“I open this door,” yelled Mabel, “and I better not see no men or I’ll shoot ’em.”
The sound of people running back down the stairs made Emily smile. The MacEnroys did not react well to being told “no” and this was their third try to get in.
“They don’t stand up to Mabel, do they?” said Maggie.
“I suspect that is because if Mabel says she will shoot you, she will,” said Charlotte. “And she never misses.” Charlotte looked at Emily. “I assume she only intended to wound.”
Emily shrugged. “I would assume that, too. This is a wedding, after all.”
Mabel opened the door and looked down. Neddy stood there in his best clothes, clutching the rings and staring wide-eyed at Mabel. Then he looked around, spotted Emily, and ran to her. She put her arm around his shoulders. At least he was not scowling at her as he had been since the day he understood she was to marry Iain. He glared at Iain a lot as well, which just made the man laugh.
“Time to go,” Neddy said. “I got your rings.” He held out his hand, opened it, and pointed to the largest of the two rings. “His ring.” He pointed to the smaller one. “Your ring. See? I ’membered.”
“Yes, very good. I am ready to go now.” She caught him glancing at Maggie, who had moved to her side.
“What that?” he asked, and pointed at her belly.
“A baby,” Maggie replied, and smiled.
“You eated a baby?”
It was hard but Emily swallowed the urge to laugh when she saw his horrified look, and Maggie was not helping by laughing so hard right next to her. Poor Neddy was suffering from a lot of upsetting news lately. No matter what she and Iain said the boy was convinced he was losing her.
“No, honey-pie,” Maggie said, her voice still quivering with amusement. “This is where a mommy carries the baby.” She took his empty hand and placed it against her belly. “It is growing there and, when it is done growing, it will come out.”
Neddy frowned at her stomach. Emily smiled at the fierce look of concentration the boy wore. Then his eyes suddenly grew huge and he yanked his hand back. Emily moved fast to pick him up before he raced out of the room. If he decided to hide, she would need to find another ring bearer.
“It moved. It trying to get out,” he said, his soft but hurried words revealing his fears.
“No, sweetheart,” Maggie said, getting closer to him but she stepped back when Neddy cringed away from her. “It isn’t trying to get out, it’s just moving around. Maybe doing a little dance, do you think?”
“Maybe it kicked me. It does not like me.”
“Must be a little girl then.”
Neddy laughed, then suddenly he started turning back and forth while looking at the floor. “Rings! I droppeded the rings.”
All the women started to look but they would not let Emily get down on the floor to help. She was stuck looking where she thought the rings may have fallen from Neddy’s hand or where they may have rolled to when they had hit the floor. They finally found them under the bed.
“How did they get all the way over there?” Emily asked as she put them back into Neddy’s hand.
“I throwed them when I got scared,” he said, closing his hand tightly around the rings.
“It is all right, love,” Emily said. “We found them so no harm done.” She frowned at the door when a somewhat timid knock sounded and Mrs. O’Neal opened it to reveal a blushing Robbie.
“I think we should go down now,” he said. “Iain is getting nervous.”
“You are escorting me?”
Robbie nodded. “I won the toss so I get to be the one to hand ye over to him.”
Emily laughed and shook her head as she walked over and linked her arm with Robbie’s. “Then we had best get moving.”
“He really is getting nervous,” Robbie whispered.
“Why?” she whispered back. “Does he think I am making an escape through the window?”
“Nay,” Robbie said, laughing softly and shaking his head. “I dinnae ken what is wrong with him but he is, um, twitchy.”
