Page 40 of My Best Friend's Mardi Gras Wedding

Now Tori’s mouth dropped open.“Really?”

“Oh yeah,” Leo said.“Dumbasses.”The other guys at the bar nodded.

“What happened?”Tori asked.In that moment, she didn’t care about anything more than hearing the rest of this story.

“The sheriff called Leo to tell him they were on their way.He didn’t want trouble, but he couldn’t do anything until something happened.So Leo called a few people and they called a few people, and pretty soon we had all the men in Autre between the ages of sixteen and sixty out on the road right outside the city limits just waitin’ for them,” Cora said.

“We blocked their way into town,” Leo said.“No way were any of the assholes from Martin gettin’ in here.”

“And that was it?”Tori asked.“They turned around?”

Everyone chuckled.

“Not exactly,” Cora said.“There were a couple bloody noses and black eyes and some shot-out truck tires and a few broken headlights before it was all done.But yeah, they turned around eventually.”

“I was so fucking glad they came too,” Jeremiah said.

Leo nodded.

“You were?”

“Hannah told me he’d been hitting her and her mom for a long time.”Even now, all these years later, his hand tightened around his mug of beer.“I so needed a chance to beat the hell out of him.He even swung first so I could justify it all.”

“It all?”Tori asked.

“He still doesn’t breathe normally out of his nose,” Jeremiah said.His tone was dark, and unapologetic.It was the first time Tori had heard anything from any of these people that wasn’t happy and teasing.

“And thenthatwas it?”Tori asked.“Hannah just stayed here and you got married?”

“Nah, they tried a couple other times.I beat the shit out of her brother and he beat the shit out of me.A bunch of them showed up at my house once or twice,” Jeremiah said.

“But that didn’t amount to nothin’,” Leo said.“We had guys camped out there, watching the place.They didn’t get within a hundred feet of the house.”

“Guys from Autre camped out at your house to help protect you and Hannah?”Tori asked.

Jeremiah nodded.“Of course.”

Of course.He said it so matter-of-factly.As if anyone would have done the same thing.And maybe down here that was true.“So what made them finally leave you alone?”she asked.“I mean, I assume they finally did?”

“The day she turned eighteen, I asked her to marry me.She said of course and we were hitched by sunset,” Jeremiah said.“After that, her dad had no claim on her at all.”

“Yep, exactly how it happened,” Leo said.

Jeremiah gave him a look and chuckled.“Yep.That’s what I’ve always thought.”

Tori frowned, looking back and forth between the men.“I feel like I’m missing something.”

“Well, there’s thisrumor,” Cora said.“That someone snuck into her dad’s house the night after the wedding, handcuffed him to the bed, then set their kitchen table on fire.They let him sweat for about twenty minutes, thinking he was gonna die.Then they put the fire out and told him that if anyone in Autre saw him within ten miles of the town, or Hannah, the next time he wouldn’t be so lucky.”

“That’s a rumor?”Tori asked.

“Well, there really was a fire at his house.But he’s never been able to name any names.Apparentlythe guys wore masks.But everyone knows he’s a crazy drunk and he’d actually set his back shed on fire twice before on his own.So no one’s really sure what to think.”Cora looked around.“But that man’s never been even withintwentymiles of this town.”

Tori also looked around.She got the definite impression that if these men hadn’t personally been involved, they knew exactly who had done it.And that they’d all take it to their graves.It was odd to have a read on a whole group of strangers like that, but the loyal-friends-who-felt-like-family vibe was strong here.

“That’s a pretty amazing story,” she said to Jeremiah.“You were willing to put a lot on the line for a girl you’d just met.”

“I would have gotten anyone out of that situation if I could,” Jeremiah said.“But…” He shrugged and grinned.“No one and nothing has ever made my heart pound like that woman did…and still does.”

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