“Oh, don’t look at him like that,” Momma said. “We just wanted to do something nice for y’all.”
“But…” I stalled, trying to come up with a plausible reason we couldn’t have our very fake marriage come from this very real wedding. “We have an appointment at the courthouse.”
“I took care of that,” Mac said, waving a hand through the air.
I breathed out a laugh. Of course she did. So, I’d kill my sister later, then. “Um, okay, well, we also don’t have anyone here to marry us.”
“I beg your pardon,” Edna said with a sniff. “I got myself ordained on the interwebs last year. Now, if you don’t mind, kids, I’d like to get this show on the road. I was promised there’d be food and booze as payment.”
“The fewer questions, the better,” Rory said as she strolled toward the empty seat next to Nash, who glanced back at us with raised eyebrows and a slight shrug as if to say,might as well go with it.
“What do you say?” Asher squeezed my hand and met my gaze. “You ready to get married?”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
ASHER
When I’d suggestedthis whole thing, I certainly hadn’t anticipated an actual wedding. I’d figured there’d be something detached…something transactional about saying our I do’s at the courthouse where we’d accounted for our share of trouble.
Instead, I’d held her hands and looked into her eyes, the only family I had left surrounding us, as I took her as my wife.
Mywife.
Thankfully, Edna’s performance brought some levity to the situation, especially when it had been sprinkled with curse words—shit, I forgot the rings—and orders to keep things clean when it was time to kiss—remember, you’re not auditionin’ for a porno, kids. And then there was the noisemaker when she pronounced us husband and wife.
The ceremony, it seemed, hadn’t been the only trick up the Havens’ sleeves. Because as soon as that was over, Rory ushered us farther back on the property where huge tents had been erected and half of Havenbrook milled about for what, apparently, was going to be one hell of a party.
Nat stopped dead in her tracks, her hand gripped tight in mine and a fake smile that looked more like a grimace plasteredacross her face. “What the hell is this?” she asked as her family flanked us on either side.
“A reception,” Mac said. “You know, for yourwedding?”
“For my wedding?” she said through clenched teeth, her smile forced. “Right. Right…a wedding that we wanted to take place at the courthouse. You know a little something about that, don’t you, Mac?”
“Oh shit,” Finn said under his breath, while at the same time, Will tried to pull Nat farther into the party, no doubt in an effort to keep my wife from spilling all the secrets.
Mac glared at her, and I, along with everyone else excepting Richard, Caroline, and Gran, found somewhere else to look.
“Shut up, Natalie,” Mac bit out through gritted teeth.
I cringed, knowing Nat’s sister using her full name was only going to stoke the beast more than it already was. Nat didn’t like being blindsided, and they’d managed to do it twice in one day. The gloves were most definitely coming off.
“What’s Nat talkin’ about?” Caroline asked, her brows furrowed as she swayed with Owen in her arms.
“You got me, Momma,” Mac said with a shrug. “Who knows with this one.”
“Oh,Mackennais just tryin’ not to be a bother,” Nat said with a bright smile. “But it’s really a good thing y’all threw together this reception. What, since it can be not only for me and Asher, but for Mac and Hudson, as well.”
“Fuck me,” Hudson muttered directly next to me, the curse so low, I knew the man hadn’t intended for anyone else to hear.
“Why the hell would they need to celebrate at a wedding reception?” Richard asked.
“For their two-week wedding anniversary, of course!”
“I hate you,” Mac hissed under her breath at the same time Hudson sighed and cupped a hand around the back of his neck.
Caroline narrowed her eyes between Mac and Hudson. “What does she mean, your two-week?—”
But I didn’t hear anything more because Nat dragged me away and straight to the bar that had been set up in the corner of the largest tent. “I need a fucking drink.”
