‘I’m good with that.’ Daisy ladled stew onto her plate. ‘I’m starving and this is one of my favorite meals.’
Karl and Farrah returned, Farrah making a show of shaking the pills in her medicine bottle. ‘Silly me. I had them in my purse all along.’
Karl patted her shoulder. ‘I think my daughter has spoken her piece, so now we can eat.’
‘Oh, this is good,’ Farrah said when they’d all been served. ‘I’d love the recipe for this, Irina.’
‘Of course. It’s very simple, a bit of everything . . .’ Irina trailed off as Gideon appeared in the doorway.
Alone. His eyes were red and he was visibly trembling. ‘Daisy . . .’ He cleared his throat. ‘We need to go.’
Daisy’s eyes widened. ‘But I’m not finished yet and you haven’t eaten at all.’
‘Wrap it up to take with you, then. Please.’ His gaze landed on Rafe. ‘She’s not okay. You might want to talk to her. I need some time. Just a little time.’
Rafe was already pushing to his feet, gripping his cane hard. ‘What happened?’
‘I can’t. Not right now.’ Gideon’s expression was just short of begging. ‘Just don’t leave her alone, not for a minute.’
‘You know I won’t.’
Gideon looked at Farrah, his mouth tightening in irritation. ‘Did you know? About our family?’
What family? Stunned, Rafe looked around the table, noting everyone looked as confused as he felt.
Farrah nodded, also shocked. ‘I knew. I didn’t know that you didn’t know, though. Her stress levels make sense now.’ She rubbed her forehead wearily. ‘I thought she was dealing with PTSD from the abduction six weeks ago. I didn’t think to ask her about John and the others. I’m so sorry. Some best friend I am. I hope you didn’t get too angry with her,’ she added. ‘She was so afraid that you’d hate her.’
‘Why would you think to ask her if she’d told me that I have family in New Orleans?’ Gideon asked, much more kindly, although his eyes still held devastation. ‘And I didn’t yell at her, I promise. But I wanted to, so that’s why I need some time.’
‘I’m good to go,’ Daisy said. With Irina’s help, she’d wrapped two plates of food, and Rafe hoped Gideon would actually eat his. His friend looked too thin.
‘I’m going to take some time off,’ Gideon announced. ‘I’ll be able to guard her soon.’
That really pissed Rafe off. ‘I can do it,’ he growled.
Gideon stretched out his hand as if to calm him. ‘I know you can. I know you will. But I need to. We can figure out a strategy later. I promise. For now, I need to know she’s safe from Burton.’ He swallowed hard, his eyes becoming suspiciously shiny. ‘I’ll call you tomorrow.’
And then he was gone, Daisy in his wake.
Rafe glanced at Farrah, who looked like she was about to cry. ‘What is this about family in New Orleans?’ he asked gently. ‘Tell me what you can, so I can help her.’
Farrah closed her eyes briefly, then looked up at him. ‘They have a bunch of half siblings who live in New Orleans. That’s why she landed there. Her maternal grandmother told her that her paternal grandparents had come searching for them years ago, and left their address. Mercy didn’t actually meet any of the sibs for almost two years, even though she knew where they were. She was so afraid that they’d reject her. I think that she needed to know that our family had unconditionally accepted her before she had the courage to confront her blood.’
‘But they did not reject her?’ Irina asked cautiously.
‘No. They all love her. Their family is almost as big as mine. Four half brothers and two half sisters, plus seven nieces and five nephews. Mercy has loved being their auntie. She babysits them and takes care of them. Tutors them.’ Her smile was wistful. ‘Spoils them rotten.’
God. Six half siblings and all their families. No wonder Gideon needs time. That news was quite the bombshell.
Rafe put the remaining pieces together. ‘She didn’t tell Gideon about them because she was angry with him, because she didn’t know that he’d run from Eden after he’d been abused, too.’
‘I guess so. I thought he knew about John and the sibs. I really did. I just figured that Gideon didn’t want to see them, like Mercy hasn’t wanted to see him.’
‘She told you that she’d told Gideon about them?’ Irina asked. ‘She . . . lied?’
Farrah sighed. ‘Not actually, now that I go back over our conversations in my mind. But she let me believe it. I should go to her now. This is why I’m here – to put her back together again.’
Rafe stood, grabbing his cane. ‘I’ll go in first. Maybe you can fix her a plate?’
Farrah studied him for a moment, then nodded. ‘That I can do.’
Granite Bay, California
Saturday, 15 April, 9.20 P.M.
Mercy’s head jerked up at the light knock on the door. She didn’t know how long she’d been sitting there, crying like a foolish child. Dinner had to be over and Karl probably wanted his office back. Drawing a breath, she swiped at her wet cheeks with the back of her hand. ‘I’ll be out in just a second,’ she called.
‘Mercy, it’s me,’ a deep voice said.
Rafe. Fucking hell. She did not want him to see her like this. She did have a little pride, after all.
No, you have too much pride. Which was to blame for this whole mess. She could have told Gideon about their half siblings at any time – any time over the last six weeks, any one of the birthdays or Christmases that he’d called her since she’d met them, or simply any other time. She’d always had his phone number.
But she hadn’t, and now she had to bear the consequences.
She forced herself to stand and greet Rafe with her chin up. ‘Come in,’ she said, trying to sound . . . well, not as dejected as she felt. I’ve fucked it all up.
Not all of it. Gideon said you’d be all right. He doesn’t lie.
No, he didn’t lie. He never had. Everyone else back then had lied to her, but Gideon had always told her the truth. He’d always been there for her, taking her punishments, making sure she had enough to eat even if it meant he’d gone hungry. She never would have believed what Eden had said about him if her mother had refuted it, but Rhoda hadn’t. Mercy had begged her mother to tell her that it wasn’t so, that Gideon hadn’t left them to suffer, but her mother had allowed her to continue believing it until that night in the bed of DJ’s truck.