Page 91 of Marry Me, Maybe?
“And why not? Everyone knows the reason your mama left him was on account of his abomination of lying with other men.” He shook his head slowly, brow knitted as though in disgust. “I mean, right now, what is he doing? Sleeping with his own son’s fiancé? This is what happens when you don’t follow the way of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You succumb to the lust of the flesh.”
My blood boiled so hot I saw red for a second.
“Is it the Bible’s way to orchestrate a sham marriage between a man and a woman, knowing it’s unlawful?”
Pastor Murray picked up a handkerchief and wiped his forehead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I turned the screen toward him. The photo glowed between us, Hudson’s name printed neatly in black ink. The bride’s signature? Still blank. The pastor’s signature was there as the officiant.
“You still want to sit there and tell me they’re married?”
He parted his lips, but nothing came out.
“I want to hear you say it.” I leaned forward over his desk. “Say you lied.”
He peered at the phone screen, so I pinched and widened the frame for him. He swallowed, rocking back in his chair. “This must be a mistake.”
“Bullshit.”
“Now, see here, young man?—”
“No, you listen to me before I get you fired from the church. I want nothing but the truth from you. I’m not stupid. We both know how this works. Their marriage isn’t recognized until this license is submitted to the county clerk’s office within sixty-three days of them signing.” Yes, I’d looked up everything I needed to know in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep. “So much for being a man of God.”
He looked away. Just for a second. Just long enough to confirm everything. His jaw tightened, and his shoulders slumped.
“It was a mistake,” he said quietly. “She said she would sign it. That she needed some days to think about it.”
“A mistake is forgetting to bless the rings. A mistake is mixing up names in the vows. This?” I jabbed a finger toward the screen. “This was deliberate.”
“I didn’t have a choice.” He sighed and dropped his head into his hands. “She threatened to tell.”
I stared at him. “Tell what?”
He looked up, shame etched deep into the lines around his mouth. “That we’d… that she and I had been involved. While my wife was still alive. It was a brief affair when she joined the church, but she was a temptress who was the thorn in my side. I ended it in less than a year, but she used it to threaten me.”
My stomach dropped. “You slept with Heather?”
He gave a small nod. “It was a few years ago. My wife was sickly for so long, and I was lonely. I was weak, needed someone to rely on, and Heather was there. Being a man of God doesn’t mean you’re without flaws.”
Another man committing infidelity. Jesus. Was there no one worth trusting anymore? Not even the so-called righteous man?
“I’m not interested in your affair with Heather,” I said. “That’s between you and your God. I want to know how you two pulled this off without Hudson’s knowledge?”
“It wasn’t planned.” He picked up a pen from his desk and clicked the top. “They were supposed to have a proper wedding. It was small, but some people attended to make it special for them. Hudson had no interest in anything to do with the wedding ceremony. Wouldn’t even wait for all parties to sign the license. That’s when Heather decided not to go through with it because she saw how unwilling Hudson really was. She told me she would think about it, sign it, then bring it to the county clerk’s.”
“And you let an innocent man believe his marriage was valid? For four years?”
“You can’t completely blame me for this. If he had anyinterest in his marriage, would she have decided not to sign it?”
“There is no excuse for the part you played in this. None!”
“I’ll make it right,” he stammered. “I’ll speak to Hudson, but you can’t breathe a word about my affair with Heather. The church?—”
“Deserves to crumble if you’re the one holding it up,” I snapped. “Don’t you dare go near Hudson. And if you do? I swear, the whole of Bristlecone Springs will know that the man they trusted with their confessions is another hypocrite screwing around like the rest of us so-called sinners.”
I didn’t wait for his reaction. I turned on my heel, stormed out of the pastor’s office, and let the door slam behind me hard enough to rattle the glass.
The heat outside did nothing to cool the fury simmering in my chest. My boots hit the church steps with suppressed anger. I was already halfway across the gravel parking lot before I realized I’d clenched my fists so tight, my knuckles ached. I flexed them once, twice, like it might release the tension still coiled inside me.
