Valentine Wedding Hound: The Hart Family (Have A Hart Book 5)

by Rachelle Ayala

  Evidently, he didn’t know Jenna too well. She had no qualms about inviting Sherry to be a bridesmaid, even though she should have known how troubling it would have been to him.

  Nothing made sense, except he didn’t rate that high in her priorities.

  “Well, hello there, Larry,” the priest said, opening the door. “Come in and take a seat. I’ve been looking forward to getting to know you and finding out about the logistics. Jenna warned me that the camera and sound crew would need to set up ahead of time.”

  “Actually, I’m afraid there’s not going to be wedding.” Larry remained standing. “I blew it. I should never have agreed to do the reality show.”

  “Sit down, and tell me what happened.” The priest motioned to a chair. “These reality shows have a way of bringing out the worst in us.”

  “It sure brought out the worst in me.” Larry pulled a chair and slumped in it. “I got greedy for the prizes, and I wanted Jenna to be happy and win so she could do well with her business.”

  “It’s the carrot and the stick approach,” Father Gonzales said. “Dangle the carrot and you don’t see the stick they’re beating you with. What exactly happened?”

  Larry bowed his head, not able to look at the priest. “I wanted Jenna to quit the show, but I couldn’t come out and say it, because then she’d think I wasn’t being supportive.”

  “It’s important to be supportive.”

  “Yes, but I couldn’t stand to see what the show was doing to her. They asked her to strip, which I stopped, but she was upset at me for that. She almost lost going to the next round.”

  “I’ll have to admit between you and me, I watched the show.” The pastor put his hand up. “Only because I knew you two were in it.”

  “You know that my ex-fiancée showed up last week and was made a bridesmaid?”

  “Yes, I thought it was strange, but Jenna took it in stride. No doubt, the thought of the Tesla electric car helped.”

  “Right. It did, and I encouraged her when she called me to ask if it was okay.”

  “Was it really okay?” The pastor’s eyebrows creased together.

  Larry couldn’t lie. Not to the man of God, but then maybe he shouldn’t have lied to Jenna either.

  “No, I secretly wished she would quit the show out of consideration for me. She knew Shelly hurt me badly when she dumped me while I was in the burn unit. I thought Jenna would go mama bear and want to protect me, even though I told her Shelly didn’t affect me.”

  “Does Shelly still affect you?” The priest pushed up his glasses and blinked at Larry, as if able to divine the truth from him.

  “It used to hurt. Just like the fact my mother didn’t want me. But it’s nothing like how I feel now that Jenna dumped me.”

  “Did she dump you? Words are important. Did she tell you she never wanted anything to do with you?”

  “Yes, that’s what she meant.” Larry pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to hold his tears in.

  “What were her exact words?”

  “She’s calling the show and canceling the wedding. She doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore. When I called over at her place, her brother said she’s not seeing anyone.”

  “Doesn’t sound like she’s broken up with you. Sounds like she needs time to process what just happened.”

  “She won’t take my calls and I can’t even explain.” Larry threw his hands up and moaned.

  “Give her time.”

  “I don’t have any time. The wedding is a week away. I really want to marry her.”

  “I’ll tell you what,” the priest said. “I’ll call on her and see if she wants to talk to me. But you’re going to have to step back and wait for her to come around. Many times, we men want to go in there and do something, anything, to change things. But right now, you should let her know you’re open to talk. Write her a note, and then wait for her to reach out to you.”

  “She might never stop hating me.”

  “Tut, tut, tut.” The priest stood and put his hand on Larry’s shoulder. “When you’re in love, your emotions get out of hand. But true love is trusting that she loves you as much as you love her. You not telling her how you really feel is you not trusting her.”

  “But how can I trust her when she cut me off?”

  “How do we trust God when He allows sickness and injuries to come into our lives?”

  “Because we know He loves us.”

  “Yes, exactly. We take that on faith.” The priest patted Larry’s hand. “And the Bible tells us to wait on the Lord, knowing that He loves us.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Bam, bam, bam.” Jenna’s apartment door rattled nonstop.

  Every time Grady opened the door, Jenna held her breath, wondering if Larry was begging to come in.

  Every time he shut the door, she yelled out, “Who was it?”

  “Oh, nobody, just reporters,” Grady yelled back in a sing-song voice.

  Why would reporters be interested in her? The episode hadn’t even aired, and the studio hadn’t said anything in public about the contestants.

  Jenna pushed Harley aside and charged to the window. She lifted a curtain and didn’t see any satellite trucks. Instead, her brother’s extended-cab pickup truck, her sister’s Toyota, her other brother-in-law’s Infiniti, and her parents’ sedan were double-parked outside the building. The only vehicle missing was that family van Larry bought when he got engaged to her.

  She turned around when her twin brother entered the room. “Grady, what are they doing here?”

  “They want to hold an intervention,” Grady said.

  “Is Larry with them?” Jenna squinted to see if Larry was in the middle of her family, being supported by them.

  “No sign of Larry.” Grady shrugged nonchalantly. “He seems to have forgotten about Harley, too.”

  “Maybe he dropped off Harley so he could go on a date with Shelly.” Jenna’s stomach turned and she ground her teeth. “I’m not supposed to say anything, but part of the dare was a date that the reality show’s going to film.”

  “But I thought you called off the show.”

  “Nothing happens until Saturday, according to the contract,” Jenna explained. “They’ll simply make up a reason for me to lose the semi-finals. Sometimes, when every contestant passes their dare, they have a runoff, or the audience and judges vote to eliminate someone.”

  “Too complicated. But you don’t care anyway, since you eliminated yourself.”

  Jenna swabbed her eyes as tears leaked anew. “I can’t marry a guy who’s still hung up on his ex. His excuse is that he wants to show her what she lost. Doesn’t that mean he still cares about her?”

  “Not necessarily.” Grady flexed his muscles as they both watched their family conferring below. “With us men, we like to be winners and not losers. Maybe Larry’s so proud he landed you that he wanted to rub Shelly’s nose in it. Did you find out what really happened when they broke up?”

  “He won’t talk about it.”

  “Think about it. The guy was at his lowest. Burned over half of his body. Not sure if he could ever go back to work again. Obviously, he lost that handsome face of his, and his foster mother got hit by a car.”

  “How could she dump him like that?” Jenna’s heart ached at the thought of Larry lying in the hospital bed, burning with pain, and being abandoned.

  “Maybe they had other problems, and this just brought it to the surface.” Grady put his arm around Jenna’s shoulder. “Just like the reality show brought things out that you two haven’t addressed.”

  Jenna elbowed him. “Oh, you wise one. Now you’re giving me advice? What problems do you see?”

  “It’s better if you figure it out yourself.”

  She didn’t want to look deeply at herself. Not when the pain was so raw and fresh, but yes, she could have done a better job considering how Larry felt. He always seemed so eager to please her that she’d gotten used to getting her way all the time.
<
br />   Maybe she should have drawn him out more, given him a safe space to talk about his feelings, rather than jumping all over him whenever he said something that pissed her off.

  She shoved the disturbing thoughts to the side. Her family looked like they were about to organize a posse.

  “Oh, look, Cait’s broken away from the group, and she’s coming up by herself.” Jenna pointed out the window.

  “I think you should speak to her. She’s handling your cancellations.”

  Jenna really wanted it to be Larry out there. How could he give up so easily?

  “Are you sure Larry hasn’t been by?”

  “Scout’s honor. Cross my heart and all that.” Grady waved at their family, forcing Jenna to duck.

  “I can’t believe they saw me looking.”

  “Oh, come on, you know you want them up here.” Grady laughed. He waved again, beckoning the horde of Harts.

  They waved back and Jenna counted to be sure it was her entire family.

  “I hope they’re on my side,” Jenna said. She went to the bathroom and washed her face, then pulled her hair up.

  “Why wouldn’t they be on your side?” Grady crossed his arms and raised a single eyebrow. “If you ask me, you’re the one jealous of Larry.”

  “Am not.” She resorted to a childish retort.

  “Am too.” He knew just how to goad her. “Come on, you’re not being fair. It’s us Harts against one Davison. Here they come.”

  The door rattled, peppered with shouts of, “Jenna, open up.”

  “What happened, Jenna?”

  “Let us in. We can help.”

  Grady marched to the door, and everyone crowded into the tiny apartment. Harley sniffed back and forth, but his eyes were out the door, looking for Larry.

  “Jenna, you poor thing.” Mother rushed her and enveloped her in her arms. “Tell us what happened. Cait says you’re cancelling the wedding.”

  “Oh, you’ve been crying.” Cait patted her from the side. “What did Larry do now?”

  “Shelly dropped by the station and said Larry’s going on a date with her,” Connor said. “Is that true?”

  “Yes, it’s all true.” Fresh hurt welled up inside Jenna at the caring faces rallying around her. “She wasn’t supposed to talk about it, but Larry’s taking her sailing tomorrow, and he danced the foxtrot with her on the show. It’s all coming out Saturday.”

  “I can’t believe he would do something like this,” Melisa said. “The show must have put him up to it.”

  “That Amy character is pure evil,” Mother said. “First she digs up his mother and now Shelly.”

  “Why would Larry dance with her?” Nadine asked. “Didn’t you make her a hideous dress?”

  “Larry should have quit the show when Shelly showed up,” Father harrumphed. “What was going through his mind?”

  Only her brothers-in-law and Dale, her baby brother, held back on giving their opinions. Rob was Larry’s friend, ever since the two of them bonded over a Firefighter’s Christmas Ball. Dale looked up to Larry and lifted weights with him whenever he was home from school, and Brian hated the noise and bustle of their large family. It gave him the creeps, but he loyally put up with it because he loved Cait so very much. His superpower was the uncanny ability to zone out while in the very midst of Hart chaos.

  If only Larry loved her as much.

  “You know what the worst of it is?” Jenna grabbed a tissue and watered it with her tears. “Larry invited Shelly onto the show. I think he wants to get back together with her.”

  All the females in the room howled with outrage, while Grady clapped his hands to get attention. With everyone talking over everyone else, some consoling Jenna, and others spouting anger at Larry, Grady came back from the kitchen with two pot lids.

  Bang, bang, bang. He used the lids as cymbals to shut everyone up.

  “Jenna is having a big old pity party because for once in her life, she’s not getting her way. Larry has unfinished business with Shelly, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

  “We can make Jenna feel better by taking her side.” Cait marched to the kitchen and grabbed a pot and a wooden spoon. She banged it at Grady. “I thought you, of all people, would hate Larry the worst.”

  “Why should I hate Larry? I just want to make sure he’s the right guy for Jenna. If he goes back to Shelly, then I’ll join the posse.” Grady banged the pot lids for emphasis.

  “I’m sure Larry has his side of the story,” Connor jumped on the sofa and cupped his hands as a megaphone. “Why don’t we find out what he says?”

  “He wants Shelly back.” Jenna covered her ears. “I don’t want to hear.”

  “It must be a misunderstanding,” Melisa said. “Let me go find Larry.”

  “Yes, I’m sure he had good reason.” Rob stepped forward. “Larry’s not the kind of guy to two-time anyone.”

  The tide was turning. Jenna was losing her family, as each of them tried to find a reason why Larry would behave the way he did.

  “Don’t you guys get it? He betrayed my trust,” she screamed. “He hates me and he cheated on me in front of a national audience. Once the show airs, I’ll be the laughing stock of the entire country.”

  “It might be great name recognition,” Cait said. “Didn’t you say that there is no such thing as bad publicity?”

  “Yeah, maybe Larry was trying to give you an opportunity to get even more famous,” Nadine chirped in. “Just like that reality star who had a sex tape posted. Or the one who got the sex change operation. Someday, when you’re an A-list star, you’ll thank him.”

  “Stop it, stop. You’re all taking Larry’s side. I knew it.” Jenna jumped up and down and ran for her bedroom. She tripped over Harley, who raised his head and howled.

  Barking, he rushed for the front door and lunged against it, trying to get out.

  Larry folded and unfolded the note he was going to slip under Jenna’s door. His lips trembled and he bit back the pressure in his sinuses. He was a man, and he wasn’t going to cry like a baby.

  But all the Harts had turned against him. Every last one of them. He could hear them arguing and shouting his name. Although he couldn’t make out the exact words, they sounded angry and indignant.

  The booming voice of his best friend, Connor, towered above the rest, condemning him, and he thought he even heard Melisa, his dear friend, chipping in.

  Cait, of course, was loud and boisterous in her protests, and Pete and Kimberly alternated between exclamations and mutterings of disgust.

  Jenna screamed and shouted, and then he heard a slam. She was so distraught over his behavior that she was having a breakdown.

  Only Harley howled and whined, scratching the door and wanting him to come get him.

  Except he couldn’t knock on the door and face all of the angry Harts. They’d circled the wagons, and he was the outcast.

  He folded the note and put it in an envelope between the Valentine’s card. How stupid was he to think he had a chance? But it was too late to turn back and get another card. He loved her, as pathetic as he was; he would go to the grave loving her and no one else.

  He bent over to stick the card under the door, when it opened wide.

  “Larry!” Connor’s voice boomed above him. “Come on in. You want to speak to Jenna?”

  “Larry, son.” Pete grasped him by the arm and lifted him up. “Tell me what’s going on. Jenna seems upset.”

  “Oh, Larry, dear.” Kimberly hugged him. “There must be some mistake. I’m sure you didn’t mean to hurt our Jenna.”

  “Larry, go talk to her,” Melisa entreated. “We’ll all clear out of here and give you two some privacy.”

  “You all can go, but I’m not.” Bossy Cait stood her ground. “I’m Jenna’s official wedding planner, and I need to know what my marching orders are.”

  “I’m not leaving either.” Grady puffed out his chest, as if a peacock needed more vanity. “I’m Jenna’s twin, and I promised to nev
er let her down.”

  “Oh hush, you two.” Their mother took both Cait and Grady by the arm and marched them to the door. “Come on, all of you, out.”

  “Ah … can’t we at least listen through the door?” Dale, the youngest and most mischievous Hart, smirked. “This is the most exciting thing to happen since Cait got kidnapped.”

  “Out, out.” Pete swept his remaining offspring from the apartment.

  Rob peeked through the mini-blinds at the street and said, “Looks like we’d better get down to the street. All of us are getting parking tickets.”

  “Parking tickets?” Nadine exclaimed. “Connor, we better go before they tow our truck away.”

  A rush of feet stampeded out the door and down the stairs, leaving Larry and Harley, who wagged his tail and looked up at him with a hopeful expression.

  Larry gently shut the front door and took a deep breath. He picked up the trampled envelope and card. As quietly as he could, he slipped it under the bedroom door.

  “Well, buddy boy, there’s nothing to do now, but eat.” Larry picked up his dog and went to the kitchen. Soon, the aroma of roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and meatloaf flooded the air as he microwaved the meals and set them on the table.

  He gave Harley a piece of cold chicken, and filled a bowl with water, then he sat at the table, bowed his head and prayed.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Jenna held her breath as she listened to the noise of her family fade. Larry had come, and from Harley’s happy bark and groan, she could tell he hadn’t left.

  Why wasn’t he knocking on the door demanding to see her? Or maybe he didn’t want to see her. He had only come to retrieve Harley and slip away from her life forever.

  Jenna tiptoed to the door to listen and almost stepped on a crumpled pink envelope.

  She gasped as she picked it up. It was from Larry, with her name written in his handwriting.

  So, this was it. A Dear Jenna letter. He was not only letting her go, but he’d also shooed her family away.