Epilogue
J osie straightened Carter’s tie for the third time. As he reached up to tug at it, she smacked his hand. “Leave it alone! It looks fine.”
“It feels like a damn noose.”
She glanced pointedly at the church they were parked beside. “You want to rephrase that?”
“No. I don’t. I can still cuss till we’re inside,” he said.
They’d arrived early. Josie figured facing her father down before the sermon would be their best option. As they walked toward the front steps, the side door of the church opened, and she saw her mother standing there. Deborah waved them over.
Carter gripped her hand tightly.
“I’m okay,” she said.
“Well, I’m not,” he shot back, and his voice was tight with nerves.
“They won’t bite,” she offered reassuringly.
“Will they shoot?” he demanded.
“Not in church. Come on,” she said. “Dreading it is always worse than just doing it.”
He looked ahead to where her mother stood waiting for them. “I think you might be wrong about that.”
As they reached the building, Deborah stepped back to let them inside. The door had no sooner closed behind them than she was grabbing Josie’s left hand and looking at the ring that rested on her third finger.
“It’s true. I thought it was just a rumor, but…why would you run off like that?” she asked, clearly hurt.
“It wasn’t like that,” Josie said. “We just wanted to be married. No fuss, no fanfare, and delays.”
“But I always pictured your wedding?—”
“I didn’t want a wedding, Mom,” Josie said, hugging her mother. “I just wanted to be married to Carter.”
Deborah hugged her back and then sniffed. “You’re still having a wedding. It might be after the fact, but maybe for your first anniversary, we can have a real wedding…in this church,” she said pointedly and looked directly at Carter.
He wisely didn’t respond with anything more than a nod of agreement.
“Your daddy is waiting upstairs,” Deborah said.
“Are his feelings hurt?” Josie asked.
“Oddly enough, no. He took it much better than I did. But men don’t understand what weddings mean.” She glanced at Carter. “No offense.”
“None taken. I don’t understand weddings. At all.”
When they entered the church hall with her mother, the buzz of conversation stopped. A pin drop would have sounded like a bomb, it went so quiet.
“Yeah, not awkward at all,” Carter whispered.
Josie jabbed her elbow into his side. “Behave.”
“You married the wrong man for that,” he answered.
Beside them, Deborah smiled. She’d had her doubts, but hearing that exchange told her everything she needed to know. They were easy with one another, comfortable in a way that could only happen if they were meant to be for one another.
William walked forward, hugged Josie tightly, and then shook Carter’s hand. Behind them, the congregation began to talk again, the roar of it deafening.
“We’ve definitely given them all something to talk about,” Josie said softly.
Carter grinned. “It won’t be the last time. That I can promise you.”