Merciless

“Yes, it’s my family ranch. My sister, Hope; her husband, Jake; and their baby, Joy, live in a trailer down the road. They come and go as they please, so you’ll meet them tomorrow.” I glanced at Mason, who couldn’t seem to take his eyes off his son. As if he couldn’t believe the boy was really here.

If I hadn’t loved him before, I would’ve fallen head over heels for him right then.

Which made me a total fucking sap.

“Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the place.” Mason looked at me. “Unless you want to do it?”

“No, you guys go ahead. I’ll get supper on the table.”

“What’re we havin’?”

“Roast. Mashed potatoes. Corn. Biscuits. Chocolate cake.” Yeah, maybe I’d gone to some trouble to make a decent meal. But not because I was trying to impress the kid, or anything.

Dawson kissed me. “Mmm. We’ll make it a quick tour.”

Didn’t take long to see the main floor. Then they donned coats and headed outside, much to the delight of the dogs. Just as I was filling my great-grandmother’s gravy boat, they returned, laughing, cheeks bright red from the icy air, eyes shining. When I said, “Wash up,” I was thrown back in time to when the kitchen was my mother’s domain and Dad and I would have just come in from the cold, anxious for Sunday night roast and The Wonderful World of Disney. Made me a little misty-eyed.

Jesus. When had my emotions turned me into a live Hallmark card?

Lex was a watchful kid during supper, taking his behavior cues from his father.

Neither Dawson nor I were the type to blather just to hear ourselves talk. We were comfortable with silence. If Lex expected more conversation at dinner, he didn’t mention it, nor did he ask a billion questions. The kid had a big appetite-two helpings of everything. Sophie would be in heaven.

After cleaning up the kitchen, I lingered in the doorway, seeing them engrossed in a Broncos game. I debated on retreating to the office and dinking around with my computer, but Dawson motioned me over to the couch. The instant I sat, he pulled me close. “I know how much you hate watching football, but hang out with us for a bit, ’kay?”

“Wake me up if I start to snore.”

He pecked me on the mouth and smooched my forehead before he switched his focus back to the game. He didn’t care that Lex was covertly studying us.

Since Mason had moved in and we’d gone public with our relationship, he didn’t hide his affection for me. Now that I knew how much his affectionate side was an innate part of his makeup, I also understood how hard it’d been for him to keep it under wraps during our clandestine phase. Still, this constant touchy-feely, kissy-face stuff took some getting used to.

I dozed. The next thing I knew, Dawson poked my shoulder. “Hey, sleepyhead, go to bed. I’ll be there in a sec. I’m headed upstairs to make sure Lex is all right before he hits the hay.”

I squinted at the dark living room with the flickering TV lights. Shadows danced across my vision. This was the worst possible light condition for my eye injury. I squeezed my eyes shut, reopened them, hoping-like always-that my vision would clear. But it remained murky.

In the bedroom I stripped to a camisole and underwear and slipped between the sheets. Dawson spooned me just as I’d hit the peaceful state right before sleep overtakes all conscious cognitive thoughts. But the tension rolling off him kicked me back to full alert. “What’s up?”

“I missed you last night.” His rough-skinned hand skated up my arm from my wrist to the curve of my bicep.

“Okay. But spending one night apart when I was away for months isn’t what’s bugging you. Wanna talk about it?”

“I don’t even know where the hell to start.” He sighed. “I knew Mona had moved again. But I hadn’t known it was to an even seedier area, if that’s possible. When I asked her about it, she immediately got surly with me. Lex tried to smooth things over, but Mona didn’t like Lex sticking up for me. She called him all kinds of names, then pointed at his bags and told him to get out.”

I rolled over and rested my cheek on his chest. “That was it? That was how she said good-bye to her son?”

“Yeah. The kid was trying so goddamn hard not to cry… and I know that shit can eat you up inside if you don’t let it out, so I told him to let ’er rip. I told him I wanted him to be honest with me about everything, the ugly stuff, the embarrassing stuff, the stuff he couldn’t tell his mom or anyone else. And he lost it, Mercy. Had a complete, blubbering meltdown in the front seat of my truck. Christ. Big talk on my part. I didn’t know what the hell to do.

“When he calmed down, I asked him about getting kicked out of school. He said he did it on purpose so he could come here to live with me, because Mona threatened she’d send him away for good if he screwed up again.”

“Again? He’s eleven. How many screwups can an eleven-year-old have?”