Page 80 of A Surefire Love
Mercy brushed her bangs back. “I knew you’d be mad, but two weeks?”
“Don’t argue unless you want me to make it longer.”
Mercy jammed her lips shut, but they curved with a frown.
Blaze rose. “Breakfast is up to you. We can do pancakes if you still want.”
Mercy’s frown deepened.
“Think about it.” Blaze returned to the living room and lowered onto the couch to replay the conversation. Mercy probably wasn’t the kid breaking into the church, but if she was? That’d be embarrassing at best, dangerous at worst.
Then again, if the camera in the youth room had caught Mercy last night, Anson would’ve called. She could probably rule out a trip to the church. But that didn’t mean her sister would never wander out again. For added peace of mind, she borrowed Anson’s idea and went online to find doorbell cameras for both the side and front doors.
As she finalized her order, Mercy stepped into the living room.
“Pancakes?” Blaze asked.
Mercy nodded.
“Good.” They could use the sister time. She left her phone on the coffee table and turned for the kitchen.
“Oh. Your boyfriend’s here.”
Blaze’s stomach jolted. She pivoted, and sure enough, out the front window, Anson’s SUV was parked at the curb. “I—I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Mercy pushed her glasses up. “You said you were going to dinner with a friend last night. And then Anson picked you up, and he’s a boy, isn’t he?” The corners of her mouth tipped up. “Yourboyfriend.”
“Going to dinner doesn’t mean he’s my boyfriend.”
“But you keeping him a secret does.” Mercy giggled, apparently recovered from the morning’s tension.
Anson started up the front walk.
Blaze couldn’t answer the door in pajamas with tangled hair and unbrushed teeth. “Can you let him in? I need to go change.”
“Okay, but I’m gonna tell him youlo-ovehim.” She skipped to the door.
Blaze scampered up the stairs and out of sight. “You can saylikeif you want, but notlove.”
Was she falling in love? Possibly, because her uneasiness over Mercy had evaporated at the sight of him.
30
Anson scraped his fingers over his unshaven jaw. He hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours and ought to sleep while he could, but restlessness had sent him back into the world. He’d ended up at Blaze’s house. He hadn’t considered that she might not be the one to answer the door, but Mercy stood in the narrow opening.
“Yes?” She scrunched her nose and pushed her glasses up with a finger, guarding her entry like a happy little troll.
Could trolls be happy? If not, did that make her something else? A fairy, maybe.
Debating such a question proved that he should’ve gone home to sleep. He barely had the strength to stand upright, but he craved the comfort of Blaze’s soothing voice, understanding demeanor, and unwavering belief in him.
“Is your sister home?”
Mercy poked her head farther through the opening. “She likes you.” Her stage whisper was not discreet, and the fact that Blaze wasn’t rushing to interrupt suggested she wasn’tnearby. Mercy’s closed-mouth smile might be mistaken for smug if not for her comically wide eyes and raised brows.
Were her glasses amplifying her expression? Or his fatigue?
Wait. Mercy wasn’t supposed to know about him and Blaze.
