Page 147 of The Mercenary's Guide to Mishaps and Romance

Mom’s narrowed eyes tell me she also didn’t find it convincing. “Where’s your business located?”

“Mom—”

“It’s called Wellstone. If you ever need anything, just don’t ask for Leland,” he says.

She scrutinizes him before reaching over and hugging him. “Thank you for keeping my stubborn son safe.”

“He kept me safe too,” Tavish says.

I laugh at that ludicrous statement. “I did no such thing. I didn’t help at all.”

“Now, you two better come over for dinner tomorrow, you hear me? And the next day. And every day this week.”

“Got it,” I agree as she hugs us both again before she lets us leave.

“Your mom’s got a wicked hug. She should have just hugged Jasmine and none of this would have happened.”

I laugh as I get into the car with him. “Maybe she should have. Thank you for letting me sit in the front seat this time instead of the trunk.”

“You’re welcome,” he says as he drives to Leland’s house.

Leland is off lying in the grass in front of his fence, which is weird enough as it is, and even weirder yet when I see that he’s wearing pajamas with Sasquatch all over them.

“Hey, I brought you guys stuff,” I say as I get out.

“Color me interested. Can I murder someone with it?” he asks as he gets up to join us.

“According to you, you can murder someone with anything,” I remind him as I head into the house with the containers. Waylon is playing a video game and Jackson is wandering through the kitchen when the three of us walk in.

I jiggle the containers a bit. “It’s, ummm, definitely nowhere near what I owe you. And I’m actually not sure if I could ever pay you off. I currently rent or I’d have to like sell my house and possibly my soul to even partially pay you back. So I thought maybe I could just bake you some food until I find someone willing to buy my soul.”

“We’ve adopted you, which means you never have to pay us back,” Leland assures me. “You’re my child now. But I’ve decided to rename you to The Fence Junior.”

I eye him, rather displeased by the name. “Please don’t tell me you’re also wanting to see Jackson’s tush on me like you constantly want to see it on The Fence Senior.”

Leland laughs as Jackson just sighs, evidently resigned to his fate. Seems like a pretty damn good fate, judging by the way he loves Leland so much.

I peel off the top of the container, revealing fence-shaped cookies I worked on far too long this morning. When I started on this endeavor, I had absolutely no idea it was going to take half of my sanity.

Leland gasps as he snatches one. “They’re… beautiful. This is more than enough.”

“It’s not… but I’m glad you like them.”

“I can pretend they’re the real fence as I destroy them with my teeth,” Jackson says, looking quite excited about the idea.

I smile. “Perfect.”

Jackson reaches for one, but Leland grabs the whole container. “You cannoteatthem. They’re too special.”

Waylon, who is curious what’s happening, wanders in. “Ooh! Cookies.”

“They are not for eating.”

He gives Leland a look. “But… they look so good and… you said you’d give me anything I ever wanted.”

“You sly little pest,” Leland growls, passing a cookie right off as Waylon smiles and takes it.

The look on Jackson’s face shows clear confusion. “What the heck? Why’s he get one and I don’t?”

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