worked one of her days off last week so that one of the other bakers could go to a family wedding, and now that baker was working the following Friday for Mercy, giving her a well-earned three-day weekend.
She’d slept in past her usual 4:00 a.m. wake-up call and carried a load of laundry to the utility room when her phone rang. When caller ID told her it was Lon, she piled the laundry on top of the washer and answered with a smile. “Good morning to my favorite cop,” Mercy said.
Lon grinned. There wasn’t one thing about this woman that didn’t make his heart sing. “And good morning to my favorite angel. Wanna take a ride with me?”
“Sure. Where are you going?”
“To check the two low-water bridges on the south and east roads leading out of town.”
“Okay, I’ll change shoes. Otherwise, I’m good to go.”
“On my way to pick you up now,” he said.
Mercy had planned to have lunch with Hope today, until Hope texted her last night and told her not to come. Because of the washed out roads, she had to work a double shift, since a half dozen nurses were unable to get to work. Mercy already knew the situation in and out of Blessings had become serious. She changed shoes, grabbed a jacket and her purse, and headed to the living room to watch for Lon, but when she looked out and saw her landlord in his wife’s flower garden, she went onto the front door landing instead to say hello.
“Good morning, Elliot. Those roses are magnificent!”
He looked up, smi
ling as he waved. “Yes, they are.” Then he remembered it was Friday and frowned. “Are you ill? You’re not at work.”
“No, I’m fine, but it’s sweet of you to ask. I worked a Saturday last week for someone else, and now she’s making it up to me. I’m going with Lon to check bridges,” she said.
Elliot chuckled. He liked that those two were a couple, and he liked the good vibes of having love all around him once more. “Be careful.”
“We will. Oh, there he comes,” she said, running inside to get her jacket and purse. She locked up and then took the stairs two at a time with her long legs flying.
She waved again as they drove away and then leaned over the console and gave Lon a quick kiss before she buckled herself in. “You look particularly beautiful, today,” Lon said.
Mercy smiled. “That’s because I’m particularly happy.”
“Good. How do you feel about being a June bride?”
She felt her forehead and then pinched her own arm. “Hmmm, I think I feel good about it.”
He loved her corny sense of humor and grinned. “Anytime you want to set a date, I’m ready. I love you with all my heart. I want nothing more in life than to spend it with you.”
Mercy reached across the console and held his hand. “I will confess I am at the point of looking at wedding dresses online. I haven’t been putting you off. I’ve been struggling with when, not if.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
She smiled, thinking how every single thing about him was so perfect for her. “Do you remember when we first met?”
He nodded. “I was in CLEET training in Savannah.”
“It was September,” Mercy said. “I want our married life to begin on the same day you came to my rescue. I was so scared and so lost, and then you came out of your apartment. In the midst of the hell my life was in, you stepped in to help. It was the fifteenth of September. I don’t know what day that falls on this year, but I want to get married on the fifteenth.”
“Then we will,” Lon said. “I’ll write it on my calendar so that all of the perps and the drunks and the pig thieves will know to put their stupidity off while I’m busy getting married.”