Chapter 39 - Heston
HESTON
Rafe
Just got to Hattie’s birthday party at Jana’s venue. Spotted Marcus’s car out back.
I’m less than two minutes away, as I re-read the text I received less than half an hour ago. Several different concerns make me pick up speed on the dirt road.
It makes no sense that he mentioned a party for Hattie today. She despises her birthday, and always has.
The second red flag is that Marcus should be long gone by now.
I don’t know how he’s still standing his ground after all the ways he’s been made to feel unwelcome.
He had to have noticed his computer was wiped clean this week.
Rafe told him to get the hell off of his property right before that, too.
So, why is his car at Jana’s venue for a birthday party I know damn well Hattie didn’t even want?
Lastly, and probably the most alarming, is the fact that Hattie hasn’t answered her phone since I turned my truck toward Tish and started calling her over thirty minutes ago.
As the venue comes into view, I press down on the gas until I’m swinging into the lot. I’m already stepping out and slamming the door when I spot Rafe and Jana arguing on the front steps of the renovated chapel. When I’m close enough to see the tears in her eyes, my fists clench.
“I didn’t know,” Jana cries. “I had no idea they’d broken up or that he was involved in such things. I never would have—”
“Stop whining,” Rafe cuts her off angrily. “Where are they?”
Jana sniffles. “In the bridal suite. There’s an exterior door around back and another door inside if you walk all the way through the reception hall and turn left.”
Rafe’s eyes cut to mine for a brief moment, but neither of us speaks. He passes me on the steps and walks around the building to find the back door. Every shred of dignity leaves my body as I grip the handles on the front entrance’s double doors.
I shove them wide open. The whole room whips toward me.
Every laugh and clink and music note cuts off.
I’ve had nightmares similar to the scene in front of me—guests lining the aisles, Hattie standing across from someone else in a white dress, gasps filling the space as I barreled toward her and landed on my knees at her feet.
That’s not what this is. I know it’s not. But my brain can’t seem to register that fact.
In five long strides, I’ve crossed the room and found the door on the left that Jana mentioned. I scowl at the sign hanging in the middle of it that says private. After one forced breath, I push the door open. It smacks against the stopper on the wall behind it.
Marcus jerks, but I ignore him and walk straight toward Hattie. She’s standing across from him with one hand braced on the table, and the other clutching a pen. The moment I reach her, she drops it. It clangs against the tabletop, and she rushes right into my arms.
The door on the opposite side of the room rattles, but doesn’t open. Rafe jiggles the handle from the other side two more times before pounding on it with several loud raps.
I hold Hattie against my chest while my eyes scan the document on the table. It doesn’t take long to realize that it’s a marriage license. My eyes are blazing as I pin Marcus with a look that I wish could kill.
“This isn’t happening,” I state. “Not now. Not ever. You’re done.”
I drop my arms from where they were wrapped around Hattie’s shoulders, and take her hand instead. As much as I’d like to stay here and beat Marcus within an inch of his life, I need to get her out of here more.
His pathetic footsteps are hard to miss as he follows us out of the room. I pick up speed, gaining several stunned looks from the small group of party guests, but I don’t care. The door is a mere three feet away when Marcus decides to speak up.
“You’re not going anywhere with my wife.”
I freeze. Hattie bumps into my side, and I slowly turn to face Marcus. His gaze flicks around the room, and I realize he’s trying to save face by making me look like the bad guy here. His back straightens as I slowly stride toward him.
It takes massive restraint, but I don’t raise my voice or point a finger at him.
“Referring to her as your wife again will be the last thing to ever come out of your mouth before a jaw reconstruction.” We’re toe to toe, and my lip curls when I see his throat bob. “And I suggest you get the fuck out of West Texas.”
“Young man,” a guy in a suit pops up in my peripheral vision. “This is a church.”
“Sorry,” I mumble.
God can slap my wrist for a little profanity as long as he saves Marcus a spot on the next sin wagon to hell.
I don’t know when Hattie’s dad came back around the side of the building, but when Marcus lifts his hands to shove them at my chest, Rafe steps between us and absorbs the impact. He grabs the guy’s collar and looks over his shoulder with a jerk of his chin.
“Go on. I got this.”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice. My grip tightens around Hattie’s hand, but before we burst out the doors, Jana rushes over to us with an apologetic look on her face. She gives Hattie her purse and wraps her in a quick hug.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispers.
Hattie nods, but doesn’t let the embrace linger for long.
Within a few seconds, she’s pulling me out of the venue.
We take the steps out front two at a time.
My heart thuds in my chest as she jogs next to me, eyes fixed on my truck that’s parked haphazardly on a patch of grass to the side of the neat line of vehicles.
When I reach for the passenger door and open it, she doesn’t leap onto the seat.
“I really don’t want to leave my truck here.”
I nod and turn to face her. Despite the chaos of the afternoon and the fact that we’re still catching our breath after running away from it, my heart lurches in my throat at the sight of her.
I’ll never meet anyone as pretty as Hattie Jo.
No one in the world could ever compare in my eyes. I’m sure of it.
We should be leaving, but I grip her waist and pull her into me. She drops her purse, loops her arms around my neck, and I lift her off the ground for a kiss.
“You okay?” I ask, only pulling away an inch.
To my surprise, she smiles. “My dad was defending you in there.”
“Wasn’t sure if that actually happened or if I made it up in my head,” I reply with a chuckle.
She kisses me again, squeezing her arms tighter. “I’m fine. I’ll be more than fine when we get out of here.”
I lower her down to the ground and scan the parking lot for her truck. “I’ll follow you. Where do you want to go?”
“Home.”