My Man Pendleton (45 page)

Kit.

"Hold on a sec," she said, lifting one gloved hand, index finger extended for emphasis. She turned gracefully to face her father.

"Although you know how much I absolutely
adore
that cheese dome you got us, Daddy, I think there's one more wedding present you promised me. Do you have it?"

Her father's face was impassive as he reached into his jacket and withdrew a slender white envelope from the breast pocket. Without a word, he approached his daughter and handed it to her.

"Thanks, Daddy," she sang out happily as she curled her fingers around it. Then she turned even further, scanning the group of guests seated on the bride's side. "Mr. Abernathy?" she called out to the elegantly dressed man in the second row.

Mr. Abernathy rose, and when he came forward, Kit handed the envelope to him. "Not that I think for a moment that Daddy would try to pull a fast one, but would you mind checking that over real quick, before Pendleton and I get on with the
I do
segment of our program?"

"I'd be delighted," Mr. Abernathy replied as he withdrew the document from inside.

For five full minutes, the wedding paused, while Hatton Abernathy inspected the wedding gift from Kit's father.

Finally, he looked up and nodded. "Everything is in perfect order, Miss McClellan. At the trust's expiration next week, Mrs. McClellan's estate shall revert to the family as she indicated. And over the next twenty years, Hensley's Distilleries, Inc. will donate a total of ninety-nine-point-four million dollars to the six charities of which your mother was so fond, in addition to their usual philanthropy."

Kit smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Abernathy."

Her father grumbled beside her. "Don't you think there's someone else you should be thanking other than Abernathy?"

Kit turned to face her father and smiled. "Yes," she said. "Yes, I do. Thank you, Daddy. Thank you for agreeing to the terms I asked for. And thank you for Pendleton, too."

And then she leaned forward and brushed her lips over her father's cheek. When she pulled back, Holt McClellan, Sr. nodded gruffly once and returned to his seat, with Hatton Abernathy following immediately behind.

After that, nothing in heaven or on earth could have stopped Kit's wedding. And with the announcement that she and Pendleton were husband and wife, the two of them turned and embraced, kissing each other for all they were worth.

A rousing cheer went up from the groom's side, initiated by Axel Pendleton, and quickly chorused by virtually everyone present. Then Pendleton scooped Kit up into his arms and carried her back down the aisle, under the trellis, across the backyard, and through the back door to Cherrywood. And although he was tempted to just keep on going and not stop until he reached their honeymoon destination of Veranda Bay, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, he knew his wife would never forgive him if she didn't have the opportunity to say her proper goodbyes.

So Pendleton made his way into the majestic McClellan dining room and set his bride down near the buffet. And he was surprised when Kit looked upon him with obvious consternation.

"What?" he asked.

"You know," she began slowly, "why don't we just cut the cake and then beat a hasty retreat?"

He arched his eyebrows in surprise. "You don't want to hang around for your own wedding reception?"

She shook her head. "No. I'd rather go to a hotel and make wild monkey love with my husband for the rest of the day and night."

Pendleton pretended to give that some consideration. "Um, yeah, okay. We could do that."

"Kit! Rocky!"

"After I get rid of my family," he amended when he saw the other Pendletons striding toward them. When he noted that Carny was accompanied only by her son, Joey, he asked, "What? You didn't bring your new boyfriend?"

His sister didn't seem too concerned about the man's absence. "We split up. He was such a wimp. Call me a sexist, but I think a man should just be, you know
…
Manly."

"Oh, look," Kit piped up beside him, pointing toward the main entrance to the dining room, where a very tall, very fit, very blond-and-blue-eyed man stood, his face handsomely lined and tanned from obvious exposure to the elements. "My brother Mick made it after all. He must be fresh off the plane from
Zaire
. And doubtless, by now, he's feeling very, very manly. Perhaps Carny would like to meet him."

Pendleton chuckled. "Perhaps she would."

Before he could move to make the introductions, however, Kit continued blithely, "And Bart brought Donna. How sweet. They're planning to elope tonight. Did you know that?"

He shook his head. "No, I didn't."

"And,"
Kit continued, "observe my brother, Dirk, over yonder."

She pointed to the other side of the room where Professor McClellan stood with a woman who was even taller and broader than he. She was an acquaintance of Bart's, a woman the youngest McClellan son had introduced as a Marine Corps drill instructor.

"Dirk and Matilda are hitting it off really well," Kit noted. "And I think she's exactly the kind of woman he needs, don't you?"

"Could be," Pendleton agreed. "Could be."

"Well, then," she went on in a rush of words, "I think that takes care of just about everything, don't you?"

He thought about that for a moment. "Don't you want to say hello to your brother, Mick?"

Kit raised herself up on tiptoe, fluttered her gloved hand in the air and yelled, "Hello, Mick! Good to have you home!" Then she lowered herself to Pendleton's side and said, "There. Now can we go?"

"Does this mean we can get on with that wild monkey love thing you mentioned?"

Kit nodded eagerly. "Uh-huh."

"Then cut the cake, sweetheart, and let's get out of here."

Without further comment, Kit picked up the beribboned, sterling silver knife that sat beside the enormous, three-tiered, heart-shaped froth of white that was their wedding cake. Then she lopped off a serving for two, wrapped it in a linen napkin, and spun around to face her husband.

"I'm ready when you are."

"Let's do it."

The couple turned to the guests, the last of whom were making their way into the dining room, and lifted their hands in farewell.

"See y'all later!" Kit called.

"Yeah, we're outta here!" Pendleton added.

As their guests gazed at them in complete befuddlement, Kit snatched her bouquet from where she had laid it on the buffet, and lobbed it into the air. Pausing only long enough to see it descend beautifully into Faith Ivory's hands, she turned to her husband again.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you, too," he told her.

And that, she knew, was all that mattered. So, turning their backs on everything else in the world, Mr. and Mrs. Pendleton beat a hasty retreat. They paused at the front door for another lengthy kiss, then, laughing, made their way out to the little roadster parked in front—the one that was decorated with a slew of tin cans tied to strings, a homemade sign announcing their newly married state, and a bumper sticker that read
I LOVE MY TATTOO FROM TATTOO CHARLIE'S.
As the motor revved and they lurched away from Cherrywood, Kit turned to gaze upon her husband.

And as she leaned over to brush her lips across his cheek, she murmured, "You're my man, Pendleton. You're my man."

* * * * *