“That’s up to you. We can stay quiet and let the wedding happen. You would need to prevent the reverend from signing the marriage license and have it signed by a JP on Monday. That would handle the legal issues for you.”
Holly pulled away. “I am not getting married by Reverend Creepy McFraud Face. No way in hell. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but it certainly isn’t that.” She stood tall, wiped her eyes, and glared at all four of them. “We will fix this somehow, and so help me god, I want to hang him by his nuts until he screams bloody murder.”
“You can go as feral on him as you want once we figure this out, and after you’re married,” Daniel said. “But I like it.”
James chuckled. “Then we need to figure out what to do about the wedding. We already have people coming and it’s too late to send out a change of venue. That would confuse everyone. I don’t know if we can use the church without the reverend.” He tried to think of alternatives.
“Let’s keep our attention on step one,” Daniel said. “First, think about it: Are you sure you don’t just want to move forward? This drama doesn’t have to affect your wedding.”
“I’m sure. I never wanted him in the first place.”
“Okay. Then let’s assume that the wedding can still take place at the church.” Daniel huffed, clearly thinking. “Did you sign an agreement for the venue or make a donation to the church to secure it?”
Holly glanced up at Howard. “Did we?”
“Yes. I made out a check.”
Daniel smiled and James understood where this was heading. “Perfect, then. We can argue that we rented the sanctuary for the service,” James said, and Daniel nodded. “But that means we need to find someone else to perform the actual service. Worst case, we let the wedding itself just go ahead.” One hurdle down, and another rose up right behind it.
“We can try to find someone,” Howard said, looking tired. “It’s going to be nearly impossible, though.” James wished he could argue, but Howard had a point. “Maybe we just have someone who can lead the service, and go to the courthouse quietly on Monday to make it legal. I don’t know. Holly and I will work on it.”
“Good. Then I think we have the rehearsal so everyone is familiar with the church. James will go to the police and turn this guy in, and they can take it from there. The wedding can go on as planned and the police can handle Reverend Creepy.” Daniel seemed really pleased about that, and James had to admit, he would be relieved to see the end of all this. “Is that acceptable?”
Holly and Howard both nodded.
“So none of you say anything to anyone.” James looked right at Margot. “Not a word to anyone.”
“What about Mom and Dad?” Margot asked.
“We’ll talk to them at the right time. Are we all agreed?” James asked, and the four others nodded. “We have a plan.” James sighed.
“But…” Margot said. “I don’t think it’s fair to keep the parental units out of this. They will have to know.”
She was right. “Okay. Let me handle it. Holly and Howard, you go on as though nothing is happening. Other than trying to find an officiant, leave the rest to us. You have more than enough to deal with.” He took Daniel’s hand, grateful for the support, because trying to do this alone would be a nightmare. “The rehearsal is in less than two hours, so you should go get ready and try not to think about all this.”
“Like we can somehow not think about our wedding completely self-destructing,” Holly deadpanned.
“It isn’t that bad. We’ll try to find someone to officiate, and the rest will go on as planned. Try not to worry about it too much.” James hugged his sister tightly. “I mean it. I’ll say the words if I have to, and we’ll make sure everything is legal. You’ll have a wonderful wedding. I promise.” The last thing he wanted was for Holly to be disappointed. “It will be better than with Reverend Creepy.”
Holly quivered in his arms, and he thought she was crying, but it turned out just the opposite. “I think anything is better than that. I just hope the ‘reverend’ pays for what he’s done.” She returned to Howard, and they walked to his car, then pulled out of the drive.
“Why don’t you go back to your room, and be sure to say nothing, okay?” Daniel asked Margot, and she hurried off after promising to keep quiet.
James stood in the yard in front of Daniel. “What the heck are we going to do now?” He could scare the reverend half to death, but he had no idea what to do to try to fix this.