Page 71 of Dairy and Deadly

“I love you, too.” Ashley returned his kiss. Then she drew back. “Brace yourself. This is the part where you get to meet the rest of my family.”

The anxious light in her eyes told him she was genuinely worried about what came next. It was unfortunate. On the upside, if her stepmother and stepsister were as bad as she said they were, they’d be returning to Dallas soon.

A shrill cry of happiness alerted him to the fact that his mother was barreling their way. She sped past Ashley’s family to throw her arms around the newlyweds.

“Oh, Johnny!” She let out a weepy laugh. “You barely gave us time to catch a flight here.” To Ashley, she declared warmly, “I’m Annie Cuba. It’s wonderful to finally meet the woman who lassoed the heart of our favorite bull rider.” She shoved a handful of her curly dark hair behind one ear to get a better look at her new daughter-in-law.

“Her favorite dairy farmer,” Johnny interjected with a grin. “If I failed to mention it, we’ve got an extra cabin at the farm. You’re welcome to crash there.”

“Don’t mind if we do.” Johnny’s father joined their huddle. “I’m John Senior.” He was basically an older version of Johnny, so Ashley would’ve probably guessed who he was without the introduction. “Johnny’s been dropping hints about you, but we had no idea the wedding was this, well, imminent.” He shook her hand, grinning.

Johnny could tell his parents liked Ashley, and their acceptance of her was a good feeling. His mother had been shattered the day Cassandra and the baby died. Until this very moment, he hadn’t been sure how she would handle meeting his new bride.

His dad leaned closer to mutter for his ears alone, “I see God’s handiwork all over this marriage, son.”

“Me, too, sir.” Johnny was grateful for his words.

Clint elbowed his way into the mix for the next hug, announcing for all to hear that he and Johnny were still brothers.

“And you’re still our son.” Annie delivered a noisy kiss to his cheek that made everyone laugh.

“Johnny,” Ashley hissed after a while, tugging on his arm and nodding toward the trio of Perkins who’d made no attempt to approach them. “We need to…”

“Right.” He gently disengaged her from his exuberant family and walked arm-in-arm with her to her family. The differences between the two families were immediately apparent.

No hugging or cheerful banter ensued.

Jeff Perkins stepped forward first to pat Ashley on the shoulder and shake Johnny’s hand. “This is my wife, Darla.” He glanced soberly down at the petite woman standing by his side.

Darla was in a long navy dress with a heavily beribboned and flowered fascinator perched on her head. “It was awfully cheeky of you not to say a peep about this to your father during your last visit.” Her British accent was thick enough to cut, and the smile stretching her red-painted lips wasn’t mirrored in her eyes.

Ashley looked pained. “We weren’t engaged a week ago, ma’am.”

“Oo! You always were a dodgy one.” Her stepsister was a carbon copy of her mother, right down to her starchy accent and insincere smile. There were no forthcoming congratulations or well wishes from either of the women.

“This is Blaire.” Ashley’s voice was clipped.

“Her sister,” Blaire added, shooting Ashley a look of disapproval for keeping the introduction so short. “You must be the dairy farmer Jeff told us about on the drive here.”

“Yep.” Johnny gave her a hearty handshake, trying not to let her usage of her stepfather’s first name rub him the wrong way. Maybe she thought it made her sound sophisticated. To him, it came across as disrespectful.

Jeff Perkins seemed to retreat inside his own head after that, barely uttering more than monosyllables whenever his wife or stepdaughter solicited his input.

“There are plenty of dairy farms closer to Dallas, aren’t there, Jeff?” Blaire blabbed for a full five minutes about the perils of living in rural areas and how there were so many better opportunities in bigger cities.

Johnny glanced at his watch, not caring who noticed. He felt no compunction about pretending to enjoy the conversation of a woman who was going out of her way to insult what he did for a living.

“I couldn’t have been more gobsmacked to hear Martin was back on the market.” Blaire tipped her nose into the air. “He won’t stay there for long.”

Okay. We’re done here.“Time to greet our guests, babe.” Without another word to her obnoxious family, Johnny steered her away from their midst.

“Thanks,” Ashley murmured faintly. She tucked her hands around his arm as he led her up the aisle. There was a stairwell in the main foyer that led downstairs to the fellowship hall.

Caro had outdone herself again with a buffet line and feast of chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes, and all the trimmings. She’d managed to rustle up a multi-tiered wedding cake as well.

Johnny sauntered in her direction with his bride to thank her. “This is amazing, Caro. Feel free to send me the bill.” He couldn’t have been more grateful.

“You’re welcome.” She gave him a sour look. “I told Clint to tell you it’s my gift to you.”

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