Page 26 of Chasing Trouble
Chapter 7
Sunday morning dawned.Mac was dressed for church in a three-piece black suit and pacing the floor in front of the fireplace in his living room.His mother and sister had nearly ripped his head off when they found out the ultimatum he’d given Whitney the previous evening.Had he really been such a jerk?They sure made it sound that way.Good thing he hadn’t mentioned the spanking he’d given her; his mother might have shot him.
If his father had been here, he was sure he would have supported him.However, with only females in the house, he was severely outnumbered, especially when his mother took his father’s vote and gave herself two votes.
Three to one, he was a first-class jerk.
He didn’t mention the fact that if his fatherhadbeen here, his mother wouldn’t be mouthing off like she was, but respect for his mother had to factor in.
His reverie was interrupted when Caroline swept in with her nose in the air, her lack of forgiveness obvious.“Good, you’re pacing.Serves you right to worry.That poor girl.”
“What about poor me?”he growled.
His mother waved her hand in the air.“There is no poor you, gossip washes off you like water off a duck’s back.Did you find out who started those awful rumors?”
“Yeah, it was Bobby and Andy, my own cousins,” he snapped.“Cole told me they were acting like fools in town when they went in for supplies.”
Caroline sniffed in disdain.“Pity...you can’t fire your own cousins.”
“No, but I can make them wish they had never opened their mouths,” he replied, his eyes gleaming.
His sister, Adeline, chose that moment to appear.“If you ask me, I think you should plan a future wedding date and offer the poor girl some realistic choices.Even on short notice, a Christmas wedding would be lovely.Who cares what people think anyway?
Mac had thought about that.The problem was, he didn’t want to wait to plan a wedding; he wanted to be married now.He frowned.Was he really being that unreasonable?This whole gossip thing and the shotgun had worked in his favor.Whitney was the one being stubborn.Or was he being selfish?Until her dad came back, he’d thought they were on the same track.
“So, you really don’t think we should just get married and be done with it?It would be the quickest way to put all the gossip to rest, and then Whitney could relax,” he added piously.
Adeline rolled her eyes.“Do you even have a romantic bone in your body, brother?”
Mac gritted his teeth.“I told you that you and Mother could host a grand reception as soon as you can plan it.What more do you want?”
“I’m sure that will make her swoon,” she huffed.
“Whitney’s not the swooning type.”
His mother tsked at him.He hated the tsk.It was usually followed by something that she was right about that he didn’t want to admit to.“You’ve only known her for three days, son.How do you know what type she really is?”
Mac threw his hands in the air.“Okay, that’s enough of this.Let’s get to the church and see if she shows up.If not, then I’ll figure out what to do from there.”
Adeline rolled her eyes again.“And if she does, she’s more forgiving than I would be.”
“Adeline, stop torturing your brother; he’s in enough hot water as it is.We’ll pray at communion that this poor girl manages to forgive his lapse in manners.”
“He should be so lucky.”
Mac held his temper and went for the Land Rover.Maybe he could hit every pothole between here and Bolton if he were lucky enough.In the meantime, he had to endure his mother and his sister’s endless admonishments.
When he finally pulled into the parking lot of the church, he looked around but didn’t see the Johnson’s truck.They could be in the back, though; he couldn’t see behind the building.
They walked up the steps to the church, not seeing anyone at all around, which was unusual in itself.When he opened the front door, he was shocked to see Daniel and Luke standing on the threshold, a huge grin on their faces.
“It’s about time you got to your own wedding,” Daniel announced, waving them all in.“You need to go to the front near the preacher, and Luke here will escort the ladies to the front row on the left.”
