She frowned, so worried.
He loosened his hold on her to pat his pockets. “Although I do have a ring here somewhere.”
“You do not!” She choked on another laugh, giving his shoulder a small shove.
He grinned and caught her close again, her pretty eyes and freckles and goodness reaching out to him, filling him with such love, it made his throat ache. He wished he had a ring on him. He wanted it all, right now.
“Do you have a ring?” she asked with an askance look up at him.
“Are you kidding? I’m no boy scout. I barely carry condoms.”
“Oh. So that’s not a Swiss Army knife in your pocket? Are you glad to see me?” She leaned into him, hips deliberately nudging his wood.
She had to be the only woman who could make him blush. He chuckled.
“I’m very glad to see you. And I want to give this a try, but I mean it about going slow. I have stuff to work out back home. A job to finish. The good news is, after I wrap it up, I’ll have enough in the bank to keep you in the style to which you’ve grown accustomed.”
“No-name cereal and dollar store silverware?”
“Exactly. So could we give it a try? It’ll be long-distance and weekends and letting your sister get used to the idea. Me proving to myself, and you, that I can stay sober. It’s easier when I’m with you, by the way. True story.”
She smiled crookedly. “I love you, you know.”
“I love you, too. Like you can’t even imagine.”
She circled his neck with her arms and hugged herself tight against him. “How are we going to get through this? I want you to stay right now. I need you.”
“Me, too. And I’m dying to see the kids, M, but somehow I don’t think today is the day.”
“No. Maybe not this visit,” she agreed, letting him turn her to guide her out of the courthouse, arms around each other. “But the kids’ll be in day camp later in the week. If you stick around, I could take a long lunch. We could work out when would be a good time.”
“A long lunch, huh? Sure you don’t want to call it a honeymoon? We could go back in there and ask a judge to marry us now. I mean, how could Porsha say your husband isn’t allowed to see her kids?”
She laughed and shook her head. “The first time I saw you, I thought you were the type of man who could lead me astray with very little effort.”
“Astray?” He was insulted. “I’m offering to make an honest woman of you.”
“Getting married right now would not be ‘taking it slow,’ L.C.”
“No,” he agreed, and he had meant it about going slow, he really had, but now she was standing against him, smiling, and she smelled good. She felt so damned right under his arm.
“No one would be available anyway.” She looked at her watch. “And I don’t have time. I need to pick up the kids from Holly. This so isn’t the time to get married.”
“You’re right.”
They didn’t move, just stared at each other, grins widening in a kind of dare-ya excitement.
“We could book an appointment for day after tomorrow,” he suggested. “You’re taking a long lunch anyway.”
“You’re a bad influence.” She attempted to sound disapproving, but her gaze drifted down his front in admiration. “Look how nice we’re dressed. I don’t have to tell Porsha today.”
“It could be our little secret,” he agreed, and leaned closer to coax, “Cancer and Scorpio. I looked into it. We’re a stellar match, you know.”
“Sin city,” she said through lowered lashes, sultry as a hot, Arizona night. Taking one step back toward the entrance, she said, “Since we’re here, we might as well ask how it works.”
Chapter 27
Seven years later...
Mercedes nodded and made reassuring noises, but Mrs. Vander Klei would not stop talking. “...because the dripping sound is keeping me awake.”
“I understand. I’ll have L.C. look at it first thing tomorrow, I promise,” Mercedes said, touching the elderly woman’s elbow. “But right now, he’s tied up.” Hosting his son’s engagement party. Kind of a big deal here, Mrs. Vander Klei.
“I worry about flooding is all I’m saying. It could seep under the wall.”
L.C. wouldn’t let that happen. After going to all the trouble and expense to get his millwright certification, he had wound up with a commute he didn’t like while the seniors in the complex complained because he wasn’t available for their odd jobs. Within that first year, the board had negotiated a contract with him for fulltime handyman duties. He stayed on top of anything that could get out of hand into bigger expenses. He also supervised the odd first-time shoplifter putting in community hours. Between him and Mercedes, they kept this place running like a well-oiled clock and kept their kids fed and clothed besides.
“May I offer you a cup of punch, Helga?” Edward Hilroy asked from behind the nearby table.
Mercedes sent him a grateful smile as Mrs. Vander Klei turned to accept.
Mercedes loved that old sweetheart of a man. While he wasn’t one to put himself forward in a big way, he had an indefatigable willingness to sit behind a table and serve cake slices or make change from a petty cash box. More importantly, he put a smile on his wife’s face, transforming the former Mrs. Garvey into a much more approachable and cooperative Mrs. Hilroy.
She stood beside him, encouraging people to sign the guest book and offer the young couple their best wishes. She had insisted with all her equally indefatigable sense of propriety, that she be allowed to pay for printed invitations to this party. It was incredibly old-fashioned, but so was the population of Coconino. Ayjia had been intrigued with the quaint bit of etiquette. She had spent an evening with the Hilroys, addressing and sealing envelopes, then had taken great care placing them in the appropriate mailboxes. She had asked Edith if she could sit with them another evening soon, to discuss how society had changed in their lifetime, as part of an assignment for school.
The Hilroys had become such trusted friends of the family, they stayed with the children at the duplex a few times a year, whenever Mercedes and L.C. stole a weekend away.
“Hey, M,” a male voice that sounded like L.C.’s made her turn.
“You’re here!” She hugged Zack, missing him now that he and Holly lived permanently in Liebe Falls.
“We’re here, and hey, thanks for doing this. So not necessary.”
“Oh, please,” she murmured. “You know we’d be drawn and quartered if we didn’t do something so everyone could see you guys and wish you well. They’re so invested in you and the kids.”
“Yeah.” He kept his arm hooked around her shoulders as he surveyed the seniors milling around the cantina. “It’s like having a million grandparents. You’re going to be one, you know.”
“Shut up!”
He grinned and she nudged him.
“Fogarty genes.” She made him bring his face down so she could kiss his cheek. “That’s so great.” Joy and lightness overwhelmed her. She looked for Holly and caught sight of L.C. pulling Lindsay up into a big hug. His bicep flexed beneath the sleeve of his shirt where a ferocious dragon slayer and a fey nymph with dragonfly wings were imprinted under his skin.
He was a bit of a sexist, sure, but the broader message meant a lot to all of them. He claimed Dayton and Ayjia every bit as much as he claimed the kids he’d made. Then he had claimed her with a simply scrolled M over his heart. She’d had a similar scripted L.C. inked over hers.
Lindsay twined her arms around his neck, legs dangling, head resting trustingly on his shoulder as she reconnected with her dad.
Mercedes smiled, loving that their bond withstood the distance.
“I’m so glad we get to keep her for spring break.” Zack was going back early. He had to work, but Holly was staying to visit with her parents and would take Lindsay when she flew home.
“’cause Dayton’s going to David’s?” Zack guessed.
“That too.” She wrinkled her nose. Ayjia had lots of friends and wouldn’t miss her brother too badly, but she and Lindsay were peas in a pod when they got together. It would make the time pass quickly for her. “Mostly just that we miss Lindsay. It’s nice when we get her in person, not just over the tablet.”
“Yeah, I miss you guys when— What the hell,” Zack murmured, looking past Mercedes with his eyes boggling.
She knew what he’d seen and nodded. “Your father is threatening to buy a shotgun.”
“No, kidding. The last time I talked to her, she was in pigtails and a hoody.”
This morning Ayjia had combed out her hair, tugged on a lacy little dress she’d bought the last time she’d stayed with Porsha in Phoenix, and her narrow body had suddenly revealed its young filly curves. A swipe of lip gloss and she was no longer a little girl.
“Who is this grown up and what has she done with my kid sister?” Zack asked as Ayjia hugged him in greeting.
She grinned the way she did when L.C. called himself her father, full of self-conscious pride. “I’m still the shortest in my class,” she told him.
“And the smartest and sweetest, I’m sure. Hey, I hear you might have a little brother or sister soon.” His tone lowered with concern.