Loving Mercy

by Dena Christy

  Seeing her in danger and knowing how close he’d come tonight to losing her forever had shown him that he loved her deeply and completely. And he was going to make sure she knew that.

  “Ready to go?” He held his hand out and took the suitcase from her. She nodded her head.

  “Let’s go home.”

  Mercy sat quietly in the truck beside Alex as they pulled into his driveway. It seemed like ages since she’d been here, and she remembered how happy she’d been the last time she’d been in this house. So much had happened, she’d said some things that no doubt hurt him. She hoped that he could forgive her for that once they talked.

  She undid her belt and got out of the truck. They both refrained from speaking as they walked toward the house. It was if they both knew that their future together hinged on their next conversation and they didn’t want to screw any of it up with small talk.

  Once inside the house, after leaving her coat and boots in the vestibule, she walked into the living room and was surprised to see that the Christmas tree was still there, exactly as it had been when she’d left the house the last time.

  “You kept it up.”

  He looked at the tree and looked at her. “I wanted to take it down, to get rid of it when I left your house… after. But it felt like if I did that I was giving up hope on us and I didn’t want to do that.”

  He took her by the hand and led her over to the sofa. Now that the moment she’d called him about had finally arrived, she felt a little nervous. There was so much she needed to say to him, to explain why she’d pushed him away. That the tree they’d put up together was still there, and the reason he’d given her for not taking it down, made it a little easier to say what she needed to.

  The best place to start, she figured, was at the beginning.

  “I now know that my father didn’t abandon my mother and me. She had been right all these years, he was dead.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because the man who broke into my house, who pretended to be him, killed him all those years ago. I don’t know what strange twist of fate made him the one that went after Nathan, but from what I understand my father got tangled up with someone dangerous and paid the price for it. I haven’t really had a lot of time to absorb it, but even though he is dead, it doesn’t change the fact that I grew up without him. And I have gone through most of my life thinking that there was something wrong with me, that there was some part of me that was impossible to love.”

  He took her hand and squeezed it. “You know that’s not true.”

  “Please, I need to get all this out. I need to explain why I pushed you away. You may already have your suspicions as to why, but I need to say it. I need to get it out in the open.”

  He nodded and raised her hand to his lips. He pressed a soft kiss to the back and slowly lowered it. He didn’t let it go.

  “Even as a kid, it was difficult for me to let people into my life. Even Honor had to work hard to get me to let her in. And I didn’t exactly fit in with my peers, who had happy families and whose mothers didn’t have to work two jobs just to keep a roof over their heads. So saying I was a little sensitive to what people said about me would be an understatement.

  “And when I was eighteen, I found out that I didn’t have much time left with my mother. She lived long enough to see me graduate from high school, and then she was gone too. I was alone and lonely. So I dated, and the men I picked were all wrong for me. But deep down I thought I deserved a manwho didn’t treat me as well as I should be treated. And I think it was a way for me to keep a part of myself locked away and it made it easy for me to bail or sabotage the relationship before I got in too deep.”

  “You would leave them before they had a chance to leave you.” His voice was quiet and his eyes were soft. Regret went through her because that was exactly what she’d done to him and he knew it.

  “Yes, that’s how I operated. The worst of the bunch had to be Nathan because for all their faults none of the guys I dated before him had tried to kill me. It turned out to be one of the worst and one of the best nights of my life. The worst because, well he tried to kill me.” She smiled at him for a second and he squeezed her hand and returned it. “And the best because that was the night I met you, it was the night that we made our baby. When I woke up in the middle of the night and saw you sleeping beside me I looked at you and knew that I could love you. That you were the kind of man that I could fall in love with, and it scared me to death. So I did what I always do when I get scared. I ran.”

  “That was the best and worst night of my life too. The best because I met you and made love with you. And the worst because I woke up in my bed alone, not knowing why you’d left.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry. The only thing I regret about that night is giving in to my fear and running. I’m glad that we made a baby together because it was what brought me back into your life. I may not have known it but you were the man I needed.” She looked down for a moment and licked her lips. She needed to say it all and there was still that little bit of nervousness inside about coming out and telling him what was in her heart. But she knew that they wouldn’t be able to move forward until she’d done that. “I love you. It hit me like a ton of bricks on the day we put up that tree. And it scared me to death. And then with what happened after with the man I thought was Dwight, all the old insecurities came rushing back. And I pushed you away. I ended things with you because the fear was so strong that it was easier to give in to it than fight my way through it. And I’m so sorry that I let that fear take hold of me and that I hurt you.”

  “You don’t have to say you’re sorry. I knew from the moment you came back into my life after that one night together that nothing about us was going to be easy. And sometimes the things that are hard are better than the things that are easy because you have to fight to get them and you appreciate them so much more.” He reached up to cup her face, and she looked deeply into his soft blue eyes. “I love you. And I won’t take that for granted because I know how hard it was to get here. And I know that there will be times when that old fear comes back, but I promise that I will tell you I love you as many times as you need to hear it. I just want you to promise that if the fear rears its ugly head that you’ll talk to me. You’ll tell me what’s going on and you won’t run from me again.”

  Relief went through her that he understood what she’d told him and that he loved her. She wanted to stop running and so it was an easy promise to make to him. “I promise that I won’t run from you again. I want to spend my life with you, I want to have this baby with you and any other children we may be blessed with. I love you and I promise that I won’t ever give up on us.”

  “So do I.” He pulled her to him, and she melted against him. He brought his mouth down on hers in a gentle kiss.

  A feeling of rightness settled inside her. She was in the arms of the man she loved and it was where she was meant to be. Although she had a feeling that he was right, that the fear might creep back in from time to time, she knew that she could work through it. He loved her and she loved him, and no matter what happened that wouldn’t change.

  Epilogue

  A gleeful smile crossed Alex’s face as he tucked the small present inside the branches of the Christmas tree. It was Christmas morning, and he was up before Mercy. He wanted to have a few moments before she got out of bed to get his surprise ready for her.

  There were other presents under the tree, but this one he wanted to be a surprise so he’d waited until now to put it out. He heard shuffling feet and quickly moved away from the tree.

  Mercy came into the living room, looking very sleepy in her robe and sleep shirt. Seeing her there, half asleep with her dark hair tumbling over her shoulders, made the full force of his love for her hit him squarely in the chest.

  “Morning.” She came toward him and slipped her arms around his waist. “Merry Christmas.”

  He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. “Merry Christmas.
I love you.”

  She smiled up at him. “I love you too.”

  “Do you want to open presents now, or do you want to wait until after breakfast?” He hoped she wanted to open them now because he didn’t know how long he could stand to wait for her to open that one gift that would show her what was truly in his heart.

  She grinned up at him. “Presents now, please.”

  She went over to the sofa, and he brought the gifts that were under the tree over to where she was sitting. They opened each one, and some of them made them laugh and some were very thoughtful.

  “I have one more gift.” Alex was surprised that she said the words before he could get them out himself and he laughed. “What’s so funny?”

  “You’ll find out soon. Get me your last gift.”

  Mercy left the room, and he used that opportunity to quickly get the present he’d hidden and take it back to the sofa where he hid it behind his back. Mercy came back, and she was holding a small gift in her hands. She handed it to him and bit her lip as he tore into the paper.

  His breath caught in his chest when he saw what was under the wrapping paper. It was a simple silver picture frame, but it was the words written across the top and the photo it held that brought a lump to his throat. Across the top were the words I love my Daddy engraved in the silver and inside was the ultrasound picture from the appointment that he and Mercy had gone to only a few days before.

  “It’s beautiful. I love it.” He looked at her and smiled. He leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips. “And I have one more gift for you.”

  He reached behind his back and pulled out the gift. He handed it to her. She ripped open the paper and gave him a puzzled look when she saw that it was a DVD copy of Casablanca.

  “Um, thanks.”

  “I have it on good authority that this is a classic and not to be missed. But your present is inside the case.”

  She opened the DVD case, and a gasp escaped her. Taped inside the case was a ring. It had belonged to his grandmother, and he gently removed it from the case.

  “I love you. I want to spend my life with you and I am giving you this ring because I want to make a commitment to you. Will you be my mate?”

  Her topaz eyes swam with tears for a moment and she nodded. He took her hand and slip the ring on her finger.

  “I love you,” she whispered as she leaned forward and kissed him. He took her in his arms and held her for a long time. When he let her go, she sat back and closed the DVD case. “Do you want to watch it later today?”

  “Sure. There’s a famous line from that movie. Roger told it to me once.” He cast his mind back for a second and the line came to him. “‘Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.’ He said it the day you came back into my life. And I’m so glad that you walked back into it. And I will do whatever it takes to make sure that you don’t have any reason to walk out of it again.”

  Author’s Note

  I hope you enjoyed Mercy and Alex’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did please consider leaving a review. Reviews let other readers like you know if they would enjoy this book.

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  If you liked this book, you may like my other books. There is a list on the next page along with links to buy them if you want something to read while you wait for my next story.

  Also by Dena Christy

  Paranormal Romance Series

  Dark Assassin, Dark Wolf Series Book 1

  Dark Curse, Dark Wolf Series Book 2

  Dark Wolf, Dark Wolf Series Book 3

  Dark Vengeance, Dark Wolf Series Book 4

  Dark Gods, Dark Wolf Series Book 5

  Having Faith, Cold Bay Wolf Pack Book 1

  Saving Grace, Cold Bay Wolf Pack Book 2

  Protecting Honor, Cold Bay Wolf Pack Book 3

  Andor, The Dragon’s Mate Series Book 1

  Iszak, The Dragon’s Mate Series Book 2

  Gregor, The Dragon’s Mate Series Book 3

  Standalone Paranormal Romance

  Going Under

  Science Fiction Romance Series

  Alien Capture, Latrothian Warrior Series Book 1

  Alien Rescue, Latrothian Warrior Series Book 2

  Alien Escape, Latrothian Warrior Series Book 3