Chapter 10
Jeremiah grinned at Joci. "What can I help you with?"
She took a deep breath and smiled. "We have three hours before everyone will begin arriving.
Go ahead and do what you were doing in the office.
I am going to set the table, play with some of the decorations, and put the turkey in the oven.
I think I have this part of the house under control. But I'll holler if I don't."
He kissed her lips and hugged her. "I'm proud of you."
She chuckled. "I'm proud of you, too."
He patted her fine ass and turned toward the office.
He had some invoices to finish setting up, then he'd go out to the garage and set up the chairs and tables.
Overflow seating and casual conversation could flow out there.
He'd been working hard on the garage for the past month.
He finished off the walls. Hung nice artwork and made a wooden bar at the back for things like this.
Their house wasn't huge, but it was nice, and Joci didn't want to make it bigger.
The next thing he would begin working on was the basement.
He'd finish it off a bit nicer than it was now.
They'd be able to move the office down there if they found they needed the space as the baby grew.
He shook his head. Never would he have guessed he'd be having a baby at forty-nine. And be happy about it. That was the thing; he was deliriously happy with his life right now.
He sat at his desk and read the first email in his inbox. Taking care of that invoice, he worked on the next one, sending off the parts order. From the corner of his eye, he saw the dark sedan slowly pass by the house. His phone chimed as the camera recorded the car.
His stomach rolled slightly, but he took a deep breath to not get worked up. Let the cameras take care of recording Mercer's harassment. It was the best thing he could do now.
He tried focusing on work, but found himself staring out the window more than anything else, so he closed his computer and went out to see what Joci was up to.
When he stepped into the dining room, she'd transformed it into a holiday retreat.
"Wow, this looks incredible."
She smiled, her dimples made an appearance, and his heart beat a bit faster. "Thank you. I'm so proud of it."
In the center of the table, she had candles with multi-colored mums around the bottom.
The plates and napkins complemented the tablecloth his mom had made, and she had bows on the backs of the chairs in a deep burgundy with gold accents.
The buffet she had restored for the house had the same candles and colors on it. It didn't look like the same house.
"You should be honey. It's stunning."
Her smile said it all! "Anyway, I can't focus on work, so I thought I'd see if you needed anything; otherwise, I'm going to move the vehicles out to the vacant lot and set up the garage."
"Oh, that would be great. I have decorations for out there, too! Did you get permission to park vehicles over there?"
"I certainly did."
She nodded.
He moved toward the door to the garage, and Joci followed him.
Quickly moving their vehicles outside, he parked them next door, watching the ground for any new footprints.
Confident he didn't see any, he scanned the street as he moved Joci's vehicle.
He began to feel a bit more at ease when he entered the garage and closed the overhead door.
His family all came in through the man door, and so did the boys.
He pulled the chairs off the wall and set them up around the tables. Joci pulled decorations from the closet at the back and began decorating the bar similarly to the dining room. "Who will sit inside and who will sit out here?"
She smiled. "I thought we'd all sit out here. The dining room table will be for the food. I want us all to sit together."
"Thank you. I want that too." He moved inside and brought the dining room chairs out to the garage.
The door opened, and Bryce and Dayton entered, each of them carrying a folding table.
He grinned. "She made you bring your own tables!"
"Jeremiah! We would have found the room, but Angie and Staci said they had the tables and offered."
He chuckled and kissed her lips quickly. "I'm teasing."
She slapped his arm, and his brothers chuckled. His phone chimed again, and he glanced at it, seeing not only Mercer's car, but Mercer walking up to the front door. He glanced at Dayton and nodded slightly.
Jeremiah entered the house without a word and strode to the front door. He stepped outside before Mercer reached the porch.
"What are you doing on my property?"
Mercer froze for a moment, then a sly grin lifted one side of his mouth. "I came to negotiate with you. You took ten years from my life by testifying against me. I want a job."
"I testified because I was subpoenaed. I told the truth. You'll never work for me again."
"Then you owe me money."
"I don't owe you anything."
"I see your wife's pregnant, maybe she thinks differently."
"You'll stay away from my wife. From my sons. From my entire family. By the way, this is all against your parole. And," he moved aside. "I'm recording all of this." He pointed to the camera. "Do you think blackmail will keep you out of jail?"
Mercer's eyes squinted to narrow slits. "I'm not blackmailing you."
"The hell you aren't. You vaguely threaten my wife when I tell you I don't owe you anything.
So let me tell you this, I've recorded every time you've driven past my house.
I have cameras all around the house watching every time you come onto my property, and I've told Detective Jones that you've been here.
I'll now send him this recording, and he can decide if you've broken your parole. "
Mercer stepped forward, and from the garage, both Dayton and Bryce stepped outside. Mercer halted, stared at Jeremiah's brothers a moment, then turned and left. Before he got to his car, Jeremiah had sent the recording to Detective Jones.
He nodded to his brothers, who waited until Mercer drove off the street, then he entered the house and locked the door. He waited a moment to calm down. His anger at Mercer was at an all-time high. His frustration that he didn't seem to think he needed to play by the rules was as well.
After a few moments, he stepped out to the garage. Joci stood in the middle of the garage, wringing her hands, waiting for him.
"It's alright. I sent Teddy the recording."
Dayton sat in a chair. "Send it to Tommy, too. He can have officers drive by all day today until Mercer is picked up."
Jeremiah nodded. He kissed Joci and pulled her close. "It's going to be just fine, Baby."
She nodded against his chest, but he felt her trembling. That angered him even more.
The door to the garage opened, and Emily and Thomas stepped inside with pots of food.
He and Joci greeted them and set the food on the bar.
Soon, the door opened, and their boys stepped inside the garage, with Molly and Ryder coming in last. They were holding hands.
He saw Joci's smile as she greeted them. Things were going to be just fine.