Cherry Pop (Mercury Rising Book 3) Read online

  “What’s a guy like that doing here?” she asked, walking over to the kitchen table with her coffee and sliding into a seat across from him. She was wearing shorts and a tank top, her hair in a messy bun on her head, no makeup, and even Tripp recognized that she still looked damned pretty. His mom sure was something.

  “What’s wrong with here?” he asked, itching for a fight. He didn’t know what had got under his skin today, but he’d been spoiling for it since he rolled out of bed. Maybe it was because he hadn’t slept very well last night. He’d been thinking a lot about Ben, actually, which was why he hadn’t slept. He’d been wondering the same thing about him as his mom, but wasn’t going to admit it.

  “Nothing,” she said. “At least not for folks like us. But for people like Ben? Mercury is a real push down the ladder.”

  “Folks like us?” Tripp asked, leaning forward. “What’s that mean? What kind of folks are we? Aliens?”

  “Rednecks, and you know it,” she said, refusing to get into a fight with him. He’d never understood how she stayed so calm all the time. He’d never even seen her mad at his daddy, and Lord knew that man deserved it even more than Tripp.

  “There’s nothing wrong with rednecks,” Tripp said stubbornly. “We pay our taxes and drive on the right side of the road.”

  “Wouldn’t it be great if that was all it took to make it in this country?” she asked wistfully. “You aren’t stupid, Tripp. I know that you know that Ben is smart, attractive, successful, educated. Not a lot of people in Mercury can say all that about themselves.”

  “Well, there’s going to be a whole bunch more like him pretty soon,” Tripp said, irritated at the thought. “Once that new Turnstiles center opens, Mercury will be crawling with them.”

  “Ben will still stand out,” she said. “He’s one of the bosses, isn’t he?”

  Tripp shoved his chair back and stood up, unable to sit anymore. “Yeah, he is. I guess he’s in charge of the place even though Brian Curland is here too.”

  “I was thinking of volunteering at that new charity foundation he’s setting up,” she said. “You think they’ll have something for me to do?”

  “They’ll probably want you to stand at the door and make the place look pretty,” Tripp told her, kissing her on the top of the head.

  “I was sort of hoping they might want more than that,” she said sharply. “I’ve had about enough of doing that for your father.”

  Tripp sensed he’d said the wrong thing. “Sorry, Mama. I didn’t mean anything by it. It was supposed to be a compliment. You ought to call up Evan and ask him if there’s something you can do. He’d know.”

  She bit her lip and looked skeptical. “You think? I don’t go to his church. I know you two are friends, but he might not want me there.”

  “’Course he will,” Tripp said, dumping out his cold coffee. “Everybody wants you around. Everyone likes you.”

  “You ever wish your mama was more than a pretty face?” Her question surprised him.

  “You are,” he said firmly. “That may be what everyone sees first thing, but all it takes is a few minutes and they know you’re smart and funny as well as pretty. Who’s been saying stuff to you?”

  “No one,” she said, drawing circles on the table with her perfectly manicured nail. “I haven’t seen your daddy since we went out skiing.”

  Not for the first time Tripp cursed his dad silently. He loved him, but damn if he wasn’t the biggest fool in Mercury, running after young girls when a woman like his mom was waiting on him to come to his senses. “Well, he’s been pretty busy this summer. You know we’re stretched thin on all these projects. He’s got to hire another assistant.” He quickly turned his back and made a face. That was a damn stupid thing to say.

  “Since he’s sending a hefty alimony check to the last one, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said drily. “But he could mention a prenup in the want ad.”

  “I meant a real assistant,” Tripp said, turning back around to brazen out the conversation. “He’s working too hard.” It wasn’t a lie. His daddy did the work of three men.

  “I keep telling him he’s going to have a heart attack, but he won’t listen to me,” she said with a shrug. “Your granddaddy did the same thing. Put him in an early grave. Anyway, he’s in Norfolk on that Taylor job. I think he needed breathing room. I just expected him back by now is all.” She shifted in her chair and took a sip of coffee, watching him over the rim. That look made him nervous. “So,” she said at last, putting her coffee down. “Are you going to tell me why you’re still here and not at the office? Not that I mind the company, but you don’t usually dilly dally around here in the morning.”

  “Just didn’t feel like going into work,” he said. It was the truth. He never could lie to her anyway. “Fact is, I’m not sure I want to work in the office.”

  “You’ve got to learn the business, Tripp,” she said, frowning. “I agree with your daddy about that. You don’t have to stay in the office forever.”

  “Daddy does,” Tripp said. “He visits the job sites and meets with clients and inspectors and suppliers too. But at the end of the day he’s burning the midnight oil in that office, sweating over the books.” He shook his head. “I don’t want that. I don’t want to do that.”

  “Then run it your way when you take over,” she said. “No one says you’ve got to do it the same way your daddy and your granddaddy did it. Do it better. That’s why we sent you to school. But if you want to hand the books off to someone else, you’ve got to be able to police that. And the best way to do that is to know what they’re doing. So you’ve got to do it yourself. It’s that simple.”

  She turned in her chair and gave him that squinty look she got when she was going to lay down the law. “If you aren’t gonna take it over, Tripp, say so now. You’ve got cousins. There are other people who can do it. But don’t lead your daddy along and then bail on him.”

  “I would never, and you know it,” he protested. “I like the business, especially the actual construction work. I can’t wait until I can get out of the office and supervise a job site.”

  He wandered over to look out the window. Their house was a monster out here in the country, surrounded by tobacco and soybean farms. The closest neighbors were his aunt and uncle and cousins, throwing distance from their house, all grouped together in a little enclave out in the middle of Bladen County. It was all Tripp had known, being surrounded by family. But there was more out there, and he felt like he should want to see it all. He’d enjoyed living in Myrtle Beach the last few months, but it had been more like a vacation than a permanent move. He’d missed his family and friends a lot. They hadn’t been that far away and he’d been back and forth regularly, but it wasn’t the same. The experience had been an eye opener for Tripp. Now meeting someone like Ben, who was so successful and self-possessed at thirty, made him question his choices. Ben didn’t live with his mama, surrounded by family. He’d left home and made his mark.

  Was Tripp settling for less here in Mercury? He loved it here, but at the same time he knew there was something missing. He hadn’t found it in Myrtle Beach, but he wasn’t sure he should give up so quickly and retreat to Mercury.

  “I just don’t know,” he said miserably. “I love you, and I love it here. But I can’t say that this is where I should spend the rest of my life.” He turned back to face his mom. “There’s a whole world out there,” he told her. “Shouldn’t I see it?”

  “Who said you couldn’t?” she asked, clearly surprised. “You can go wherever you want, and do whatever you want. Mercury isn’t going anywhere. Your daddy and I stay here because this is what we want. This is us, where we’re from and where we want to be. If I wanted to travel, don’t you think I would? You’re grown. You don’t need me here. I could hop on a plane to London or Paris or New York. Your daddy took good care of me in the divorce. I don’t have to work, and I live like a queen. You think he’d blink twice if I decided to go traipsing aroun
d the world?” She stood up. “But I don’t want to go to go anywhere else. This place is in my bones. It can’t get rid of me, even when I die.”

  She walked over and put her hand on his arm. “You’re a lot like me, honey. Don’t go chasing rainbows. Sometimes the pot of gold is right at your front door.” She smiled and stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “You can have it all right here. You can shape your life any way you want it, live it the way you like. That’s the beauty of home, Tripp. It’s where you always belong, no matter where you go.” She patted his arm. “Now get your little ass to work and quit whining.”

  “When did you get to be so wise?” Tripp asked, laughing as she swatted his behind.

  “I came out that way,” she said. “Good redneck breeding.”

  “Amen,” Tripp said as he walked out the door.

  Six

  Tripp pulled off his helmet as he looked up toward the railroad tracks that were hidden by the small hill in front of him. He’d taken Ben out around the small lake to the east of Mercury and then back out on Murray Chapel Road. They’d passed tobacco fields lining the two-lane back road, and then gone through a small, rocky, uneven copse of trees to this spot. It hadn’t been a very strenuous ride, but it had been long enough to let him feel a nice little burn in his muscles and break a good sweat in the heat of the summer night. They’d come out after work and the sun was setting off to the left. The sky through the trees looked like a brilliant painting with streaks of orange and purple and red.

  “That’s a gorgeous sunset,” Ben said quietly beside him. “It looks like the tattoo on your arm.” Tripp looked over to see Ben setting his helmet on his bike. Tripp had waited a few days before calling him again. He didn’t know why he wanted to see him so much, he just did. Didn’t tell Ben that, of course.

  Ben was wearing black padded spandex biking shorts and a bright yellow biking tunic with reflective strips. They were both skin-tight, and again Tripp was surprised at how ripped he was. He’d noticed it when they went skiing, and he’d been shocked because you’d never guess what Ben was hiding under his work clothes. He had the lean, muscled frame of a runner or a biker, which he was, of course.

  Tripp preferred his baggies instead of just the spandex. He felt self-conscious when he was wearing those things. They left nothing to the imagination, and Tripp was having a hard time not staring at everything Ben had on display. His thighs were thick with muscle, his ass high and tight, and the bulge in front was pretty damn impressive.

  “Where are we?” Ben’s question interrupted his thoughts.

  “It’s just a little spot I found back when I was in high school. I used to ride all over the county, trying to get away.” He shook his head. “Everything is drama when you’re a teenager, right?” He was feeling a little dramatic right now, but kept his face blank, not giving away his confusion over his inability to stop looking at Ben in those shorts.

  “Isn’t that the truth,” Ben agreed. He wandered over to a fallen tree halfway up the hill that made a perfect seat to watch the sunset. “I used to go to the library. I liked the peace and quiet. Our house was always full of loud, nosy people.” He sat down on tree trunk and ran a hand through his sweaty hair. “I came out when I was a sophomore in high school, and every one of my mother’s friends felt it was their duty to offer her support.”

  “Ouch,” Tripp said with a quiet laugh. “My mom’s friends were always trying to fix me up with daughters or nieces or somebody someone knew somewhere.” He sat down next to Ben, inexplicably drawn to him. He could feel the heat radiating off of him, smell his cologne and his sweat, things he didn’t normally notice about guys. “I still come here. This is my peace and quiet.” He waved a hand out at the countryside around them. “But the best part is coming.”

  “Why do you need peace and quiet now?” Ben asked.

  “A man needs to think now and then,” he said. “Truth is, out here I can empty my mind and turn off the charm. Sometimes it’s exhausting being on all day for clients and friends and family. Good old Tripp, he’s always ready to bring your spirits up or take you fishing, or take your cousin’s daughter to her best friend’s wedding. Ugh.” It was such a relief to say something like that. He’d never before told anyone that was how he felt.

  “Jesus,” Ben said. “Feel free to unload on me. Your life is hell.” He sounded sarcastic and when Tripp looked over, sure enough, he was giving Tripp a skeptical look. “If you didn’t want to take her to the wedding, you could have said no. You can always say no.”

  Tripp had to laugh at that. “Boy, you ain’t lived down here long enough,” he said. “You do not say no when your mama asks you to do something like that.”

  “Okay, what about fishing?” Ben asked. “Do you even like fishing?”

  “I like fishing with Luke,” Tripp admitted. “It’s the only time he shuts up.” That made Ben laugh. “But I can only take so much bait and scales. I’m not passionate about it, not like Luke.” He looked down at his clasped hands and casually separated them. That was an old habit, holding his hands like that when he was nervous. He wasn’t sure what was making him nervous. “I don’t think I’ve ever been passionate about anything like that. What about you?”

  “Me?” Ben asked. “Well, I suppose I am about my job sometimes. I really love what I do. I love computers, but this new job—setting up the education center and helping with the charitable foundation—it’s really exciting. The ideas are flying around, the people I work with are brilliant. I really feel like I’m on the ground floor of something that’s going to be amazing when we’re done. I have some ideas…but that’s work, right? This move to Mercury has thrown me a little, but I’m getting my feet under me again. I also like biking, and sports. But passionately? Not really.” He paused and then smiled at Tripp like he’d said too much. “You like your job, don’t you?” he asked. “And Mercury, and your family? Aren’t you passionate about them?”

  “Yeah, sure,” Tripp said. “I actually love my job, even though I’ve been complaining about it lately. Like you, I’ve had to make some changes that are throwing me off. Sitting in an office isn’t my style. As for home and family, well, those are things you’re supposed to be passionate about. I meant something other than that. Something that’s just for me.”

  “Like the Spartan Race?” Ben asked.

  “Maybe,” Tripp said, not really feeling it. “Mostly I do that because I can, and because it’s fun. But I don’t travel around for them or anything like that.”

  “You’re young,” Ben said dismissively. “You’ll find something you’re passionate about.”

  “I guess that’s why I need the peace and quiet,” he said. “To think about it.” He was racking up things to think about tonight, that was for sure.

  “It sounds to me like you do need a hideaway,” Ben said with a smile in his voice. “My apologies.” He tapped the tattoo on Tripp’s arm, and it felt like a tiny electric shock began at the point of contact and traveled up his arm and across his back. Tripp sucked in a breath and shivered. “Looks like you’re passionate about this place,” Ben said, unaware of how his simple little touch had affected Tripp.

  “Well, I’m sharing it with you,” Tripp said, his voice a little unsteady. “It’s nice here. Out of the way. Seems like someone in your position would need that too.” Immediately Tripp became conscious of how alone they were there in the dark woods.

  “No one expects me to take their cousin’s daughter to her best friend’s wedding,” Ben said. “Not unless they want me to be the gay best friend.”

  “Duly noted,” Tripp said. “I’ll tell my mom so she knows it’s an option.”

  “You’ve got a mean streak.” Ben shifted beside him. “But unlike you, I know how to say no.” He looked around. “It is pretty here. The whole ride was beautiful.” He leaned his elbows on his knees. “I rode through some of the farming areas out near Carmel Valley in California, and it was pretty. But not like this. It didn’t seem so country, you know? You
always had the sense of cities nearby, of activity. Here, the peacefulness just seeps in.”

  “See,” Tripp said, satisfied. “You get it.” He reached down and grabbed the water bottle he’d set on the ground near his feet and took a drink. “I heard what you were saying to Carver last weekend, about Mercury.”

  “Oh, hey,” Ben said awkwardly. “I didn’t mean anything bad by it. Just that I’m not used to it.”

  “Well, I wanted to show you some of the things I love about it,” Tripp said. “That’s all. I thought maybe it might make it a little better for you too.” He smiled at Ben to show no hard feelings. For some reason it was really important to him that Ben like Mercury.

  “I…wow. Thanks,” Ben said, clearly surprised. “That’s nice.”

  Their eyes caught in the dim light for just a second, and Tripp got a weird feeling in his stomach. He recognized it, knew it from the way Ben’s touch had made him feel too.

  He was attracted to Ben in a physical way. The thought of touching him some more, of wrapping his hands around Ben’s muscular arms and pulling him close, until they were pressed together, was making it hard for Tripp to breathe. He wasn’t sure if it was panic or arousal making him breathless, but either way he was freaking out.

  Ben looked away quickly, before Tripp could process exactly what it meant. His world was tilting on its axis, and beside him Ben was unaware as he gestured around them.

  “I mean, this is nice,” Ben said. “I’ll definitely come back here.” Tripp liked the sound of that, liked knowing that Ben would share this spot with him. Another crazy feeling to add to a growing list.

  Had he ever felt that way about anyone? He’d never even brought Luke here. What a week he was having. He hadn’t done so much thinking about his feelings in a long time. The change at work, moving back to Mercury, meeting Ben, they were all to blame for his crazy thoughts. That must be it. Maybe.