The trees looked as if a magic fairy had waved her color wand over them, creating a spectacular show of lemon yellow, burnt orange, and deep burgundy for everyone that fall. Hunter didn’t notice them or the dark storm clouds banking up in the southwest. All he saw was the ribbon of highway in front of his truck and all he felt was a hollowness in his chest.
Mercy had weeks now to call him or to return one of the many messages he had left on her voicemail. At first he had been angry that she wouldn’t even let him explain, and he had stormed out in anger. Then that very night the dreams started. Every night he could see her just out of his reach. He awoke every morning in a sweat, reaching for her and touching nothing but an empty pillow. He thought about finding another woman to put in bed next to him in hopes of erasing the hurt, but that wouldn’t be fair—not even to someone like Kim, who’d let him know that she would be more than willing to take his mind off Mercy.
That gorgeous fall morning, he awoke and realized that until they had a discussion—whether it started a war or not—he wasn’t getting any rest or peace. So, he dressed for church and went to the place he knew she’d be on Sunday morning. It might not be the right place to have an argument as big as he figured this one would be, but the fight had to be where she was…and church was it.
He parked his truck in the lot in the front of the church, and remembered the day when he had bought her basket and they lounged on a blanket under a big tree in the backyard. He should have told her about Carla and Raylene even then, but he hadn’t wanted to spoil a wonderful afternoon by going over ancient history.
He shook the legs of his jeans down over perfectly polished boot tops and laid his cowboy hat on the leather seat. He checked his hair in the mirror on the side of the truck, and then he went into the church through the back door and headed straight for the choir room where he and Mercy had laughed together that morning a hundred years before.
“Ohhhh.” One of the older ladies put her hand over her mouth. “Look.” She pointed to him, and the others turned to see what she was talking about. “Hello, Mercy’s fellow,” she said with a big smile. “Did you come to fix our collars? We don’t have a mirror yet, as you can see.”
“Oh, shush, Hattie.” One of the others wiggled her finger at the woman. “He’s not here to fix our collars. He’s come to find Mercy.”
They all gathered around him like a bunch of hens.
“Ain’t that right, son?” she asked benevolently.
“Yes, ma’am,” Hunter answered. “Is she singing in the choir this morning? Did she already go into the sanctuary? I need to talk with her.”
“Mercy’s not here,” Hattie said. “About three weeks ago, Dr. Nelson—that’s the dentist she works for—decided to retire early. So, she was without a job. Mercy moved to Texas to be near her folks. She told us that she might be working in a bank or for another dentist. She hadn’t decided yet.”
“Do you know where in Texas?” he asked.
“Never did say, did she, girls?” Hattie asked.
They all shook their heads.
“But…” he started.
“Did you two have a fight?” Iva Nell whispered. “We were making bets about when you might actually be walking down the aisle with her, and we were all even thinkin’ about whether we could line up to kiss the groom, when suddenly it was all over.”
“Mercy wandered around here for a few weeks looking all down in the mouth and sad,” Hilda added.
“Sorry, son, but you are too late,” Ola Fay said with a shrug.
“Did she leave an address to move her membership to another church?” Hunter asked.
“Nope. I heard her tell the preacher she’d let him know later.” Hattie shook her head.
“How about the dentist she worked for?” he asked. “Think he might know?”
“Probably.” Iva Nell nodded. “But he and his wife left for a month to tour Europe. They’ll be back here in about three weeks. We could ask them and call you if you’d give us your phone number.”
“I think I can find out before that, but,” he pulled a business card from his wallet and handed it to her, “please call me if you find out anything.”
“We sure will,” Hattie and Hilda chorused at the same time.
“Okay, you’ve been down here long enough to get over that cowboy. You’ve had several job opportunities, and none of them have suited you,” Mercy’s mother said that Sunday morning. “You have dark circles under your eyes, and I heard you crying in your sleep last night. I’m calling Hunter. You two need to get this worked out so you can move on.”
Mercy shook her head. “Please don’t, Mama. It’s over, and I just need time.”
“The only thing that makes a woman act like you’re acting is a broken heart, and you aren’t going to find any peace until you see Hunter again and hash this out.”
“Mama, just let it go,” Mercy said.
Deana took Mercy by the shoulders and turned her around to look at her. “Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t want to get this straightened out.”
“I’ll get over this, and things with Hunter were just the last straw. First there was the trip to Acala to do missionary work, then Jenny getting mad and moving out of our house, and then Dr. Nelson retiring earlier than he’d originally thought. I don’t want to talk about it, to you or to Hunter. I only went out with him a couple of times, and he tried to tell me about his past. So, why do I feel like this?”
“Well, we’re going to talk,” Deana said. “Sit down here at the table with me. It’s a while until your father wakes up for breakfast. Tell me exactly how you are feeling. Mothers are supposed to help daughters through tough times.”
Mercy plopped down in a chair and sat shoulder to shoulder with her mother. Deana was as tall as Mercy, but her hair, once black, had wide swaths of silver mixed in with the dark these days.
“I’m mad at myself more than I am at him,” Mercy admitted.
“Did you talk with him about it? Did you hear his side?” Deana asked.
“Nope. I’ll have to just get over him. Only trouble is, I know I’m measuring every other man by Hunter. I’ve had guys ask me out, but I keep seeing Hunter—the way he walked, the way he smiled…”
Her mother patted her hand. “I think you were wrong in not letting him explain, Mercy. Who told you about his two marriages, anyway? You didn’t tell me the whole story.”
“Couple of hard cases that were at the barn dance. One of them had a crush on him, or maybe she just had dollar signs in her eyes.” Mercy remembered the way Kim had looked at him—and at her.
“And you listened to them without letting him have a turn?” Deana said. “That wasn’t very smart.”
“Hey, you’re supposed to be on my side,” Mercy snapped.
“When I gave birth to you, I didn’t sign any papers saying that I had to agree with you even when you are stubborn as your father. I’m not so sure I would want you to be number three in any man’s life, but you weren’t in the right either. So, if you want to leave things as they are and wonder forever what his story is, then that’s your business. But if you want to make a phone call and say, ‘I’m wrong. Let’s talk,’ then that’s your decision too. But, either way you better do something, because it’s about to ruin the rest of your life.”
“I’ll think about it,” Mercy said.