by Dena Christy
But to her surprise, he hadn’t pushed her for anything. They’d watched a movie together when they’d gotten home and she kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for him to push her for sex. But he hadn’t. When she yawned, he declared it bedtime, kissed her on the forehead outside her bedroom door and gone to his own room for the night.
With a shake of her head, she finished packing and went to the bathroom to grab the few toiletries that she hadn’t packed on the night of the break-in.
A knock came on the front door and she let out a startled gasp. She froze for a second and wished for a moment that Luke was still with her.
Logic came back to her, and she let out a slight laugh. If Nathan was going to come after her he wouldn’t do it by politely knocking on her door. It was probably someone trying to sell something, and when the knock came again, she sighed. They weren’t going to go away with her just ignoring them.
She zipped up her spare toiletry bag and set it on the counter. She left the bathroom and walked down the stairs. Once she got to the front door she looked out the window to see who was at the door. Just because logic said that it wasn’t Nathan, it would be better not to take any chances.
It wasn’t Nathan standing on her front steps, but an older man who looked to be in his early fifties. He glanced at the window and saw her looking at him, and a hesitant smile crossed his face. Mercy cautiously opened the front door and stood in the small width of space she allowed between the door and the frame. Her hand remained on the door in the event that she needed to shut it quickly.
“Can I help you?”
She expected him to go into some sales pitch and she prepared herself to interrupt him once he got started. He didn’t look like a salesman, standing on her front porch in jeans and a heavy winter coat, and he was missing the folio that the salesmen who’d visited her before usually carried. He had dark salt and pepper hair, and a hard life was written all over his face.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your day, but I'm looking for Darla Chambers.”
The breeze came to her, and on it, she got his scent. He was a wolf, and her hand tightened on the doorknob. So not a salesman then.
“I’m sorry but my mother passed away several years ago. Is there something I can help you with?” She hoped not, since something about this man raised the hair on the back of her neck.
“You must be Mercy. You look just like her.”
“That’s right, I’m Mercy. Like I said, what can I do for you?” Why had she sent Luke on his way? She would have felt so much better with a strange wolf at her door if she had someone there looking out for her. There was something about him that made her want to slam the door and pretend that she hadn’t seen him. Why would a stranger show up looking or her mother seven years after she’d died?
“Can I come in?”
“No. Whatever you have to say you can do it from where you are.”
His mouth tightened for a second as if he wasn’t expecting to find a woman with steel in her voice when she spoke to him. There was no way she was going to let a total stranger into her house, especially not one who was a wolf.
“I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll just come right out with it. My name is Dwight Chambers and I’m your father.”
A wave of ice flowed over Mercy as she stood there gripping her front door knob. Her blood roared in her ears as she stared at him. He didn’t look at all familiar to her, but then why would he? He’d abandoned her and her mother when she was three and she had no recollection of him. And her mother had got rid of any reminders, including pictures, of the man who’d left such a big hole in her life when he’d never returned.
“Where you been? A long stretch in prison, say for the last twenty-three years?” There was a thread of bitterness in her voice and he looked down for a second.
“No, I wasn’t in prison.” He looked up again and he smiled at her, the easy smile she’d seen many times on the men who’d been in her life and wanted to placate her. “Listen, can I come in, just for a few minutes. I just want to talk, maybe get to know my girl a little.”
If he’d come along during that past twenty-three years, she was sure that she would have let him in. Part of her wanted to now. How pathetic was that? This man had walked away from her when she was a little girl and part of her wanted to let him back into her life.
That made her mad, at herself and at him. She stood up straight and looked into his green eyes. “I don’t think so. You’re twenty-three years too late.”
“Please, Mercy. I only want to talk.”
The sound of a small dog barking came to her and she glanced over toward Mrs. Fowler’s house. Her neighbor was back in her front yard, and unlike when she and Luke were standing on the front porch, her little dog was very vocal. Apparently, he didn’t like her father any more than she did right now.
“I think you should go. If you don’t, she will be on the phone with the police.”
He looked over at the old lady with her little dog and she saw the muscle work in his jaw. His face smoothed out and he turned back to look at her.
“I’m staying at the motel in Cold Bay. I intend to stay, and I would like to get to know you. I know it’s a shock, my turning up on your doorstep after so long. There was a reason I left, and I’d like you to hear it.”
Mercy didn’t care what his reasons were. He’d given up any right to having her listen to his side of the story when he’d walked away from her and her mother all those years ago. “You better go.”
His shoulders slumped and he nodded. “I’m not going to run again, and if you change your mind about talking, I’ll be staying in Cold Bay.”
“Not if Cold Bay’s alpha says no. Goodbye, Dwight.” Mercy took a step back and slammed the door shut. She engaged the deadbolt and door chain for good measure and watched through the window as he walked back down her driveway and got into a dilapidated old Buick. He looked at the house one more time, and then he pulled away.
She shook as she turned and leaned against her front door. Why did he have to come back now? Why did the past have to suck her in just when she was getting ready to face a better future?
7
Alex looked up from where he was putting clean glasses away when he saw the stranger walk into the bar. He straightened up and a scowl drew his brows together. It could be a tourist, even though visitors were thin on the ground this time of the year, but it was possible. Not many tourists drove an old, shitty Buick and had the look of someone who’d spent time in prison.
The stranger had a rangy build. He wasn’t big but there was something about him that made him look like the type of fella one wouldn’t want to meet in an alley. Like he was the kind of individual who would stab you in the back and not think twice about it. The man came up to the bar, and his scent carried over to Alex. A wolf, not a tourist.
“Can I help you?” Alex’s voice was neither polite nor engaging. He’d never seen this wolf before, but with Logan expanding his territory into Eden Creek, there were a lot of wolves that Alex had not seen before. Perhaps he was one, but that didn’t explain why he raised the hackles on the back of Alex’s neck.
The wolf turned his head to look at the small help wanted sign that Alex had just tucked into the window by the door when his shift had started. “What kind of help you looking for?”
“Bartender. Why, you looking for a job?”
“I might be. Who do I talk to about that? You?”
“No, Logan Sawyer is the owner of the business and you’ll need to talk to him.”
“He’s alpha of Eden Creek now, isn’t he? I came here to see him anyway.” So this wolf wasn’t from the area, because every wolf knew Logan was alpha without having to get confirmation.
It was on the tip of Alex’s tongue to ask the man what else he wanted since based on what he said, he hadn’t come here specifically about the job. But he figured that it whatever this guy wanted was Logan’s business and if he needed Alex to know what it was, then he would t
ell him.
“I’ll tell him your here, what name do I give him?”
“Dwight Chambers.”
Chambers? That was Mercy’s last name. Alex gave the man a long look, and it was on the tip of his tongue to ask him if he was any relation to Mercy, but thought better of it. It would only lead to questions from this guy about her, and Alex’s relationship with Mercy wasn’t any of his business even if he was related.
Alex turned away and went to Logan’s office. The door was open and he walked in.
“There’s a guy here to see you. Says his name is Dwight Chambers.”
Logan looked up and a frown pulled his brows together. “Why does that last name sound familiar?”
“It’s Mercy’s last name. I don’t know if he is any relation. And he seems to be interested in the bartender job, but I get the impression that isn’t what brought him here.”
“Okay, send him in.”
Alex turned away and went back to the bar where Dwight was waiting and drumming his fingertips on top of the bar. “He’s in his office. You can go on in.”
Dwight gave a curt nod and went back to Logan’s office.
“What’s that about?” Roger appeared in the window between the bar and the kitchen.
“I honestly don’t know. He look familiar to you?”
“Not a bit, but if he ain’t from Cold Bay then I wouldn’t know who he is. He looks rough, like someone who’s done a stretch in the pen.”
That was Alex’s thought too. But it wasn’t any of his business, so he went about his work. The stranger was in Logan’s office for quite a while, and when he came out his face was neutral. He glanced over at Alex, nodded and went out the door.
Logan came out of his office and went over to the bar. “I may have found you a new bartender.”
Alex drew back in surprise. “Just like that? The sign has only been in the window for a couple of hours, don’t you want to give other people a chance to apply?”
“He’s given me some references that I’ll check out. If they are on the up and up, I’ll hire him on a probationary period.” Logan looked at Alex speculatively for a second. “I want him here where I can keep an eye on him. He’s an old member of the Eden Creek pack, says he’s in town to get to know his daughter after being an absentee father for years.”
As soon as Logan said that, Alex knew whose father he was. “He’s Mercy’s father, isn’t he?”
“It would appear so. I’ll think you’ll agree that the best place for him to be is here. And until he proves himself trustworthy, either you and I will be here to keep an eye on him. I think that would be best, don’t you?”
Alex nodded. If Dwight was at the bar, under either his or Logan’s watchful eye, then maybe they could figure out what the hell he was doing in town. From what Mercy had said, her father had walked out when she was a toddler, so why was he here now after such a long time? And Alex wondered how he was going to break the news to her that her father was back in town.
Logan went back to his office, and Alex turned to look through the pass-through. “You know anything about a Dwight Chambers? Apparently, he was a member of Eden Creek?”
“Was that who that was?” Roger frowned, and he appeared to be thinking. “I heard about him, back in the day. Didn’t know him personally, since I was part of Cold Bay and he was part of Eden Creek. But with a wolf like that, you hear things.”
Alex leaned against the bar. He had a feeling that things were about to get interesting. “What kind of things you hear?”
“He was the kind of wolf that wasn’t exactly the most upstanding of citizens. The kind that you didn’t want to cross, cause he’d get back at you. Not sure what happened all those years ago, cause like I said, I was never that much interested in the workings of Eden Creek. But there had to be a compelling reason for a wolf to walk away from his mate and his baby. That gal you got tucked away at your house, he’s her daddy, isn’t he?”
“It appears that way. How did you know?” Alex had never mentioned to Roger what Mercy’s last name was, so how had he known?
“I may not have been part of Eden Creek, but back then everyone knew Darla Chambers. She was a stunner, and after Dwight walked there were plenty of wolves willing to step in and take his place. Might have wanted to myself, except I’d already met my Caroline and she’d knock me senseless with a cast iron skillet if I so much as looked at anyone else. Your girl looks just like her mama, so I’m sure you can appreciate how hard it would be for a man to walk away from that. Kinda makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”
It certainly did. “Yeah, it does. And why the hell is he turning up now?”
“Who knows? Sometimes when a man gets older regrets start coming. Maybe she’s one of his.”
Alex nodded but wasn’t sure he agreed. Maybe regret was the reason he was here now. At least if he was working at the bar, Alex could keep an eye on him until Dwight showed if his reasons were something other than what he claimed.
A short time later, Rafe’s truck pulled up and Honor got out on the passenger’s side. She walked in the door and came toward the bar, a smile spread across her face.
“So what did Rafe say to convince you to let him escort you around town? Mercy is adamant that she can make her own way around.”
A blush crept up Honor’s cheeks. “We had a very late start this morning, so it made sense for him to drop me off on his way to work on Grace’s house. He and I have already had the discussion on his need to hover like a mother hen. I’m on the same page as Mercy, so if you’re looking for tips on how to convince her to stay locked up in your house unless you’re with her, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”
She smiled up at him to soften the blow and turned to go to the tiny staff room just off the kitchen to put her things away.
A few customers trickled in and things picked up as the lunch rush started. Even though he was busy, Alex was still troubled by the appearance of Mercy’s father. All his protective instincts came to the surface inside him. He tried to look at the situation objectively and asked himself if it would bother him as much if it was happening to someone else. But it wasn’t anyone else, it was Mercy and Alex was realizing that when it came to objectivity involving Mercy, he had none.
During a lull after lunch was over and before the after-work crowd came in, Alex turned to Honor.
“You and Mercy have been friends for a long time, right?”
“Since we were in second grade together. Why?” Honor crossed her arms in front of her chest as she leaned her hip against the bar. “If you’re looking for a way to convince her to be a good little woman and stay put at home, you’re asking the wrong woman. I like you, but she’s my best friend and I’m on team Mercy always and forever.”
“I wouldn’t even think about asking you that. She’s made it more than clear that she’s an independent woman and that’s one of the things I like most about her.” Alex smiled for a second. He didn’t know how to ease into what he wanted to know, so he just came out and asked. “Do you know what happened with her father?”
Honor frowned at him. “I have no idea, I don’t even think that Mercy knows. She doesn’t like to talk about him, and really who can blame her since he left when she was little. She doesn’t even remember him.”
“And how would she react if her old man came back?” That was the question he wanted an answer to. Above anything else, he didn’t want Mercy to be hurt. And he wanted to know if the sudden appearance of her father, who had told Logan he wanted to get to know his daughter, would hurt her.
“I honestly have no idea. I think she’d be angry. Why? What’s going on, Alex?”
Alex hesitated for a second. He didn’t know if he should tell Honor what was going on before he told Mercy. But Honor was Mercy’s best friend, and she knew her a lot better than Alex did. And if her old man made himself known to her, then Mercy would need all the support she could get.
“A man came into the bar today, said he was Dwight Chambers.”
/>
The blood drained from Honor’s face. “Are you kidding? Does Mercy know?”
“I have no idea. If she doesn’t, I’ll break the news to her tonight. I don’t want her blindsided by this. Just keep it to yourself until I have time to talk to her.”
Honor nodded. “I don’t envy you. Her father is a very touchy subject. There’s a lot of hurt there.”
Alex figured that. Mercy had mentioned that she wanted him to be involved with their baby because she knew what it was like to grow up without a father.
Maybe Dwight was being honest when he said he wanted to get to know his daughter again. But it begged the question of why now? What reason could a man who’d taken himself out of his child’s life for twenty-three years want to come back into it again?
Mercy paced around Alex’s living room as she waited for him to come home. After repeatedly looking out the window and only seeing snow falling, she’d confined her movements to the middle of the room.
It was after ten, and she knew that during the week the bar closed earlier than it did on Friday and Saturday night. Normally she would be in bed by now since she usually got up early, but there would be no point in going to bed. Sleep was going to be elusive until she got out what was churning around inside her. She had two things to talk to him about, one she was certain he would be thrilled about.
She’d gotten a call from the doctor’s office and the blood tests she’d taken while she was there had come back. Her pregnancy was now a certainty and while the doctor had told her during her appointment that the test was a formality, she was pleased that the two home tests she’d taken were right.
But the confirmation of her pregnancy was not the reason she was moving around Alex’s living room like a restless animal. Ever since she’d come back here after packing her things at her house, she couldn’t get her father’s surprise visit out of her head. It was troubling, along with the realization that it was Alex she wanted to talk about it with and not Honor. She wondered when that change had happened.
