Chapter 7 Mercer
MERCER
Lucien and Jae were already in front of Starlight Grove’s town hall when I wandered over.
“Did you two also get the—”
“Threatening phone call from Stanley?” Jae finished. “Yup.”
After Summer’s friends came to take care of her, I returned to L’étoile and my morning prep. I was so distracted my sous chef, Camille, relegated me to mise en place because—in her words—surely I wouldn’t fuck up zesting lemons.
What was Summer going to do with her apartment and the bakery out of commission? I had been debating whether it was too soon to go check on her when Stanley demanded our attendance at an emergency town meeting.
I forgot what it was like to be thought of as a unit. Memories of being you three boys flooded back. The way it was thrown out as an all-encompassing greeting from an adult while we were antsy, waiting in line at the market with Mom. Yelled when we were caught climbing onto the roof of the school.
I didn’t have many memories of life before Starlight Grove apart from moving a lot.
Being told I was too rowdy by my dad. Be quiet, Mercer and Not right now .
Joining Pack Beaufort was an entirely new world.
Adults who asked if I wanted a snack before I was hungry and brothers —first Lucien and then Jae.
No matter how moody or loud or sulky I got, they didn’t stop being my pack.
I took us going our separate ways the hardest but pretended to be fine with it. I didn’t know if they even wanted me around after what Dad did and was too afraid to find out. Turns out suppressing childhood trauma results in a widely successful patisserie chain.
The Starlight Grove town hall’s sturdy brick facade hadn’t changed. This would technically be our second town meeting. We only attended five minutes of our first one before being sent out for making our toy cars crash too explosively as kids.
My molars ground together. “I feel like I’m walking into an ambush,” I muttered.
“Probably.” Lucien shrugged and stuck his hands in his pockets. “Ready?”
Always so unflappable. Very annoying standard to live up to. If something ever cracked that polished veneer of his, Jae and I were going to have a field day.
“Oh hi, I didn’t know you three would be here, too.”
Summer was walking up the wide steps toward us, arms crossed, hugging herself. She’d changed from this morning, but her crayon-bright outfit didn’t match her hunched posture. The tip of her nose was still a little ruddy from sniffles.
“Are you all right?”
She has nowhere to work or live. What kind of question is that, dumbass?
“Of course.” Her laugh rose too high too fast. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Well, that was clearly a lie. It bothered me, I realized, that she thought she had to put on a brave face for us.
“Do you know what this meeting is about?” I asked.
“No idea. Stanley just called me and said that my presence was urgently needed at the town hall.”
“Us, too,” Jae confirmed. “Also uh, hi, Summer. You look nice.” His voice cracked, and both of them went tomato red. What the hell?
“At least we can all head in together,” Lucien said with an easy smile.
He pushed open the sturdy doors, and my hand settled on Summer’s waist without thinking. Surprised brown eyes swung up and met mine as she let me guide her inside.
We were greeted by the gawking stare of a hundred or so townspeople. And Stanley, of course. Disturbingly gleeful atop his podium.
My hand dropped back down.
“Our key attendees are here! Finally . Please take these seats we’ve held for you at the front,” Stanley declared with a magnanimous sweep of his hand.
“What the hell is going on?” I demanded.
Stanley’s bushy eyebrows attempted to direct us like air traffic controllers. “You must be seated before I can convene the meeting!”
Everyone’s expectant faces rotated slowly, following our every step up the aisle.
Yeah, I fucking hated this.
The center front row was empty save for one seat, which was occupied by a cat sleeping face down on a velvet cushion. The mayor, I presumed, hard at work.
I sat down next to Summer, my thigh bumping hers. She tilted toward me, her soft omega perfume clouding my senses. Balmy and golden. “You left before I could thank you earlier,” she murmured. “So thank you. You saved my butt big time.”
Did I want to admit that I’d gotten a bad feeling when I noticed she’d stopped singing? Probably not. She might take it like I was laser-focused on everything she did. Which I was not.
I cleared my throat nervously. “It was no big deal.”
Bang . Stanley’s gavel reverberated through the packed hall and took ten years off my life.
“Thank you everyone for coming on such short notice,” he began. What an odd way to say coerced to attend . “I appreciate that you’re all well aware of what a dire situation we’re in and how imperative it is that we fix it.”
A chorus of agreements rippled through the crowd.
“Ever since Suns Out Bánhs Out opened, it has become a lunch staple in our fair town.”
“Hear, hear!” Carmen called from the second row.
Wait. This was about Summer’s bakery?
“It is catastrophic that our routines are now disrupted this way.” Stanley gripped the sides of the lectern and leaned forward.
“My dear Harry has only survived working overtime on your tax return extensions thanks to Summer’s bánh mì.
Is it really that hard to file on time, people?
Even Char sneaks out of Rosie’s Diner to Suns Out for lunch.
Imagine that. The proprietor of Rosie’s Diner bypassing her own kitchen. ”
“Thanks for that, Stanley,” a blond woman in the next row said dryly.
Stanley charged on gallantly. “I myself have found it to be a weekly indulgence I look forward to immensely.” His voice dropped furtively. “I’m supposed to be eating low sodium though, so don’t tell my doctor.”
“I’m in trouble with him, too, because of her cake!” Marisol called out, patting her stomach.
Was oversharing normal? There was a good chance this was going to be my last Starlight Grove town meeting.
“As nice as this is,” Summer cut in weakly,” there’s not much I can do. I’ve already spoken to my leasing agent. My landlord’s insurance needs to assess the damage before they can even start thinking about repairs. It could take weeks, maybe even months.”
Stanley stroked his beard. “Friends and neighbors, I think we all know the answer, don’t we? It’s obvious. Mercer should share his patisserie space so Summer can continue to make lunch for the town. Let’s keep the Artisan Quarter alive!”
What in the everloving—
Did my kitchen even have what Summer needed to operate?
Could we cohabitate without murdering each other by the end of the day?
Would this make her wobbly bottom lip go away?
On top of all that, I still had the memory of her wet T-shirt. The one I was not supposed to have but owned anyway. Filed under Things I Cannot Unsee . Subcategory: Horny Jail .
In summary, this was a disaster but I couldn’t find it in me to say no.
“No.”
Wait, what?
“I’m not going to do that to him,” Summer said firmly. “He’s only just opened, and he has enough to deal with.”
Okay, well that only made me want to offer more . Whatever mind control Stanley was doing to me was working, and I didn’t like it one bit.
“She needs a place to stay, too!” A teenage voice called from the back. “Her old nest is now a room for the girls.”
Summer spun in her chair, knuckles whitening on the back as she scanned the crowd. “Alvin! Where are you, you little shit? I’m going to kill you,” she hissed.
Her family didn’t have space for her? But there was no way she could stay in that drowned apartment, breathing mold spores with a nonfunctioning bathroom.
Summer was in a heated, whispered discussion with her friends behind her.
“You never told me they only had a couch for you.”
“It’s totally fine. I don’t need a nest.”
“Summer, half our group chat is links you send us from Nest Wonderland!”
Carmen cleared her throat loudly and rose slightly out of her chair with her hand raised. “Well, the Beaufort manor is a pack house,” she said before sinking elegantly back down.
“Is there space for a nest?” Stanley inquired.
“Yes, there is,” Marisol sang out. “A dedicated nest room at the end of the corridor past the bedrooms. Beautiful traditional design, too, and so spacious . I remember from all the times I would look at the real estate listing when it went on the market.”
“You what?” I said sharply. Why the fuck did she need encyclopedic knowledge of my old family home?
Marisol didn’t make eye contact as she innocently tucked an invisible lock of hair behind her ear. “I mean, I have no idea if you have space for a nest.”
Lucien nudged me, and Jae and I leaned into our own huddle.
“What is happening?” Jae whispered.
Lucien swiped away a layer of sweat that had beaded on his forehead. “They want us to take in Summer. How bad is the apartment?”
“Bad,” I said grimly.
“Then she can’t stay there.”
“Obviously.”
Jae’s leg started jiggling nervously. “Not only that, it’ll need to pass all the inspections before she moves back.”
“Of course it does. She’s not allowed to live in a place that’s not safe.”
“Allowed to?” Lucien’s brow raised at my vehemence.
“You know what I mean.”
We all pointedly avoided eye contact, unable to articulate why we each felt so strongly about helping Summer.
Summer was crouched down in front of the cat, their faces so close she was nearly cross-eyed.
“Felix, I know you can stop this,” she cajoled pleasantly.
“Surely a mayor as all-knowing and powerful as yourself is aware that I will be just fine staying with my parents. Please do not let me live in a cursed house.” Conviction wavered from her voice.
“And I—I guess I can always have another grand opening of Suns Out once it’s fixed up. ”
He wiggled his head, burying it deeper.
“Nothing? Really?” Summer dropped all niceties. “Is this some sick payback because I have twelve hundred photos of you on my phone? Don’t sleep so cute all the time then!”
“Well, if there are no objections, shall we put it to a vote?” Stanley’s selective hearing filtered out Summer’s spluttering, although his voice did gradually rise in volume as he continued.
“We’re all busy people, so a show of hands should be sufficient.
The parties involved abstaining, of course.
That would compromise the integrity of the results. ”
“ Integrity of the …come on!”
I don’t know why I was surprised when every hand in the room rose toward the ceiling. Everyone began chattering excitedly about not having to go without bánh mì.
“It’s decided then!” Stanley’s booming voice cut across the rising din. “Summer will move into the Beaufort pack house and operate her bakery out of the patisserie until further notice.”
The gavel fell with a resounding crack and sealed our fate.