Page 5 of Receiving His Mercy
Glancing up, he saw Gray moving toward them, a concerned look on his face. “About time he turned up, where has he been?”
“He was calling his mother,” she said. “She’s late.”
“No great loss,” Travis said, having met Gray’s mother a few times.
“Travis!” Lacey chided, looking around. “She is Gray’s mother. She’s a bit annoyed that we’re not doing some bigsociety wedding so she’s being . . . difficult. And he didn’t really care whether she turned up, however, she was meant to bring Rory.”
Rory was one of Gray’s sisters. His other sister, Julia, was already here with her husband. He was an okay guy if you didn’t have to talk to him for more than two minutes. Then he’d chew your ear off about his job a plastic surgeon and it was boring as hell.
Rory was younger and quieter. Well, she might not have been quiet before she was kidnapped by the Latin Lothario, a stalker who had been using her to get to Lacey. He hadn’t known her back then.
Since then she’d been struggling.
“I thought Rory was doing better,” Travis said.
“She has been,” Lacey said.
“Lacey, are you all right? What happened?” Gray asked. “Hunter said you were on the phone and looking upset.”
“My prick of a dad has gone home. He doesn’t want to be part of the wedding. But it’s his loss,” Lacey said. “Because I am done with trying to get his love and attention and he’s the one who misses out.”
Gray blinked. “Wow. How long was I gone?”
Caren giggled and Gray smiled down at her. “How are you, Caren?” His voice was soft, almost tender. Why was he speaking to her like that? He couldn’t even know her that well.
Although he wouldn’t know what she was really like.
Caren had lived in a huge house with her very smart, successful parents. She’d always acted like she was too good for them or something. She’d never wanted to get her clothes dirty, used to whisper things to Lacey rather than speak out loud, and she’d once eaten the last piece of cake that his aunt had been saving for him.
Yeah, she’d been a strange kid that had grown into a stranger teenager. Then at around fifteen or sixteen, she’d disappeared and left Lacey in a state because she couldn’t even be bothered to say goodbye.
“I’m hunky-dory, thank you,” she told him.
Hunky-dory? Who said that?
Well, at least she spoke now. That was an improvement from when she was younger.
“That’s good. I take it you had something to do with Lacey’s attitude toward her loser of a father.”
“Hey, it could have been me,” Travis said with a scowl.
Gray shot him a look. “I doubt it.”
“I’m insulted by your lack of faith in me,” Travis told him.
Gray snorted. “I doubt that too.”
Asshole.
Travis sighed as he looked down at Lacey. “Honey, I’ve tried to tell you so many times over the years not to let him hurt you. You know that the only family you need is us, right?”
“And you have my family now,” Gray told her. “As much good as they are today.”
“How did it go with your mom? Is Rory okay?” Lacey asked.
Gray sighed, looking worried. “I think that Mom is actually making things worse. She’s well-meaning but she’s smothering Rory and feeding her fears.”
“We need to get Rory away from her,” Lacey said.
