Married in Vegas (The Townsends Book 3)

by Angie Campbell

  “Oh boy,” she heard Luke say in surprise. Jenny’s head snapped up and she glared at her gorgeous brother-in-law. “We were just wondering if the two of you wanted us to leave.”

  Before she knew her own intentions, she snarled back in answer. “Yes.”

  She felt Mark stifle a laugh, and wanted to run and hide, but when she tried to pull away, he tightened his arms around her. “No, Luke. It’s fine. We don’t want you guys to run off yet.” She felt like stomping on his foot, or maybe punching him in the gut. Instead she turned her glare on him.

  “You know what? I’ll go back in there and let you two work it out without me,” he said, backing up, seeming desperate to escape.

  Once Luke had left the kitchen, he looked down at her, and she could see the fire in his eyes. That just made it all the more puzzling to her. She didn’t understand why he didn’t want them to leave. He seemed to read the confusion in her eyes, though. “I’m not going to be the one who starts it. I’ll finish it,” he said, the fire still raging in his eyes. “But it has to be your choice.” On a lighter note he added, “Besides, by the time they get out of here, you’ll be back to being shy and afraid.”

  She buried her face in his chest with a groan. After a minute, he put his hand under her chin and brought her face back up, so he could lean down and kiss her once more. “Come on. Let’s go on back out there.”

  When they reentered the living room, everybody was looking at them like they were expecting something. Mark seemed to recognize the air of expectancy and suggested, “Everybody want to watch a movie?”

  “Are you guys sure you don’t want us to leave?” Just then Mindi nailed Luke right in the rib cage, causing him to grunt. Jenny noticed her sister whispering in her husband’s ear. She could only guess at what she had said, but the look on Luke’s face gave her some ideas.

  James decided it was taking too long for someone to decide what to do and took it upon himself to do something about that. He got up and walked over to the movies and started looking through the titles. “What are we all in the mood for?”

  When no one answered, he decided to just pick one. He placed the disc in the player and went and sat back down. He had decided if they didn’t like his choice, they should have spoken up. He tended to like a lot of slap stick comedy, and some of the others really didn’t care for it much. When the movie started, he had expected to hear some groaning, and was pleasantly surprised that everyone seemed happy with his choice.

  By the time the movie was over, it was past nine o’clock and James and Lisa needed to get the baby home, and everybody needed to work the next day. So, they got up and said their goodbyes.

  After the house had cleared of everybody but Mark and herself she decided she was going to take a bath. That was one of the perks of living in this house, and she fully intended to make proper use of it. “I’m going to take a bath. Do you need anything before I get in there?”

  He just looked at her, his eyes on fire. “Okay, right. I’m going to, uh, go now.” She was stammering all over herself, but she couldn’t help it. That look told her exactly what he wanted, but he wasn’t going to take the choice from her, even though they both knew he could, so easily. And she wasn’t brave enough to take control yet. At least where he knew, she knew what she was doing. She wanted to give in, but she just wasn’t strong enough. Yet.

  She made it to the safety of the bathroom, and took a deep breath, leaning against the door. The look in his eyes had made it very hard to walk away. They had only been married three days and she had already had several close calls. There was no way she was going to make it much longer without giving in. She had been intending to make him wait at least a whole month. She was thinking she probably wouldn’t make it a whole week, and she would be begging him to make love to her.

  Chapter 6

  Monday, July 8

  Mark and Jenny had decided to take the day off. They were both still feeling pretty beat from their trip and they figured everyone at the hardware store would expect them to anyway. They had been sitting there eating breakfast in silence for a few minutes when Mark asked her, “What do you want to do today?”

  “I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Do you have anything in mind?”

  He shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. “I think after we get done eating we need to go see my dad at the store. I’m sure he and mom are wondering why we haven’t come by to see them yet. I talked to him yesterday over the phone for a few minutes. Luke, James and I were still unloading your furniture when I talked to him, so I didn’t get to talk to him for very long,” he added, looking a little nervous.

  “Why didn’t you say something yesterday?” she asked, sounding puzzled.

  “It was just with everything else going on, I forgot. Especially after running into Mike Collins,” he said, looking a little grumpy.

  She sighed, taking his hand laying on the table in hers in an effort to sooth him. “Sorry, I wasn’t accusing you of anything.”

  “I know,” he said, releasing a slow breath. “It’s just the whole thing with Mike Collins. He should have never come looking for you like that. When he saw Luke, James and I he tried to leave without being seen.”

  “Oh, you didn’t tell me that part,” she mumbled, feeling a little uneasy.

  “His coming to talk to you wouldn’t have bothered me so much, if it hadn’t seemed like he was trying to catch you by yourself.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, feeling a little uncomfortable over the subject.

  “Just make sure he understands, you’re married, and he needs to let it go.”

  “Yeah, I will. We need to get going,” she said and started clearing the table.

  He nodded his head and stood to help her. “We probably should give my parents the whole story, like we did yours, and it really needs to come from us. What do you say?”

  “Okay,” she said sounding nervous, not sure if she was more nervous about telling his parents what happened in Vegas, or about his obvious anger at Mike Collins.

  “Hey, don’t worry. They love you. I’m going to be in trouble though,” he said, drawing his eyebrows up, and causing them to furrow.

  “Why are you going to be in trouble?” she asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

  “Because you were drunk. They are going to be upset at me for being so sneaky and underhanded.”

  She chuckled softly. “I’m still not sure how I feel about that myself. And I know you weren’t as drunk as I was, but you were drunk also, right?” she asked, turning to look at him after closing the dishwasher. She wanted to be here with him. She wanted it too much. If he turned out to be like all the rest, it would destroy her. His size wasn’t the only thing that made her feel small and fragile in his presence.

  He ignored her direct question as if he hadn’t heard it. “I really wasn’t trying to be underhanded. I’m not sure what I was thinking at the time.” He shook his head at himself. “Maybe I wasn’t thinking at all.”

  “Okay, over thinking it now. Let’s just finish cleaning up and get going.” Jenny wasn’t sure why, but the last thing she wanted, was for him to start to feel guilty about their ‘wedding’. They finished cleaning up in silence, and ten minutes later were ready to leave for his dad’s store.

  When they got out to the truck, he unlocked and opened the passenger side door for her and waited for her to get in. After he got in and started the truck, she decided to slide over and sit next to him. When she snuggled up under his arm she felt him shudder in surprise. When he looked down at her, he wore an almost awed look. Then he grinned and backed the truck out of the driveway.

  The trip to the store only took about five minutes. Which was usually the case in Sapphire Springs. It was a small town. On a good day, with low traffic, you could drive from one side of town to the other in less than ten minutes without breaking the speed limit.

  He pulled into a parking space and shut the truck off and took a deep breath before getting out of the truck and holding t
he door for her to climb down. Once her feet hit the ground, she wrapped her arm around his waist and rubbed his back, looking up at him. “You look nervous.”

  “I told you, I’m going to be in trouble. Dad’s not going to except drunk as an excuse quite as easily as you have.”

  “Hey, come on. It’ll be alright. He is your dad and he does love you.”

  “I know. He’s just going to be disappointed,” Mark said, shaking himself a little, trying to prepare to talk to his dad.

  She sighed, rubbing his back once more before stepping back. “Well then, let’s go meet the lion in his den.” He just laughed and took her hand.

  Sure enough, when they got back to see his father, he was unhappy with him. So much so, that Jenny almost got angry herself. “What? Do you not like me?”

  “Jenny, sweetheart, my anger with him is about how he did it. Not that he married you. We’ve always known he wanted to marry you. I wasn’t sure how you felt about him, though.” Joe looked back at Mark, giving him a sour look, “You should never have gotten that drunk. You put yourself in a vulnerable position knowing how you feel...”

  Mark cut him off before he could finish his sentence. “Dad, that’s enough. I’m trying to do this right, from here on out. That’s all I can do. Don’t make it any harder, please,” he said almost begging. He was afraid if people voiced negative opinions too often, Jenny was going to start thinking being married to him was a bad idea.

  His dad took a deep breath and let it out slowly, doing his best to calm himself. “Fine,” he said with a single nod of his head. “I know your mom wants to see you two. Do you think you could come for dinner tonight?”

  Jenny was the one to answer. “Of course. Do we need to come early enough to help out?”

  Joe smiled at her and nodded. “Sweetheart, you come as early as you want. And you can bring this idiot with you,” he said giving his son another sour look.

  She laughed and reached over, hugging her new father-in-law. “Sure, I’ll bring him with me.”

  When they got back in the truck, he looked down at her and grumbled, “That could have gone worse.” He shivered as if to shake off the irritation and added, “It could have gone better, as well.”

  “Oh, it wasn’t that bad,” she smiled, snuggling up under his arm as he started the truck.

  “He wasn’t angry with you.”

  “I know, but don’t worry. Everything will be just fine.”

  He took a deep breath and nodded, deciding to trust her opinion and give it some time. “What do you want to do now?” He pulled out on to the road and waited for her to answer.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe see my mom.” He nodded his head, deciding that would be a good place to start.

  Jamie must have heard them pull up. By the time they had reached the steps to the porch, she had the door open. “Hi, I see you two are playing hooky.”

  “Well, what good is being the boss, if you can’t take a day off when you want to?” Mark asked, grinning at her.

  “Good point.”

  “Besides, this should technically be our honeymoon,” he shrugged, giving Jenny a steamy look.

  She raised an eyebrow and poked him in the ribs. “Shut it, Big Guy.” She only managed to draw a low chuckle from him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, not bothering with a response.

  “Guess what,” Jamie said with a mysterious look, leaning on the open door.

  Jenny sighed, bracing herself for more aggravation. “What?”

  “Your sister’s home.”

  “Hannah?” she asked with surprise.

  “Yes,” Jamie nodded with a smirk.

  “Did she explain why she hadn’t been home sooner?” Jenny asked, feeling concerned something had happened. “And why we could barely get her to answer a text, much less a phone call?”

  “Not yet.”

  Jenny lowered her eyebrow, giving her mom a hard look. “It sounds like there is something else you want to say.”

  Her mom nodded her head and chuckled. “Yes, she’s mad at you. That’s why she’s home now.”

  She huffed, crossing her arms in front of her. “Why is she mad at me?” she asked with annoyance. She should probably feel shocked, but after the morning they’d had so far, she really didn’t think she’d find anything too surprising.

  “Because she was expecting to be in your wedding. So, now I can’t decide if I’m still upset about you getting married in Vegas, or grateful for it,” Jamie said with a note of frustration in her voice.

  “Did you tell her what happened?”

  She nodded her head. “Yeah. Now she’s mad at Mark, as well,” Jamie said looking over at him, like she understood how her daughter felt.

  “Well, this should be fun,” he said, pulling her the rest of the way up the porch to enter the house. “Let’s get it over with.”

  “You sound so excited.” Try as she might, she couldn’t hide her sarcasm.

  “I just think I’ve reached my quota today of people questioning my actions. My dad used most of it up earlier,” he said, bracing himself for a battle. “But I’ll be nice. I like your sister, and I have no desire to fight with her.”

  The second they entered the house and closed the door behind them, he almost took that back. He felt like he was going to be plowed over. That wasn’t a feeling that most people could engender in him. He was just so much bigger than most people around him, and he was even bigger compared to Hannah. Jenny’s younger sister wasn’t much bigger than some children. She was only five-foot-tall, and he didn’t think she could possibly weigh much more than a hundred pounds. She would weigh one twenty, at best.

  However, somehow when she came flying at him, she managed to put enough force behind herself to knock him back into the door. If he hadn’t managed to close it before she came hurtling at him, he would have ended up sprawled out on the porch. When she slammed herself into him, she had actually jumped off the floor. He reached up and caught her out of reflex. He just glared at her, sitting her back down on the floor.

  “How dare you take my sister to Vegas,” the little spitfire snapped. “Then get her drunk and bring her back already married.”

  Mark sighed, counting to ten in his head trying to calm himself down.

  “Well, what do you have to say for yourself?”

  “I didn’t plan this,” he hissed through his teeth.

  “Yeah, but you should have known better than to get drunk in Vegas. You’re way smarter than that,” she said, reminding him a whole lot of his fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Allen when he did poorly on his math test. She stood there with her hands balled on her hips, somehow managing to look down her pert little nose at him.

  He gulped, mumbling, “Sorry.” It had been a long morning already, and she was just heaping more guilt on his already stooping shoulders.

  “The way you two have always felt about each other, it was bound to happen.” Mark blushed scarlet clear to his roots and glanced over at Jenny in time to watch her do the same thing. Her younger sister had managed to blurt out what everyone else had been skirting around. “Couldn’t you have tried doing things the normal way. Ask her out, and then eventually ask her to marry you. Then you could have had a nice wedding, where we all could have been there. I’m sure your mom and dad aren’t much happier about this than we are. Not to mention your sister. It’s not like you have any other brothers and sisters. I’m sure she wanted to be at your wedding, as well,” she kept going turning out to be quite long winded on the matter.

  When she paused long enough to take a deep breath like she was getting ready for another string of complaints, her mother raised her hand to stop her. “Alright, Hannah, that’s enough. He doesn’t have to answer to you,” Jamie said, giving her daughter a stern look. “This is between him and Jenny. Do you want us to air your dirty laundry?”

  That brought her up short. “You wouldn’t?”

  “Yes, I would. I probably will anyway. Just not right now. Yo
u know that’s how this family works. No secrets,” Jamie said, giving her daughter a stern look. She huffed, giving her mom a sour look back, then turned and ran out of the room.

  “What’s going on?” Jenny asked her mom, as she watched her sister run up the stairs.

  “She got kicked out of school for underage drinking. Rather than having her arrested, he just kicked her out. He’s a young dean. I think he still remembers college himself. If she had been staying in the dorms, we might have seen her before now. Your dad doesn’t know yet.”

  “When did she get kicked out?”

  Jamie blew out a sigh before answering. “Back in March. After she went back after James and Lisa’s wedding.”

  “She couldn’t wait till the semester was over to get drunk?” she asked, with a twinkle in her eye, trying hard not to laugh. She knew she shouldn’t be finding this funny, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

  “Jenny, that’s not helping,” Jamie huffed with a glare for her oldest daughter. “Will you, please, see if she’ll tell you what’s going on?”

  “I’ll do my best. Which room is she in?”

  “The one just at the top of the stairs.”

  Jenny heard Mark ask her mom why she thought something was wrong as she made her way up the stairs. Her mom’s reply was lost in the sound of her knocking on the door. “Go away. I don’t want to talk to anyone.”

  “Come on, Hannah. It’s just me.”

  Hannah flung the door open and grabbed her sister around the neck. She was sobbing and babbling something Jenny didn’t understand.

  “Hey, Sis, slow down,” she said, giving her a hug. “You’re going to have to start over. What’s going on?”

  Hannah pulled away and began pacing around the room. “Why do we all have to go to college? I hate college. I was horrible in school,” she huffed, throwing her hands in the air. “The only classes I didn’t struggle to pass were P. E. and art.”

  Jenny sighed, rubbing her temples. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to like the answer to her next question. “Did you get kicked out on purpose?”