Have Mercy - Christina Lee Page 0,93
and brothers talking to Ainsley at the petting zoo. It was awesome of them to show up, and there weren’t even any snide comments about the setup from Hunter.
In fact, things had been better all around between us since our chat at the fence. And when we’d shown up for Sunday dinner, I’d felt more comfortable, though that wasn’t saying much. Hunter must’ve had a heart-to-heart with my father about some things. Dad was less grumbly and more distracted, so maybe the focus was temporarily going to be taken off me.
“I wanted to say thank you,” Maggie said in a cautious voice.
“What do you mean?”
“For sticking by Sienna all this time. I know it couldn’t have been easy.”
“It’s actually been the easiest part.” It was true. No way I would’ve walked away, unless she’d begged me to leave. “I may have finally come to terms with my own sexuality, but that didn’t mean I wanted to abandon my family.”
Maggie looked away guiltily, likely because her initial response to the whole situation had not been kind. She’d been angry with me, and I got the reason why. But we had come a long way since then.
“You’re a good man.” She patted my arm, glancing over her shoulder into the store, no doubt thrilled about Sienna and Brad’s status. “You deserve to be happy too.”
Christ, if I heard one more person say that, I might lose it. How welcoming would they truly be if I started bringing some guy around? The thought made me feel nauseous because no one could compare to the man who owned my heart.
And right then it was as if the clouds had parted and a ray of sunshine was beaming down on the crowd.
“Holy shit.” I blinked repeatedly, wondering if my eyes were deceiving me. Somehow Julian North was walking toward me through the crowd, and my stomach felt like it was on spin cycle.
“Melinda?” I vaguely heard Maggie say as my legs began carrying me forward.
Everything else faded away as my focus narrowed down to the man standing right in front of me. My fingers itched to reach out to him, to make sure he was real, but I wasn’t even sure what him being here meant.
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be…”
“I hope this is okay. I wanted to see the grand opening for myself.” I deflated a little because he wasn’t here for me but to see his work come to fruition, and I certainly couldn’t fault him that. “And, well, Mom insisted that we come.”
“She did?” I glanced briefly over my shoulder and saw Maggie and Melinda locked in an embrace. It’d been a while since the sisters had seen each other in person too.
“Uh-huh,” he replied, wariness in his gaze. “And Sienna too. She texted me photos, then asked if we could talk.”
“About what?” That was when I noticed she’d come outside to greet Aunt Melinda too.
“About you and me. She said you were being all mopey because you missed me.”
“She did, did she?” I smirked. So she was working us from both sides? “What else did she say?”
“That she wanted you to be happy, and was apparently under some illusion that I could…well…”
His cheeks flushed as our eyes met, and I could feel my heart thundering in my ears. Fuck, was this really happening?
“I debated coming because you’re a stubborn man, Kerry Carmichael.” Julian snickered a little. “And it’s okay if this is too much for you. You look a bit shell-shocked. I know I never contacted you, not even about that amazing gift. But unwrapping it about killed me, and I thought talking to you might make this…this longing for you even worse.”
“I…” Holy fuck. I was still unable to form the right words, and as his frown deepened, it pained me.
“So, anyway, thank you for the gift. And I guess I’ll go see the store now…”
When he tried to push by me, my hand gripped his wrist. “Wait. I can’t… Sorry, this just feels like a dream. A really fucking incredible dream. You’re standing in front of me when I was actually going to surprise you in the city.”
His eyes widened. “You were?”
“I didn’t think you’d be home for another couple of days, so I reserved my ticket for next weekend.”
“You’re kidding.” He let out a nervous laugh. “I’m not sure I can even picture you in the city.”
“Maybe not.” I stepped closer, my fingers sliding to his waist. “But you’re there, and I love you,