Anger burns in my chest, but my heart wonders if she’s right. Mercer looks at me. “Ah, I think we’re having fun. It was Clover’s idea here to get it done as soon as possible.”
“Your mama called me. She said you didn’t want to video chat and she is wondering if you were living in a third world country brothel. You really should just open the flood gates and let them know that this is it.” Goldie pauses, eyes flicking over my face. “Speaking from experience, of course. It’s easier for you and for everyone else the sooner they get used to the idea that you’re serious about this.”
“I know,” I say, feeling scolded. “I wanted to get a few touches put on the house before I gave her the tour, you know? Make her feel good about where I’m living. We just got in this morning. If I wait a few days, I think she’ll live.”
Goldie nods, moving into the kitchen. I notice the way her eyes roved over Mercer’s body the moment before. This time, he notices too. He smirks at my irritation. “This is one of my rental properties, so your neighbor has been screened. He is a good guy, works as a cop in town. If you need anything, you know since Mercer is deployed most of the time, he’d be a good person to ask.”
“Oh,” I say, gaze sliding to Mercer who is standing next to me. His back is straight, and his face takes on a stoicism that I imagine is his way of hiding what he’s feeling about that cop next door. “That’s good to know.”
“She can call me if she needs anything,” Mercer adds. It’s a weak sentiment, but it pains me he feels the need to add it in. What is the possibility of him helping me with a problem or issue from wherever in the world he’ll be? Time zones aside, Mercer might as well be trapped in a well for how much he’ll be able to be there for me once he leaves.
I squeeze his arm. “I’ll be fine on my own. Don’t worry.”
Goldie laughs, as she opens and closes cabinets double-checking to make sure I’ll have everything I need. She rattles off a few things, adding them to the mental list she’s making. “Clover, I love you, baby, but you can’t be naïve. You will need help.” Her eyes flick to the hole in the wall.
“I’m going to fix that,” Mercer chimes in, shaking his head. “My elbow went through it. Sort of stumbled back after painting the bottom of the wall.” His gaze slides to me. “Must be tired from that drive.”
I laugh and go up on my tiptoes to peck him on his lips. He tightens his hold on my waist and my mouth waters, dying for more. Goldie clears her throat, and we pull apart. “Well, aren’t you two just the picture of young love.”
Mercer breathes out noisily and replies. “We’re thirty, not teenagers.”
“Well you look like teenagers,” Goldie fires back, hands perched on her hips. “Might as well be.” Her brown eyes fix on Mercer’s hand on my body. “This fling that you both are entertaining is great, but you are going back to war. Have you turned on the news lately, Clover?”
I’ve been so wrapped up in my new relationship with Mercer that I have neglected news headlines. That’s not a new occurrence. When there’s so much evil and bad happening in our world, it’s easy for me to turn a blind eye, but now it affects me more than it ever has. I remember the terrorist attack that happened here in Cape Cod, at the Harbour Point SEAL base and my stomach flips. “There’s always war. That’s just the world we live in.”
“Now you’re holding hands with the front line,” Goldie deadpans. Automatically, my gaze slides to our hands and my pulse begins to pound in my ears.
I calm my breath. “I know.”
“There’s no need to upset Clover,” Mercer adds. “I’ll be fine. I’m always fine. Nothing is going to happen to me.”
“Why does that sound like a lie to placate a young child?” I say, trying to disentangle our entwined fingers. He doesn’t let me.
“I didn’t mean to upset you. I want you to understand how different life is going to be for you here. Without him. Without your family. Without everything you’ve grown accustomed to. It would be easier for you if you started this off alone. Figured it all out before making life more complicated with a relationship.”
“That’s not any of your business, ma’am,” Mercer inserts, posture straightening. “Clover doesn’t need me or her family, but she could use a bit of positivity from the person who will be here with her.”
I squeeze his hand before I release him. “I can handle this. Let’s talk outside,” I say, approaching my cousin. There’s a sliding glass door next to the kitchen that leads outside, and I have to push trucking hard to get it to slide open. When we’re outside, I look up to the sky and breathe in fresh air.
“Thank you, Goldie. For getting me out of Greenton. This means a lot to me. I want you to know that.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you or Mercer. It’s just I follow the news closely and I see what the SEAL teams are doing here and there and everywhere, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Lightly, I grab one of her hands. “Nothing can possibly hurt me more than living a life that isn’t my own. I’d rather take my chances at something scary than live a lie for another second. I want to paint walls.” I nod at the door beside us. “I want to wear a man’s t-shirt.” I pinch the fabric on my chest. “I want to cut and dye hair. Have Sunday dinner each week. Make a dessert and actually eat it. Love a man because I fell for him, not because he’ll garner influence for the Wellsley family. My reasons and my life.”
She sighs. “I get it. I was you once. I’m older,” Goldie says. “I have experience you don’t. Not trying to force my old lady knowledge on you, it’s hard to keep my mouth shut sometimes.”
“I appreciate the wisdom, I do, and you are not an old lady. But I need to mess up and find balance on my own.”
Goldie picks paint out of my hair, heavily mascaraed eyes wincing as she plucks. “I’m sorry. I’ll do better at helping without inserting my own opinions. Okay?”
“Thank you,” I reply.
“You love him?” Her face registers shock and awe. It’s obvious she truly did assume this was a fling.
Blowing out a breath, I flex my fingers by my sides. “So much, it terrifies me. I’ll tell you what, it’s been a crazy two weeks.”
“Two weeks? You can’t fall in love in two weeks!” Goldie exclaims, then covers her mouth when she realizes she shouted. “That doesn’t happen in the real world. That’s the kind of tall tale the town mystic talks about, sweetie.”
