“I sure hope so, because you’re stuck with me. ‘Til death do us part. I don’t believe in divorce.”
He smiled, leading her off the dance floor as the band started a faster number. “I’ll keep you.”
She shrugged. “You don’t have to keep me, because I’m keeping you and Tristan. You really have no choice in the matter any longer.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Well, look who’s getting all bossy on me!”
“Not bossy. Possessive is the word you’re looking for, and I’ve always been that. You never noticed I was the only one bringing you snacks?”
“I thought you were the only one who wanted to.”
She laughed. “Everyone volunteered. I didn’t let them. No one else gets to feel zings with my man.”
“Well, I see how it’s going to be!”
Felicity looked him in the eyes, her palms flat on his chest. “You see that you’re mine until the end of time?”
Allen nodded, grinning. “And you’re mine.”
“Then we’ll do just fine as long as we keep that in mind.”
9
Sunday mornings meant running around the house and getting ready for church to Felicity, and that’s just what she did. Every time her mind drifted to Allen’s reaction to her declaration of love, she forced it from her thoughts, hurrying to make sure everyone was ready and fed.
When Tristan came out into the kitchen wearing a pair of dress shorts and a polo, she started to protest, and then she looked up and saw her husband was dressed the same way. It wasn’t what she’d have had them wear for church, but she knew Brother Anthony was easier about such things than the pastor back home had been.
Coming from a world where men always wore suits to church and going to one where shorts were acceptable was hard, but she knew she could get it to work in her mind if she tried.
After breakfast, she checked her phone quickly for the time, knowing they were running a bit later than she would have liked. “Why are you hurrying?” Allen asked. “We’ll be on time!”
“But we need to be thirty minutes early!” she protested.
“Why on earth would anyone want to be thirty minutes early for church?” Tristan asked, gaping at her.
“So we can fellowship with the others in the congregation.” Why didn’t he already know that? Was the man a total heathen?
She looked back at her phone, noticing there was a voicemail. She held up a hand to pause the discussion while she listened. When she was finished, she sat down at the table, staring off into space.
Allen rushed to her side, never having seen his bride so pale. “What’s wrong? Felicity?”
“My parents are on their way. My parents and my aunt and uncle. Mama called to warn me, so I could warn the others. Dad and Uncle Alfred are insisting on meeting our husbands.” Felicity punched in her sister’s number, putting the phone to her ear. “Mama and Dad, and Uncle Alfred and Aunt Beulah are on their way! You call the twins and Chastity. I’ll call the other three.” She didn’t wait for Patience to answer, because she knew her sister would do exactly as she asked.
“I’m sorry,” she said looking at Allen. “They’re going to fly into Cheyenne and drive here this afternoon. No one should have to face our parents without ample warning. And it’s way past time for that!”
Allen stood watching her frantically dialing her cousins. “Hope, it’s me, Felicity. All of the parents are on their way. Will be here this afternoon.” She paused for a moment, obviously listening. “Yes, I’m sure. Patience and I are calling everyone.” She dialed another number. “Joy, it’s Felicity. The parents are on their way. All four of them. Yes, I know. Patience and I will handle it.” Then one more number. When she was finished talking to Faith, she put her phone down on the table. “I don’t want to see him.”
Allen stared at her, obviously confused. “Your father?”
She nodded. “Yes, he didn’t know we were leaving.”
“What? How could he not know?” Allen turned to Tristan, who was watching the whole thing with wide eyes. “Go to your room. I’ll let you know when it’s time for church.” Allen sat down at the table and took Felicity’s hand. “Tell me everything.”
“Mama knew we were leaving. Dad thought we were just going to be gone for a few days, but we packed everything. We even mailed stuff ahead. We couldn’t tell Dad, because he’d have come unglued. He’s unstable!”
Allen closed his eyes. “You’re old enough to be on your own. You didn’t need his permission to go anywhere.” But obviously they’d known they had to sneak out if they wanted to get away. There was something he didn’t understand, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to.
She laughed, the sound bitter. “Try telling him that. You’ll get to meet him in a few hours. He’s not an easy man to reason with.”
“Are you afraid of him?”
Felicity shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably a little. He was definitely a ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’ kind of man and always ruled with an iron fist. If he knew Mama had let us go with her blessing, he’d be furious with her.”
“Are you afraid he’ll hurt her?”
She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. “He probably believes that a man beating his wife is all right, but to my knowledge he’s never hit her. I think she’d leave him, and he knows it. She’s the only one of the four of them who didn’t believe all the hogwash the church tried to shove down our throats.”
“The four of them? Your aunt, uncle, mother, and father?”
She nodded. “Yeah. All four of them are coming. The quads had to sneak out too. Did you know that? At the age of twenty-two, the four of them ran away from home!” It was ridiculous when she said it aloud, but it was the truth.
He shook his head. “Sounds crazy to me.”
“It is crazy! There never should have been a need for anyone to run away. We’re in our twenties!”
“What are you afraid is going to happen today?” he asked calmly, trying to get her to be rational about the situation.
“I’m afraid they’ll come here with some way to dissolve all eight of our marriages and force us to go back to Kentucky where we’ll be locked into a rubber room together while they arrange annulments and new marriages with men of their choosing. You know the kind…just like them! I refuse to marry a man who doesn’t see me as a thinking, intelligent human being. Because that’s exactly what I am!” It would be worse for her pregnant cousins of course. She couldn’t let it happen. None of them could go back to Kentucky.
Allen closed his eyes for a moment, trying to still the fear that he felt clawing up inside him. Will she go back with her parents? “They have no hold over you. You’re an adult, and you have the right to marry whomever you want. Whether they approve or not!”
“Not according to the church,” Felicity responded, her voice soft.
“What do you mean?”
“Our church taught that a woman could never marry a man without her father’s approval. He never would have approved of you. You’re too…normal! He would only approve of a man who believed the same way they did. Do you know our church actually teaches that if a woman enjoys sex, she’s going straight to hell? It’s insane, and I refuse to be part of it!”
He shook his head in disbelief. “How did you end up so normal then?” He couldn’t believe he was using the word normal to describe Felicity, but compared to what she was explaining, she was very normal.
She sighed. “Mama. She never bought into all the religious hoopla. She met Dad in school, and she joined the church because she had feelings for him. She married him, but she never forced us to follow all of the nonsense of the church. She homeschooled us, so we wouldn’t be further indoctrinated in the church-run school. She did everything she could to make sure we didn’t end up messed up in the head like other young people in the church.” She shook her head. “I think Grace was the worst of us all. She believed it. All of it.”
“Grace? She seems fine to me!”
>
Felicity shrugged. “Just a feeling I have. We didn’t talk about it. I think all of us were afraid to voice our feelings on getting away from the church and actually starting lives. You have no idea what it was like to break away from a life of tyranny.”
He put his hands on her shoulders and drew her close, his hands stroking her back. “I don’t have any idea, but I do want you to know that I’m going to be here for you. No matter what they say or do, I’m here.”
She nodded, trying not to visibly shake. “Thank you.”
“Are you up for going to church? Or should we stay home?”
“We can’t stay home! My parents are coming!” She sighed. “I wonder if we could all meet up somewhere…like Linda’s house. And we could invite Brother Anthony over. I can just picture how confused he’d have the four of them after about ten minutes in his company.”
Allen grinned. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. Call Linda and see if she’d mind.”
Felicity grinned, seeing how it could play out. She dialed Linda’s number and quickly explained the situation. Tapping the end button a minute later, she nodded at Allen. “She’s not only going to host lunch for everyone, she’s going to call the others and tell them to meet there. I’m going to leave Mama a voicemail with Linda’s address. We’ve got this.”
“Good.” He walked down the hall and knocked on Tristan’s door. “Time for church. You ready?”
Tristan came out, nodding. “Let’s go.”
They got there just before the sermon started, and Felicity suddenly understood why she hadn’t ever noticed them at church before. They came in right as the sermon started, sat way in the back, and she had a feeling they left just as soon as the sermon was over. So differently than the way she’d been taught to worship, but who was she to judge?
After church, she was surprised at the sheer number of people who were there to offer their congratulations. She was happy to feel like she was a member of Culpepper for good now that she’d married one of its native sons.
The drive back to Linda’s house was filled with tension for Felicity, but Tristan didn’t seem to notice as he chattered away in the back seat of the truck. When they pulled up to the big house, Felicity smiled as she realized they were probably some of the last to arrive.
She hurried to the door and went inside, looking around for their parents. Patience walked up behind her. “They’re not here yet. Mama called from the bathroom at the airport and said they’d be here around two.”
Felicity turned to hug her sister. “Are you nervous?”
Patience shrugged. “A little, sure, but not a lot. They can’t force us to go back with them. We’re adults!”
Rikki walked over to Felicity, putting her hand on her arm. “I heard your parents are coming, and Patience gave me an idea of what we’re going to be dealing with today. I just want you to know that I’m on your side.”
Felicity hugged Rikki. “Thank you. It’s nice to know we have backup for when things get really strange.”
Rikki laughed. “Together, we can do anything, I think.”
Felicity looked around the room, counting heads. Hope was in a corner with Karlan, and they seemed to be deeply engrossed in conversation, Hope’s arms flying as she gestured wildly. She was newly pregnant but not showing yet.
Then she found Faith, who was already four months along and starting to get big. She was leaning against Cooper, looking nervous.
Joy was with Kolby, eating some of the snacks Linda had on the counter. She and Faith had the same due date, and she had been hungry for months.
Chastity and Chris were standing in the corner, just holding hands, which was very odd. The two of them weren’t usually ever in a room together without one of them being almost atop the other. They had no sense of decorum at all.
Grace was sitting with Marcus on the couch, and she looked nervous. She had her head on Marcus’s shoulder as if she was trying to draw strength from him.
Honor was wearing jeans and a pair of beat-up cowboy boots with unsavory substances covering them. She had her arms folded across her chest, and she was watching Angus, who seemed to be nervous enough for both of them.
Felicity let out a sigh of relief. That was all of them. All eight of the Quinlan girls who’d escaped bondage in Kentucky to find new lives full of love and happiness in Wyoming. At least the others all had lives full of love and happiness. She looked over at Allen who was standing with his hand on Tristan’s shoulder, looking out of place. Hopefully someday her love would be returned.
She wandered across the room to slide her hand into Allen’s huge one. “We’re all here,” she said softly.
Linda smiled at her. “Are you hungry? I put some appetizers out. We had a bunch left from your wedding.”
Felicity grinned. “That’s because you always make enough to feed a small army. I know the family is getting big, but not that big!”
“I would rather have too much than not enough!”
“We’ve never noticed that about you,” Felicity said, keeping her face as straight as possible. She plucked a sausage roll from a plate and handed it to Tristan. “Try this. You’ll love it.”
Tristan took a bite and smiled. “Wow. That’s like a cookie with meat!”
Felicity laughed. “A meat cookie. Maybe that’s a recipe I should be working on.”
Allen shook his head at her. “Please don’t. No one needs to be subjected to that.”
The back door opened and Corinne came running into the house, throwing herself at Felicity. “Auntie Felicity! I got new butterfly wings. Did you see?”
Felicity picked up her niece and looked at her wings over one shoulder. “Oh, pretty! They’re purple with just the right shade of pink to match your tutu!”
“Mama got them for me from the internet. She says that the internet is the place to buy everything you think you need but really don’t.”
“Your mama is a smart woman!” Felicity waved at Patience across the room, and Patience walked over, Ryan trailing behind her. None of the men seemed to be willing to get too far from their wives with the threat of their parents’ arrival rapidly approaching. She was glad there was so much love and loyalty in the room. They were going to need to draw on every ounce of it. “Patience, I want you to meet my new son, Tristan. Tristan, this is my sister, Patience. Do you know Corinne?”
“Hi, Aunt Patience. Corinne and I go to the same school.”
Patience smiled at Tristan. “It’s nice to meet you. You’ll have to come to the bakery soon, and we’ll fix you up with a box of your favorite treats.”
Tristan grinned. “I’d like that. What do you think, Dad?”
Before Allen could answer, the doorbell rang, and everyone in the room froze. Rikki was closest to the door and she walked over to answer it, which surprised Felicity. With the stories Rikki had heard about the people waiting outside to come in, Felicity thought Rikki would be nervous.
Felicity kissed Corinne’s forehead before setting the girl on her feet, and as she watched, Patience reached for her daughter’s hand. Each family unit, whether a couple or a couple with a child, moved closer together as the Quinlans came into the house.
10
Joy wove her way through the group with Kolby right behind her and stopped in front of her mother, kissing her cheek. “It’s good to see you, Mom. This is my husband, Kolby.” Felicity knew that Joy was the only one of the quadruplets who had kept up communications with their mother after they’d left, telling her what was going on with them, but never revealing their location.
Beulah Quinlan looked her new son-in-law up and down before nodding. Her eyes traveled down to her daughter’s round stomach. “It’s nice to meet you, Kolby. I’m Beulah, and this is my husband, Alfred.”
Kolby nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Quinlan.” His voice said it was anything but nice to meet them, yet he kept up a calm demeanor all the same.
Alfred frowned at Kolby. “I wish I could say the same.”
Joy waved Linda over and introduced her next. “This is Linda Culpepper, my mother-in-law.” The warmth between Joy and Linda was obvious in the way Linda casually put her hand on Joy’s shoulder to give her strength.
Felicity watched Linda closely, knowing how she felt about the two sets of Quinlan parents. She wanted to see if Linda could keep her cool or if she’d be rude to the others. “Welcome to Culpepper,” Linda finally said, smiling. “I made lunch, and according to Felicity, it’s enough to feed an army. I hope you’re hungry!”
Alfred Quinlan pulled himself up to his full height, which was still shorter than Linda Culpepper. “I’d like to meet my other sons-in-law first, please.”
Joy set about making the rest of the introductions. Her sisters obviously weren’t willing to come to their parents, so she led their parents around, introducing them to the tall, strong cowboys who had pledged to protect their daughters with their lives.
When they were finished, Felicity hurried over to her mother. “It’s so good to see you, Mama. Come meet my husband.” She took her mother’s hand and pulled her over to Allen. “This is Allen. He’s a building contractor, and he’s working on expanding the bakery Patience, Grace, and I own.”
When her father stepped forward, Felicity took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn’t make a scene. “Allen, these are my parents, Dorcas and Bertram Quinlan.” She immediately leaned against her husband, knowing she needed to draw from his strength to get through this time with her father.
Allen stuck his hand out to shake his new father-in-law’s. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Quinlan.”
Bertram ignored the hand in front of him. “I’m having your marriage annulled,” he said loudly, causing every single eye in the room to turn toward him, the silence a surprise after the chatter of a moment before. “You had no business marrying her.”
“On what grounds do you think you can have my marriage to your daughter annulled?” Allen asked, his voice deceptively soft as he fought his anger down, his arm locked around Felicity’s shoulders.
Contractor's Cookies (Culpepper Cowboys Book 9) Page 10
