The door flew open, and Joshua stood on the ground below. He glared at Gage, over to Meg, and then back to Gage. “I think you’d better get out here,” he said.
Meg couldn’t figure out what was going on. Why was Joshua here? Why did he look angry? That creeping guilty feeling came back strongly. She hadn’t done anything wrong, had she? Of course she had, she hadn’t waked Gage. This looked bad. But why was Joshua here? “Oh no, is it the mountain lion?” she asked. “Did it hurt someone?”
“What mountain lion?” Joshua barked, irritated.
Gage stepped out and she intended to follow, but she was barefoot. She reached for her burgundy shoes, but she couldn’t even imagine putting them back on her sore feet. She grabbed the next closest thing, a pair of pink and brown fuzzy slippers. She trotted out of the camper and stopped short.
Her campsite was crowded. Joshua was staring at Gage, his arms crossed over his chest, one fist clenching under his elbow. But that wasn’t the worst of it. Walking up was a teary Brie, and with her arm around her, a very cross-looking Leah.
“This must be the worst honeymoon ever,” Meg said. She didn’t mean to say it out loud, but nerves tended to loosen her tongue.
Gage laughed. Then he pointed at her slippers. “Nice,” he said, and gave her a thumbs up.
They were the only ones smiling.
Meg took stock of the situation. First of all, there was Joshua. Unlike her, he had on a clean change of clothes. Since when did he get up early? Maybe it was later than she thought.
Then there was the crying maid of honor. What had happened to her? Meg tried to make sense of it. Brie was glaring at Gage. Meg wondered if Brie had just told Joshua something new and horrible about Gage. Or maybe he had been lying to him. Maybe he was lying to her. Did people who liked drawings of ninja bobcats lie? Meg felt self-doubt closing in on her.
Worst of all was Leah. She was looking at her new husband, and everything about her expression dripped irritation. Meg closed her eyes for a second. If she had ruined Leah’s wedding somehow, she would never forgive herself.
“That,” said Joshua, pointing at Meg, “is my sister. Well, she’s like my sister. And you know that. What are you doing?”
Gage gave Joshua the same patient look he had given Brie the night before. “I know she is, Josh.”
Leah was staring at Meg’s slippers. Then her dress. Then her face. She scowled and looked back at Joshua, and Meg felt terrible.
“Just answer the question, Gage. What do you think you’re doing here?”
Gage’s eyes narrowed. So that’s what he looks like mad, she thought. He looked calm and dangerous. “Josh, I know you’re concerned. I know Meg is family. But you’re on the edge of insulting me and her. Are you sure you want to go there?”
“I am there, Gage. On my property, as a matter of fact.”
Gage fumed silently. She saw him thinking it over. And as she watched, Meg’s mood began to change. Leah being unhappy with her was new and awful, but there was nothing new about Joshua being mad at her. He was right, they had been like brother and sister, and they went through phases where they bickered like crazy. And she hadn’t done anything wrong.
So bring it on, she decided. “Joshua Parks, haven’t you got something better to do on your first day of married life? It’s nice that you care about my welfare, but you forget that I’m twenty-seven and I live an awful lot of my life without your supervision.”
He spun on her. “Well, maybe you need it.”
Meg felt wounded. This wasn’t about what he thought was going on, or whether it was any of his business. Now it was about what kind of person he thought she was and how qualified she was to run her own life. Gage sensed the change in her and his best friend, and he stepped closer to her, almost in front of her. “Josh, you’re letting your anger get the best of you. Don’t say things you’re going to regret.”
“The only person around here who doesn’t feel regret is you, Gage,” Brie said. Her sobs had stopped. She looked furious. “You do whatever you want, and everyone else pays the price.”
Leah said something to Brie that Meg couldn’t hear, but Brie didn’t seem to respond. “Did you think no one would notice you left with her? Did you think no one would notice you didn’t spend the night in Caleb’s tent? You just thought you’d get away with another conquest?”
Gage took a step forward. “Just hold on a second. There was a mountain—”
“Yep, that’s me,” Meg said, cutting him off. “Gage’s latest conquest. Joshua, I know you’re disappointed, deal with it. Leah, I’m sorry about all the turmoil, I hope it stops here. Brie, I don’t even know what to say to you, except that if Gage makes you this miserable, you should probably cut the ties and move on.” She put one fist on her hips and looked at the watch on her other wrist. “Now I need to get ready for church. Do ya’ll mind clearing out?”
Everyone stared at her. It was Leah’s eyes she avoided, because she hated having any part of casting a shadow over her wedding. Leah began pushing Brie back down the road. The Monster was there. How had she slept through the sound of that engine? She turned back to Gage, who was the last to move. “I’m going,” he said. “You sure you’ll be okay?” She nodded. As he walked by, he handed her the fleece throw and threw her a brilliant smile. She smiled back at him, and then he ran to catch up with the others.
Meg wondered if they’d even give him a ride.
She pivoted in her fluffy slippers and got back in her camper trailer. She headed toward the bathroom to brush her teeth and caught sight of herself in the mirror, makeup smudged, mascara running, hair tangled. She was mortified. Then she started to laugh. “Oh my,” she said to her reflection. “I did set tongues wagging, didn’t I?” She said a little prayer for peace in her family, then started laughing again for no good reason. “I hope you have a ‘fixer’ handy, Lord. I certainly didn’t plan for this.”
Meg’s irrationally good mood lasted through her shower, through changing clothes into jeans and her prettiest blouse and putting on a touch of makeup. She made sure to wear boots that made hiking the driveway easier. And she made sure she had the bear spray in her bag. At the last second she added her well-worn Bible and headed out.
She had only made it a little way when she saw the print in the soft, sandy soil of the borrow pit next to the driveway. One big paw print. She took out her phone, which she carried despite having it turned off, and took a picture of it next to her Bible for scale. She figured she could look it up on the Internet and figure out how big the cat might have been. Then she turned the phone back off and headed up the road.
What a beautiful day. What amazing sounds, birds singing, a slight ruffle of wind in the trees. It was Sunday. It was the right day to rest. When she crested the hill and the meadow came into view she had a moment of panic, but she chased it away. She wasn’t going to let go of her sense of humor. Still, when her brother came over to her, she was happy to find a safe place to land in his smile.
He said hello and then got to the point. “What is going on? There are crying women, angry men, drama, and Aunt Catherine won’t tell me anything.”
Meg wouldn’t talk. Nope, not now, not this morning. “Sounds exciting. Is there still breakfast?”
“A ton of it. And you don’t have coffee in your hand. I can’t believe you’re smiling without it.”
Meg laughed. But coffee sounded good, and they both headed over toward the breakfast tables to get a cup. Last night’s dance floor had been packed up, and the compressed grass was trying valiantly to spring back. She glanced around—no sign of Leah or Brie. Was that Gage and Caleb playing football across the meadow? She was happy to see that. It gave her hope for cooler heads and less tongue wagging.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into Catherine’s eyes. “Are you okay?” the older woman asked.
Meg smiled. “I am, thanks.”
“Is something wrong?” Mark asked.
Catherine shooed him away. “Silly gi
rl stuff, Mark. Meg, have you had breakfast yet? You should get a plate. Jeffrey’s service will be starting in about fifteen minutes.” With that Catherine went back to dishing out eggs and sausage to grateful and hungry guests. Meg was off the hook—another pleasant surprise.
Then Leah appeared on the deck and crooked a finger at Meg. Meg’s good mood sank in an instant. Leah looked downright mad.
Holding her coffee and breakfast because she had no idea where to set it down, Meg walked up onto the deck like it was the plank on a pirate ship. Leah crooked her finger again, indicating that Meg had to walk all the way across the deck to the corner where she stood. It felt like climbing a mountain. When she got there Leah crossed her arms and scowled. “I can’t tell you how mad I am about all of this.”
She was so mad that her southern twang was coming out, making ‘mad’ a two-syllable word. It sounded cute. Meg braced herself. “I’m sorry, Leah,” she said.
“I mean, all this silliness, and every single bit of it could have been avoided. There are a lot more important things to be thinking about on the morning of the Sabbath. And to have friends, and even family now, behaving so badly… well, it’s a mess.”
Meg didn’t speak. She refused to defend herself. If Leah wanted to vent, she would let her.
“I mean, first Brie acts like a love-struck pup all over again, and then she gets to gossiping about you, and just when Joshua should have told her to stuff it, she starts crying. I swear, that man can’t handle a woman crying. If I ever want a new car, I guess all I’ll have to do is get a couple tears in my eyes and he’ll go sell our firstborn son for the down payment.”
Meg was completely lost. She didn’t know what was coming next. When some of her scalding hot coffee dripped over her hand, she had the presence of mind to set her breakfast down on a nearby table.
Leah shook her head briskly. “What a mess. It’s nobody’s business what you do or what you don’t do. I hope you’ll forgive Josh for this, Meg. Brie got him all worked up. She knows how much honor and family mean to him, and she made it sound like Gage was after you.”
After me? Meg wondered what that meant. She reminded herself that it was thirdhand information, and it could mean anything. She knew better than to dwell on it.
“If it helps any, Meg, I want you to know that you handled all this mess just right. You took the wind out of everyone’s sails. Even Brie’s, and she’s been nursing this bitterness for a long time. Now they’ll have an hour with God to think about it. You haven’t even eaten. Here, let’s sit down.”
Meg was still in shock, but she did as she was told. “I’m still sorry, Leah.”
Leah giggled. “Oh honey, I’m the one who’s sorry. I could tell by the look on your poor face this had to be the worst morning ever. How unfair, since you’re the one who taught me the best way to wake up Joshua—coffee and if necessary a pillow. By the way, I’m glad you finally changed clothes,” she said with a wink. “I didn’t point it out to Joshua that you were clearly wearing the same clothes you wore last night. When I heard what you said about being Gage’s latest conquest—that was rich!—I knew right then that they all needed to sit with that for a while. Joshua needs to think about what’s his business and what isn’t, and Brie needs to think about Gage. Gage will probably just think about you. I think shutting up for an hour-long church service ought to sort it all out.”
Leah was definitely a fixer, Meg thought. She silently thanked God for sending her one, just like she’d asked.
“When Gage and I walked down last night we ran into a mountain lion,” Meg said. “He ran away, down toward the valley, but I was pretty scared. And I didn’t want Gage walking out there, or even driving my Jeep, with its plastic walls. So we talked. And it was really, really nice.”
Leah demanded details about the mountain lion, and after she got over the shock of it, she laughed along with Meg about whether or not she could have fended it off with bear spray. Then she said, “I’m really glad Gage was there for you.”
Meg took another sip of coffee while she worked up courage to ask what she wanted to ask. “Are you sure? Because it seems as if you’ve had mixed feelings about him. And your opinion matters to me, Leah.”
Leah frowned. “I did give you mixed messages. I was mistaken about something then. I didn’t want to gossip, Meg, but I think I did. I don’t know if saying what I know now would be any better. It’s expecting two wrongs to make a right, isn’t it? So I’m just going to talk about me. I thought Gage’s treatment of Brie was misleading. Now I don’t. If you want to know more, I think you should talk to him.”
“That’s fair.” And way too intriguing. She glanced over her shoulder to find that Gage was still playing football across the meadow. He was wearing a button-down shirt and khakis and had switched into sneakers. Meg missed the rose-decorated boots.
No matter what he was wearing, he was a handsome man. She got a little distracted watching him stretch out to catch the ball, long arms extended in midair, like some sort of eagle. When she looked back at Leah, the new bride was shaking her head. “You’ve got it bad.”
“I do not! I just met him. Rats. What gives it away?”
Sonya started calling people over to the center of the meadow, where the wedding ceremony had been. “Bring a chair!” she was calling, so Leah and Meg each carried over one of the lighter chairs from the deck. Everyone else was still milling around. Where was Joshua? Or Brie? Leah seemed unperturbed by their absence. Meg reminded herself that she was in a good mood, and until she learned otherwise, she was not God’s appointed fixer today. Besides, an hour-long church service would do her some good, too.
Leah set her chair down near where Jeffrey and Sonya were standing, and she motioned for Meg to sit next to her. People started planting chairs in patches all around them. Meg opted for another cup of coffee and hurried over to get her bag and her empty cup for a refill, and when she came back she found Joshua sitting next to Leah and Gage pulling up a chair next to Meg’s empty chair. None of them appeared to be speaking, or even looking, at the other two. How cozy, Meg thought, and then reminded herself again about her good mood. And she was in a good mood. It was beautiful, Josh and Leah were successfully married even if they were a little cranky at the moment, and she had one more day off work.
And Gage thought her drawings were beautiful.
So she sipped her coffee, settled in, and put her mind on God instead of them. Or Catherine sitting behind her. Or the bee flying over Sonya’s head. Nothing but sunlight and God. “It is Sunday,” she sighed with relief. Out of the corner of her eye she saw three sets of eyes turn to her. She ignored them all and tried not to laugh. It was good, knowing that whatever irritation Josh and Leah felt, they were family. And so was she. It would all work out, like it had countless times before. And Gage? Well, he was on his way back to Texas today. That was out of her control. God hadn’t made her a fixer anyway.
It felt nice to have him sitting next to her. When she decided to sneak a glance, he was looking right at her, and he winked. She just about spilled her coffee again.
Sonya was handing out sheets of paper, and Meg got one as they passed the stack around. It was a list of lyrics for contemporary worship songs. One of the better guitarists was pulling up a set next to Uncle Jeffrey, who was good in his own right. Meg had a very mediocre voice, but that didn’t matter. She loved this part. She set her coffee cup on the grass and stood up along with the others. God made her voice, so he probably didn’t mind the sharp notes and, once in a while, inadvertent yodeling.
Music always helped her concentrate on why she was there. It was to ponder God, and to be grateful, and to let all of the rest of her life fall back into its rightful place. Funny how many things slid down her list of priorities when she took time to think about it on a Sunday.
She sat down again with the others after two songs and reached down for her cup of coffee. Just beneath it she caught three tiny white flowers starting to open. There weren’t any others
near her feet, although she glanced around. Just three under her Styrofoam coffee cup. She glanced up at Gage and found him smiling at her. “What?” she mouthed.
“You’re cute,” he whispered.
He must like yodeling, she thought.
Jeffrey handed his guitar to his wife and pulled out a well-worn Bible. It looked dog-eared, sticky noted, and stained. As she took her own out of her bag she wondered if Bible abuse ran in the family.
“Since weddings are on everyone’s mind today,” Jeffrey began, “we’re going to start today with something that probably sounds familiar. It’s the stuff that wall plaques and posters are made of. I’ve even seen it attributed to ‘Anonymous’ on a T-shirt.
“As it turns out, this saying is actually the word of God, and you can find it in 1 Corinthians 13:4-5. I’d like these words to sink in for a moment, so if you can, listen like it’s all brand new. ‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.’”
Jeffrey talked about how hard it is to be married for years and not end up with some sort of tally in the back of your mind. He reminded everyone that if you have a list, you can be sure your spouse has one too, and the chances of either of you making up for the items on that list were slim to none.
The sermon was about having faith in love. Meg knew that was one of the things that had kept her from getting too close to some of her suitors. Maybe she hadn’t had enough faith in her family’s love, either. She always knew they loved her, but she had always felt like she was one wrong move from losing that love.
She wasn’t the missionary her parents wanted to be. And she wasn’t Catherine’s blood daughter. But their love stayed, imperfect but enduring. Maybe she could learn to have faith in that. And that was probably part of the reason for her good mood. She threw Joshua, her un-brother, a big smile. He looked confused, and she thought that was funny.
“The problem is that some marriages dissolve into a season where only the bad things get through. ‘I like your shirt’ begins to sound like ‘You’re stupid,’ and “I want to have another kid’ sounds like ‘You don’t support our family.’ Being easily angered means that you are off track. And as with most derailments, it’s easiest to fix if you stop before all the wheels are off.
Meg's Best Man: A Montana Weekend Novella Page 14
