Betting on Grace (30 page)

On the mouth.

Was that her dad’s girlfriend? Why was she there?

Mercy’s stomach churned, and for a brief second, she
thought she was going to be sick. How could he bring her there without telling
them? Didn’t he think that it was important for them to know? Not to be
blindsided when they saw him kissing a freaking woman!

Tracking her father across the room, Mercy refused to
look back at the stranger who had been kissing her father. She didn’t want to
know who she was. If she pretended it had never happened, then maybe the woman
would just go away.

Her attention was pulled to the brawl that was taking
place on the other side of the arena. She turned just in time to see Grant’s
dad pull out of Cody’s grip and storm toward Lane. The wranglers were still
holding Lane back — the dumb shits — but then it happened…

Cody went after Grant’s father, grabbing the man and
spinning him around in an attempt to keep him away from Lane. But in the
commotion, Jerry and Grant stepped in, but not in time to keep Darrell from
punching Cody…

Oh, shit.

… right in the face.

Mercy watched as Cody hit the ground, his body lax.

“Oh, my God!” she screamed as she took off at a dead
run, racing to get to Cody.

When she reached the group, two of the wranglers tried
to keep her back, but she punched and kicked until they backed off. Shoving
everyone out of the way, Mercy dropped to her knees beside Cody, leaning over
him and chanting his name.

“Zach! Someone find Zach!” someone yelled from behind
her, but Mercy didn’t turn around to see who it was.

“Open your eyes, cowboy,” Mercy whispered frantically.
“You hear me, Cody Mercer? Open your damn eyes.”

Just then, Cody’s eyes fluttered open, and he reached
up to grab his jaw. When he realized she was practically lying on top of him,
he smiled, and Mercy was tempted to sock him again just because.

“Hey,” he said, his voice rough. “Shit, that hurts.”
He was still holding his jaw. “What the hell happened?”

“The asshole sucker-punched you,” Zach said as he
joined Mercy at Cody’s side. “You should learn to duck.”

“I’ll go get some ice,” Jenn offered, placing her hand
on Zach’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back. Keep an eye on Joey, will you?”

Zach nodded, turning to look up at Jenn briefly before
once again looking at Cody.

“Shit, man. That’s gotta hurt.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” Cody griped.

Cody glared at Zach while Mercy got to her feet. She
couldn’t tear her eyes off him, but she backed away at the same time. What had
she done?

Turning to see if anyone was paying attention to her,
she realized everyone was working to get the crazy guy calmed down.

The crazy guy who was … crying?

Lane was tempted to commit murder. In all of his life,
he’d never been as pissed as he was right then.

From the instant Darrell had approached him, referring
to him as “Grant’s bitch,” Lane’s vision had clouded with that damn red haze.
Originally, he’d tried to ignore him, wanting to be the bigger man. That had
only spurred Grant’s father on.

The audacity of the bastard to show up there and run
his mouth like that. It had come as a complete surprise while Lane had been
talking to one of the guests, of all people. And now, with three people holding
him back, he was so furious it took everything in him to keep himself back.
Because God knew that these men weren’t doing a damn good job.

But this was Grant’s father. And the guy was pure
fucking crazy to boot.

“Get him outta here!” Grant yelled, and Lane felt
himself being pulled back.

“Mr. Kingsley,” Jerry stated insistently as he
approached, “we need to have a little chat. So, you’ve got two choices. Come
with me to my office, or we’ll talk when the police arrive.”

Lane watched as Jerry spoke in that authoritative tone
that people’s ears perked up for. Lane stopped struggling, wanting to hear what
was being said.

“I’ve got some things to say,” Darrell announced.

“Not here, you don’t,” Jerry growled. “You say one
word about what you saw last night and I’ll rip your voice box right out of
your throat. Got me?”

Holy shit
.

Darrell’s eyes grew to be the size of saucers. Lane
was pretty sure he looked just as dumbfounded.

Lane had heard Jerry make threats before, but never
had he heard the man speak like that. Not in all the time he’d been at the
ranch. And sure enough, the ranch owner had snagged the attention of every
single person standing around, especially Darrell Kingsley.

“Now come on,” Jerry stated, nodding his head toward
the main house. “You, too.”

Lane realized Jerry was talking to him and Grant.
Confused, Lane shot Grant a look, hoping like hell Grant knew what was going
on. The lack of response told him that, no, Grant was just as surprised as he
was.

“Where’s Gracie?” Lane whispered to Grant as they
walked a few yards behind Jerry and Darrell.

“With her sisters,” Grant stated, his tone rough.

Yeah, it was safe to say that Grant was pissed. Lane
understood perfectly because his father had come blustering up to Lane…

“Why the fuck would you get in his face?” Grant
growled low, his words stopping Lane in his tracks.

“
What
?”

“What the fuck were you thinkin’?”

Lane was stunned, unable to come up with a response
because he was taken aback by the accusation in Grant’s tone.

“You don’t know how to leave well enough alone, do
you? This is
my
problem. Not yours,” Grant said, putting his finger into
Lane’s chest. “I can’t fuckin’ believe you. This is
my
job. Do you not
get that?”

Lane swallowed hard, doing his best to keep his temper
in check. He was actually a little dizzy, trying to keep up with all of the
reprimands coming from the man who was supposedly his lover.

Thanks to whatever higher power, Lane found his voice,
and when he spoke, the sound was rough, laced with emotion that he couldn’t contain.
“I’m sorry,” he said sarcastically. “Next time someone refers to me as ‘Grant’s
bitch,’ I’ll just smile and nod. Is that the response you’d like from me?”

And with that, Lane turned and stomped off.

Fuck this shit. He did not need to be put in his place
for standing up for himself and the two people that he loved. Yeah, little did
Grant know, but that asshole he called a father had had a few choice words to
say about Gracie, too. Things Lane wasn’t willing to repeat. And as much as he
despised being referred to as anyone’s bitch, Lane had managed to keep his
cool. But when Darrell had brought Gracie into it, the gloves had come off.

And that Lane would never apologize for. Because as
far as he was concerned, no one would talk about the woman he loved like that.

No one.

■□■□■□■□

“Sit down and shut the fuck up,” Jerry shouted at
Darrell when they made their way into his office. “Close the damn door,” he
instructed Grant.

Jerry glared at Grant when Grant slammed the door
behind them, but he held his tongue.

“Why the hell are you cryin’? More important, why the
fuck are you here?” Jerry asked Darrell.

Okay. Well.

Jerry could tell that Grant was a little surprised by
Jerry’s tone, not to mention his choice of words, but he could hardly see past
the fury raging through him.

They hadn’t even made it out of the arena before Darrell
was sobbing like a big fucking baby, and as much as Jerry wanted to feel sorry
for him, he couldn’t.

Jerry had been aware of Grant’s father’s arrival long
before anything had started. With Jan there, he had opted to try to keep things
civil, hoping Grant would take care of the matter on his own. It hadn’t been
long before Darrell had found Lane, and Jerry knew that’s when the shit had hit
the fan. And tonight of all nights, Jerry did not want to have to be acting as
a mediator for a bunch of grown fucking men acting like children.

Jan was there, out in the arena waiting for him to
come back, and, by God, he was not going to be away from her for long.

“Why’re you here?” Grant asked Darrell, his face red
with his anger.

“I need money,” Darrell blubbered.

“You don’t need money. You need to go to rehab.”

Darrell looked up at Grant, his eyes bloodshot, his
face ruddy. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a week or more. His jaw was furry
from at least a week’s worth of beard, and his hair was so greasy Jerry was
inclined to believe the man hadn’t showered in at least that long.

Jerry was pretty sure Darrell had hit rock bottom.

“Rehab costs money!” Darrell spat.

Grant looked as though his father had slapped him
across the face.

“Are you sayin’…?”

“Yes, dammit. That’s what I’m sayin’,” Darrell sobbed.
“She left me, Grant.”

Jerry met Grant’s gaze across the room. The question of
where Grant’s mother was had obviously been solved.

“She left and she said she’s never coming back.”

“You don’t deserve her,” Grant retorted. “Not until
you get your shit together.”

“I know.”

Jerry wasn’t sure whether Darrell was telling the
truth or if he was just spouting whatever was necessary to get himself out of
the hot seat. Jerry just didn’t know him well enough to tell.

“Can the two of you work this out?” Jerry asked when
it appeared that Darrell needed a few minutes.

Grant nodded his head curtly.

“If you need anything, just holler.” With that, Jerry
exited the office. He needed to get back to Jan. They had just been getting
ready to walk over to his girls so he could introduce her appropriately when
all this had happened. He hated to leave her alone, but it was either that or
he’d probably have to deal with the cops for an hour or so if he hadn’t intervened.

By the time Jerry made it back to the arena, Hope had
managed to get everything under control.

Sort of.

“Where’s Mercy?” Jerry asked his oldest daughter.

“No idea.”

“Where’s Gracie?” he asked, realizing that she wasn’t
there, either.

“Not her keeper,” Hope muttered softly.

Well, hell. This was not how he wanted the
introductions to take place. He would’ve preferred to introduce them all at the
same time. And more important, Jerry wanted them to meet Jan before she showed
up for dinner tomorrow night.

“Get your sisters, would ya?” he asked Hope.

When she merely huffed and walked off, Jerry scanned
the room in search of Jan. He found her sitting on a bench next to Jenn and
Zach. Zach was in the process of checking a very irate Cody over.

“Everything okay?” Jerry asked, leaning in to get a
closer look at the bruise that had formed on Cody’s jaw from the lucky punch
Darrell had gotten in.

“Yep. He’s gonna live,” Zach replied. “He’s lucky.
It’s not broken.”

“Doesn’t feel like it ain’t broken,” Cody rumbled,
putting the ice pack back on his face.

“If you think he needs to go to the hospital, can you
get him there?” Jerry asked Zach.

And just as he’d suspected, Cody jumped to his feet.
“I don’t need to go to the hospital.”

Yep, the young man was going to be just fine.

Reaching for Jan’s hand, Jerry helped her to her feet
and then led her back down to the floor. “Sorry about that.”

“Does that happen often?” Jan asked, a gleam in her
pretty brown eyes.

“All the time,” he said facetiously. “That’s what
happens when the cowboys don’t get out much.” Jerry looked up to see Hope,
Trinity, and Faith coming toward him. Mercy and Gracie were still missing, damn
it.

When his daughters got closer, Jerry placed his hand
at the small of Jan’s back and urged her to stand just in front of him. “Girls,
I’d like you to meet someone. This is Jan. Jan, these are three of my
daughters, Hope, Trinity, and Faith.”

“It’s very nice to see you all. Again,” Jan said, her
voice confident.

He wished he could say the same for his daughters. He
obviously did not need to explain just who Jan was. Jerry had never introduced
them to a woman. Not unless he was referring to them as guests, and in this
case, Jan certainly wasn’t a guest.

“Nice to see you again, Ms. Haile,” Hope said, holding
out her hand. She obviously remembered Jan from her recent stay at the ranch.
Recent as in nine months ago.

“Very nice to see you, Hope.”

Trinity and Faith were darting glances back and forth
between them, both of their mouths hanging slightly open. “Girls, you’re gonna
be seein’ more of Jan in the future. She’s … uh … she’s my girlfriend.”

Wow, and the word sounded strange to him. He was
fifty-four years old, and he had a girlfriend.

Oddly, the thought made him feel thirty years younger.

Faith’s eyes widened as his statement sank in. And
Jerry knew right then that Jan had been right in wanting to hold off. Based on
the disbelief he saw on his daughters’ faces, he was suddenly wishing he’d held
off a little longer, too.