Mercy settled into the big ranch house and into her office without any problems. She’d been there a week, and every night she fought against knocking on Hunter’s bedroom door. She saw him very little during the day, but she dreamed about him every night. A week after she arrived, Gloria and Jeremy invited them to go to a bar east of town for burgers, beers, and dancing.
When they were all four in Jeremy’s truck, since he had volunteered to be the designated driver that evening, and buckled in, Gloria reached across the back seat and whispered, “Why are you so jittery this evening?”
“Does it show that much?” Mercy asked.
Gloria nodded. “Are you and Hunter…”
Mercy cut her off by shaking her head. “Is this bar different from the cantina?”
“It’s just bigger, I would imagine,” Gloria answered. “I’ve never been to a cantina.”
The antsy feeling in Mercy’s heart settled down. She had handled the cantina, so she could do this without embarrassing Hunter.
“I love to dance, but I’m a sleepy drunk so I only have one beer,” Gloria said. “Jeremy has one shot of tequila when we first get there to loosen him up for dancing. By the time we leave that’s out of his system. You and Hunter can drink or not drink tonight. That’s up to y’all.”
“Thank you.” Mercy finally felt like smiling.
The Long Horn wasn’t much bigger than the cantina, but the parking lot was huge and almost full when they arrived that evening. Hunter got out of the passenger seat and opened the back truck door for Mercy. When her feet were on the ground, he draped an arm around her shoulders.
“Have I told you that you are beautiful?” he asked.
“Only about a dozen times,” she answered, “but thirteen is my lucky number so…”
“My darlin’, you are gorgeous,” he told her as he paid the man the cover charge and led her inside.
Jeremy and Gloria headed for the bar, got their drinks, and then claimed a small table for four in the corner.
“You want to drink or dance first?” Hunter asked.
“Dance,” Mercy answered.
He took her hand in his and led her out to the middle of the dance floor. Mercy recognized “Millionaire” by Chris Stapleton the moment the band began to play the prelude.
“This is really our song,” Hunter said. “Like the lyrics say, love is more precious than anything else.”
“It sure can’t be bought with money or sold for any amount, can it?” she asked.
“Amen, darlin’. I believe this song was written just for us,” Hunter whispered.
The warmth of his breath on the tender part of her neck caused shivers to dance up and down her spine.
“Can I cut in?” A cowboy tapped him on the shoulder.
“Not this time.” Hunter didn’t miss a step. “This is our song.”
The cowboy stepped away, and Hunter said, “Every song they play tonight is our song,”
“We take a request every hour,”—the lead female singer stepped up to the microphone—“and the one for this hour is ‘Got My Name Changed Back’ by Pistol Annies. Must be someone out there who’s recently gotten a divorce. Whoever you are, this song is for you.”
“Could we sit this one out and have a beer?” Mercy asked. “I need to visit the ladies’ room, and I am getting thirsty.”
“Sure thing,” Hunter said. “I see Gloria headed that way, so just follow her.”
She and Gloria had just shut the doors to two of the stalls in the women’s bathroom when she heard two familiar voices.
“Dammit!” she whispered.
“Crap!” Gloria’s voice came from the stall beside her.
“Do you think Hunter will put Mercy packing when we tell him my news?” Kim asked.
Mercy leaned over to peek out the crack between the door and the frame. Kim and Tonya had both dyed their hair the straw color that Mercy’s was naturally.
“He won’t have a choice once you are in the house. You can fire her if he doesn’t.” Tonya giggled. Kim laughed with her and leaned into the mirror to apply more bright red lipstick.
Mercy thought about the lipstick color that she’d worn the night of the ranch party, and wondered why Kim was imitating her.
“You know it ain’t easy for a man to think he’s been forced into marriage because he was too stupid to use birth control,” Kim said.
“He’s one of those good guys. He’ll step up and do the right thing,” Tonya assured her friend with a sideways hug.
“He’s either going to pay for an abortion or marry me and give the baby a name.” Kim slurred a couple of words.
Mercy wondered why the woman was still drinking if she was pregnant, and if this baby could possibly be Hunter’s—her breath caught in her chest for just a moment, and then steel stiffened her backbone. She trusted Hunter, and he had not told her anything about sleeping with Kim.
“He won’t give you money for an abortion. You know how he feels about that. Raylene had to sell off one of her diamonds that time she got pregnant by one of the hired hands. She didn’t dare tell Hunter since it wasn’t his kid, and she didn’t want children anyway. What are you going to do if he says it ain’t his?” Tonya asked.
“I’m going to remind him of that night when he came home after tearing up to Oklahoma to talk with Mercy about that little note we slipped in her purse, how that he got so drunk that he probably don’t remember sleeping with me,” Kim answered.
“You better get your story down straight and not forget details,” Tonya told her.
Kim’s expression changed to sadness and a lonely tear found its way down her cheek. “Darlin’ Hunter, you were drunk out of your mind, but you came to our trailer, and we spent the night together. Now we’ve got a baby on the way, and I don’t want to ruin your life, but I can’t raise a child on my own.” Kim dabbed the tear away with a paper towel. “Is that good enough?”
“It should work just fine. I bet Mercy has her bags packed and is on the way back to whatever town she came from last week before dawn,” Tonya answered.
Mercy clapped her hand over her mouth. She was trying to decide what to do—have the catfight in the bathroom or drag Kim and Tonya outside for it when something fluttered in her peripheral vision.
She took the piece of toilet paper from Gloria and read: Don’t believe a word. Hunter got drunk all right, but he spent the night with us when he got back from Oklahoma.
Mercy stepped out of the stall and said, “I just overheard you saying that you are pregnant, Kim. Is that right?” she asked.
Kim stepped close to her. “You did, and I am, and it’s Hunter’s baby.”
Tonya took a step forward to stand beside her friend. “He’ll marry her, because he’s always wanted children, so you are out of the picture as of tonight.”
“You want the story? He needed someone to take care of him that night you were so hateful to him about his wives. He came out to our trailer, and we got to drinking, and you know what that can lead to.”
“No, I don’t,” Mercy asked. “Tell me, Kim, what does drinking lead to?”
“Oh, don’t play stupid,” Kim snapped. “You might be naive, but surely you know a few things about sex, honey. When Hunter drinks, he likes company. I mean in bed. He likes little women so he can feel all powerful. He says a big woman like you makes him feel like he’s a lot less a man.”
“Oh? What else did he tell you?” Mercy asked.
“Just that you weren’t even his type, and he didn’t know what in the hell he made the trip up to Oklahoma for anyway,” Kim growled. “I can’t believe you’d come back to the ranch, even just to work for him. I even let him call me Carla when we was in the middle of sex.”
“Oh really?” Mercy asked.
Kim nodded. “He showed up at my trailer door on Friday night and we spent the whole weekend together. You’re just the hired help, and you won’t even be that for long.”
“And I’m her witness that this all happened,” Tonya declared.
“I see.” Mercy hoped that Gloria was getting all this loud and clear. “And now you’re pregnant. How far along are you?”
“It wasn’t then that Hunter made me pregnant. It was that time when you tossed him out in Oklahoma and wouldn’t let him explain all about his other two wives. You know, they don’t matter to me at all. I’d do anything to be his number three.” Kim headed toward the bathroom door.
“Kim, your imagination is only exceeded by your reputation.” Mercy blocked her way. “You tell a good story, but it’s all a big lie, and you know it as well as I do.”
“Are you calling both of us liars?” Tonya popped her hands on her waist. “Don’t forget there’s two of us and only one of you. It’s time to pick up your pretty little purse and go home to whatever boulder you crawled out from under. God only knows, you’re too big to have crawled out from under a little rock.”
Mercy drew herself up to her full five feet eleven inches and looked down on Tonya as if the other woman were no bigger than a buzzing housefly. “I’m not leaving. And I heard the whole conversation when I was in the bathroom, even the little rehearsal with the trained tear. It’s time for y’all to get out of here while you’ve still got a smidgen of your drunk dignity left.”
“You can’t tell us what to do,” Kim snarled. “We’ve got dates, and we’re here by invitation.”
“And you’re leaving by demand, with or without your dates,” Mercy said.
“You don’t have to believe me.” Kim touched her stomach. “Let’s just go tell Hunter about this here baby and we’ll see which one of us he chooses. Come on, we’ll go right this minute.”
“Deal.” Mercy stepped to the side. “Let’s just do that. You must have been a lot drunker than usual when he was in bed with you and calling you Carla that weekend you’re talking about. I hope you weren’t moaning in ecstasy and calling him Hunter, since you couldn’t have been in bed with Hunter Wilson those nights. Because he was in bed with me, and when he’s in bed with me the only name I hear is Mercy.”
“You bitch!” Kim’s hand knotted into a fist, and she raised it toward Mercy. “Come on, Tonya. Let’s get out of this place. It’s not big enough for me and her both. If I stay, I’ll have to mop up the floor with her blond hair, and I’m not in the mood to get my hands dirty tonight.”
Gloria came out of the stall, and said, “I’ll tie one hand behind her back to make it a fair fight, and then stand back while she whips both of you.”
“You!” Tonya hissed. “I could tell you a few things…”
“Let’s don’t go there, or I might not stand back,” Gloria said.
Both women stormed out of the bathroom.
Gloria giggled so hard that she had to dab her eyes with a paper towel. When she got control, she said, “I started to come out sooner, but it sounded like you were handling it fine without my help, so I just listened.”
“Think they’ll come back?” Mercy asked, suddenly feeling drained when the adrenaline rush left her body.
“No, fate has stepped in for you again by putting us in the ladies’ room when they came in,” Gloria answered. “You did a fine job there, girl. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks,” Mercy said. “I got to admit, it felt good, but I’m glad you didn’t have to tie one hand behind my back. I bet they’ve been in a lot more fights than I have.”
“Honey, it’s not the size of the opponent, it’s the fire in your heart,” Gloria said. “Let’s go on back to our table and get in some more dancing.”
Hunter and Jeremy brought the drinks back to the table and waited…and waited…and waited. “Do you think those two women are all right in there?” Hunter finally asked Jeremy.
“They’re probably just gossiping, or…” Jeremy pointed toward the bathroom door.
“Dammit!” Hunter said. “How did they know we’d be here?”
“Well, I sure didn’t tell them,” Jeremy said, “but don’t worry, it could be me that they’re bad-mouthing tonight. Tonya has tried to put a wedge between me and Gloria for months. Don’t underestimate Mercy. She can take care of herself.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Hunter hoped his friend was right. Things were going so well, both on the ranch and in his and Mercy’s relationship, that he sure didn’t want any more trouble.
“They’re leaving, so that’s a good thing.” Jeremy motioned toward the two women who were storming out of the bar. “Here come Gloria and Mercy now.”
Hunter got up and pulled out Mercy’s chair. “I got you a bottled beer. It’s good and cold.”
Mercy picked up the bottle and took a long gulp.
“She needs to cool off after what happened in the bathroom,” Gloria said.
“We said no secrets when I decided to move here, so here goes.” Mercy told him what had happened.
“Looks like you’ve got my back,” Hunter said.
“All the time.” Mercy leaned over and kissed him.