Dragged to the Wedding(52)
“Good evening,” Weston said as he took a place across from them at the table. Smug, smarmy bastard. “I thought I’d come over to say hello.” He leaned over the table, looking at Daniel.
“I suggest you go back to your table or you’ll be drinking your dinner through a straw,” James growled.
“It’s okay,” Daniel told him with a gentle pat on the hand. “Actually, I have a few questions I’m hoping Weston can answer.” Daniel smiled seductively. “Do you mind?”
“Of course not.” He leaned back in the chair as though he were content and had won something. All James wanted to do was beat the shit out of him.
“Awesome. So I was wondering what barn you grew up in? You obviously have the manners of a goat and the behavior of a pig in heat. I was wondering if acting this way really gets you what you want?”
Now it was James’s turn to sit back.
The woman seated next to Weston snorted. “I thought I was the only one he treated that way.” She hit Weston with a glare that could have frozen fire in its tracks. “I wish I’d have put him in his place that easily.” She extended her hand to Daniel. “Margie Bell. I went to school with Howard. And unfortunately for me, this loser.”
“Margie, I...”
“Unfortunately, I married him and then figured out what an ass he really was...and divorced him two months later.” She turned to Weston. “Go on. I’m looking forward to this evening, and that means not sitting anywhere near you.”
“Despite that lapse in judgment, you remedied that little walk down the path of bad taste.” Daniel glared at Weston. “You heard the lady. Get lost.”
James stood as Weston scraped his chair back, glaring hard at Daniel, and left the table. “Has he been bothering you a lot?” Margie asked before James could.
“Yes. Though he never had a chance. James is wonderful, and Weston has more lines of cheese than Kraft.”
Margie chuckled. “I wish I’d had your mouth when I was dating him. He was always crude. But be careful. Weston is vindictive. He believes in exacting a hurt for a hurt.” The server came to their table. James ordered the prime rib, and Daniel the glazed salmon.
“Do you mind if I have a taste of yours?” Daniel asked.
“Of course not.” James put an arm around Daniel, squeezing lightly and sharing a smile. It finally felt like the two of them were on the same page, and that not only added excitement and anticipation of what was to come, but also happiness and contentment. He still needed to check to see if an officiant had been found, but if necessary, James would figure out how to get ordained on the internet and perform the ceremony himself. One way or another, this wedding was going to come off, with hopefully a minimum of additional drama. “Thank you for everything you’ve done.” He leaned close enough that only Daniel could hear. “This wedding is going to be wonderful, and Holly will look amazing because of you.”
Daniel smiled, and even though they were in a room full of people, that smile was only for him.
“James,” his mother said from behind him, and James immediately tensed. He knew that tone. “Something is going on and your father won’t tell me what it is. Holly is avoiding me, and so is Margot, which can only mean that they are hiding something. Every time I ask, they look toward you.” She folded her arms just under her bosom.
“They’re serving the drinks and will be bringing out dinner soon. I’ll explain everything after we’ve eaten. I promise.” James smiled, and she seemed satisfied, returning to where his father waited for her.
* * *
“All right,” James said after he hung up the phone, unable to eat the last of his dinner. Pushing his chair back, he motioned to his father, who got his mother and joined him before they all left the room and went out into the main restaurant. James led them through to the large wooden front doors and outside. “I’m going to make this brief and as truthful as I can.”
“I’m waiting,” his mother said, her gaze hard.
“Before I begin, there is nothing you can do or could have done, and the problem has been handled.” He took a deep breath. “The man you know as Reverend Peterson isn’t a reverend at all. He’s a fraud. The local police have contacted the church, and now the good reverend is apparently nowhere to be found.” That had been one hell of a call to receive during dinner. “He was a fraud and took someone else’s identity in order to lead this congregation.”
“But... Those accolades...”
“All fake. Everything about him was a lie. He has left the church and the police are looking for him.”
“How could you?” his mother demanded. “He’s the best minister we’ve ever had.”
“Mother,” James snapped. “He isn’t a minister at all. He’s a fake, someone who stepped in off the street...a nobody.” Part of him knew this was why they had never told her, but it still hurt that she took the reverend’s side over his, and ignored the fact that he had uncovered someone who was only going to hurt everyone badly in the end.
“Let me get this straight. Reverend Peterson is gone?” his mother said levelly, and James nodded. “The night before your sister’s wedding?” James nodded again. “You couldn’t have waited?” The fire in her eyes and the way her hand clenched and opened again told him she was about to explode and things were going to get really ugly, like mama tiger ugly.