Betting on Grace (21 page)

The thought of Jan laid out like a feast right there
on his desk… Yep, it set his blood aflame.

He couldn’t help but think that the spur-of-the-moment
inferno that occurred when they were together was not something he’d ever had
with Charlotte. No, Charlotte had been so sweet, so wonderful in her own right,
but she’d been the opposite of Jan.

Perhaps that was one of the reasons he didn’t feel
guilty for loving Jan. He wanted to believe that if Charlotte could see him
now, she would encourage him to find the contentment he’d forsaken for so long.

Shit.

It wasn’t helping to stand there and think about it.
He knew he had to waltz right into that kitchen and tell Gracie and Mercy just
how he felt about Jan.

Forcing his hand to twist the knob, Jerry put his feet
in motion, stepping into the kitchen, smiling at his girls.

“Mornin’,” he greeted.

“Pops,” Mercy said, sounding surprised to see him.

“Last I checked, that was who was starin’ back at me
in the mirror, yes,” he replied gently, tacking on a smile. Obviously, he was
going to ramble versus say what truly needed to be said. The least he could do
was be nice about it.

“See, he’s even smilin’,” Gracie mumbled, not looking
at him.

“Of course, I’m smilin’. Why wouldn’t I be?” he asked,
making his way to the refrigerator for a bottle of orange juice. He should’ve
opted for coffee, in the hopes that it might give him a little energy. Last
night had been…

Do not go there.

“What’re you girls in here talkin’ about?” he asked,
hoping they might jump right to the subject and all of this secretive crap
would be behind him.

“Nothin’,” Mercy answered quickly, her cheeks turning
pink.

“You look guilty,” he said, uncapping the juice as he
stared back at her. He continued to watch her over the end of the bottle as he
brought it to his lips.

“I gotta go,” Mercy said abruptly, turning toward the
door.

“Hold up, girlie,” he said roughly, nearly choking on
his orange juice.

Now’s your chance.

“Was there somethin’ you wanted to talk to me about?”

Another wave of color spread across Mercy’s cheeks,
but she shook her head. And with that, she hauled ass out the door without
looking back.

Pretending he had no idea what was going on, something
he was pretty damn good at, Jerry turned to Gracie. “Somethin’ wrong with her?”
he asked, tipping his bottle toward the door.

“Maybe,” Gracie said honestly.

That’s what he loved about this one. She was always so
damn open and honest about everything. Sometimes to a fault.

“Spill it, kid.” Jerry moved over to the table and
lowered his body into the chair.

Shit, his muscles ached. More so than when he spent
the day unloading hay bales from the trucks that brought them to the main barn.
Probably because last night he’d used muscles that hadn’t been active in… Good
grief, how long had it been?

Forever since he’d done anything like that. On a desk.

The memories made his skin heat, and he had to look
away from Gracie, fearing his discomfiture might just show on his face.

“Dad,” Gracie began hesitantly. “Is there something
you want to tell us?”

“Like what?” he asked, pretending not to know what she
was talking about.

You’re screwing it up.

“Like…”

Gracie didn’t finish the sentence even though Jerry
practically begged her to with his eyes.

Keep going, kid. Make this easy on your old man.

“Never mind,” she finally said. “I need to head out,
too. It’s gonna be a long day.”

Jerry watched Gracie push to her feet and head for the
door.

He should’ve called after her, should’ve told her to
come back so he could spill his guts, get the weight of a thousand lifetimes
off his chest.

But he didn’t.

No, he just watched his best opportunity to get things
out in the open walk right out the door. Twice.

Damn it.

Grace left her father’s office cursing herself for not
taking the opportunity that had just been set up. She’d had the perfect opening
to talk to her father about Lane and Grant, something she’d been pondering for
a while now, and she’d chickened out.

Like a total wuss, she had tucked her tail between her
legs and run.

Damn it.

That was the whole reason she’d been waiting for him,
wanting to address the huge elephant in the room, because she knew that
eventually it was going to be out. And at that point, she’d be backpedaling.
Some people believed in the theory of don’t ask permission, just do whatever
you want and ask for forgiveness later. Grace wasn’t built that way.

She wanted to have her father’s blessing, to know that
he supported her in her decisions. No matter what those decisions were.

With so much going on with Grant, Grace needed to be
there for him. And that was going to call attention to their relationship.

Ever since she’d given up on her dream of barrel
racing professionally, she’d regretted that she hadn’t followed the dream. Even
if she didn’t want to do it now, Grace knew that was because of how hard she’d
been on herself. If she was truly honest with herself, Grace knew her mother
would’ve wanted her to pursue her dream.

So, yes, Grace had some regrets. Which is why she’d
made a point not to chicken out, so to speak, anymore on the things that were
important to her.

And right now, there wasn’t anything more important to
her than Lane and Grant.

Based on what had happened when she’d showed up in her
dad’s office during the altercation with Grant’s father, she was pretty sure
Jerry suspected something was going on between her and Grant anyway. And she
wanted to be the one to tell him before he freaked out, which she was pretty
sure he was going to do.

And what better opportunity than when it was clear he
had a secret of his own?

But noooo … Grace had waffled and hauled ass just like
Mercy.

Speaking of Mercy, she really needed to find her
sister. They needed to talk this out because, quite frankly, Grace was a little
surprised by her sister’s reaction to the fact their father might just have a
girlfriend.

Girlfriend.

God, that sounded strange.

Her father with a woman. She just couldn’t see it.

Grace had never known her father to date, although,
yes, she wasn’t naïve enough to believe that the man had suffered without the companionship
of a woman for all these years. She might wish it were so, because truthfully,
she still didn’t want to think that there might be a woman out there who could
replace her mother, but when she really thought about it, the idea of Jerry
spending the rest of his life alone wasn’t fair, either. To anyone.

So yeah, she’d been surprised to find out from Grant
that her father had been with a woman last night. But she hadn’t overreacted.
Not the way Mercy had.

Figuring Mercy had probably headed to the one place
she always sought solace when she was upset, Grace headed for the barn. Once
there, she tried to move silently through the big, open space, but no luck. The
sound of her boots shuffling on the concrete could be heard over the bleating
of the goats that were currently acting as an alarm — notifying anyone there to
her presence.

“Merce,” Grace called when she reached the ladder that
would lead up to the hayloft.

“She’s not here,” came the response.

Grace grinned. “Okay, I’ll just come back later,” she
replied as she grabbed the wooden rung on the ladder and began propelling
herself up.

“Don’t bother,” Mercy answered.

Was Mercy crying?

Grace didn’t say anything until she reached the wooden
floor of the loft that was supposed to be used for storing hay. Sure, there
were a handful of hay bales up there, but she knew they didn’t use this
particular loft for storing the overflow. No, ever since Jerry had learned that
Mercy used this place as her hiding spot, he had ordered the hay to be stored
elsewhere. That was years ago.

Ducking beneath the beams that held up the roof on one
side, Grace maneuvered through the bales that were scattered about until she
came upon her sister, hiding in the back.

“Whatcha doin’?” Grace asked as she dropped onto the
floor beside Mercy, sitting cross-legged as she faced her younger sister.

Grace’s breath stuttered in her chest when she saw the
picture that Mercy was looking at. It was from their parents’ wedding. “Can I
see that?” she asked softly, hardly able to speak through the emotion that had
built up in her throat.

Mercy handed the picture over, and Grace ran her
finger over the beautiful woman standing there in her brilliant white gown. The
picture was black and white, and the edges had yellowed over time. But there
was no mistaking that she was looking at her mother.

“Why would he want someone else?” Mercy asked while
Grace continued to study the image, smiling sadly. God, she missed her.

Grace shrugged her shoulders. “Do you really expect
him to spend the rest of his life alone?”

“Yes,” Mercy declared, but even Grace could tell the
answer wasn’t honest.

No one should expect Jerry to spend the rest of his
life alone. Just because they’d made it this far without having to deal with
their father having a girlfriend, that didn’t mean it was the way it should be.

“I just don’t get it,” Mercy muttered, her head
hanging down and her shoulders hunched as she stared at her boots. “After all
this time, why would he want someone?”

“Geez, Merce, I don’t know. Maybe he’s lonely?” Even
as she said the words, Grace was surprised to find that she really didn’t care
that her father was dating someone. In fact, she was actually okay with the
idea. He did deserve to be happy.

“He’s been actin’ weird lately,” Mercy said. “Do you
think it’s because of her?”

“Weird how?”

“Weird
happy
,” Mercy replied. “He’s always
smilin’. He laughs more. Hell, he’s even willin’ to race again.”

Yes, well, that was definitely odd behavior for her
father. Not that he wasn’t pleasant to be around, because Jerry was nothing if
not a good host at the ranch. But Mercy was right, he did seem happier lately.

“How long do you think they’ve been together?” Mercy
asked.

“No idea. I think those are questions we should be
askin’ him.”

Mercy lifted her head and met Grace’s gaze. She could
see the battle going on in her sister’s head. Grace knew how she felt. It did
sort of feel like a betrayal, but that was just her selfish side talking.

“I think we should ask him to bring her here.”

“He clearly has,” Mercy retorted.

“True. But he’s hidin’ out. Don’t you think he should
be able to introduce us?”

“Pot, meet kettle,” Mercy muttered, and Grace knew
exactly what she was referring to.

Okay, fine. She had been dating Lane and Grant for the
last few months, spending as much time as physically possible with them, and as
far as she knew, the only person who was aware of their relationship was Mercy.

“I wanted to tell him,” Grace admitted. It had been
the perfect opportunity, and she was still pissed that she’d just let it pass
her by.

“He’s not gonna be pissed, you know,” Mercy added.

“No?” Grace asked incredulously. “You think he’s gonna
understand that I’m in love with two men?”

“You
love
them?” Mercy asked, looking clearly
bewildered.

“Yes,” Grace said firmly. “I love them. Both of them.”

“I still don’t think he’s gonna be mad. Confused,
maybe. It is kinda weird, you know that?”

Grace laughed because her sister was right. It was
strange to be in love with two men. But more bizarre was that the two men loved
her and each other. Okay, so, yes, strange was an understatement, but she
couldn’t very well explain it. She hadn’t planned it this way; things had just
happened.

“I think we should ask him about her,” Grace finally
said when the conversation died.

“Yeah. Me, too. I still don’t know that I like it.”

“I get it,” Grace said, reaching out and touching
Mercy’s hand. “But it’s really not our place to decide how he chooses to be
happy.”

■□■□■□■□

Mercy didn’t want to agree with Gracie, but she did.
Not that she was going to admit it, though. She needed some time to think about
this.

Her father had a girlfriend.

She wondered whether Trin, Faith, or Hope knew. She
doubted it because surely they would’ve said something. Then again, there were
plenty of secrets being kept at the ranch these days. Gracie was dating two
men, those two men were in love with her and each other, her father was
apparently dating someone…

Then there were her other sisters and their secrets.
Trin and the horrific incident with that son of a bitch, Garrett. Damn, they’d
kept that one a secret for so long that people actually did believe Jerry had
fired the asshole for using equipment. Well, some people believed that. Others
thought it had to do with the fact that the guy had wanted to date Trin.

Mercy knew why they had allowed everyone to go on
believing that. If word had gotten out just what Garrett had done, there
would’ve been anarchy at the ranch. The people who worked there were like
family. And everyone looked out for one another, even if they all liked to give
each other a hard time.

That was the definition of family, right?

Then there was Faith and Rusty. The two of them could
start a fire with the combustible energy they generated when they were in the
same room. Granted, Faith didn’t know the real reason Jerry had fired Garrett
Daniels, so her younger sister believed that dating one of the wranglers was
off-limits. No one had bothered to set Faith straight, and Mercy still wasn’t
sure why that was.

Of course, Mercy had a secret, but she had no
intention of letting it out of the bag. What had happened between her and Cody
had been a mistake. A huge mistake that she desperately did not want to repeat.
She did not want to date someone who worked for her father. And she knew that
the only reason they’d ended up together had been because… Hell, she didn’t
even know why it had happened. It just had.

It was all so messed up. How could so many people spend
day in and day out together and no one know everything that was going on?

Mercy sighed as she looked up at Gracie again. “Maybe
he’ll bring her to the dance tomorrow night.”

“Maybe we should ask him to,” Gracie countered.

“I’m not gonna bring it up. As far as I’m concerned,
if she doesn’t come here, she doesn’t exist.” Irrational, yes. But she really
didn’t give a damn.

“Speakin’ of dance. You gonna help set up tomorrow?”

And just like that, Gracie single-handedly changed the
subject back to a safe topic. If Mercy had to guess, her sister did it for her.
She loved her for it, too.

“Of course I’m gonna help. I’m lookin’ forward to this
one. After all, I get to watch while you try to explain the fact that you’re
dancin’ with two different cowboys. You are gonna dance with them both, aren’t
you?”

Mercy wasn’t sure how Gracie had managed, but she hadn’t
yet danced with either man. She had a feeling that was about to change.

Grace smirked, and Mercy knew what was coming. She
plugged her ears with her fingers, singing loudly to avoid hearing what Grace
had to say. When she stopped, Grace just smiled as she got to her feet.

Mercy watched as Grace eased herself onto the ladder,
shaking her head, still grinning.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Mercy called after her,
grateful that Grace had let it go.

“I’ll be sure to let Cody know you’re lookin’ forward
to that dance,” Grace hollered as she climbed down the ladder.

Son of a gun. Just when she thought she was safe.