It was amazing how I had no fear walking toward a gun pointed at me, yet I was afraid of making a bad impression on this little ol’ lady!
“Well, he’s easy on the eyes,” she finally declared, turning to Mercy who broke into a loud giggle.
“Grandma!” she scolded. “I’m going to go make some coffee and find the cookies. You two, behave!”
I watched as Mercy walked out of the room. Her hips swung and her long legs looked endless in that denim skirt. I knew exactly what I was going to do to her the moment we got back to the cabin. I wanted her all the time. Even though I was right there with her grandmother, I was thinking about having her naked in my bed.
I forced myself out of my fantasies when I realized I was being closely watched again.
I met Mercy’s grandmother’s eyes and I knew she had something to tell me.
“I don’t know how long I have to live,” she said, slowly releasing her grip on my hand. I sat back in the couch and cleared my throat.
I wasn’t exactly an expert at consoling…but knew I had to try.
“I’m sure you’ll be fine. Mercy is working toward getting you the right medical…”
But she cut me off. “Thank you, dear, but I’m not looking for reassurance. I’m just stating a fact. I don’t have long to live. I’ve always been worried for Mercy because, you know, she has a soft soul. She lives up to her name and wants to help everybody, but doesn’t know how to be selfish and think of herself. I encouraged it in her. I wanted her to be kind and a good human being and see the best in people, so maybe it’s my fault.”
I wasn’t sure where she was going with this, but was beginning to feel like it could have been a personal attack on me. Grandma wasn’t just a kindly old lady. She had spirit and intelligence, and she could see right through me, see what I was.
“Are you saying that you’re worried she’s making the wrong decision by being with me? That she’s choosing to see the best in me, parts that may not even exist? That she is too soft to see the real me?”
She was staring at me hard, and then she smiled.
“I did not say any of that! But clearly, that is exactly what is on your mind, dear.”
I wasn’t sure how to react. A part of me just wanted to stand up and walk away now. I didn’t come here to be attacked.
“But I can see you’re way too hard on yourself when you have no reason to be. Mercy is kind and she sees the best in people, but she’s also smart. She would never develop feelings for a man who couldn’t take care of her. A man who wouldn’t be loyal to her. Wouldn’t make her happy. I trust her to make the right decisions. You are the right choice for her and you should be more confident about that.”
Mercy entered the room at that moment, carrying a tray of coffees and cookies which she placed on the table between us.
“Everything okay here? Grandma, you haven’t been terrorizing Ghost, have you?” Mercy asked, to which I smiled.
“Who? Little old me terrorizing a big strong man like him?” she replied, which made me smile harder. Mercy looked at me with excitement in her eyes and she knew everything was going to be okay.
Once we helped ourselves to the coffees and the cookies, things became more comfortable and normal. It seemed like her grandmother was genuinely interested in getting to know me. I had never made myself this available to people before and even though I felt a little overwhelmed, Mercy was sitting right there beside me, as a reminder that this was my new life.
I could see the close bond that existed between the two of them. Her grandmother laughed as she recounted old childhood stories about Mercy. There was a photo album beside her which we flipped through together and I got to see a different side of Mercy too.
Even though she may have had a difficult and lonely childhood, much like I did, she had come out the other side, turning into this gorgeous girl I couldn’t get enough of.
After we had spent over two hours at the apartment, Mercy suggested that we leave her grandmother to rest up and that we would visit again soon.
The old lady wasn’t about to let me leave without a hug and I gave in to it willingly.
“You don’t have to worry about Mercy anymore,” I whispered in her ear when I held her in my arms. I could see she had some tears in her eyes when we parted.
Mercy and I walked out of the apartment and I promised we would be back soon.
Once the door was shut behind us, she looked up at me with a proud smile.
“Nobody has had that effect on my grandma before. No friends. No old boyfriends. Nobody.”
I shrugged. I didn’t really know what to say. It wasn’t that I was trying too hard; in fact, I felt more like myself today than I had in a very long time.
“You must have done something right,” she added and slipped an arm around mine as we went down the stairs.
* * *
Mercy and I drove back to my cabin in the woods. We talked the whole way there. She had so much to tell me about her grandmother and her own childhood, and how she’d never had time to focus on herself or any other interests because she’d been trying to make a living for their
