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The room goes silent.
“Me too.” I finally answer. “But if she wants to walk, I’m not going to lock her away. I could never do that to her. I know you couldn’t either. Neither of you.”
“Yeah.” Grant rubs a hand around his neck. “So let’s give her no other choice but to stay.”
I’m quiet a second before I say, “I saw a look of uncertainty in her eyes when you told her how things would go down between all of us.”
“Shit,” Grant grumbles. He holds up both hands like he thinks there is no other choice to make. “She needed to know.”
Up until then, Linc has been quiet. “She’s still holding back from us. We have to dig deeper to help her see what we want isn’t some backwoods fuck fest where no one can see us and then it’s all over once we are back in the real world.”
Grant finishes off his coffee and walks it to the sink and rinses. “We should go after her. What if she gets lost or comes across a cougar or something? Plus, it will be dark soon.”
Linc jerks a thumb toward our buddy. “I think Grant is right.” Changing his laid-back routine all of a sudden.
I shake my head. “Listen, you two, I don’t think she particularly likes the caveman routine you pulled on her today, and she grew up in these woods.” I can’t believe what I am saying when five minutes ago I would have been on Grant’s side and all three of us would be charging out of here like possessed demons on the hunt. “She’s not going to get lost. Like you said, she knows these woods. And,” I crack a grin, “throwing her over your shoulder might have worked once but do it again, and I’m not going to stand in the way when she wants to knee you in the nuts.”
“So now we get a plan worked up.” Grant is leaning against the counter, arms crossed like a roughed-up bear.
I nod. “Now we’re on the same page.”
Linc moves to the coffeepot and puts on a fresh brew, bypassing the whiskey we all would prefer.
Linc cranks an eyebrow at me in question.
“That’s for after we get the girl. I have a few ideas that will get Mercy’s attention once and for all. This afternoon we showed her the tip of what it will be like having three men devoted to her. Now we need to prove she’s more than a backwoods fling for us. That she’s our forever. Period.”
Grant and Linc have only one answer. “I’m in.”
Ten
Mercy
You have us.
“What did he mean by that? Today was supposed to be about sex. Get it out of my system and move on. But now? Now everything is complicated and matted together.”
I’m so angry they forced a confession of my feelings, but at the same time, I feel a peace I haven’t felt in years. They are only trying to help, but on the flip side, I wasn’t ready.
Why? “Isn’t that what you are here for?” I demand of myself.
Tingles are still shooting through me, and it’s been hours since they’ve touched me.
And Lincoln’s last words were so heartfelt. He still carried pain. I saw it, didn’t I? But he smiles and laughs like someone who has found peace. I want that.
So then why am I fighting it?
I find a large boulder by the lake’s edge and spread out on the big expanse, soaking up the late afternoon rays. Because I’m scared.
I don’t know where the words come from but they are whispered across my mind as if I spoke them verbally.
I ball my fists, rear my head back and let out a belly full of angst with a roar. Birds scatter, and a few ducks along the water’s edge fly away, leaving me in silence.
A light wind comes up off the lake to flutter through the trees. And with it, I notice two things. The world still rotates, and I suddenly feel better.
Life moves on. Out here so close to the places my brother loved, I can feel him, and a serene peace comes over me. Just like I need to. Just like Lincoln said.
I laugh softly. The answer was always there right in front of my eyes, only I was too blind to see it.
