Bad Boy's Kiss (Firemen in Love Book 2) (33 page)

Mom stomped her foot. Rachael poked her head out the car window and yelled for me to hurry up.

“I have to, Jayce, or I'll lose everything.”

“Maybe, but if you go through with it, you're going to lose Max. Are you willing to give up on him?”

“I... I don't know. He's in jail for something horrible, and even if he's innocent, I don't know if I can trust him. He hid getting fired from me. Lied when I asked about his job.”

“He was probably afraid of scaring you away with the truth.”

Mom screeched. “Anna, if you don't get off that dang phone...”

“I have to go,” I whispered.

“Think about what I said. You still have time to change your mind, no matter if you think you don't.”

Later that day, his words replayed in my head as we drove to the church. I'd never been so conflicted in my life.

What was it that I wanted, really? Marrying Henry would let me keep the farm and I'd stay in the family's good graces.

But I didn't want him as desperately as I wanted Max.

If I ruined this wedding and refused to go through with it, I'd be left with nothing. Then I'd have to wait for Max to get out of jail – and what if he was truly guilty of that awful crime? Then I wouldn't have him, either.

At the church, everyone was there waiting for us. Mom grumbled and blamed me for making us late in front of the whole wedding party.

Henry stood with his friends across the room. When he saw me, he smiled and gave a polite nod. I tried to smile back, but I couldn't.

“Henry has such a big family,” Rachael remarked. “I heard he invited over a hundred people for his side alone. With all the folks dad has coming, there could be, like, a thousand guests here! Aren't you excited?”

My stomach felt sick. “Yeah. Excited. I just want to get this over with.”

“You're acting awful ungrateful,” she said. “Do you realize how lucky you are? I mean, I wish someone would ask
me
to marry him.” With that, she shot a withering glare at Trey.

The poor guy quickly shuffled off and hid himself in the crowd. Rachael had sure been treating him like crap these days, but I was far too stressed to worry about what her problem was.

“There's the lovely bride to be.” Dad came up to me with a grin. “You're going to make this family proud, honey. You and Henry are a great match.”

“How can you know that when we've only just met?”

“Oh, Anna. Your father knows what makes a good man. He'll be a fine husband for you, I promise.”

The music for the wedding suddenly blared through the speakers. That was our cue to get started.

“But I don't want to marry him. I want Max.”

Dad scowled. “He's a criminal. Best put him out of your mind and move on with your life.”

But I couldn't just do that. I wanted him back with me, the way things used to be. Remembering him and all the wonderful moments we shared brought tears to my eyes.

“I know you're very happy, but don't ruin your makeup for the cameras, dear,” Mom shouted. “It would simply take forever to redo it.”

Everyone took their places, and the guests hushed. I stood at the back with dad by my side, feeling like I was gonna throw up – and not from the morning sickness this time.

Funny, I was so mad when dad tried to force me and Max to marry. It took losing him to realize just how happy I actually would have been.

I prayed he was nothing more than a dopey troublemaker who didn't know how to keep his mouth shut. If he did what they said he did...

Not that it mattered anymore.

Just as the music swelled, the heavy church doors swung open and slammed hard into the wall. The noise echoed through the building, and everybody turned to see who'd rudely interrupted us.

“Am I too late?”

Oh, crap. I knew that voice, and I hoped I'd never have to hear it again.

I spun around and confirmed my fears.

“Rich?” I glared. “What are you
doing
here?”

Everybody was staring and whispering. I didn't care what they thought. I was too busy talking myself out of punching him in the face.

Rich looked terrible, at least, so it was some small comfort. His hair was sticking in all different directions; his face was pale and cheeks covered in stubble. The rings under his eyes said he hadn't been sleeping well lately.

He held a suitcase in his hand, too. This he set down, then slowly approached me. His gaze fell to the bump in my belly.

“I can't believe it,” he murmured. “Can't believe that's my baby in there.”

The whole church went utterly silent. Dad's face turned that scary shade of purple. Henry's jaw fell. I could see Rachael mouthing the words “I knew it,” to Trey.

“
Your baby?
” Dad stormed toward him. “Explain yourself, young man.”

“What's there to explain? Anna is carrying my baby.”

The sanctuary erupted into a complete uproar. People were shouting, fighting, and taking pictures. Some of Henry's family members were crying their eyes out. Henry, however, remained composed and came to my side.

“Anna,” dad growled. “You said it was
Max's
child.”

I hung my head. This was
not
good.

Rich boldly pushed dad out of the way. He completely ignored Henry and tried to take my hand. Disgusted, I pushed him away.

“My wife found out about us,” he said, crying. “She kicked me out of the house, and I have nowhere to go. I thought... Maybe I acted too rashly, you know? Maybe we could make a go of it. I heard you were getting married, but if there's still a chance; if you'll forgive me...”

“Wait. Did you say your
wife?
”

Rich sank to his knees and sobbed. I felt no sympathy for him, but he was almost too pathetic to be mad at.

Henry held up a hand. “Can someone please explain what this fool is doing ruining everything? This is supposed to be the happiest day of our lives, but he's turned it into a complete circus.”

Mom, too, decided she had to join the fray. “Anna, did you have
sex
with a married man? How could you?” She clutched the rosary around her neck. “Oh God, please forgive my sinner of a daughter.”

Insults were hurled back and forth in every direction. Somebody in the crowd threw their Bible at me – luckily, it missed – and called me a whore who direly needed the Lord's saving.

To my surprise, Rachael actually came to my defense. She left behind a bewildered Trey and stood at my side.

“Don't be so hard on her! She didn't know he was married.” She glared daggers at Rich. “He's the one who led her on. He got her pregnant and then abandoned her like it was nothing.”

“You homewrecker!” An elderly woman shouted at me.

“Should have kept your legs closed,” yelled someone else.

Rich finally managed to get on his feet. He was still whimpering like a little girl, though. What in the world did I ever find attractive about him?

One of the church employees came up and put his hand on Rich's shoulder. “Sir, please, I must ask you to leave. You're disturbing the peace, and –”

Rich threw him off. “I don't care! Anna, don't marry this guy. He doesn't care about you one bit.”

Henry, usually totally cool and collected from what I'd so far seen of him, charged at Rich and grabbed him by the shirt. He slammed him up against a pew, ignoring the gasps and screams of everyone else.

“Listen here, you little turd! I was about to marry this wonderful girl, and you have the gall to show up and ruin everything for me! How do
you
know I don't care for her? I'll treat her far better than you ever did.”

Dad gaped at Henry like he'd grown an extra head. Obviously, this fine “gentleman” he'd chosen for me could be anything but.

Outside, police sirens wailed. Had someone actually called the cops?

“Get off of me,” Rich grunted. “What's your problem, man? I'm just trying to make things right here.”

Something about the way he said that struck me as... Authentic, maybe? And for a split second, I thought maybe he was telling the truth.

Henry shoved Rich down with an angry growl. He stomped over to dad.

“This is a disaster. I'm sorry, Mr. Southwell, but I just can't do this.”

Dad paled. “Whatever do you mean?”

“I can't go through with this wedding.” He lowered his voice. “I was all ready to claim her child as my own. Nobody had to know the truth. Now that this idiot has screamed it to the world, everyone will know the baby isn't mine. They'll know my wife got the kid from her tryst with a married man. I refuse to deal with that kind of scandal.”

Henry went for the microphone. Dad followed him up the aisle, pleading with him to reconsider.

“Come now, let's not be so hasty. Anna is a good woman, she's just made a few mistakes. Perhaps a bit extra compensation would change your mind?”

Henry shook his head and shouted into the microphone. “Excuse me, everyone, but I'm afraid this wedding will have to be canceled. I'm truly sorry to all the family and friends who took their time to come all the way out here...”

His side of the family kept shooting me murderous looks. I hadn't done a thing wrong, but then why did I feel like a slutty harlot whose fault it all was, like I had ruined everything?

The doors opened again, and in came three police officers. That was, evidently, the cue for guests to get up and hurry out to their cars.

“What seems to be the problem here? Is anyone injured?”

Rich howled and curled up in the fetal position on the pew. “He tried to
kill
me!”

Henry threw down the microphone. It emitted an ear-piercing squeal as it rolled to the floor. “Why, you piece of...”

As the cops approached Henry for questioning, I went and sat down by Rich. Okay, maybe I did feel a smidgen bad for him. Look at him, sobbing like he'd just gone through a psychotic break.

“Rich,” I said quietly. “What are you
really
doing here?”

“I – I told you.”

“No. How did you know I was getting married, and where at? How'd you know I would be at this church? And what possessed you to show up and do this in front of all these people during the wedding?”

He cried louder. “I had no choice, I swear! I didn't want to ruin your wedding. I already feel bad enough about what a horrible husband I've been, and... This.” He pointed to my baby bump.

“So then why?”

“Because
he
made me. Said if I didn't stop you from marrying this guy, he'd tell my wife everything. Then what would I do? It would destroy me.”

“He?”

“The guy who called from the Waco jail. Never gave me his name.”

Max.

Oh, my God. Max was responsible for all of this! He'd blackmailed Rich into breaking up the wedding. It was all his fault that I'd been humiliated in front of everyone. His fault, too, that dad looked ready to strangle me.

Even if he were innocent, this alone made me want to hate him. How could he be so stupid and thoughtless?

“My wife doesn't really know,” he whispered. “I just said that for dramatic effect. He told me I had to do whatever it takes to stop the wedding. If I failed, it was over for me.”

And now, it was over for
me.

As the church emptied and the police soon figured out that no one was in physical danger, I sat alone in a pew, trying to make sense of it all. How could my nice, normal life have gotten messed up so badly? Maybe I should have stayed a lawyer in New York.

Mom was on the phone, wildly trying to cancel as much stuff as she could to save some of dad's money. Given that this was the actual day of the wedding, she had poor luck.

“What do you mean, you can't refund us? There will
be
no reception. We have no need of twenty-five hundred dollars worth of catering.” She gasped. “You already made the food? Well, that's certainly not my problem. Let me talk to your manager right this instant, missy!”

Rachael stood by her side, trying to console her –
her,
of all people – about losing so much money. She barely seemed to notice me sitting alone. In fact, nobody did. It was as if they thought by associating with me, my “sinful nature” would rub off on them.

At last, dad approached. He had been furious earlier, but now, his expression was clinical and cold. He did not sit beside me.

“Do you realize what you've done, Anna? I have never been so embarrassed in my life.”

“
You're
embarrassed?” I had to laugh. “What about me?”

“Your poor choices are yours to make. That's between you and God – except when it ruins everything for your family.”

“Nothing got ruined.” I glared. “I didn't want to marry Henry anyway.”

Maybe I shouldn't have said that. For a moment, I thought he was going to beat me.