Page 2 of Impossible Rapids

“What?” Shawn asked, but then he cried out like a little boy seeing his beloved mom after a long week at scout camp. “Mama T!”

“Isabella,” Franz said stiffly before Shawn could pull the exquisite French lady into his arms. “You look very beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she said just as stiffly. She brushed past Franz and grabbed Shawn in the fierce hug he needed so badly.

“Mama,” he whispered. She felt smaller and still smelled of lavender. The smell and Mama’s arms relaxed him. At six-three and two-twenty, he had her by a foot in height and a hundred pounds in weight, but it felt as if she surrounded him. Mama T would always take care of him, fight for him, love him, see the best in him.

This was the first time he’d let his guard down since the night Mercedes had passed. He’d sobbed that night. He was tempted to cry now but was still aware that a large crowd and ‘selective media’ were watching. He was the Viking Warrior; he couldn’t let his guard down and show weakness at this crucial time for Franz.

Mama pulled back, looking classy as ever in a black fitted dress with a black hat covering her silky brunette hair.

“Let me look at you, my boy.” Her French accent was faded, but he still thought she was the most exotic and kind lady. She framed his face with her soft hands and stared deeply into his eyes, her green eyes as clear and sharp as ever. “My shy boy has grown into the most handsome and confident man on earth.”

Shawn smiled. He felt like the best person on earth when Mama T was around. Mercedes and Julie made him feel that way too. He knew they were all just merciful and kind, as he wasn’t worth much at all.

“I’ve missed you,” she said.

“I’ve missed you too, Mama.” He felt awful that he hadn’t been to visit in months. Mercedes had been needy at the end and Isabella Travier was one of the few people Mercedes had never wanted to see. She never said anything disparaging about Grayson’s mother, probably knowing Shawn wouldn’t have allowed it, but Mercedes believed her father’s story that Isabella had hidden Grayson from them for his first eighteen years of life.

The truth was Franz had been legally married to Mercedes’s mom and had married Isabella under an assumed name. The man Shawn respected and looked to as a father had been a bigamist and a liar. The poor immigrant Isabella had been stunned when she’d seen a photo in the checkout stand of the handsome Franz Belle inheriting over a billion dollars as his family estate and trust were transferred into his name. Also featured in the photos and article had been his beautiful wife, Nannette.

Isabella had shut Franz out of her life. She’d been furious, and he’d wisely let her go and focused on his pregnant wife. Franz hadn’t known Isabella was expecting his son, and to her credit, Isabella had never run his name through the mud. She had moved to Vermont and never told him about his son.

When Grayson turned eighteen, Isabella told him the truth and he had asked her blessing to go find his father. Nannette had passed a couple years before and Mercedes had also been eighteen. Isabella hadn’t wanted Grayson to be rejected and felt, with Franz’s first wife gone and his daughter reaching adulthood, it was probably the best time for Grayson to meet them both and Franz to find out he had a son.

Franz had been both furious and ecstatic. He loved Grayson and in turn Shawn deeply. Shawn still felt Franz was to blame for not meeting his son, hiding his two wives from each other, but he’d never said as much to him or Mercedes. His dad had died in prison and his mom had hated him and kicked him out of their cold, dirty apartment when he was eleven. Who was he to judge somebody’s family situation?

“Can I see you after …” he asked Mama as he tilted his head toward Franz. He’d have to be here for Franz until … When could he in good conscience not be here for Franz? Mercedes’s dad needed him, possibly more than Mercedes ever had. Especially with his money-grubbing cousins wanting him dead. Lucas and Arianna Belle assumed, like the rest of the world, that the family legacy and fortune Franz had bestowed upon his daughter Mercedes had reverted to Franz. When they found out the truth, it would be ugly.

“I’ll be here as long as you need, my boy,” she said, patting his cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you. Thank you for coming.” He knew he needed to let her go and keep this line of sorrow-wishers moving, but it was almost as difficult as kissing Mercedes’s cold cheek before they closed the casket an hour ago.

“I will always be here for you.” She smiled gently and released him, tilting her head proudly and sauntering off.

“She’ll never forgive me,” Franz muttered from Shawn’s side.

Shawn stiffened. How could Franz expect forgiveness for what he’d done, especially as he’d never asked for it? Did Shawn need to be loyal to Franz and Mercedes or Mama T at this moment? Luckily, one of Mercedes’s actress friends patted Franz’s arm and drew his attention. Shawn held himself erect. He didn’t touch the casket or Franz as he watched Julie direct Mama T to a seat. Mama T sat regally.

Julie caught Shawn’s gaze. Her eyes asked, Are you all right?

No, he admitted. He didn’t know that he’d ever be all right again.

Maybe if Julie could hold him and comfort him.

He pushed those thoughts away. Nobody needed to hold or comfort him, especially not Mercedes’s best friend. When Julie found out the truth about him and Mercedes, would she distance herself from him?

Most likely.

He nodded to her and focused on the beautiful brunette actress who wanted to express condolences to him now. He couldn’t even remember the woman’s name, and then she suddenly pressed against him, hugging him, and whispered, “If you need a friend, I’m available anytime.”

Shawn stiffened and stepped back, forcing a smile. “I have plenty of friends, thank you.” He didn’t have plenty of friends and none of the sort she was intoning, but he wouldn’t worry about semantics.

“My offer still stands.” She raised a thin shoulder, ran her tongue along her top lip, and gave him a heated glance. When he didn’t so much as blink, she huffed and pranced off.

He pushed out a breath, hoping the media hadn’t caught any of that. A quick glance around revealed Julie watching the actress with a narrowed gaze. Julie was pure and hilarious and would never drop a line like that. If only he could pursue her.

If only this were all over. He could talk to Mama T and somehow make sense of the grief and the pain. How was he supposed to take care of Franz and ever move on with a normal life?