Page 35 of A Week To Wed
ChapterTwenty-Three
Lincoln
Midnight comes and goes.
And I’m not yet married in the eyes of the state.
Looks like I might indeed lose the ranch unless Ray’s efforts to over-serve the executors of my dad’s estate work in any capacity.
But in my gut, I know that’s not going to work. When we do get married in a civil ceremony next week, the date and time will show that we failed. I failed.
Maybe if I’d been a better son, Dad never would have seen fit to use a marriage clause in the will.
At least Maisy is doing her best to keep a stiff upper lip. Dancing, chatting and laughing it up with new friends. Serena, Maisy, and Hattie are down by the creek swapping wedding horror stories, and I’m just standing here, taking all of this in.
“What’s the matter, uncle?”
I turn to find my nephew, Jonas, watching me.
We shake hands. “Nothing. I was really hoping to pull off the ceremony before midnight. Really hope Pastor Joan’s okay.”
“Oh, she’s fine,” Jonas says.
“She is?”
He nods. “Yeah. I heard from Zeke, who heard from Hattie, who heard from one of her employees at the salon that Reverend Joan was last seen in a late-night meeting with the mayor at the town hall. After your Maisy’s donation, the reverend and the mayor decided to buckle down and make plans for the additions to the children’s charity center. So, it looks like your officiant forgot all about the wedding.”
It’s all so absurd; I don’t know whether to laugh or cuss somebody out.
Jonas sips his beer and then says, “Wait. Did you say midnight? Why?”
I chuckle. “No reason other than my old man didn’t think I could manage to get married before I turned 40. Tomorrow’s my birthday. Or, today, I s’pose.”
Jonas blinks at me. “Uncle. It’s eleven forty-five.”
“Boy, how much have you had to drink? It’s twelve forty-five a.m., and I’m starting to wonder what everyone is still doing here because I want to take my wife home now.”
Jonas throws his head back and laughs. “Uncle. Daylight Savings Time ends tonight. We get an extra hour. So, it’s now eleven forty…six.”
Shit. “I didn’t think of that.”
My nephew is somewhere between exasperated and elated. “Why didn’t you say something? At least a third of the population is ordained by that internet church!”
“What’s that, now?” I ask.
“Out of necessity, plenty of people here are ordained. We got what, one pastor and one magistrate in Darling Creek? Regular people have had to fill in the gaps whenever needed.”
“Are you serious, nephew?”
Jonas mutters a curse, shakes his head, and says, “It’s amazing what you learn when you open your mouth and talk to people.”
ChapterTwenty-Four
Maisy
It’s ten minutes to midnight — again.
Our officiant is a fully ordained bartender from Willie’s named Wink. He’s slightly tipsy, but so is everyone else here, apart from my groom and me.
