Second Chance for Love

by April Zyon

  He picked up after three rings, sounding a little out of breath and more than a little grumpy. “Carver,” he grunted into the phone. Just one word, but it was his voice. No other could affect her so quickly, so easily, over the phone.

  “Hey, Brant,” Mercy said into the Bluetooth of her car, driving as she spoke. “It’s Mercy Jenkins.” She realized that he likely had no clue who she was. Jesus. This was seriously hard. How the hell did you tell a man you’d slept with once that you were going to have his child?

  There was a long moment of silence over the line. “Mercy, hey,” he said. He sounded distracted and a little unsure.

  “Hey, sorry to bother you.” She began to pull at her hair, a nervous habit, and then tapped the wheel. “I was wondering…” She didn’t know how the hell to tell him something so huge. “I was wondering if I could maybe come see you? I wanted to talk to you about something and think maybe coming there would be the best way to go about it.” Good God, she was so unsure. She didn’t know if she should tell him or not, but she couldn’t hold a child from his or her father, could she? That would be cruel and she knew it. Crap. “Just if you have time?”

  “Uh, sure.” He sounded confused now. “I’m out in the field working, but I can be back at the house in about an hour. I’ll meet you there, if that works. Is everything all right, Mercy?”

  “Sure, that should give me time to get back from Mosey.” God, she was so sunk. “Thank you. And yeah…yeah, everything is okay.” There was a question in her voice, though, because she honestly wasn’t sure if everything was okay. Then again, he could only do one of two things. Be a part of the child’s life or not. There was no third option.

  “All right, I’ll see you then. Drive safe, Mercy,” he said. He sounded like he had a few questions to ask, but he didn’t ask a single one. He said goodbye a moment before the line went dead.

  “Thanks,” Mercy said, and focused on the road and while she tried to figure out just exactly what she was going to say to Brant Carver.

  ****

  Mercy pulled up at the Carver home and saw Brant sitting on the porch. After giving herself one last pep talk, she got out of her car and headed up to see him. “Hey,” she said quietly, and leaned against the railing of the porch. “Can we have a private conversation?” Best not to drag it out or she wouldn’t tell him.

  “Sure.” He nodded slowly, his brows drawn down a bit in confusion. “Do you want to go inside for this or stay out here?” He was already pushing up to his feet even though he was letting her make the call on where to have their talk.

  “Is anyone home?” When he shook his head in the negative, she sighed. “Okay, inside?” Outside, she would be able to escape faster, but inside, there would be no chance of anyone overhearing. She walked into the Carver home ahead of him, taking the seat he offered but rejecting a drink. “I need to tell you something.” She was nervous as a cat with a long tail in a rocking chair factory. “I don’t know if you know this or not, but when you went home with me a few weeks ago, we had sex,” she began. “God, I wish I could recall it too.” She rubbed her hands down her jean-clad legs. “We used a condom, but it had to have broken.” There, he could figure that one out on his own. Now she waited, nearly falling over in fear of what he would say.

  He was gaping at her, mouth hanging open, his eyes slightly glazed. He snapped his mouth shut and practically fell into the chair opposite her. “What the hell are you saying, Mercy?”

  She jerked at his biting tone. “I’m saying that I’m pregnant,” she shot back at him. “I just thought you should know. I’m not going to ask anything from you, just figured you should know.” She rose to her feet and began to pace, tugging her hair as she did so. “So there is no need for you to get shitty with me.”

  “You’re sure it’s even mine?” he asked her. His tone wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t exactly warm either. A look at him told her he was trying to digest, that he was still stunned, still working through it all. Not that it was any damn excuse for that sort of question.

  “No, the child is mine.” Her heart hurt from the way that he had said that. “But if you are asking if you are the genetic other half of the child, that is a yes. You are the only man that I’ve had sex with in the last five years, so I’m pretty damn sure that it’s yours.” She had only been married for a handful of days and when Malcolm showed his true colors, she’d left. So she had been without sex for far, far too long.

  Brant’s head snapped back like she’d slapped him, and he looked shocked. Then he was on his feet, a thunder cloud moving over his face, his brows coming down hard. “I was asking a simple question, damn it. I have no idea of anything about you except the bits and pieces. I had to be sure, Mercy. Is it too much to ask, while I’m fucking trying to wrap my head around this, that you grant me a little fucking leeway? According to the bitch, I was sterile, or so her doctor claimed. I apparently couldn’t get her pregnant no matter what we tried, and we tried a lot. Hell, I tried a lot. Apparently, she was against the whole fucking thing. Probably just her way of trying to keep me around all the time instead of off ‘playing soldier,’ as she put it. As far as I knew, this was an impossibility. So I’m sorry this is taking a little bit to fucking sink in!”

  Mercy knew the past that Brant had. He had always been one of those guys who had readily stated that he wanted a big family, but with the ex that he had, well, she was far too into herself to have kids. She watched the emotions as they played over his face. That made her feel like hell. She sighed and shook her head. “Trust me, it’s not that easy on me either. It took me four pregnancy tests to take it as fact,” she admitted. “I’m sorry. I’m just still trying to get my brain wrapped around this as well. When I called you, I had just gotten the fourth positive on the pregnancy test.” She closed her eyes and leaned back. “I can promise you that you aren’t sterile, Brant, however, I will understand if you would like a paternity test.” Even though she knew without the shadow of a doubt that he was the father of her child. She could understand his hesitation. After all, she had jumped into bed with him after barely a couple hours in his company.

  “While idiotic shit may come out of my mouth when my brain is on overload, I don’t actually doubt you.” She heard him heave a huge breath, the air hissing through his teeth. The sound of his boots coming her way was the only warning she had before his hands were cupping her face. “Mercy, what do you want to do? Do you want me around, at all, for any of this?” he asked her softly.

  “Yes,” she said as she opened her eyes to look up at him. She looked up into his dark grey eyes and fell. Damn him. “I would really like to have you around for the whole thing. I don’t want to do this alone. I would if I had to and if you didn’t want anything to do with the pregnancy and child, but I really do want you to be a part of the child’s life.” And hers. God, she wanted him in her life.

  Nodding, he pulled her into his arms, wrapping her up in a hug, and just held her. He didn’t say anything as he lightly rubbed her back and kept her close to him. “It’ll be okay, Mercy,” he said softly. They’d been standing in the kitchen for who knew how long by the time he spoke. “I’ll be here for you, no matter what, but we need to figure out what we are going to do to make this easiest on you, sweetheart.”

  She all but melted against him. She wrapped her arms around him and held onto him. “Thank you,” she whispered, and rubbed her cheek to his flannel-covered chest. She breathed in the fresh scent of him. “We will figure it out. The way that I figure it, I’m about six weeks into the pregnancy.” She pulled back and looked up at him. “I’m sorry I’ve avoided you for the last few weeks. I just didn’t know what to say to you.” She thought of all the times that she had either turned the other way in the grocery or he had, both of them avoiding the embarrassment of the moments alone that they had forgotten that night. “Why can’t I recall that night, by the way?” she asked with a frown. “I really, really wish that I could remember something as life-changing as making a baby.�
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  “The best I can figure is someone dropped roofies into our drinks. I remember stumbling through the streets like I was three sheets to the wind, but I’d only had four beers up to that point. I may not drink often, but I’ve never been a lightweight, so four beers shouldn’t have done that to me. The fact we both have memory loss suggests the same. It’s a date rape drug, Mercy. Part of the reason it’s used is because of the amnesia the victim suffers the morning after.”

  “Yeah, and I had only soda.” She frowned and cocked her head to the side. “But who would do that? You don’t think I did it to you, do you?” She didn’t know anything about freaking drugs, so the thought that he might have even once thought she had done that had her not feeling all that good. “And it wouldn’t hurt the child, would it? Us getting pregnant while on that drug?” Dammit, she needed to study drugs now.

  “No, I don’t think you’d do it. Why dose yourself if you did drop it into my drink? It won’t hurt the baby either, not on a one-time use basis. We should get you an appointment with a doctor, though. You’ll need to get on prenatal vitamins and anything else to ensure you’re okay to bear our child.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Mercy admitted, and closed her eyes again. Being in his arms was nice. She had been sleeping with the pillow he had used until the scent of him was gone, and she had missed it when it wore off. “Do you want to go with me to the doctor? If so, I will need to work around your schedule.” God, how in the hell was she able to stand there and talk about this as if it was an everyday occurrence? “We will figure it out together, right? We will make the decisions for our child together?” Their child. Jesus, she was going to be someone’s mother.

  She felt more than heard his chuckle, one of his hands coming to rest on her head. “Yes, yes, and yes, Mercy. I want to be there for every single step of this with you. We will need to sit down and talk about everything. Set up the appointment with the doctor, I will rework my schedule to whatever is needed. So whatever works best for you, sweetheart. I’m here for the next week, but I can extend it if necessary. Hell, I’ll fucking quit if it’s needed so I can be here with you.”

  “No.” She pulled back and looked up at him. “I don’t want you to quit. I will get in this week.” No matter what, she would get in that week so that they could ensure that everything was okay with the pregnancy. “So when the week is up, do you go back?” She had no idea where he even went back to when the time was up. Crap, she had no right to do this to him, but she couldn’t give him up now that he had said he wanted to be part of all of it.

  “Maybe. I’m going to be talking to my supervising agent and see about a transfer. Not just because of the pregnancy, Mercy, so get that look off your face. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, and with activity close to Massey, it’s not a bad plan. The Texas office needs some bolstering, it would be a good move for me, and would keep me close to you. We’ll worry about that later, though, one step at a time. Now, do you want something to eat or drink this time around? Because I’m not letting you run out of here for a while yet, woman.”

  Mercy laughed and nodded. “You know, water would be good.” She looked up at him and sighed. “Thank you. For everything. For wanting to be here and for being willing to be part of everything. Now we just need to get to know each other before our child comes along.” After giving him another hug, she added, “Something to eat would be good. I lost everything I ate last night this morning and now I’m starving.”

  He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Sit back down. I’ll warm you up some broth. I’ll see if I can’t find you some Saltines as well. I’m sure Mama has some around here. She always seems to have everything you could possibly need. I’ll get you some tea too.”

  “I’m actually feeling surprisingly good,” Mercy admitted to him. “I’ve been sick to my stomach and losing everything, but only in the early morning. It wakes me at about four a.m. and I’m ill until about six, but then I’m good. Sleepy a lot of the day, but that happens with pregnancy, right?” She so needed to read some books about pregnancy and what to expect. “So, all in all, so far, your child is actually fairly well behaved. Knock on wood.”

  “Whose child is that?” a new voice asked.

  Brant stiffened against her. “Mama, I didn’t realize you were home,” he said. “Mercy, this is my mother, Theresa Carver. Mama, this is Mercy.”

  “Hello, dear,” the older woman said as she came deeper into the room. “Now, whose child is the girl talking about?”

  “Uh, that would be our child, Mama. Surprise,” he said. “You’ll be a grandmother in just around eight months or so.”

  Mercy waved at Theresa Carver and felt Brant tighten his hold on her. “I know that everyone likely thought that it would be Joshua and Ali, but I guess life didn’t have that plan in mind?” Her face was likely redder than a red delicious apple, but heaven’s sakes, this so wasn’t the way she wanted to meet the grandmother of her child with Brant.

  “Oh, oh!” Theresa ran straight over and hugged her tight. Squeezing her close, she drew back and grinned. Then the woman turned and smacked Brant on the arm. “What the hell, boy? You couldn’t have told me sooner than this?”

  “I didn’t know until just now,” he admitted. “Mercy just brought me the good news no more than twenty minutes ago, Mama.”

  “Well, all right then,” the older woman grumbled. “Well, you two do whatever you were doing. I have to get to my book club.” With a kiss to Brant’s cheek and another hug given to Mercy, she was off.

  “Good lord, I feel as if I just survived a storm,” Mercy said with a frown. She shook her head and looked up at Brant. “Is she always like that?” She felt all of the color leave her face. “Wait, oh God. She’s so going to tell everyone and their brother, isn’t she?”

  “More than likely. Are you okay with that?” He touched her cheek with light fingers. “They would have found out eventually, sweetheart. It’s not like you could have hidden it the entire time. Plus, you’re a teacher. Kids are too smart for their own good and can put things together a lot quicker than most adults I know.”

  She smiled and nodded. “There is that,” she teased. “But at least I won’t be back in school for another few weeks.” Thankfully, it was summer vacation. “And yeah.” She looked up at him and stroked her fingers over his lips. “I’m very okay with her telling everyone.” She found herself leaning into him. “I’m not ashamed of this pregnancy, and most importantly, not of who the father is, so I don’t mind at all. How about you? Are you okay with it?” Oh, shit. “Crap. Megan. I should call her. She should find out from me instead of a random person in town, right?”

  “I’m fine with it, but yes, you should call your sister so she knows she’s to be an aunt from you and no other.” Leaning in, he brushed a kiss to her lips. For a brief moment, he drew back, searching her eyes. Then his mouth was on hers again, feasting on her like a man starving.

  Mercy felt the kiss all the way to her toes. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she moved so that every inch of the front of her body was against his. She was on her tip toes as she kissed him back and she moaned. This kiss, she remembered now. God, he could make her melt with a kiss.

  Slowly, he drew back from her lips, licking his own as he went. “Sit, I’ll get you something to drink and eat. In the meantime, you can call your sister and give her the good news. Afterward, we’ll find somewhere comfortable to relax and chat.”

  “Sounds good.” She couldn’t stop the question that popped out of her in that moment. “Did you feel that all the way to your soul like I did?” And she wasn’t one for waxing poetic, but she could have sworn she felt the kiss in a part of her soul that no other had ever touched, and that scared the bejesus out of her.

  “If I say yes, you can’t ever tell anyone I admitted that,” he said. He was grinning at her, a bit lopsided and all happy. “I did, but you know that.” He gave another quick kiss to her lips before he stepped away and headed to the fridge.
He brought her a bottle of water, then went to dig around for whatever he was planning on feeding her.

  Mercy moved away from Brant and took a seat in the kitchen with him instead of in the living room. Pulling her phone from her back pocket, she dialed Megan’s number and waited for her to answer. When Meg’s sleepy voice picked up, Mercy said her hellos and then without preamble, she said, “I have something to tell you.”

  “Okay, talk to me sis” Megan said on the other end of the line.

  “I’m pregnant” she blurted.

  “What? Are you kidding me right now?”

  “No, I really am not.” Mercy replied. “I’m going to have Brant Carver’s child.”

  “What?” Came the scream, and then Mercy heard Megan cussing and a tumble along with more cussing. “Are you fucking kidding me? Put him on the Goddamn phone. Now,” she shouted.

  “Keep it down.” Mercy rolled her eyes when Brant looked her way. “We will talk about it later, sis. For now, kisses and I love you lots. Don’t forget that Sunday is our lunch day so don’t you dare stand me up again.” She hung up.

  No sooner was her phone hung up when Brant’s started to ring.

  Brant pulled his head out of the fridge, dug out his phone, and answered it. “Hi, Megan,” he said, rolling his eyes so she could see. “Yes, yes, yes, yes,” he groaned. “I said yes, Megan. What? No, you are a sick and twisted woman. Ask your sister if you want those kinds of details. Goodbye, Megan.”

  Mercy frowned and cocked her head to the side. “Okay, that was weird. Was that really Megan?” She didn’t think that Megan knew Brant well enough to have his phone number. “Yeah, she’s really not happy about this. Why?” Megan never had even said anything about an attraction to Brant, even though Megs knew that Mercy had a crush on him in high school.

  “Yup, that was your twin. She’s likely still in shock. She’ll be fine once it all sinks in. Hell, I’m still in shock,” he said. He pulled a container from the fridge and peeked inside. “Bingo,” he muttered.