Chapter Six
Hannah swallowed her fear and met Dean’s distrusting gaze.
“I know that you know him better than I do, probably more than I ever will. I know that because he told me in his letters how the three of you and another boy named Cain became fast friends when you were around twelve years old,” she stated as calmly as she could.
Logan’s brows lifted up in surprise, but Dean’s glower didn’t shift an inch, so she went on.
“There’s a lot I need and want to learn about Garrett. But what I know so far is that you two mean a lot to him, and so does this ranch of his. I know that he is kind and doesn’t like confrontation, but will take part in it if it means defending what he loves.”
“And you’re here to take advantage of that kindness, is that it?” Dean asked testily, “You’re here because your giant brood of siblings needed someone to take care of you and you’re too weak to take care of yourselves?”
“I do want someone to help me take care of our siblings,” she agreed, and didn’t feel shame about it. “They deserve more than just me to love and protect them and raise them.”
She hoped that one day that Garrett would be able to love and accept her as well, but she wasn’t going to say that part out loud.
“If you think we’re all just going to lie about and do nothing while Garrett works to put food on our table and clothes on our backs, you’re wrong,” Hannah went on.
“I want to build something with someone. Something important, and you don’t have to believe me, but I think that is exactly what Garrett’s ranch is. ”
Dean sneered, but just as he looked as if he was going to reply, the side door of the church opened, and Garrett and Preacher Thompson strolled in.
Logan shifted his body, putting his shoulder between Dean and Hannah; a subtle, silent command to end the tense conversation.
Hannah immediately dropped her gaze and walked back to the left side of the aisle, and Dean, after sharing an intense glare with Logan, stepped back into line on Garrett’s side.
“Shall we get started?” Preacher Thompson asked, his tone as polite as his smile as he spread his arms.
Hannah looked to Garrett, and to her relief, she found him smiling at her. Butterfly wings stroked her stomach as she saw no reluctance in his gaze, and she smiled warmly back at him.
“Yes,” she and Garrett said in unison, and they both let out a soft laugh.
“Here,” Garrett said, reaching around from behind his back to reveal a lovely bouquet of bright orange flowers, “I thought you might want these. Preacher Thompson told me out there that most brides like to hold them. Sorry I didn’t think of it sooner, I don’t know much about weddings.”
“Thank you,” she said, touched by his thoughtfulness. She reached for them, and as Garrett handed them to her, their fingertips brushed, and the touch sent a small wave of comfort over her. “They’re beautiful,” she praised.
Garrett looked relieved at her words and gave a sheepish nod as he took a step back.
“We’re ready, Preacher Thompson,” he said confidently.
“Miss Bennett,” Preacher Thompson said, turning to her with a warm smile, “before we begin I wanted to say hello and welcome. My wife Celia and I look forward to getting to know you better once you become Mrs. Mercer.”
Mrs. Mercer.
She was about to be Mrs. Mercer. The realization struck her, and for a moment she was in awe of the sudden shift that was about to take place. Then she shook herself out of it, offered him a kind smile, and nodded.
“I would like that very much, Preacher Thompson,” she replied politely, taking him in for the first time.
His hair was a lighter color brown than Garrett’s, and his honey brown eyes were full of kindness.
He was much lither than Garrett or his friends and a good bit shorter too, but he was still handsome in his own, unintimidating way, and radiated with a spiritual warmth of sorts.
She also noted the way his eyes lit up when he spoke of his wife.
She decided then and there that she was happy a preacher like him was marrying them, and she truly did want to get to know him and his wife better.
“Wonderful,” Preacher Thompson praised, opening his Bible. “Now, shall we?”
As Hannah shifted her gaze back to Garrett and Preacher Thompson began the ceremony, she took in her husband-to-be.
He still looked nervous, but then again, wasn’t she nervous too?
They were taking a leap of faith with one another.
Surely it was completely understandable for them both to be nervous about that.
What mattered was that despite such feelings and setbacks, they were still willing to take such a leap with one another.
“Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your—”
“Yeah, I got something to say,” Dean’s angry, loud tone snapped, interrupting Preacher Thompson.
Despite the heat, Hannah felt as if ice water had replaced the blood in her veins as she heard Dean’s protest.
“Dean,” Logan snarled as Hannah and Garrett’s heads whipped toward Dean’s direction.
Hannah stared wide-eyed at him, horrified and embarrassed. She knew he didn’t trust her, but to intervene like this?
“No, you don’t,” Garrett stated, his tone steely as he narrowed his eyes at Dean.
“Oh, yes I do,” Dean shot back, stepping up to them.
He looked to Garrett, then glowered at Hannah.
“She’s using you, brother, why can’t you see that?” Dean demanded.
“Dean, stop,” Garrett warned.
“You stop first,” Dean snarled, “Seriously, don’t do this!”
To her surprise, Garrett stepped protectively in front of her, putting himself between her and Dean.
Behind her she heard a noise, and she turned to see Isaac had gotten to his feet.
He had a harsh look on his face as his fists curled at his sides, as if he was ready to stalk up to the pulpit and take a swing at Dean.
She raised a hand toward him, silently imploring him to stay put and stay out of it.
“What in the world has gotten into you? Why do you suddenly not trust me to make my own decisions?” Garrett asked.
“I’m not doing this,” Dean said instead of answering Garrett’s question. He took a step back as he put his hands up.
“I can’t watch you willingly ruin your life for this… this stranger!”
“Dean, my friend,” Preacher Thompson said, his tone imploring, “Please stay. You and I can talk after. You can tell me what—”
“Respectfully, Preacher Thompson, no,” Dean interrupted, taking another step back, “I’m done talking, and I’m done trying to support this.”
Mortified, Hannah watched as Dean turned and stormed out of the church.
***
Hannah sniffled as she finished washing the last of the supper dishes, feeling her pent-up tears start to break free.
With Rebecca and Maria already in bed, and the boys playing quietly in one of the other rooms, she finally had the freedom to let them out.
She hastily finished washing the last dish as the first of her tears began to roll down her cheeks, and just as she reached for the tea towel and sat down at the small kitchen table, she let herself break down.
This was not at all how she’d hoped her marriage to Garrett would start.
Sure, she’d accepted her mother wouldn’t be able to be there, that there would be no friends or family to help get her ready, and no father to give her away, but when Garrett had given her that bouquet of flowers, she’d thought, for the briefest of moments, that the day could still be nice.
Then Dean had exploded.
Even after he had stormed out of the church and Preacher Thompson resumed the ceremony, the remnants of his rage hung in the air like gun smoke, choking her and leaving an acrid taste on her tongue.
Even as Garrett said his vows. Even as she had been able to make it through hers, his words had echoed in her mind, and even as she and Garrett shared a quick kiss on one another’s cheek to seal their union, she felt no hope, no love.
Just shame and fear. Fear that somehow Dean was right.
After he was gone, Preacher Thompson had tried to lighten the somber mood by speaking passionately about the joys and security that a marriage sealed by God could provide, but even his impassioned words and Garrett’s kind looks couldn’t shake her from her dark feelings.
Even after, when Preacher Thompson had surprised everyone by letting them know that his wife Celia had prepared them a small lunch, and even a wedding cake, she couldn’t snap out of it.
The few bites she’d had of the meal had settled hard in her stomach, and though she was sure the food had been delicious, she couldn’t taste anything but the bitter fear that had settled on her tongue.
Once the lunch was over, Garrett had given her a quick kiss on her hand, apologized for Dean’s temper and for having to go back to work, and she was left once again to walk back to the house in the suffocating heat with the children.
To their credit, though, they had stopped their bickering, and for the rest of the day, had seemed satisfied in occupying themselves as she tried to distract herself with chores.
After she’d changed out of her mother’s wedding gown into a plain brown dress, she’d swept the floors, washed the windows, hauled fresh water from the well, and began cooking a simple supper of beans and bread.
No matter what she did, though, her mind kept going back to Dean’s harsh words.
“Oh, Hannah.”
Her head jerked up as she heard Garrett’s deep voice, and she quickly wiped her tears away from her face with the towel. She looked up at him and felt even worse as she saw the intense pity in his eyes.
“I’m fine,” she croaked, twisting her fingers into the towel.
“No, you’re not, and you don’t have to be,” Garrett replied, taking the seat beside her. “What Dean did, what he said, was awful, and I should have done something more about it.”
Hannah quickly shook her head as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat.