Judging Judas (Tarnished Saints Series Book 3) (11 page)

“Have a good time you two,” said Judas, giving Thomas a quick handshake/half hug.

“Thomas, I don’t think it’s a good idea to let the kids ride on the motorcycle with Pete if we’re not here,” said Angel, glancing back with a worried look on her face.

“Pete knows how to ride,” Thomas assured her. “That’s his old bike he found in the back of the pole barn.”

“That’s right,” said Zeb. “And I remember the wonderful races we had with those things in the dark more than once on these backwoods roads and how he usually won.”

“Oh, I’m going to go have a talk with him,” said Angel, starting away, but Thomas pulled her back.

“Angie, the kids will be fine. They’ve got Pete watching over them and also J.D.”

“And that’s supposed to calm me?” she asked, glancing over to Judas.

“I’ll keep an eye on things
, now get going already before you two miss your flight,” said Judas.

Zeb helped Angel into the ca
r as she protested that she thought she was forgetting something that was of importance.

“So how long will you be gone?” Judas asked Thomas.

“Well, the honeymoon is a week long but I didn’t tell Angie that we might be there a little longer.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because we’re going to the Caribbean, and while we’re there I’m going to hunt down our two obstinate youngest brothers and haul their asses home.”

“Haven’t you even heard from Thad or Nate since Ma died?” asked Judas.

“No. But I heard from Simon. He’s been down there for the past month and he told me where to find them.”

“Well, good luck. Hopefully sooner or later we’ll get all our pr
odigal brothers to come home and we’ll kill the fatted calf,” Judas said with a laugh.

“If you mean
they’ll come home once they find out they’ll inherit land and a house if they come back and get married, then yeah. That’s my plan to lure them home.”

The horn honked, getting thei
r attention, and Zeb looked at them over the top of his sunglasses. “Were you planning on walking to the Caribbean or what?” he asked. “Because if you don’t get in the car already, we’re leaving without you.”

Laney joined Judas and they waved goodbye, watching the convertible drive away, leaving them there with all the kids, a crazy minister on a motorcycle
, and a pregnant girl with an attitude bigger than her bulging stomach.

“This is starting to feel like home, isn’t it?” asked Laney slipping her hand around his waist.

Judas remembered the chaotic times of growing up with eleven brothers, an angel of a mother and a devil of a father. Then he thought of his new life with Laney and J.D. He looked over and saw his daughter ordering the younger kids around, telling them to get her suntan lotion and also a soda.

He remembered doing similar things to his younger brothers
Thad and Nate who were a decade or so younger than him.

“Yep,” he said with a nod of his head. “It certainly is starting to feel just
like one crazy messed-up family.”

Chapter 10

It had been three days since they’d applied for their marriage license, and the day had come all too fast in Laney’s opinion. She stood in the church full of people, knowing Judas had wanted th
e same turnout as his brother Thomas, and had invited the entire town as well.

Laney wo
re a simple peach-colored frilly dress she’d brought with her when she moved here, having had no time to look for an actual wedding gown. Nor did she feel she should wear one since she already had a teenage daughter. Candace offered to lend Laney her wedding gown, but Laney didn’t feel it was appropriate in her situation. She held a bouquet of daisies and other wildflowers in her hands that Candace had picked from Thomas’s garden and given to her.

It seemed that when Thomas’s house was a Bed and Breakfast and owned by the elderly couple, the Ainsleys, they had planted a huge perennial flower garden that spanned the entire length of the channel of water next to the house. It bloomed beautifully
every year with no effort involved.

She looked down to the bouquet and noticed it was shaking. She was more nervous than she thought. Though she’d asked her daughter to be her bridesmaid, J.D. had used the excuse that she didn’t want everyone staring at her big belly and would rather just hide in a pew instead. Laney knew it was because the girl still hadn’t accepted Judas as her father, nor did she want Laney to marry him.

She’d even fak
ed morning sickness, pretending she was throwing up in the bathroom and couldn’t come. Laney knew better since J.D. hadn’t been sick since her first trimester, so she hauled her to the church anyway.

“Laney, thank you so much for asking me to be your maid of honor,” said Candace, stan
ding at her side dressed in a light blue sundress and holding flowers as well. “I feel so honored since we’ve just met and I don’t really know you.”

“Well, thank you for agreeing,” she said, looking across the church to J.D. who was sitting nea
r the back with her new teenage friends, some of them looking like they might be more trouble than her. Especially the one named Charolette. “I don’t know what I’d have done if you’d said no.”

“I would never.” She laid an understanding hand on Laney’s shoulder. “And I have a surprise for you as well. Come on out girls,” she said, and her six-year-old daughter Val, and Thomas’s
eight-year-old daughter, Gabby came walking down the aisle with baskets of rose petals, scattering them on the ground in front of her.

“That is so precious. Thank you, Candace,” she said with tears in her eyes.

The music started, and Candace walked up the aisle after the little girls, but Laney found herself frozen to the spot and unable to move. All eyes were on her. She saw Judas up at the front altar as well as Levi who was standing next to him, but a little ways back. She knew Judas had asked him to be his best man since his brother Zeb had court and couldn’t make it on such short notice, and Thomas was away on his honeymoon. Levi had only agreed because Candace more or less begged him to do it.

Laney didn’t see Pete anywhere but there were a couple altar servers with candles standing upfront waiting for him.

Judas came
down the aisle to meet her, looking sexier than she’d ever seen him, dressed in a nice suit and tie. He even wore a gold tie-clip with a small diamond in the center that he said Zeb gave him as a present.

“Come on, Laney,” he said in a low voice, putting her hand atop his arm and walking her down the aisle. “What’s the matter?” he whispered.

“Nothing,” she said, feeling like she wished this was happening seventeen years ago, and that her parents were there too. Although now that she thought about it, they’d never liked Judas, so maybe this was better.

They got to the front
of the church and the music stopped, and she couldn’t believe it when there was still no minister.

“Where’s Pete?” she whispered, getting an awful feeling in her gut.

“I don’t know,” Judas said. “I thought he’d be here by now.”

Then there was
a muffled buzzing sound, and Levi quickly pulled his phone from his pocket. He put his head down and talked in a low voice, made a few faces, then clicked off the phone and strolled over to them.

“Where’s Pete?” asked Judas. “Please tell me something hasn’t happened to him.”

“He just phoned,” said Levi in a low voice, and the crowd started talking amongst themselves. “He said he’s stuck at the CPS office with Eli for the boy’s session with the child psychologist and won’t be back until late tonight.”

“What do you mean?” growled Judas. “Why t
he hell would he take Eli there in the first place when he knew he needed to marry us this afternoon?”

“Angel called
from the Caribbean this morning,” Candace told him. “She said CPS called her and said she was supposed to bring Eli in for a session this morning, and she was late. Angel said with the wedding and all the commotion lately, she forgot all about it.”

“Well, hell, couldn’t someone else have taken him?”

“Judas, please don’t swear in church,” Laney said.

“I had a
town council meeting this morning I couldn’t get out of,” said Levi with a shrug.

“I would have done it, but I was shopping for the food for your reception and didn’t hear my phone ring,” said Candace.

“Judas, we’re not going to be able to get married after all, are we?” asked Laney.

“Sweetheart, I can’t let t
his happen again. I won’t!” stated Judas. “But Reverend Black is out of town and Pete is our only hope right now.”

“Maybe we can just ask everyone to come
back later tonight?” suggested Laney.

“The mayor can marry you,” came Mabel’s voice from behind them. They t
urned around to realize Mabel had been eavesdropping on the whole conversation.

“What do you mean?” asked Laney.

“As past mayor of Sweet Water, I’ve actually conducted wedding ceremonies and married a few people over the years,” she said with a satisfied nod of her head. “So, Levi can solemnize the wedding.”

“Oh, that would be great,” said Laney, noticing the looks on both Judas and Levi’s faces that told h
er they didn’t feel the same way as she did.

“I’m not sure that’d be a good idea,” said Judas, looking to the ground.

“I agree,” said Levi, looking the other way at nothing in particular.

“Judas, are you saying we have a way to get married and
you’re turning it down?” Laney suddenly felt like she was going to have to relive her past again but in a whole different way.

“No, I’m just saying . . . ” he looked up at Levi. “I’m just saying that I don’t think Levi knows how to do it, being new at his job as mayor and all.”

“It’s easy, I can show him,” said Mabel, and the crowd started getting restless waiting to find out just what was going on.

“Can’t
you
just marry us?” Judas asked Mabel.

“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “Only the reign
ing mayor can conduct a marriage ceremony.”

“Well, I’m not going to do it,” said Levi, shaking his head.

“Levi, you’ve got to help out your brother,” said Candace.

“Do I?” he asked, and Laney knew there was a huge rift bet
ween Judas and Levi and that this was probably never going to happen.

“Don’t bother,” Judas spat. “You’d probably screw it up anyway. We’ll just wait til Pete gets back.”

“You think I can’t do it?” Levi looked up with challenge written all over his face.

“That’s right,” growled Judas. “I don’t think you can.”

“Well, I’m mayor and I just decided I’m going to conduct this wedding, so back off and keep quiet.” He looked over to Mabel. “What do I do?” he asked, and then hurried to the altar, picking up the book and coming back and standing between the two altar servers directly in front of Judas and Laney.

Judas smiled inwardly, knowing Levi never would have agreed to conduct the marriage ceremony unless he thought that Judas didn’t want him to, or didn’t think he was capable of pulling it off. He felt bad for tricking Levi into it, but there was no way he wanted to leave Laney stranded at the altar again. Besides, she seemed a little apprehensive earlier, and he didn’t want her changing her mind and running out on him this time.

He knew he wanted to marry her, and to be a father to J.D
. And if having Levi do the honors was the only way it was going to happen, then he’d do it though he wasn’t crazy about the idea.

To his surprise, Levi did a great job conducting the ceremony, with a little co
aching from Mrs. Durnsby. And Judas actually felt as if this action might have just chipped away a little of the wall between Levi and himself in the process.

Judas and Laney
exchanged the rings Judas picked up yesterday when he said he had errands to run, and also recited their vows, and it felt good. Damned good to actually finally be marrying her after all this time of wondering what it would have been like. Now he knew for sure that he should have done this years ago.

“All
right, you’re husband and wife,” said Levi slapping closed the book in one hand. “Go ahead and kiss her already, brother, what are you waiting for?” Levi smiled his cockamamie crooked grin, and Judas smiled and nodded back at him.

“Thanks, Levi,” he said, then leaned over and planted
a huge kiss on Laney. The crowed cheered and clapped, and when Laney looked up to him he no longer saw the doubt in her eyes that he’d seen when he walked her up the aisle earlier.

“Well, Mrs. Taylor, can I escort you over to Margery’s Diner where we’ll have our first meal as husband and wife?”

“Mrs. Taylor,” she repeated, her eyes lighting up in the process as she glanced down to her wedding ring. “I like the sound of that.”

“Well, I think I’ll like the sound of it even better after
we consummate it tonight,” he told her with a wink.