Chapter 33
Sneak attack – when the visitor you don’t want to see shows up unexpectedly
Gibson
I hold out my hand to Mercy and pray she’ll take it. “Can we talk somewhere private?”
“Boo!” Sage yells behind me.
“We wouldn’t have arranged this festival for you if we knew you were going to hide from us,” Clove claims.
Mercy’s brow wrinkles. “Arrange this festival for you? What are they talking about?”
I wiggle my hand. “Come with me and I’ll explain.”
She slaps her hand in mine. “This better be one awesome explanation.”
I lead her down the street until we reach Bake Me Happy. I made arrangements with Bryan to get some privacy here. I haven’t lived in Winter Falls long but I knew I’d need somewhere private to talk because otherwise the entire town is going to listen in on our conversation.
We enter and I frown when I notice Jett and Isla are here. Isla sees me and breaks away from Jett to run for me.
“You’re home!”
She flies at me and I catch her and whirl her around. “I’m home.”
“Good. Mercy was sad when you were gone.”
Mercy groans behind me and I cough to hide my smile.
I didn’t know what kind of reception I’d face with Mercy. Despite my daily letters to me, she never wrote back. And then I got the crazy idea to keep writing letters and not phone her. To wait to speak to her until I was released.
Jett holds out his hand to Isla. “Let’s go and leave these two alone.”
Isla picks up a cookie the size of her face before grasping Jett’s hand.
“Bye,” Mercy calls as they leave. Isla waves but Jett doesn’t respond.
“He doesn’t like me,” Mercy says once the door is closed behind them.
“He likes you. But he’s mad at me.”
“Mad at you? How dare he? You’re working your ass off to get sober and he’s mad? Is he bummed to lose a drinking partner?” She starts for the door. “I’ll talk to him.”
I shackle her wrist to stop her. “He’s not mad I got sober. He’s not worried about losing a drinking partner. He’s mad I broke our pact not to fall in love.”
She freezes. “What did you say?”
I pull her near and place my hands on her hips. “I love you, Mercy Keller.”
Her mouth drops open. “You love me?”
I kiss her nose. “I love you, my sassy girl.”
Her eyes narrow. “Is this some big discovery you made in rehab?”
“Nope. I knew I loved you before I left for rehab. It’s the main reason I agreed to go.”
“You didn’t agree to rehab because the band was kicking you out if you didn’t get sober?”
I sigh. “Heard about that, did you?”
“It’s Winter Falls.”
Bryan chuckles as he enters the bakery from the kitchen. “Never mind me.” He holds up two mugs. “I just wanted to get you two coffees before I leave you alone.”
I usher Mercy to a table away from the window.
“I put on the closed sign and the front door is locked,” Bryan announces as he places our drinks on the table.
Mercy stares at him. “You’re going to leave us alone? You’re not going to stand across the room and pretend not to listen?” She narrows her eyes at him. “Did you plant bugs in here?”
“I did not plant bugs.” Bryan sounds indignant. I can’t resist bursting his righteous bubble.
“I paid him to give us the bakery for an hour.”
He harrumphs. “You had to tell her?” He whirls around and flounces off. “Rockstars. I’ll never understand them.”
“You’re just mad because you hit on Adam and he turned you town,” I holler after him.
His response is to slam the back door. Such a drama queen.
“Who’s Adam?” Mercy asks.
I hate the doubt creeping into her voice. She doesn’t trust me anymore. Not after I broke my promise to her. I don’t blame her. I have to be patient while I earn her trust back.
“Remember I told you about the band I helped out while they were recording here?” She nods. “Adam is the bass player.”
“Ah.”
I sip on my coffee while I figure out how to begin. “Did you get my letters?”
“I did.”
“Did you read them or did you burn them behind Uncle Mercury’s house while he cheered you on?”
She fiddles with the edge of the table but I notice her cheeks darken. “I read them.”
“Thank you.”
“Why are you thanking me?”
I reach across the table and place my hand over hers. “Because you read my letters despite how pissed you must have been at me.”
“I wasn’t pissed,” she mumbles.
“You weren’t?” My sassy girl has a temper.
She blows out a breath. “I was heartbroken.”
My heart hammers in my chest and I squeeze her hand. “I’m sorry. I’m such an idiot. You told me you loved me and I called you a bitch.”
She flinches at the word bitch.
“I promise never to call you a bitch again.” I inhale a deep breath and continue. “And I promise to never drink again.”
She scowls. “No.”
“No? You don’t want me to be sober? I’m confused.”
“Of course, I want you to stay sober. By the way, I’m proud of you for going to rehab and sticking with it.” She squeezes my hand. “Not everyone with a problem does.”
I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry about your mom.”
She leans into my hand for comfort and a spark of hope fills me. She’s not pushing me away. She’s listening to me. Maybe she will give me a second chance.
“Why don’t you want me to promise to stay sober?”
She clears her throat. “I want you to promise to try your best to stay sober. I don’t want you to cave under the pressure of promising me to stay sober.”
I don’t hesitate. “I promise I will do my best to stay sober. I’ve found a local support group in White Bridge and one of their members already agreed to be my sponsor.”
She smiles and steals my breath away. I didn’t think I was ever going to see her smile again. At least not directed at me.
“I love you, sassy girl. Will you give me another chance to earn your trust?”
“I—”
“Mercy Keller,” a woman screams and pounds on the window. “I know you’re in there! I can see you! You can’t ignore me any longer!”
Mercy buries her face in her hands and groans.
“Who is it?” I ask but considering the woman is weaving as she tries to stay upright I think I can guess.
“My mom,” she says as she starts to stand.
I move to stop her. “No. You don’t deal with her anymore. I do.”
“You can’t fight my battles for me.”
“Watch me.”
I march to the front door. Mercy follows me but I don’t try to stop her again. My sassy girl doesn’t enjoy being bossed around unless we’re in the bedroom.
“Who are you?” Mercy’s mom asks when I fling the door open.
Mercy grunts behind me. “Mom, this is Gibson. Gibson, this is my mom, Estelle.”
I stand in front of Mercy to block her mother from seeing her. “You deal with me.”
“I don’t know you. Who the hell are you?”
“I’m the man standing in front of the woman I love making sure her mother doesn’t hurt her anymore.”
Mercy digs her fingers into my belt buckle. I pat her arm. I’ve got this.
“I need to speak to my daughter.”
I cross my arms and glare at the woman. “All communication goes through me.”
“Don’t want you.” She waves me away and loses her balance. She stumbles before managing to right herself.
“What do you want to speak with Mercy about?”
“I bet I know,” Sage says as she and the rest of the gossip gals join us.
Estelle scans the area and scowls when she realizes she’s surrounded by the entire town. Mercy’s friends and my bandmates move to stand behind us.
Their silent support means the world to me. I worried I’d lost my family when they threatened to kick me out of Cash the Sinners.
But Dylan confessed on the ride into town from rehab today how their threat was an empty one. They would have never forced me out of the band. Let alone abandoned me.
Feather snorts. “We all know.”
Petal nods. “She wants Mercury’s money.”
“It’s my money,” Estelle shrieks.
“It’s not your money,” Sage says. “It’s Mercury’s money. He can do with it what he wants.”
Estelle snarls at Mercy. “And I bet he bought your little innocent act.”
I step forward. “Don’t you dare speak to her that way. You don’t deserve to breathe the same air as her. Let along be a witch to her.”
“She’s my daughter. I’ll say whatever I want to her.”
I growl. “You’re done. You can walk away from Winter Falls of your own accord or I will walk you out of here.”
Sage hustles to my side. “We got this.”
The gossip gals surround Estelle and herd her away from us.
“I’ll make sure she doesn’t come back and the gossip gals stay in control,” Peace says as he follows them.
“Show’s over, folks,” I announce in a loud voice once Estelle is gone.
“But what about the community dinner we arranged?” Indigo asks.
“The community dinner?” Mercy asks.
Indigo points to me. “Your guitar man wanted to have a celebration with the entire town upon his return.”
“We’ll be there in a minute,” I say.
Cash clutches Indigo’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go.”
“But I want to watch Gibson grovel,” she whines but Cash drags her away.
The rest of the group dispenses. Once they’re gone, I turn to Mercy. “I hope I wasn’t out of line with your mom.”
“Second chance granted!” She yells and flings herself at me.
I meld my lips to hers. I moan when she immediately opens to me. I never thought I’d experience her spicy taste again. I thought I’d lost her forever. But I didn’t. I will spend my life exploring this woman’s mouth and body. My cock twitches in response.
I slow the kiss until I can break away. “Love you, sassy girl.”
She smiles at me. “I love you, too, Gibson.”
“I promise I won’t break your heart again.”
“Good because I have the plot all picked out where I want to bury you if you do.”
I chuckle. This woman will keep me on my toes for the rest of my life. I can’t wait.
“What the hell?” Jett shouts. “What are you doing here?”
I glance over to discover Jett glaring down at Aurora.
“Is this the mysterious Aurora?” Mercy whispers.
I nod.
She steps away and grasps my hand. “Come on. Let’s go be nosy.”
I follow her. I’ll always follow her. Wherever she goes, I go from now on.