Page 15 of Harvey

He had reached the end and was about to put away the letter when he noticed the date.

The letter was dated three weeks ago. Shaking his head, he stared at the date again. He had been a minister for the last three weeks. Then he recalled that there had been some unrest with the postal services, and mail had been turning late.

That explains it, he thought, a simple explanation. They had not called to let him know because that was not how the church worked. It had to be done by mail. No matter, he was a minister-

Suddenly, the color drained from his face, and the shaking started. Grabbing the letter again, he stared at the date.

“Oh God, no,” he whispered agonizingly. “Oh, dear God, what have I done?”

If he had been ordained and made official three weeks ago, the ceremony he had performed in the chapel a week ago, the same wedding ceremony he had persuaded his brother and Kendra to participate in, was actual. The letter slid from his nerveless fingers to fall on the desk.

The ceremony had been carefully documented, and there was even a certificate. They were married! Leaning back in the chair, he tried to calm his racing heart.

He had allowed pride to dictate his movements, telling himself that he wanted to be prepared, but it had been pride, and he had involved not only his brother and his friend but also his parents and others.

He did not know what to do. He would have to tell Harvey and Kendra first, and he was quaking at what Harvey would do. He had neatly trapped him into marriage with a perfect stranger, and he could not blame Harvey if he wanted nothing to do with him again.

Shifting forward, he buried his head in his hands and felt his body shaking. Taking a deep, fortifying breath, he shoved away from his desk and started pacing. He had to tell them. Glancing at his watch, he noted the time. Harvey would still be at the job site, and Kendra would probably still be at the store.

Squaring his shoulders, he returned to the desk to grab his phone. It had to be done.

*****

“You sounded stressed when you called. What’s going on?” Harvey was waiting for him in the parking lot of the floral shop as he had instructed.

“Shall we go on in?” Silas asked, without answering the question. “Kendra said she is alone.”

Harvey gave him a curious look and followed him.

The door was unlocked and pulled open, and Kendra greeted them with a polite nod as she stepped back to let them in.

“Would you like some tea?”

“I am not a tea person and feel this is not a social call,” Harvey told her sardonically. “If it’s all the same, brother, I would sooner get this over and done quickly. It’s been a hellish day, and I want nothing more than to shower and crash, in that order.”

Ignoring him, Kendra turned to Silas, a frown touching her brow as she noticed the pallor of his skin. “Silas, is something the matter? You don’t look well.”

“Can we sit?” he gestured to the table with several sprigs of water lilies strewn on top.

“Let me get these out of the way.” Kendra swept them up and placed them carefully on a long trestle table at the side before sitting down.

“What is it?” Harvey demanded impatiently.

Without a word, Silas handed him the letter. He skimmed it, lifting his head and looking puzzled at his brother. “I guess congratulations are in order. What does this have to do with me? And why are we meeting here?”

“Look at the date.”

“It was dated three weeks ago.” Harvey pointed out, still not realizing the significance, but Kendra did.

She grabbed Harvey's letter and scanned it, but she felt sick in the pit of her stomach. “It was dated three weeks ago,” she said.

“Now that we have all agreed on that, can someone tell me what the hell is the significance of the date?”

Taking a deep breath, Silas met his gaze squarely. “It means that when I performed the ceremony a week ago, I was an ordained minister.”

“So what- “Silas saw when the realization slammed into him and braced for the attack. “We are married.”

“Yes,” he whispered agonizingly. “I had no idea – the mail service had been on strike- “

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