Sweet Mercy - Lynn Hagen Page 0,2

buzzards following him, waiting to swoop in and feast on his dead carcass.

He was also grateful that Lincoln was paying to have them fixed. Mercy balled on a budget, and that was one reason he hadn’t gotten the tires replaced. Tires were downright expensive.

Lincoln paid him a decent wage to cook and clean, but it wasn’t as if his stepbrother was loaded. He ran a tight ship, and the ranch did just fine, but it wasn’t as though it made money hand over fist.

Mercy didn’t think Lincoln was rich. He wouldn’t know since he’d never seen Lincoln’s finances. His stepbrother had been an adult by the time Mercy had been adopted as a teenager, and Lincoln had already purchased the ranch.

Mercy shoved those thoughts aside. He didn’t want to think of how his mom had passed away from cancer, how she’d withered away to nothing, and how she’d left him alone in the cold, dark world. If she hadn’t been best friends with Lincoln’s mom, Mercy wasn’t sure where he would’ve ended up.

When Mercy opened the passenger door, he groaned at the blast of cold air. He jumped in, sticking his face close to one of the vents.

“It’s hot as hell out,” Ford said when he slipped into the driver’s seat. “Give it a second and you’ll be cooled off.”

There was no chance of that happening. Not when Ford was so close. Mercy was heating up and not from the humidity outside.

“Buckle your seat belt.” Ford hadn’t moved, hadn’t driven onto the road and headed toward town. He sat there staring at Mercy.

Once Mercy’s seat belt was in place, Ford took off, driving with one hand on the wheel, the other resting on the armrest between them.

“I appreciate you doing this for me. I’m sorry it took you away from your work.” Mercy looked up at the sky, but the buzzards were gone. They must’ve swooped in on whatever had attracted their attention.

“I don’t mind,” Ford said. “It got me out of the heat, and I can’t resist helping a guy in distress on the side of the road.”

Did that mean Ford was gay? Why are you even thinking about that? It doesn’t matter. “Well, anyway, thanks. I would’ve gotten the thingamajig out the back and changed it myself, but I have no clue how to change a tire.”

“And you didn’t have a spare,” Ford reminded him.

“Well, there’s that.”

“I’ll need you to point me to the mechanic.”

“There are two mechanic shops in town,” Mercy said. He wasn’t sure which one to go to since he’d never been to either, so he decided to go to the closest one.

When they entered the downtown area, Mercy smiled. He loved Fever’s Edge. It wasn’t so small that you’d miss it if you closed your eyes, but it was big enough that it had a lot of restaurants, bars, and a whole assortment of businesses, like the pet store. Mercy had been dying to buy a puppy, but Lincoln had refused to let him get one.

If he didn’t feel so obligated to his stepbrother for taking him in when he needed a place to stay, he’d move into the heart of town. The streets were lined with plenty of trees, and there was a large lake, which they’d just passed, with a dock that Mercy had dreamed of diving from many, many times.

They drove down the street lined with restaurants, a barbershop, the fire station, and a few other businesses. He always got a heart-pounding feeling in his chest when he drove into town. Like this was a magical place he wanted to be a part of instead of living on a ranch miles from it.

Mercy had lived in town many years ago, but that had been with Lloyd, his ex. Even those horrible memories weren’t enough to kill the passion he felt for the town he’d grown up in, a town that meant the world to him.

“Take a left here,” Mercy said. “Now a right. Do you see the sign?”

“Yep.” Ford pulled into the small lot of the auto repair shop and then hopped out and went inside. Mercy slid from the truck and looked around as he tried not to think of spending time with Ford.

Speaking of… Ford returned and grabbed both tires from the back and took them inside. He’d lifted them out of the truck bed as if they’d weighed nothing. Ugh, those muscles. Mercy was definitely going to swoon.

When Ford returned, he was wiping his hands on a few