Page 11 of Impossible Rapids
“The very last show is going to proceed as follows.” Mercedes appeared far too pleased with herself.
Shawn was sweating, even with the air conditioning running full blast.
“Instead of Mylee Harris from Paws for Life being part of the show, I’m going to donate a million dollars to Mylee’s cause and pay Lieutenant Dallin Bradford a million dollars and let them off the hook. Sorry I keep spending your money, Shawn my love.” She winked. “Jagger and Hays, you are also off the hook. I won’t make you play the bad guys one more time. I’m betting you need to get back to your SEAL unit, unless you decide to take more leave to marry Belinda Ralphs and Elizabeth Oliver.” She giggled. She’d had a good time making this video, but Mercedes always had a good time.
Shawn was surprised Mercedes would reveal anything about Elizabeth Oliver. Hays was much more easygoing than Jagger, but the whole world had seen that Elizabeth was following in her mother’s evil footsteps, even with her mother in a high-security prison. Hays may have loved Elizabeth as a dumb, infatuated teenager, but no way would he go after her now. The woman should be in prison next to her mother.
Cash and Brylee exchanged looks. Cash had been instrumental in rescuing Quaid Raven with Anna Marley from Catherine Oliver. The couple had to wonder why Mercedes would think Hays would be after such a woman as Elizabeth Oliver. Maybe Elizabeth was manipulated by her mother like Quaid revealed many had been, but Quaid had gotten out and their younger sister Jacqueline was in a safe spot far from her mother’s clutches.
Again, Mercedes clapped her hands together, her eyes radiating her excitement. It captured Shawn’s attention and made his stomach tumble. Whatever Mercedes had planned was going to complicate his already complicated life.
“Episode eight, our final episode of A Chance for Charity, “Impossible Rapids,” is going to be unforgettable. Four of my favorite people are going to be part of the show.” She drew in a breath. “That doesn’t mean you aren’t my favorites, Jagger and Hays. You’re still tops for me.”
Cash and Brylee must’ve known this was coming, because they simply smiled at each other. Shawn and Julie both shifted uneasily. She didn’t mean the two of them, did she? If Jagger and Hays weren’t included, she had to mean the four of them sitting here.
“Cash, Brylee, Shawn, and Julie. You all are going to have the best time! Cash and Brylee have been studying the route the guide would have taken through Colorado on the white-water rafting experience of the Arkansas River. They will be your tour guides and will make certain everything is in place for a memorable, wild, and fun trip. Of course, our Viking Warrior Shawn will captain the boat.”
“A heads up would’ve been nice,” Shawn muttered to Cash. He loved river rafting and being captain, but this was a blindside.
“I was paying you back for giving Brylee a hard time during our week,” Cash teased back.
“Translation: Mercedes talked you into it,” Shawn said.
“Exactly,” Brylee confirmed.
“Shawn, I know you’ll be happy to be Julie’s military protector this week,” Mercedes said on the screen, winking at him.
His neck and cheeks went hot, and he couldn’t look at anyone. How was he supposed to respond to that? Mercedes and Julie set up all the military protectors and the charitable women for each show hoping for a romantic match. Did everybody here, and most especially Julie, think his ‘wife’ was trying to matchmake him from beyond the grave? On the day of her funeral?
Usually he thought Mercedes’s impetuousness was adorable. Not right now. It was humiliating and far too telling. He’d never outright admitted to Mercedes he had a crush on Julie—who knew what she would’ve done then—but apparently she’d seen straight through him.
“Our beautiful angel Julie has started a charity that is near and dear to all of our hearts. Left Behind supports military families who have lost a loved one in battle.” Mercedes paused, and her eyes grew bright. She cleared her throat and continued, “You’re the best, Julie!”
Julie looked as uncomfortable and concerned as Shawn felt. Mercedes was so obviously trying to matchmake them, and everybody but Franz and Wallace had to think it was weird.
It was weird. Except he really wanted a chance with Julie. In a few years. No, he wanted one now, but his allegiance to Franz and Mercedes and Grayson demanded he not even think about it.
Shawn waited for Mercedes to continue, the arguments mounting in his head. He couldn’t leave Franz. What if Lucas and Arianna tried something while he was gone? They had a lot of work with Wallace and the banks and with all the companies Franz and Mercedes owned together or separately to make the transfer. Shawn was supposed to go visit with boards and instill trust in people, make sure nobody wanted to help Lucas and Arianna stake their claim.
This would be awkward for him and Julie, being matched and having the world view their interactions in the fall when the show released. Most people wouldn’t know when the shows were filmed, but even if they were filmed in the fall, it would be too much too soon for everyone who thought he and Mercedes had been desperately in love.
He couldn’t just go take a week and raft a river with Julie, Cash, and Brylee.
The trip sounded incredible—the group and the river would be a great escape from all the weight on his shoulders—but fun and Julie couldn’t be his priorities right now. Franz, Mercedes, and Grayson had to be. As they’d always been.
Chapter
Four
Julie was uncomfortable and sick to her stomach. Why was Mercedes trying to push them together on the last reality show episode? Shawn and Mercedes had married a month ago, and how had Wallace described it? ‘Intimate wedding’ and ‘honeymoon as lovers’?
Her two best friends had not only not invited her, but they’d also hidden their marriage from her. Her neck grew hot and her stomach twisted. She must not mean much to either of them. She would never have left one of them out of her most important life event.
In the back of her mind, and from spending so much time around the two of them, she’d convinced herself that Shawn and Mercedes loved her above almost everyone in this world besides Franz. She’d also believed Shawn was bound to protect Mercedes because of his allegiance to Grayson and loved Mercedes deeply, but more like a friend or sister.
She’d been wrong, and now she felt like she’d run headfirst into a glass door. She hadn’t seen it coming, and now she was on her backside with a knot on her head and seeing black.
Shawn had loved Mercedes like a lover. Mercedes had shown Julie some of the pics of the kingdom of Augustine trip and the Hidden Kingdom of Magna trip. She’d quickly scrolled past the shots of Shawn and Mercedes with his arm around her. What if they had pictures of them kissing? She swallowed so she wouldn’t gag.