by Cyndi Raye
Frank leaned in to kiss her. He hadn’t said a word, nor did he have to. The love he felt for her showed in his eyes, and Mercy felt like she was going to drown in them.
She moved her mouth to his, letting herself feel his kiss for the first time. It was raw and beautiful and she felt truly loved for the first time in years. A shudder went through her. Frank broke the kiss and wrapped her in his arms. “I’m sorry if I caused you any pain. I’ve wanted you forever, Mercy. Trust me in saying this, whatever choice I may make, I won’t leave here without you.” He took her face in his hands and she gazed into his eyes. “I promise.”
“Frank, I’ve loved you forever.” Her whispered words caused him to pull her closer.
He groaned and kissed her again. She wanted to tell him more, but he kept kissing her, not letting her get any words in for some time. Then he broke the kiss and told her exactly what she wanted to hear. “I love you, Mercy. I wondered if you heard me that night.”
It took her a moment to compose herself after his proclamation of love. “I did, but honestly, Frank, knowing you were leaving again had me upset.”
He brushed a tear away. “I won’t leave you. Ever.”
“It’s hard to believe you, Frank. I do understand how you felt obligated to Hope’s mother and the misunderstanding about the engagement. I forgive you for that part. But, leaving for four years without telling me how you felt hurts so much inside. I want to believe you’d never leave me again. I do.”
He pulled her into his arms. “I want to show you, Mercy. Perhaps I found what I was looking for right here. In Belle. Can you be happy with a country doctor?”
She looked up, confused. “What do you mean?”
He smiled down at her, a twinkle in his eye. “Doc Roberts mentioned he may retire real soon. Seems he’s found love after all these years with his housekeeper Mabel. Belle will need a good doctor to replace him.”
She grinned. “Would you be happy here?”
He nuzzled her neck. “Only if you are here with me.”
She shuddered again, not believing this was actually happening. “I am speechless, Frank. Totally speechless. Why, just last night you were talking about being friends, and now? You proclaim your love for me like this and I’m not sure what to do. Not that I’m complaining. No sir, I’m more than happy to hear the words I’ve longed to hear.”
“And I’ll continue to say them.” He let go of her hands and stood away from her. Mercy watched in anticipation as he went down on one knee. “I’m serious enough to ask you this. Mercy, will you marry me? A country doctor who doesn’t have much to give you, except my love?”
Mercy got down on her knees as well so she could look him in the eye. She flung her arms around her future husband. “I will,” she promised and pulled his face closer. When their lips met once again, she whispered how he just made her the happiest woman alive.
He kissed her again, then helped her up, holding her hands in his. “I want you to tell the whole town of Belle we are getting married, dear Mercy. Tell everyone, tell the newspaper, shout it so loud the tallest pine tree will sway with glee.”
She threw her head back and laughed out loud. “I think everyone will know in about twenty-five seconds. I just spotted our nosey town gossip walk right by your window. Oh, look, she just turned around. Here she comes.”
A knock on the door prompted the two to separate, knowing they were being inappropriate. Frankly, Mercy no longer cared. She was going to become Mrs. Frank Mason!
Frank opened the door just as Lucy Mae swept inside, not waiting for an invitation. “Hello, Miss Jackson, what can I do for you?” Frank’s voice was amused at the way the town gossip burst through the door. It made Mercy hide a small laugh.
“Well, I’ve heard rumors that Thomas Rider is bothering the ladies of this town, and I’m here to find out the truth. Is it true, Doctor?”
“I’m afraid I can’t divulge any information to you, Miss Jackson. I will say he is under investigation and perhaps you should go talk to Sheriff Knight.”
She puffed air from her lungs and placed a hand on her hip. “Well, I certainly have done that, and he refuses to divulge any information as well. He told me to stay away from Tall Pine Lane and not to discuss what I know with anyone. That’d be fine and dandy if I had something to discuss!”
Frank shrugged. “I’m sorry. If the sheriff said that, you should heed his warning.”
She pointed a finger at Frank. “I did see you leaving the sheriff’s office a short time ago. So, when he refused to tell me anything except warn me from being on the streets at night, I decided to take matters into my own hands and come to you. Besides, no proper woman would be on the streets at night by herself.”
Mercy was getting a headache from all the noise the woman was making. Her huffs and puffs and finger shaking were making Mercy’s head pound. “Please, Lucy Mae. Don’t be judging the doctor. He is going to be helping the sheriff solve this case, but you must be absolutely quiet and not tell a soul they are watching Thomas Rider discreetly.”
Lucy Mae walked over to where Mercy stood. “What exactly are you saying, Mercy?”
Mercy looked at Frank. She was going to tell the woman the truth. Sort of. “Word has it that Thomas is a bad man, and it’s just a matter of time until the sheriff catches him at what he is doing. So, you need to stay clear of his house and anywhere he may be. Can you make sure nobody goes to help him, Lucy Mae? No matter what? It is important he doesn’t find out what we are doing or he may run away and then he’d never be caught. If you can do this, you’d be helping to solve the case.”
She clapped her hands together. “Yes, I’ll make sure the other volunteers do not get fifty feet near him.” The excitement in her voice had Frank rolling his eyes.
“A hundred feet,” Mercy told her.
“What? Oh? Okay, I’ll make sure no one gets one hundred feet near him.”
“Okay, Lucy Mae. I’m glad you are on-board. I’m counting on you to help us. Can you report back here next Tuesday? The doctor’s office will be open then. Just don’t let anyone know what you are doing.”
Lucy Mae was nodding her head up and down so hard she was sure to have her own headache before the day was done. Mercy gave the town gossip a hug and whispered. “Thank you for keeping this quiet.”
After she left, Frank looked at Mercy with surprise. “Do you honestly think she is going to keep that quiet?”
Mercy shook her head. “Part of it she will. Lucy Mae will be so busy bragging to everyone how she is in cahoots with the sheriff and the doctor on a mission that everyone in town will know in about a half hour. Then, after that she will be so busy watching to make sure no women go to Thomas Rider’s house, we won’t have to worry about her at all.”
Frank looked impressed. “You know how this town operates quite well. You’ll make a wonderful doctor’s wife.”
“Yes, I do and I will.”
He followed her gaze to her hand, then picked it up and brushed a soft kiss across her skin. “I’m going to the jewelry shop now. Would you care to come along and pick out one of those promise rings? I want everyone to know you are mine.”
Mercy looked at him aghast! “Choose my own ring? I’ve never heard of anyone doing that.”
“We can do as we please, my soon to be wife.” Frank pulled her along. Closing the front door, he steered her down the street towards Main Street where the only jewelry shop in town was located. It was getting later in the afternoon, so they hurried to make sure to get there before the owner closed shop for the night.
As they walked down the street, she saw a shadow from the corner of her eye. Had someone been watching them?
Frank noticed her tense up. “Is anything wrong?”
“I thought I saw something move quickly in the neigbor’s yard.”
Frank stopped. He turned completely around, perusing the area. “I don’t see anything. Are you sure?”
“I suppose I may be a bit nervous since you mentioned that maybe Thomas Rid
er was watching that other woman.”
“That’s it! We’re exchanging vows as soon as the preacher can marry us. I don’t want you alone one more night.”
Even though she tried to stay calm and act as if she wasn’t scared, Mercy’s heart pumped fast with each hidden corner they walked past. The more fearful she was, the more she imagined someone watching them.
Frank kept his eyes opened and kept reassuring her no one was following them. Even the sheriff had rode past with his gelding, patrolling the streets. She was being silly and overacting, digging her fingers into Frank’s arm a little too hard.
He placed a hand over hers. “Mercy, don’t worry. We are all watching out for this man. He’s not going to hurt anyone, I promise.” His words gave her immediate relief. He knew how worried she was.
“I wish I’d have never gone there to volunteer my services. The first time he allowed me to help with the garden, I felt uncomfortable. But I just thought I was doing my duty to help others.”
Frank patted her hand. “Now, don’t you worry. Let’s go get you a fine wedding ring and see if we can’t get married.”
Mercy looked at Frank, shocked. “I didn’t realize you meant today!”
He laughed. “Of course I meant today. Right now, in fact. I can’t bear to be apart from you one more night!”
Chapter 7
“I’m sorry. Pastor Elkins went to visit some church members who moved to Laramie. We don’t expect him back until Sunday morning for church.”
Disappointment shook Frank to the very core. How was he going to protect Mercy if he wasn’t with her each and every night? “Can you send a telegram and have him come back early? We’d like to marry as soon as possible.”
The deacon looked affronted. “Sir, I am sorry, but the pastor deserves a few days to visit his family. You’ll have to wait until he returns.” With that, he closed the door to the parsonage.
Mercy began to shake. Her shoulders shook hard and he started to get worried. “I’m so sorry, Mercy. I tried. Listen, I’m not going to take this lying down.” He turned and raised a fist to the door, prepared to knock again.
She reached out her hand. “No! Frank! Please, don’t!” When he truly got a chance to look at her face, she was trying so hard not to laugh. Her cheeks were bright pink, and her eyes were filled with unshed tears. They were about to overflow and run down her cheeks. She let out a burst of laughter. Mercy hadn’t been upset at all!
Frank grinned then threw back his head and laughed out loud. The parsonage door opened a tiny crack. “Everything okay out here?” the man asked.
Frank waved him off, taking Mercy’s hand and guiding her down the stairs. “I’m so sorry, Mercy. I got out of hand. We can wait a few days until he comes back.”
“If it makes you feel any better, Frank, I’ll ask Martha and Carson to stay with me. That way neither one of us are alone.”
“That’s truly a smart idea. Let’s take a walk to her house and see if she’d like to come over now.”
Mercy took his hand as they walked down the street. She smiled at him, her eyes lighting up. “You are becoming quite overprotective, Frank. We are being stared at.”
He turned to see some of the other townsfolk watching them, a few with big smiles on their faces. “We’re getting married!” he announced. Well, he shouted it so loudly the sheriff looked up as he passed them again.
“Congratulations are in order,” the sheriff called out. His grin was almost as big as Mercy’s smile.
“Thank you, Sheriff Knight,” Mercy said. She gazed at her hand, then slid it in the folds of her dress.
Frank watched her closely. He realized he was so determined to keep her safe that he neglected to get her a ring. That way no one would mistake his commitment to her. “I’m so sorry, Mercy. Let’s go see what the jeweler has. You need a ring this moment.”
They walked into Belle’s only jewelry store to find the perfect ring for his bride-to-be. Frank waited patiently while the jeweler showed her several ones that were a bit too high for his pocket book. Even so, he was going to make sure she had one she liked.
Mercy spotted a smaller stone set in a plain band in the last row. “That one,” she told the man.
He looked surprised. “That little thing?”
“Yes, please.”
The proprietor placed a magnification tool against his right eye after he pulled the ring from the shelf. It was evident he wanted to sell a larger stone. He looked up at her, aghast. “Are you certain you want this one?”
“I’m positive,” Mercy whispered, sliding the ring onto her finger. She looked at Frank, her innocent eyes staring into his own. He almost took a step back at the sweet desire and love radiating from them. “It’s perfect.”
Frank nodded to the jeweler. “We’ll take it.”
“It’s not what I’d recommend, sir.”
Frank ignored the jeweler’s continual groans while he paid for his purchase. He was good at letting someone whine and then doing as he pleased. It had helped him deal with patients many times in medical school. When he was an intern and he’d go on rounds, patients complained to him more often than not. He learned to keep a listening ear, but at the same time he knew what the patient truly needed.
They left the store, the small bell jingling as they stepped onto the boarded walk. “Now you have proof that we will be married,” Frank told her. “No one can question our intent.”
“Thank you, Frank. I’m still in shock that you want to marry me.”
He placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her towards him. “Look at me, Mercy. I wanted to marry you a long time ago. I hope someday you will believe me.”
She shook her head. “It no longer matters, does it? We have the rest of our lives now.”
Someone coughed behind them. The hairs on the back of Frank’s neck stood up. When he swung around, Thomas Rider was leaning against a gas lamp post, hands firmly across his chest. He was glaring at Mercy. Then he spoke up.
“Mercy, when are you going to help me with my garden?” His voice was so loud many heads turned to stare.
“Keep walking, Mercy. He shouldn’t be shouting at you on the street.” The man was clearly upset and quite brave to call out to Mercy in front of others. Frank knew his diagnosis of the man had been correct. There was something not right in the man’s head.
“Mercy! When are you going to help me?” His angry voice rang out loud and clear.
Sheriff Knight was riding his gelding down the street at a slow pace until he noted how everyone was watching them.
When Thomas snapped his head around to find the Sheriff coming towards him, he quickly moved away. Frank didn’t miss the look of deranged anger on his face right before he turned away.
“Everything under control, here?” Sheriff Knight leaned down, his eyes on the man walking away even though he was talking to Frank and Mercy. Thomas Rider turned a corner and crossed the street.
“So far, Sheriff. Thomas called out to Mercy. He was angry so we tried to ignore him.”
“That was the right thing to do. It’s time I had a one-on-one with him.” The sheriff tipped his hat and took off in the same direction as Thomas.
Frank knew when David got riled, he was no one to mess with. It was time to deal with the man any way, and he had faith the sheriff would take care of things. Frank was a doctor and he fixed people, not hurt them. But if anyone tried to hurt Mercy, he’d be the first one to go after them, doctor’s oath or not.
They knocked on Martha’s door a few blocks away. After explaining the situation, Martha agreed to stay with Mercy for the remainder of the week. “I’ll stay as long as necessary. Hopefully when the pastor gets back he’ll perform the ceremony right away, and that man will stop bothering people. After what I’ve been through, I’m well armed these days.” She nodded towards a rifle sitting alongside the door, an easy reach for her if someone came in uninvited.
Frank nodded. “Thank you, Martha. You surely are a big help.”
“Let me gather some things for Carson and I. Please come in while I get what we’ll need for a few days.”
Carson was pleased to be staying at Mercy’s house. He began to bounce up and down until his mother reprimanded him. “It’s hard to keep him still,” she told them.
Frank laughed. “In a few days the stitches can come out and we’ll go fishing as promised,” he told the boy. “In the meantime, you’ll have to follow the rules and try not to get too excited.”
“Yes, sir,” he told Frank.
As the four of them walked back to Mercy’s house, Carson’s little hand found it’s way into Franks. He was shocked at first and even pulled back for a second before realizing the boy was showing him trust.
Mercy gazed at him and the boy. Her sweet smile made his throat constrict. How did he ever think living in a big city would be better than what he had right here?
<><><>
When Mercy saw Carson take Frank’s hand, she almost stopped in her tracks. What a humbling sight it was. He was adorable with a tiny sling on one arm and holding the doctor’s hand with his free one. This visual image had her imagining their own children. He would make an excellent father.
Things had changed rapidly. Mercy hadn’t believed she’d be able to forgive him, but now she realized love was all that truly matters. What happened in the past didn’t really matter.Events from the past were meant to be forgiven. She intended to make the best of their present.
After losing her parents she had lived a solitary life in the big house. Even though they had provided for her, she was lonely. Her philanthropic works helped, but there had always been a void. Now she knew that void had been Frank’s absemce.
“A penny for your thoughts?” His whispering in her ear had her blushing.
“I’m finding out my void was you.”
He shook his head. “What was that you said?”
She giggled. “Oh, nothing. I’m happy you came back home, Frank.”
He leaned in to speak in her ear again. “Me too. I can’t wait until Sunday.”
