Shady Bay (20 page)

I was driving
home from work a few days after Mercy’s party. I’d been working days and had finally hired someone I trusted to manage during the night shift. The sun was setting in my rear view mirror. As I drove closer to the house, I saw a familiar bicycle on the sidewalk.

My Mercy was riding her bike again. I slowed my car down. Damn if I didn’t wish I had a truck. I’d put her bike in the bed and let her slide in beside me. I rolled the windows down all the way and whistled at her. That swiftly earned me a flip of the bird. When she glanced over to see who she was telling to screw off, she looked surprised and then her face lit up and a smile graced those beautiful lips.

“Look at you!”

“I know, right?” She patted her handlebars. “Betsy’s been feeling neglected.”

“Betsy? You named your bike?”

“Sure. I named my tumor, why not my bike?”

I grinned. Crazy girl.

A horn sounded from the car behind me. I glanced into the rearview and almost flipped a bird myself.

Mercy’s giggles stopped me. “Go, Jax. I’ll meet you at home.”

Grumbling, I waved and sped up to the limit, in a sudden rush to get home. Mercy wasn’t far behind. She parked Betsy and took a few bags out of her basket.

“What did you buy?”

I took them from her, acting as if they weighed a ton. She smacked me. “It’s just a few dresses.”

“Any panties?”

“Jaxon!”

‘What? I like your panties.”

She giggled. “I know you do.”

“What kind do you have on now? Are you wearing any?”

“Of course I’m wearing panties. And if you want the answer to that question, you’ll have to catch me.”

She took off running up the steps, unlocked my door and flew inside before I even registered what had happened. But this was a game slanted in my favor, and I would definitely take my time savoring the win.

The party at
Shady had lifted my spirits. June had texted me earlier to see if we could go shopping and I was sliding my last Chuck on when the doorbell sounded and she let herself in. Her hair had started coming back in and though she wanted to shave it again, I begged her to let it grow out. Her dark hair was so stunning. She was gorgeous without it, with high cheek bones, and her dark lipstick and perfectly waxed brows, but I missed it.

“Hey! I need to show you something!”

“What’s up?”

“Remember the photo shoot?”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course.”

“Well, check it out! Here are my proofs and he’s even using one shot to build a book cover for some gothic romance book!”

She sat the portfolio down on the kitchen table and I started flipping through. The pictures were amazing. June was so beautiful. The photos were taken inland in a forest and on the shore itself, at dusk. They were stunning. In some, she wore an old-fashioned black dress that blew in the sea breeze. In the woods, she wore a red cloak and looked the part of fairytale princess. “These are so amazing!”

“I know, right?”

She cleared her throat. “So, I sort of told Simon, the photographer, about you.”

I looked up at her. “What about me?”

“About your battle with cancer and about how beautiful you are. He wants to photograph you. He would like to take shots of you now, during your fight and then take some again after you’ve beat this bitch into the ground.”

I was taken aback. “Seriously? I don’t know.” My fingers drifted to my bald head on their own.

“Mercy. You are beautiful. With or without hair. With or without cancer. But just think about it. No pressure. I just thought that you might be able to inspire others who are going through battles of their own.” She smiled slightly.

“I’ll think about it.”

She nodded.

“Okay. Enough heavy. Let’s shop.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the townhouse to her car.

Several hours later, I was exhausted and excited. I’d taken some of the money I’d made on my crocheted sandal line and spent a little bit on a pair of new jeans that June had dubbed my ‘booty’ jeans and a few shirts. I’d bought one dress that had a nude shell underneath a black lace overlay. It was so beautiful and fit so well. Then there was the lingerie. June had helped me pick out a few things; a chemise, a pink baby doll nightie, and some new panties. I knew Jaxon would love those. He was definitely a panty man.

When we got home, I collapsed into the house and went straight upstairs for a long, hot bath. It was beyond refreshing. I knew Jaxon would be home from work soon and he’d texted to say he was bringing home dinner. I was gonna see if I could provide the dessert with one of my new little numbers.

Jaxon came through the front door with two large plastic bags, one in each hand. “Hey, baby.” He kissed my cheek and set the bags on the counter in the kitchen. My surprise was hidden under yoga pants and a zip-up hoodie.

“Hey. How was your day, big guy?”

I hugged him tight. He chuckled. “Big guy? I like it.”

“Better than little guy.”

“True. Very true. You hungry?”

“Starving.”

He surprised me with a very passionate kiss. “Me too, baby.”

I could feel my cheeks heat up.
Holy hell, he’s amazing.

Jaxon brought dinner from Shady. It was delicious. Two giant burgers, fries
, and onion rings. We ate and laughed over the crazy adventures we’d had that day. He told me about a drunken customer he had to calm down with the promise of a chocolate milkshake. I told him about June’s new jewelry fetish and how she’d talked me into joining her. I’d bought several necklaces and new earrings. I loved the whimsical, bohemian charms, especially the feathers. It seemed I liked feathers. Who knew?

They would look awesome with all of my maxi dresses, sun dresses, and jeans. Oh, heck. They’d look good with everything. After dinner, I stood up and rinsed my plate. He joined me at the sink, rinsing his own. I nudged him and he nudged me back. That was as innocent as it got. He turned the water off, pinned me against the counter and kissed his way from just below my ear to my throat and back. I gripped the counter just to remain standing.

Before I knew it, he’d lifted me up onto the same counter. I caught his eyes and then made sure he saw my hands as they unzipped the hoodie, very slowly. He apparently liked what lay beneath. A chemise of soft, pale blue silk.

“June needs to take you shopping more often. My God, Mercy.”

I swept my lips over his, slowly, and raked my fingernails over the dark stubble hair on his head.

“I need these off. Now.”

He helped me off the countertop and I slid my pants off. Walking past him, I headed upstairs.

Jaxon growled. “You and your damn panties, Mercy.” Before I got halfway up the staircase, he lifted me into his arms and rushed to the bedroom.

Shopping trip successful.

Sitting in the
Grand Strand Regional Medical Center was the last thing I wanted to be doing today. But this was it. Today, I hoped and prayed, was my last chemo treatment and Dr. Golden said it would be the toughest of them all. So I had been admitted. He wanted to keep close tabs on me and help manage the symptoms.

He didn’t sugar coat anything. That’s one thing I liked about him. “This one’s going to be a bitch. But with you here, I can at least help you. If you hurt, you have to tell the nurse. If you feel sick, please ask for help. We can’t help you unless you tell us what’s going on. There’s going to be an enormous amount of medicine pumped into your body in a short period of time. You are going to be sick, probably to the point you’ll think you’re dying. You aren’t going to die. You are going to feel like you might. I’m here all day today and will stay all night to help you if that’s what you need.”

Jaxon had squeezed my left hand, while Celeste had squeezed the other. June had petted my head. I could do this.

My cell phone rang. Only one person who wasn’t in this room with me now would be calling. “Daddy?”

“Hey, Mercy-girl. You ready for this?”

“As ready as I’m going to be.”

“I’m thinking about you. I wish I could be there.”

“It’s okay. Jaxon, June, Brody
, and Celeste are all here.”

He blew out a breath. “Thank God for them.”

“I know.”

Silence stretched over the distance between us before he finally asked, “Can you ask Jaxon to pick up the phone tomorrow when I call?”

“I will. I love you, Daddy.”

“You’re strong, baby. Just remember that. You’re stronger than anyone I know, okay?”

“Okay.” A tear slid down my cheek.

He cleared his throat. “I love you, baby girl.”

“I love you, too, Daddy.” Tears clogged my throat.

“I’ll call tomorrow. My time’s up. Gotta go.”

“Bye, Daddy.”

“Bye, Mercy-girl.”

I pushed the end call button and swiped away my tears.

Twelve hours later
and the tears and screams flowed freely from my eyes and mouth. The pain was damn near unbearable. Dr. Golden was doing his best to try something, anything to ease it. So far, nothing had worked. He had been right. I truly did believe that I was dying. Remember that scene in the
Twilight Saga
movies when Bella finally turned into a vampire, ripped apart from the inside out. That’s what I felt like. I was pretty sure I looked nearly as scary, too. I just prayed that this medicine was kicking the cancer cells out of my body, leaving bloody little cancer cell trails in their wake. I hoped I looked as good as Bella on the flip side of this process.