“Smart kids,” I say. “Must run in the family.”
He hums and hooks a finger through the side of my overalls again, tugging me closer and raising the thermostat out here. I’m already letting out a measured exhale when Gertie’s gaze seems to settle on us.
“So, I know you have a lot of options, but I’d like to be consideredwhen you pick a flower girl. You know, when you get married,” she declares, stroking the lamb she’s cradling in her arms.
Rowan and I both force an awkward laugh, and Heath swoops in to chide her.
Gertie rears her head back. “What do you mean, they don’t know yet?”
“She doesn’t have an engagement ring,” her cousin points out, and Gertie frowns.
“TanteDaisy andN’oncleLan decided to get married before she had a ring,” Gertie argues.
Heath cringes. “TanteDaisy andN’oncleLan sort of … did things out of order.”
I cross my arms over my middle at the reminder that my mere presence is enough to scandalize most of Rowan’s family.
“They still did it the right way, though,” Rowan adds. “Sometimes grownups get mixed-up. Even Saint Joseph and the Blessed Mother’s marriage probably seemed a little crazy to some of their friends and family at first. But so long as we keep trying our best to listen to the Lord and to obey Him, and to love one another, of course, there’s nothing that can’t be unscrambled.”
“Cool. So, can I be in your wedding, too?” Giles pipes up, and I stifle a whimper.
Heath smirks. “Come on, kids. Why don’t we give these grownups some time to discern where the good Lord is currently leading them, and we can meet up inside later.”
“Okay,” Gertie concedes, though she’s not happy about it. To be fair, neither am I.
I watch as Heath has to practically drag her away from the barn, already debating my next line of defense.
Should I pick a fight with Rowan? Make him think I’m absolutely disgusted with the idea of marrying him? Maybe I can get away with a few crude jokes about the barn loft and plant a few more seeds of doubt.
My heart quickens as Rowan turns to face me. “Come on,” hesays softly, inclining his head. “I figure that’s enough torture for one day.”
“So you’re giving me a free pass?” I ask, careful not to let him hear the regret in my tone.
“It’s that or a proposal, and I figure you might kick me if I get down on one knee,” he says, but he doesn’t bother hiding his disappointment.
“I probably wouldn’t complain if you got down on both knees, though,” I mumble, and he snorts.
“You and your barn fantasy,” he murmurs as he takes my hand, and he doesn’t let it go until we reach his parents’ house.
“I’ll go around to get the dogs if you want to start saying goodbye,” he tells me, so I nod and go in through the back door.
“What’s he really doing with her, though? I mean, can she even get married in the church?”
I stop in my tracks when I hear the conversation coming from inside the kitchen.
“She might need an annulment.”
“But if she’s unbaptized, it wouldn’t be a sacramental wedding.”
My breath catches in my throat as I hear what sounds like Rowan’s sisters debating our future.
“They could have a natural wedding, but she’d have to convert for it to become sacramental.”
“Then again, if she’s already been married, I’m sure his willpower has been put to the test.”
One of them chuckles. “Are you kidding? Have you seen the way he looks at her? There’s no way they haven’t already?—”
“Enough!” I wince when I recognize Daisy’s voice. “Maybe she will need an annulment, maybe she won’t. Maybe she’s already been baptized, and for all I know, they’ve done a better job of remaining chaste than any of us. Well, except you, Rose. But, anyway, she’s a lovely person, and one of my best friends. None of us know exactly what she’s been through or what her first marriage was like, and it’s not our place to say what kind of future she and Rowan could havetogether, if she even wants that. Regardless, she deserves your respect and certainly not your judgment.”
