Mercy for the Fallen (9 page)

When he deposited me on the back porch of my house and turned to leave with a mumbled goodbye, I stopped him with a hand on his arm.  “Are you mad about something?”

“No.”

“No attempts to steer us toward South America instead of Seattle?” I ventured a hesitant smile, relaxing when the corner of his mouth tugged up. 

“Do you want to go?  Say the word, I’ll go grab my serape and we’ll do it up.  Fiesta like it’s 1999.”

“No, I just wondered why you were so quiet on the way back.”

“Just thinking.  I do think from time to time, you know.”

“Aw, and here I thought you were just another pretty face,” I teased poking him in the side.  Christ… what the hell was I doing?  Flirting with him?  Parker was right, I
was
giving him mixed messages.  Especially the one that started with his tongue in my mouth. “I um, I guess I’ll see you later.”

Adam fixed me with an inscrutable look.  I thought for a moment he might call me out on the rapid backpedal, maybe insist on inviting himself in over some stupid pretense.  Instead, he strolled to the end of the porch and jumped off, heading for the street.

“Thanks for the ride,” I called out after him.  Adam turned, the familiar twist of his lips in place.

“Anytime.” 

I was still watching him disappear down the driveway when Parker opened the back door, his expression not at all amused when he said the words, “Thanks for the ride?”

Ah crap, I had some explaining to do.

Chapter Nine

“Hi, Parker.”  I breezed past him into the kitchen, looking for something to drink.  “What time is it?  I’m all mixed up with my time zones.”

Parker didn’t let me get very far before returning to the subject of Adam.  “What’s with the stuff about the ride?  It’s not like you can get a flat tire the way you travel.”

“I couldn’t get where I needed to go fast enough on my own.  That’s all it was.”

“I thought you said he wouldn’t be there.”

I stalled for a moment, guzzling most of a glass of orange juice before I came up for a breath.  “I know, but I needed him.”  Parker’s face darkened, and I realized that was the exact opposite of what I should’ve said.  “Calm down, nothing happened.”  So why did I feel so guilty and evasive about it? 

“So I’m the asshole because I don’t like my girlfriend out on a road trip with her ex?”

“It’s not like we holed up in a hotel room together.  All we did was fly to Eden and come straight back.”

“Is that all?” he snorted, running his fingers through his hair.  It struck me that Parker looked tired, really tired, and I glanced at the clock.  It showed barely past noon.  He obviously hadn’t gotten back to sleep after I’d left, and from the look of it had spent the better part of the last several hours worrying. 

“Hey…” I put down the glass, picking up his hand to send a wave of soothing Grace.  “Parker, you have nothing to worry about, I swear.  I chose you, remember?”

“It just feels like every time I turn around Adam is right there, and I want to rip that damn smirk right off his face,” he grumbled, but there wasn’t any real violence in his stance. 

“You know Adam.  Pretty soon he’ll get bored and take off again for months at a time.”   

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Then we won’t invite him to the wedding.”   

“The wedding that means nothing to you?  And that you haven’t agreed to, by the way.”

“The wedding that means
everything
to me because it’s you and me.  I love you, Parker, and if I have to marry you to prove it, I will.”  There was a freedom in having said the words, the worry over what to decide dissipating.  That had to be a good sign.  Instead of the happy reaction I’d expected from him, Parker shook his head, pulling his hand away.

“You don’t have to marry me if you don’t want to.  I don’t want to push you into anything you’re not ready for.”

“I want to.” 

“Because that’s no way to start a marriage.”

“I’m telling you I want to marry you, dumbass!” 

“And if you want to hold off for a while, I completely understand.” 

“Jesus Christ, Parker, what do you want me to do, beg?”  I got down on one knee, stretching one hand up to him.  “Parker Cameron Davies, will you do me the honor of being my husband?”

“I don’t know, Merce, this is so sudden…” he pretended to consider, and I got up off the floor, muttering to myself.  

“You are such an asshat sometimes.”

Parker helped me stand, smiling from ear to ear as he picked me up by the waist and deposited me on the kitchen counter.  “But you love me anyway.”

“I do, I really do.”  I kissed him lightly on the lips, my arms draping around his shoulders.  “So, are we gonna do this or not?”

“Gee… since you asked so nicely,” he said flatly.

“Would you stop?” I said with a playful shove at his shoulder.  His mouth closed over mine and I had my answer.  I was easily swept up in his kiss, forgetting where we were, pulling him closer as his hands roamed under my shirt, leaving tingles in their wake.  I didn’t think about Adam once, except to realize I wasn’t thinking about him – which only ended up making me think about him… I chased away that loop of madness, focusing on the spark between us. 

“Where’s Bunny?” I asked between kisses, wondering how much privacy we could expect.

“Building a dungeon up in her room.”

“A dungeon?”  I pulled back to look at him. 

“With Legos.  Some of the ponies have been bad and need to be punished, apparently.” 

“Hmm, sometimes I worry about that kid.”  My lips turned down until Parker chased after them again.   

“She’s fine.”  His lips left mine to blaze a trail of open mouthed kisses down the side of my neck as he spoke.  “I came down to make some lunch, but she had a snack not all that long ago.  I think we could definitely sneak in some adult time.”  His head dipped lower, and I sucked in a sharp breath as teeth scraped over my sensitive skin.

“That sounds awesome,” I sighed, holding tight to the back of his head.  His mouth busy, there was only the sound of my breathing until my stomach growled loudly. 

“Sounds like I’d better feed you first.”  Parker stood, lips curved in amusement. 

It took a second for my head to clear, but then I nodded, realizing the kitchen counter wasn’t the best place for what we had in mind with a three-year-old running loose in the house.  “Hmm, maybe that is for the better.  We should all eat.  You’ll need your stamina, old man.”

“Challenge accepted,” he grinned, green eyes brimming with promise.  “But we’re definitely celebrating today.”

“Sounds good to me.  Let’s take that day off we talked about and spend the whole thing together.”

“Now you’re talking,” he winked, pulling down a set of plates.  “What do you want to do today?  Go out or stay in?”

“Stay in, I think.  Maybe we can go out another night if Daphne can sit with Bunny, but for now, I want to enjoy some family time together.”

“You got it, darlin’.”  Parker was light on his feet as he moved through the kitchen, his mood buoyant.  I watched him prepare lunch from my perch on the counter, enjoying the view.  “I promise this marriage thing will only make it better.  How soon do you think we can get everyone together to make this happen?”

Despite the feeling that I’d made the right decision, the question sent a flutter of nerves through my belly.  “Hey, if we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it right.  That means the fancy dress, the flowers, the whole shebang.”

“Sure, we can definitely do that.  I still have my tux from the last time.  Where do you want to go on our honeymoon?  How about Kauai?  We can laze around on the beach and drink mai tais.”

The beach made me think of two things, my father and Adam.  “Or… how about an Alaskan cruise?  I’ve always wanted to go on a cruise ship and Alaska’s supposed to be beautiful.”

“In the winter?”  His brows came up.  “That sounds a bit cold to me.”

“It’s going to take a while to plan the wedding.  It’ll probably be next summer at least before we can pull it off.”

Parker looked like he wanted to argue the point, but came up with a smile.  “If that’s what my angel wants, that’s what we’ll do.  As long as I get to marry you, I’m good.”

“It’s going to be perfection, you’ll see.”

“I don’t need perfect, I just need you.”

“You have me.”  I pulled him close, my legs wrapping around his waist as I tried to show him what he meant to me.  Lunch forgotten, Parker lifted me off the counter, getting a few steps closer to the stairs before Eve skipped in, took one look at us making out and made a retching sound.  Parker and I broke the kiss, and I jumped down to my feet guiltily. 

“You can have my snack if you hungry, Momma,” she said, holding up a plastic bag with about ten Cheerios left inside.

“Oh, thanks, sweetie.  But um…”

“One lunch coming up.”  Parker took a deep breath, returning to his preparations. 

“Listen, we have some exciting news,” I smiled, picking Eve up to set her in her usual spot at the breakfast bar.  “Daddy and Mommy are getting married.”

Her reaction was less than enthusiastic.  “Again?”

Maybe she was too young for the conversation on why we weren’t married already.  I decided to gloss it over.  “Yes, but this time you can be our flower girl.”

“Flower girl!” she crowed, bouncing in her seat.  “What’s a flower girl?”

“Well, you get to wear a pretty dress and drop flower petals during the ceremony,” I explained.

“Nelo too?”

“Um…” I looked up at Parker, but he just shrugged.  “Maybe, we’ll see how it goes.”  The little demon might be hard to explain to my mother.  Then again, maybe it was time to acquaint her with a few truths about her daughter and granddaughter?  The next thing I knew, Eve slid off her chair and was halfway to the basement door as fast as her chubby legs could carry her. 

“Nelo, we get to be flower girls!” she squealed. 

“Honey, Nelo’s asleep…”  Not that it made much difference to her. 

“A demon flower girl?”  Parker raised a single brow.

“Why not?  I’m all for equality among the races.”

* * *

I had to admit, it definitely didn’t suck being engaged to Parker.  We spent the rest of the day together doing family stuff, except for when Bunny took her afternoon nap, and we slipped off for some adult awesomeness.  And after she went to bed, the relaxing bath he insisted on drawing for me turned into a hot, wet mess as he decided to give me a hand.  It was like he felt the need to prove we’d made the right decision or something.  Whatever it was, I wasn’t complaining, even though I got very little sleep that night. 

I still had to tell friends and family about the engagement, but there wasn’t any rush that first day.  I felt like I wanted to enjoy the decision with just us at first. 

The next afternoon I came home from school to find Parker and Eve out on the cracked driveway, drawing with chalk.  There were only a few good days of sunshine left according to the news forecasts, and he had a picnic set out on the lawn waiting for me to get home.  Evie wasn’t much interested in the food, so we let her keep drawing while we noshed on cubes of fresh watermelon, cold cuts on soft pretzel buns, and lemon tarts.  My lips stung from the peppered salami, but it was nothing that couldn’t be cured with the plastic Halloween bucket full of ice that housed a couple of beers.  

“It just doesn’t get any better than this,” Parker sighed contentedly, touching his bottle to mine.

“It is pretty amazing, isn’t it?” I agreed, drinking to his toast.

“Actually, let me see if I can change that and make it a
little
better.” 

“As long as it’s not more food, or you’ll have to roll me inside.”

“No, it’s not food.”  Instead he dug into his pocket, drawing out a small box.  “I realize you were the one to get down on one knee yesterday, and I didn’t want to feel left out.”

I accepted the box, opening it to find a heart shaped diamond ring inside.  “You bought me an engagement ring.”

“Well sure, we are engaged, right?” 

I nodded, staring at the ring as if it might jump out and eat my face if I touched it. 

“You don’t like it?”  His face fell.  “I know the heart is maybe a little cheesy, but…”

“No, I do… it’s beautiful.”

“We can get another one.  You can pick it out yourself.”

“Parker, I love it.”  I fished it out of the box and slipped it on my finger.  It was a perfect fit.  “You surprised me, that’s all.” 

“Surprises are good, no?”

“This kind is.”  I leaned over to kiss him to show him I meant business.  “When did you have time to do this?” I asked, my eyes lighting upon the ring again.

“Bunny picked it out.”  He laid a hand over his heart when he caught my look.  “Okay, I gave her some guidance.  The first one she picked out was too pink and sparkly for my tastes.  But I think this one has a little something to it, don’t you?”

“It’s beautiful.”

“You are.” He nudged my leg with his. 

I probably shouldn’t have been so surprised by how into the whole wedding thing he was.  But he’d clearly been giving it a lot of thought.  He had ideas for the venue, the flowers, the music, how many people to invite… it was overwhelming at first, until I caught on to his enthusiasm. 

After dashing inside to get a notebook, we started to make real plans, settling on what kinds of flowers we liked, what song our first dance should be to, whether or not to hire a DJ or find a local band.  By the time it started to get dark and Eve wandered over to snack on a piece of cheese, we’d filled several pages of the notebook. 

“Hey, you know what could be cool?” Parker asked as we started bringing things inside.  “We could fly your mom up a few weeks early to help out.  Do you think she’d like that?”

“You know she’ll probably never leave, right?”

“Instant babysitter.  Could be worse,” he shrugged and I stopped in the doorway, convinced he wouldn’t say that if he understood the implications of such an invitation.

“My mother living in this house?  How’s that for worse?”