Turnabout's Fair Play (38 page)

“No, this is fine. I don’t need music.” The song in Maureen’s heart was enough.

Kirby reached his hand out for her and turned with her to face Gerald.

“Beloved friends, we are here in the sight of God and the presence of these witnesses to join in holy matrimony this man and this woman.”

Maureen had eyes only for Kirby. He stood there, so tall, so proud—so much better than he’d looked yesterday morning when they’d released him from the hospital. She’d driven him down to the farm to get what he needed for a while, which they’d dropped off at her house. Then they’d gone downtown to get their marriage license and then out to dinner with the Breitingers, the Pattersons, the Bradleys, and Sassy to tell them the news and ask them to be here today.

As a former judge, and not a preacher, Gerald used the short-and-sweet, cut-and-dried version of the ceremony. And before Maureen realized what had happened, Kirby leaned down and kissed her.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Gerald said belatedly.

For good measure, Kirby kissed her again. Maureen liked it even better the second time around. He hugged her tightly. Tears slipped from her eyes. No one had cherished her like this in forty-six years. If only she and Kirby could have met a long, long time ago.

After a celebratory wedding brunch at Perty and Gerald’s house, Maureen and Kirby left in a shower of flower petals—picked hastily, Maureen was certain, from Perty’s extensive flower beds.

Kirby drove straight to Jamie’s townhouse. Unfortunately, Jamie wasn’t home. While Kirby went upstairs to pack up his toiletries and a few remaining belongings, Maureen called Jamie’s cell phone number.

He answered on the third ring—and sounded quite out of breath. “Hey, Cookie. What’s up?”

“Where are you?”

“Up at the gym playing basketball with a few of the people I used to work with. Why?”

“Do you think you’ll be heading home anytime soon? There’s something…something I need to tell you.”

“What, that you and Kirby McNeill are sneaking off to get married?” Jamie laughed.

Maureen couldn’t answer.

“I knew it! You two have been far too secretive the last two or three days—and I saw the marriage license application sitting on the end of the kitchen counter Tuesday afternoon when I came over to pick up my leftovers for the week.”

“Well…we’re not actually
sneaking
off to get married. We just
got
married. Gerald Bradley did the ceremony—he’s a retired judge, you know.”

“I’m really happy for you, Cookie. But if you just got married, I can’t imagine you really want me around right now.”

“Oh stop.” But she laughed at the teasing tone in her grandson’s voice.

“Does Flannery know yet?”

“That’s our next stop.”

“You’re going to tell her at work? Cookie, I don’t know if that’s such a great idea.”

“No, we’re picking her up and taking her out to lunch. But we’ll tell her either outside or in the car—somewhere private, not public.” Maureen looked up at movement on the stairs.

“Good—because I’ve had a few too many emotional conversations in public recently, and I know Flannery has, too.”

Maureen chewed her bottom lip. “Do you think she’ll…?”

“I think once she gets past the initial shock, she’ll be very happy for both of you.”

“I hope so.” She said good-bye and tucked the phone in her pocket.

Kirby set his duffel bag down on the coffee table and sat beside Maureen on the sofa. “Are you having second thoughts?”

She picked up his near hand and held it in both of her own. “No. I know this was the right thing to do. But I know you’re worried about how your family will react—especially knowing there’s no prenuptial agreement.”

“Franklin will be more of a problem than Craig. Franklin’s wife has convinced him that there’s a fortune to be inherited, and they’re going to make a fuss if they think they won’t get their windfall when I die.”

“Franklin is your older boy, the one who lives in Michigan, right?”

Kirby nodded. “Married to Jill, two boys, neither of whom have made much of themselves.”

“And Craig is Flannery’s father.” Maureen dug through the dusty, dim recesses of her memory. “And his wife is…Nina, the doctor. Two other girls are—wait, don’t tell me—Sylvia and Emma.” She smiled in triumph.

“Emily.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Are you ready to go?”

“We did the right thing, didn’t we?” Maureen clutched Kirby’s hand when he moved to get off the sofa. The adrenaline rush of the planning and actual event of the wedding ebbed, leaving plenty of room for doubt to rush in.

“What did Jamie say on the phone?”

The amusement in her grandson’s voice did make her smile a little. “He said he was happy for us.”

“And you don’t believe him?”

“No—I know he meant it. It’s just …”

“Ah, I see. It’s my family you’re afraid of.”

She shrugged. Over the past few weeks, he’d told her enough about his sons—especially the older son, Franklin—to know that not everyone in Kirby’s family would be happy for them, which was why they’d done things the way they had.

“We can always undo it.”

Maureen tore her eyes away from the framed Monet lithograph on the wall and looked at Kirby. No, not just Kirby. Her husband. “I don’t want to undo it.”

A smile spread and softened his craggy features. “I hoped you’d say that.” He bent and kissed her, long and slow, full of passion and gentleness and the promise of forever.

Flannery retwisted her hair and tucked two pencils through the bun this time to try to keep it up and out of her face as she leaned over the cover proofs in the art vault.

Her phone beeped, and she pulled it out. A new text message from Jamie.

C
ALL ME AFTER YOU GET FINISHED WITH LUNCH WITH
C
OOKIE AND
B
IG
D
ADDY
.

She texted back a quick confirmation, put her phone away, and turned her attention back to the proof and what the designer was trying to tell her about the colors and the UV coating and the stock.

Why did Jamie want her to call him? And how did he know she was going out to lunch? She hadn’t known until this morning when Big Daddy called to see if she’d be available—and now Maureen was coming along, too?

What did Jamie know that she didn’t?

Her phone rang. “Yes, Brittany?”

“The front desk just called looking for you. Your grandparents are here to take you to lunch.”

“Thanks, Britt.” Her
grandparents?
Of course, whoever was working the reception desk could have assumed, if Big Daddy said he was her grandfather, that Maureen was her grandmother.

“Let’s pick this up again after lunch. It doesn’t have to go back out until tomorrow, so why don’t you come up with the option you like best, and we can look at the cost.” She left the designer in the bright, climate-controlled room, rushed back to her office to get her purse, and then headed up to the front office.

Sure enough, Maureen stood there with Big Daddy, both of them looking at the shelves of displayed products.

“Here I am. Are y’all ready to go?” Until she knew otherwise, she would just pretend like everything was normal.

What did Jamie know?

She willingly folded herself into the backseat of Maureen’s small hybrid, turning sideways to keep her knees from pushing Maureen’s seat forward.

Big Daddy turned to look at her over his shoulder. “Darlin’, there’s something we need to tell you.”

Flannery swallowed hard. She had a suspicion. “What?”

“Maureen and I got married this morning.” He held up his left hand to reveal a plain gold wedding band. “It was small, just Maureen’s friends and us.”

“M–married?” The air around Flannery got very thin, and she stiffened. “Married? I thought you were going to tell me you were engaged.”

“Nope. We got hitched.” He sobered. “Are you unhappy?”

“Un…no. Not unhappy, just surprised. Isn’t this a bit sudden? I mean…you haven’t known each other very long.”

“Flannery, I’m eighty-six years old. And what happened this week drove home the message pretty clear: I don’t have a lot of time left. So I’m not going to waste what I have on hemming and hawing and wringing my hands before making a decision. I love Maureen. She loves me. I asked; she said yes.” He glanced at Maureen with a smile that made Flannery’s heart melt.

“So, you didn’t tell anyone? Dad? Uncle Frank?” Actually, she worried more about her mother’s and sisters’ reactions than her dad’s.

“No, we haven’t told any of the rest of our family yet. You’re the first to know.”

The first to know?
“I don’t think so. I think Jamie was the first to know. He texted me and told me to call him after lunch. The rat. He’s just sitting there reveling that he knew before I did.” She pulled out her phone and texted him.

He texted back a few seconds later.

She erased it. But grinned. He’d get an earful tonight.

Big Daddy and Maureen—Cookie, she insisted Flannery call her—told her all about the event when they arrived at the restaurant.

“You mean to tell me that when you sent me out of the ER—Jamie and me—that’s when you proposed?” Flannery shook her head and buttered another soft, sweet yeast roll. “I should have known there was something going on and why you sent Jamie with me. Of course, when Big Daddy confessed to trying to set the two of us up, I thought that was all it had been about.”

Cookie gaped at Big Daddy. “You told her about that?”

He shrugged. “I figured it was only fair, since I figured they’d been trying to do the same to us.”

Flannery choked when she tried to inhale a bite of bread. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t try to deny it. You two aren’t as sly as you think. Besides, Jamie admitted it to me last night when Maureen dropped me off at his place. We spent a long time talking, about a lot of things.” His hazel eyes twinkled at her.

She didn’t need or want to know what had passed between the two of them about her. She turned her attention back to Maureen—Cookie. “So who was there with you?”

It didn’t surprise her that the others involved in this were Zarah’s, Bobby’s, Caylor’s, and Dylan’s grandparents. After all, the four grandmothers had been at the hospital with Maureen for hours when Big Daddy was in the emergency room.

“Well…so what are you going to do now? What’s going to happen to the farm?” She’d spent so many happy days and weeks at the farm, she couldn’t imagine never seeing it again.

“Drew—Mimi’s brother’s oldest boy—is going to buy it from me and add it back into his place. So it’ll still be in the family.”

But not in the immediate family. Of course, she hadn’t been down there except to pick him up or drop him off on the way to and from Birmingham for the holidays in the past ten years since Mom and Dad moved down there. But just knowing it was there and she could visit if she wanted to was comforting.

“You’re going to be living with Cookie now?”

“I didn’t think Jamie would want me staying with him.” Big Daddy waggled his brows.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, sorry. Dumb question. When are you going to tell the rest of the family?”

“I’m going to call Craig and Franklin tonight,” Big Daddy said. “They can call their children and let them know.”

Flannery gave a mock gasp. “Are you telling me you’re too chicken to call your grandsons and granddaughters to tell them the good news?”

“I wouldn’t mind calling the boys. But …” He grimaced.

“But you know that Sylvia and Emily are going to go off their rockers about why they weren’t informed ahead of time or invited. Which is why I completely understand why you didn’t invite me but told me afterward. Are you going to tell Dad that I already know?”

“I am. But I’ll be sure to specify that you weren’t at the wedding and didn’t know anything about it so he can assure your sisters of that when he tells them.”

“Tells them? He’ll send them an e-mail if I know him. He doesn’t like breaking family news to them any more than any of the rest of us do.” She’d seen the big lug of a former-football-player-turned-coach done in by those two girly-girls too often in her life.

They finished up lunch, and before Flannery left them at the front of the building, she hugged both Big Daddy and Cookie. “Congratulations. And welcome to the family, Cookie. Just bear with everyone the next couple of weeks. They’ll come around once they get used to the idea.”

“I’m just glad we have you on our side.” Cookie squeezed her tightly.

She waved as they drove off and then entered the building and jogged up the four flights of stairs to the office. Waving off a few people who would have waylaid her, she made a beeline for her office.

“Flan—”

“Just give me a minute, Britt.” She closed the office door and pulled out her phone.

Jamie answered on the first ring. “So?”

“You are the world’s biggest brat. You had to rub it in, to somehow let me know they told you before they told me.”

“Only ’cause I’m their favorite.”

“You’re Cookie’s only grandchild. If you weren’t her favorite, you’d be in serious trouble.”