Ropes and Revenge (19 page)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Three Days Later

Percy

Friday morning, Percy awoke to the sound of a soft voice whispering her name.

“Miss Percy,” the voice called from the door to the guest room. “Miss Percy are you awake yet?”

“I am now.” Percy rolled over in the soft flannel sheets, smiling at the freckled face peeking in through her door. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

“I did, but I can’t sleep anymore, even if it is a day off,” Peyton said, pushing through the door and hurrying across the room to climb into the bed with her.

Percy scooted over to make room for him, glad that she and John were sleeping in separate rooms. She agreed it was best not to confuse the kids, and she secretly liked having a few minutes to herself with Peyton every morning. John and Carter slept until the last possible moment before getting up and launching into the school day ritual, but Peyton was an early bird like her.

“Here, have some covers,” she said, lifting the comforter so he could climb beneath. “It’s cold this morning.”

“Is it going to be too cold to ride rides at the harvest fair?” Peyton asked, eyes wide as he snuggled in.

“I don’t think so,” Percy said. “We’ll just put on our jackets and scarves.”

“I don’t have a scarf,” Peyton said. “I had one last year, but it made my neck itch so I lost it behind the bleachers in the lunch room.”

Percy cocked a brow. “I don’t think that’s how losing something works.”

Peyton grinned. “Don’t tell Dad. He doesn’t like it when things get lost on purpose.”

“I won’t.” Percy pushed her hair away from her face, spreading it across the pillow so it wouldn’t tickle her neck. “And I’ll grab some yarn and knitting needles while we’re in town today. That way I can make you a super soft and snuggly scarf this weekend.”

“As soft as your hair?” Peyton reached out, capturing a lock of her hair and wrapping it around his finger.

“Softer,” Percy said, heart melting the way it did every time she was with this precious little man.

With his pale skin, freckles, and light brown curls, Peyton looked so much like the pictures of Lily she’d seen. And he seemed to have his mother’s sweet heart, as well. He’d gravitated to Percy immediately, happily accepting her into his life. Carter was a wonderful kid, too, but he was more like his father. He was reserved, cautious, and slower to show his softer side. But he loved jumping on the trampoline with her after school and, last night at bedtime, he’d given her an unexpected hug before heading up the stairs.

Just thinking about it made her chest ache with happiness and hope.

She’d come to the Lawson home for safety’s sake, but she wanted to stay for different reasons entirely. She wanted to stay because nothing had ever felt as right or wonderful as little boy hugs before bed and John’s kisses late into the night. She wanted to stay because she wasn’t just falling in love with John, but this house full of men, big and little, so desperately in need of light and love.

“Hey, Percy?” Peyton asked, still playing with her hair.

“Yes, Peyton?”

“Can we start the pancakes? Even though Daddy and Carter are still asleep?” He blinked pitifully. “’Cause I’m so hungry my stomach is starting to collapse.”

Percy reached out to tickle his ribs. “Then we’d better go get the batter started before there’s a tummy cave-in.”

“Tummy cave-in!” Peyton laughed as he rolled off the side of the bed, landing with a loud thump that would have scared her a few days ago. But now she knew that little boys seemed to go through life bouncing off the furniture, the walls, and each other, without ending up any worse for wear.

She was learning so many things, not the least of which was how wonderful it was to look up from a griddle filled with pancakes to see John in his pajama pants and sleep-mussed hair, watching her with a smile from the door to the kitchen.

“Good morning,” she said, her stomach fluttering as she met his gaze. She swore the man got better looking every day. “Peyton’s tummy was collapsing so we had to get the pancakes started.”

“I figured as much,” John said, coming to stand beside her, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of her head. “He wake you up again this morning?”

“He did, but I didn’t mind,” she said, glancing into the den where Peyton was curled under a blanket watching cartoons while he waited for his pancake feast to be prepared. “I like having time with him. He’s such a sweetheart.”

John laughed. “He’s got a sweet tooth, that’s for sure. And he knows a soft touch when he sees one.”

Percy smiled. “I am a soft touch. I would be a complete failure at discipline, I can tell already. All he has to do is blink his sad little eyes and I melt.”

“That’s all right.” John wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, drawing her back to his front, sending awareness and a warmer, deeper feeling spreading through her core. “They’ve got me to be the mean guy. It’s good to have a soft touch around.”

For the tenth time since Tuesday evening, Percy almost asked John if that meant she should cancel her flight out on Wednesday and stay a little longer, but she bit her lip instead.

They hadn’t talked about her leaving or the future or Lily’s death or anything too serious since John had turned the information they’d gathered over to the police for review Wednesday morning. They hadn’t even had the “relationship talk” they’d postponed in favor of dancing on Tuesday afternoon. Instead, John had taken the rest of the week off from work and they’d spent their days riding horses, making love, and jumping on the trampoline more often than any two allegedly grown-up people should.

They’d helped the kids with homework after school and then gone bowling on Wednesday. On Thursday they’d had a dinner party with Cole and Layla at their house, then stayed up until nearly one in the morning making love until Percy was so wrung out she’d let John carry her down the hall to tuck her into bed in the guest room.

She closed her eyes, relishing the feel of John’s body warm and strong behind her and the memory of his good night kisses still lingering on her lips. She knew they were living in a denial bubble, but she didn’t want it to burst just yet. She wanted to soak up every sweet, stolen moment, to pretend the real world was never going to muscle in and rain on the joy they’d found.

“I’ll go get Carter moving,” John said, kissing the back of her neck before he stepped away. “I told the principal we’d be at the carnival by ten. They need extra hands to set up the stage for the talent show this afternoon. You up for wrangling kids while I’m wrangling platforms, or should I give Mom a call?”

“I’m always up for wrangling kids,” Percy said. “But be warned that I’m going to buy an obscene number of ride tickets. Carnival time only happens once a year.”

John shook his head, but he was smiling when he said, “There’s another carnival that sets up downtown at Christmas time, but I support the obscene number of tickets. Let’s buy an entire roll and ride the Ferris wheel a dozen times.”

“Yes!” Percy grinned as she flipped a pancake. “I like this fun-embracing side of you. A lot.”

“Me too, but I have to go back to work on Monday or Cole’s going to kill me,” John said, laughing as he headed up the stairs to rouse Carter from his bed.

Cole wouldn’t kill him. Cole was obviously overjoyed to see his brother coming back to life. He and Layla had both made it clear they’d be thrilled to see Percy stick around town indefinitely, and Laura Mae grinned and waved like a maniac every time John and Percy rode by her house on their way to the trails farther up the mountain.

But it didn’t matter if the entire Lawson clan threw her a “welcome to Lonesome Point” party. John was the one who mattered, and they were going to have to have “the talk” sooner or later.

“But not today,” Percy whispered to herself as she flipped another pancake. Today was for carnival rides, cotton candy, and spoiling her two favorite little boys.

Two hours later, breakfast was finished and she, John, and the kids piled into his truck for the trip to the school carnival. They arrived to find the Lonesome Point Elementary parking lot filled with rides, food trucks, and game booths. The crisp fall air carried the smells of popcorn and caramel apples and the faint hint of diesel that powered the engines fueling the things that spun, twirled, and soared into the air.

As soon as she pulled in a lungful of carnival-scented air, Percy was swept up in the spirit of the day. She, Carter, and Peyton arranged to meet John at the taco truck at noon, then ran off to soak in the fun. They rode the Ferris wheel first, soaring high into the air, getting a giddy view of downtown Lonesome Point and the desert beyond, where the spindly peak that had given the town its name thrust toward the sky like a finger pointing the way to heaven.

But Percy was beginning to believe that heaven wasn’t always a place on the other side of the veil. Heaven could be a perfect day filled with children’s laughter, autumn-kissed sunshine, and two cotton-candy-sticky hands that gripped her own as she led the way through a crowd of happy, laughing people, toward another ride.

She was having such an amazing time, talking and giggling with the boys, that it took her a few moments to notice the woman glaring at her from farther up the line for the Tilt-a-Whirl. When she did, she flinched in surprise. She’d never met the woman—a blonde with a pageboy haircut and a heart-shaped face that would have been lovely if it weren’t for her sour expression—but Percy had obviously offended her in some way.

Percy momentarily wondered if she was acting too childishly—perhaps grown-ups weren’t supposed to skip through the carnival with the children—but then decided she didn’t care. She and the boys were having a wonderful time and that’s all that mattered. One stick-in-the-mud wasn’t going to make her dial back her joy. Nothing was going to make her dial back her joy, not today, when the world seemed to be handing out happiness by the bucketful.

There were too many times in life when sadness was inescapable for Percy to go looking for it when things were going well. So she put the woman out of her mind and threw herself back into enjoying the day. She had so much fun that she’d completely forgotten about the strained moment until she and the boys went to meet John at noon and she found him standing in the shade of the taco truck, in deep conversation with the sour-faced blonde.

Percy hung back, not wanting to interrupt, but Peyton and Carter dropped her hands and raced ahead, both of them talking at the same time, determined to be the first to tell John about their adventures. With one last cool glance in Percy’s direction, the blonde retreated, disappearing in the thickening crowd.

“What did she have to say?” Percy whispered as they moved toward the end of the food line. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Not at all, but we should talk about it later.” He smiled, but it seemed forced and Percy didn’t see another smile from him until over an hour later, when they were finished eating and had made it to the front of the Ferris wheel line.

As the giant wheel revolved and the warm breeze blew their hair from their faces, John finally smiled and laughed that carefree laugh she’d grown increasingly familiar with over the past few days. But when they were back on the ground, his spirits seemed to fall.

The boys continued to enjoy themselves, but Percy felt as if a cloud had crept in front of the sun and she was determined to find out why. If she’d broken some unspoken rule of the school carnival, she wanted to know about it.

She and John didn’t have a chance to be alone until hours later, long after they’d arrived home, cooked a quick dinner of pasta and green beans for the boys, and gotten both Carter and Peyton showered and tucked into bed. But as soon as the lights were off in the hall and she and John were settled on the back porch swing to watch the stars poke their way through the dark desert sky, she reached out and put her hand over his.

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” he said, turning his hand so their palms kissed. “It was a great day, don’t you think? I know the boys had fun.”

“I had fun, too, but…” She pressed her lips together, but in the end felt she had to say something. “The blonde woman you were talking to was watching me while I was in line for one of the rides. She didn’t look too happy to see me with the boys.”

“You mean she was glaring a hole through your skin?” John asked.

“Yes,” Percy said, relieved John seemed to know that the woman was trouble. “But I have no idea what I did wrong.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” John curled his fingers around hers. “I’m the one who screwed up. Charity was just making sure I was aware of it.”

Percy’s brows drew together. “How did you screw up? You weren’t even there.”

“That’s right, I wasn’t there,” he said with a sigh. “I left my kids alone with a woman who wasn’t their mother or my girlfriend or even from Lonesome Point. I sent them off with a ‘Yankee ghost hunter with loose morals who wouldn’t think twice about getting the kids attached to her and then leaving town never to return.’ Charity’s words, not mine.”

Percy huffed as she pulled her hand from John’s. “Loose morals? What does that even mean?” She stood, setting the swing to rocking gently. “And how could she tell I have loose morals from staring at me for ten minutes while I stood in line for a carnival ride? It’s ludicrous.”