Sizzle

by Sarah O'Rourke

  “The only thing it will take to make me happy is seeing Molly walk down the aisle to me. Everything else is just pomp and circumstance,” Devil replied with an indulgent smile at Molly. “I do apologize for the short notice, though. Once she agreed to marry me, however, I just didn’t want to wait a single second longer than necessary. We can’t tell you how much we appreciate everything you and your husband are doing to make this wedding exactly what Molly wants. She’s shown me the plans; they look beautiful.”

  “Oh, he’s a charmer,” Carla clucked, patting Molly’s arm. “We were a bit worried about how we’d fit half of Atlanta in the church’s sanctuary, but your momma and I wheedled the guest list down to a manageable number.”

  “Yes, William’s business associates will only receive an invitation to the reception,” Molly explained pleasantly. “The ceremony is strictly for family and friends. It’ll be more intimate that way and we can keep the wedding in the location we want.”

  “Well, it’s going to be beautiful,” Carla assured her with a squeeze of her hand. “I know that my husband is looking forward to joining you in the holy bonds of matrimony. He told Pastor Davis that there simply wasn’t any way that he could not be the one to counsel you tonight.”

  “Well, we truly appreciate him waiving the three sessions rule,” Molly said gratefully, smiling at the pastor’s wife.

  “Posh! He’s known you all his life. And after talking to your mother and daddy, he feels like he knows your beau as well,” she said with a smile at Devil.

  “Mother?” Pastor Martin called from his office, his voice carrying down the tiled hallway. “Is somebody out there?”

  “Well, speak of the Devil,” Carla chuckled. “It’s Molly and her fiancé, Edgar. I’ll send them right back, dear,” she called over her shoulder. “You know the way to the office, Molly. It was very nice meeting you, William. I’ll see you both on Saturday,” she remarked, patting his hand before gesturing toward the pastor’s private office.

  “See, so far, so good,” Devil murmured in encouragement as Molly tightened her hand around his and guided them toward Edgar Martin’s office.

  “Shhh… we’re nowhere close to being out of the woods yet,” Molly hushed him, digging her nails into his palm as she knocked on the ajar door with the other hand.

  Molly took a deep breath and exchanged a last look with Devil as the pastor beckoned them from the other side of the door. “Here we go,” she murmured, pasting a smile on her face as she entered the small office.

  The older man with the silver halo of hair was up and out of his chair before she made it another step. “Molly, my dear, you are a sight for sore eyes!” Before she could get a word out, she found herself wrapped in a bear-like hug, her nose smashed against a red-flannel shirt that smelled like wood smoke tinged with baked sugar. Oh, it was just like it had been when she was 6 years old and being baptized in the creek after a Vacation Bible School picnic. Obviously the dunking hadn’t taken, her inner voice reminded her. Maybe she could get the kind pastor to do a do-over...

  She was released just as quickly, and she found her mind reeling as she stumbled slightly. Devil’s steadying hand landed against the small of her back, and she swallowed as she managed to stutter out, “Pastor Martin, this is my fiancé, William Delancy...”

  The good pastor smiled at the taller man and held out his hand. “William’s a bit formal, ain’t it, son? I hear tell you go by another name around town.”

  Devil arched one brow as he shook hands with the man of God. “Wasn’t quite sure you’d approve of my name, sir. Molly seems to think it might be tempting fate for you to call me Devil.”

  “Ain’t the first time I’ve heard the name. Figure if half the county knows you as Devil, I ain’t gonna stand on ceremony,” Pastor Martin said wryly as he waved the couple toward the nearby loveseat. Settling himself in the large leather chair behind the scarred maple desk, he steepled his fingers. “So tell me, kids. What happened to get you in such an uproar to get married so quickly? You get my Molly with child, son?”

  At that moment, Molly fervently wished for a black hole to open up beneath her feet and swallow them both, loveseat and all, into the abyss. Anything would be better than the laser-like focus she felt coming from the pastor’s intelligent grey eyes. And if that wasn’t bad enough, obviously her fiancé was intent on adding insult to injury. She felt Devil’s arm stiffen around her shoulders and knew, beyond a doubt, that he was about to say something that she was going to eternally regret.

  Devil chuckled without humor as he met the other man’s eyes. “Well, Pastor, it’s not for lack of –Ouch! What the hell, Molly?”

  Her elbow made perfect contact with his ribs for the second time, and she was slightly rewarded by the obvious yelp of pain. “Do not curse in God’s house, you idiot,” she hissed under her breath, then forced herself to turn back to face the good pastor. Drawing in a deep breath, she babbled, “Please forgive him, Pastor. He’s under great pressure at work and isn’t himself these days. There’s so much to do to get ready for a wedding, you know, and with Momma intent on dragging me through all Atlanta to find the perfect dress and the perfect place setting and the perfect flower arrangements, it’s a wonder that we’ve even found time to catch our breath to even see one another, I promise!” It wasn’t a lie. Not exactly. It was all about the evasive answers, she told herself.

  “We’ve seen plenty of each other, Molly,” Devil mumbled under his breath, shifting just quickly enough to avoid another jab by that lethal elbow. If he’d known she was this violent, he would have worn a bullet-proof vest. And maybe a cup.

  The good pastor merely leaned back in his chair, the springs squeaking under the pressure. Tilting his head, he cleared his throat as he said calmly, “Still ain’t answered my question, son.”

  Feeling Molly stiffen beside him, Devil decided that if he wanted to make it out of the room with the pastor’s blessing, he had better find a way to win the man over to his side. “Molly was not pregnant when I asked her to marry me, sir. That much I can guarantee you. Don’t you agree, sweetheart?” Molly merely nodded, unsure to trust her voice at that moment. Seriously, how far could one taunt the good Lord before lightning rained down from heaven?

  “Then it’s true love that has drawn you into the bonds of holy matrimony?”

  Feeling that they had made it past one giant hurdle, Molly squeaked out, “I’ve known Will....Devil for years, Pastor. He and Grant were best friends growing up and still are. I’ve worked for him for a while, and I guess we just grew to love each other over this time.”

  His eyes narrowing as he re-focused his gaze on the dark-headed man, Pastor Martin asked, “I’ve not seen you in church ‘til this past week, Devil. You worship in another church nearby?”

  “I’m Catholic, sir. Well, really a lapsed Catholic. Is that going to be a problem?”

  ~~***~~

  An hour and a half later, Molly literally slumped against the fine leather seat of Devil’s car as she moaned, “How could you do that to me? Are you TRYING to get me thrown out of the Baptist church, Devil? Never in the history of the Ramsey family has one of us been cast out. My momma will kill you with her bare hands if I’m the first.”

  “Honey, I don’t think it’s as bad as you think it is,” Devil replied, easily starting the car and moving them out of the parking lot. “After all, Pastor Martin did agree that he’d think about it overnight before making any decisions. That’s progress.”

  “That’s his way of trying to buy time to find a way to let my mother down easily, you jackass,” she muttered. “You told him you were a lapsed Catholic, and then you refused to get baptized by him!”

  “Molly,” Devil said with a long-suffering sigh as he caught her flailing hand in his, “as I informed the good pastor, I was christened as an infant and confirmed at thirteen. Nana made sure of it. I think those ceremonies are good enough, don’t you? I won’t insult her by changing lanes in the religion department at this late d
ate.”

  “Did you just ask me if that was good enough? Did you? Because the answer is NO - not if it means that I’m not going to be married in the eyes of God in the holy church, it’s not good enough!” Turning sharply in her seat, she ignored her tightening seat belt as she declared, “You find a way to get yourself under the water, Devil, or I swear by all that’s holy that my Momma will personally drag you down to the river and dunk you herself. And let me tell you, she’s gonna be holding you down for a long time just to make sure it takes!”

  “Molly, you’re yelling,” Devil returned with exaggerated patience.

  “Am I?” she virtually shrieked at him. “I can’t think why that would be, can you, Devil? I’ve only been dragged through the streets of Atlanta on a freaking wedding march that would have made General Sherman proud – all in an effort to save your sorry butt! In the past three days alone, I’ve been poked by sadistic seamstresses, force fed enough wedding cake samples to nearly compel me into Jenny Craig, dealt with finicky florists hell-bent on finding the perfect freaking bloom since I do NOT want poinsettias at my wacky wedding even if it is the freaking season… Do you want me to go on? Because I can go on! You have no idea what this so-called perfect day entails! And YOU! You couldn’t even manage to convince one pesky pastor that you might at some point in the future consider joining his church! Which I could understand if you were a deeply religious man, but you’re NOT! You are a Catholic that doesn’t even know where the confessional is anymore!”

  “But I’m still a Catholic, Molly,” Devil stated evenly. “Catholics don’t quit being Catholic because they stop going to Mass. Believe me, the Delancys feel as strongly about that as the Ramseys do about their church.”

  Pressing her lips together, Molly slumped in her seat and battled tears. Thanking God for the darkness, she turned to stare out the window. Why couldn’t he understand how important this was to her? This was the one aspect of the entire wedding that she couldn’t… she wouldn’t compromise. She was raised in that church. It was as much a part of her as her name was. She didn’t expect him to feel the same way, but she needed him to understand that this was important to her.

  “Let me put this in terms you can understand, Devil,” she said quietly after several minutes of silence. “Either you find a way to marry me inside my church, or you can find another bride. This is important to me. Really important,” she informed him in a breaking voice. “My Momma and Daddy were married in that church. Grant and Karen were, too.”

  “I was there, Molly,” Devil reminded her gently. “I was the best man.”

  Ignoring him, she continued. “I attended Vacation Bible School there. I was baptized there. I’ve taught Sunday School there. I need my wedding to be there, too. I won’t consider any other option, Devil. I just won’t.”

  There was no way he could mistake the heartbreak he heard in her voice. Quickly pulling over on the side of the darkened road, he gazed at her averted face in the dim interior of the car. “Okay,” he acknowledged softly. “Give me your phone, Molly.”

  Startled, Molly turned to look at him. Even in the shadows, she could see the serious look on his face. “Why?”

  “I need to make a phone call. I assume that Pastor Martin’s number is in your call log,” he remarked, holding out his hand.

  “Y-yes, but what are you going to do?” she asked hesitantly, her stomach clenching in fear. “You can’t threaten him, Dev. He’s a family friend. My Daddy and the pastor hunt together, for heaven’s sake. The man knows how to use a gun, you know.”

  “I’m not going to threaten him, Molly. I promise. I’m simply going to tell him how important this is to us. Trust me,” he urged when she still didn’t pass him her phone. “I’m not going to take a chance on losing you over this – not when I can see how much it means to you and your family. I’m not a complete asshole.”

  Biting her lip, Molly nodded, slowly reaching into her purse and pulling out her phone. “Please don’t make this worse,” she choked, her eyes filling with tears.

  Devil’s jaw clenched as he stared into Molly’s pale face. “I won’t, sweetheart. I’ll fix it. No matter what it takes, I will fix this.” Waiting until she nodded, he opened the car door and climbed out from behind the wheel, his fingers already scrolling through her recent contacts.

  Molly watched him move to the front of the car and pace back and forth along the edge of the road. He had the phone pressed to his ear, but it was much too dark to see his face. An anxious knot formed in the pit of her stomach as she waited for him to return. Reaching forward, she upped the heat to take the chill out of the car, but knew instinctively that the coldness she felt had nothing to do with the December temperature outside and everything to do with the fact that the man she loved was currently swallowing his pride and making nice with her pastor.

  And he was doing it for her.

  No other reason – just for her.

  She hadn’t mistaken that tender look in his eyes either. Yes, he’d looked at her like that before, but usually when she was flat on her back and he was buried inside her… not when she was threatening to call off their wedding.

  She knew it really made no real difference to Devil where they were married. Her church, Nana’s church, Vegas or the courthouse; for him, one location was as good as another to him. Unlike her, he wasn’t particularly religious. He had his own moral compass that he allowed to set his course in life, his own set of rules that he followed.

  The only logical explanation that he would be standing in the chilly night, talking to her pastor, was that he wanted her to have what she wanted. The fact that a powerful man like him would humble himself before a guy that –before tonight – hadn’t been a part of his life at all, it meant something.

  Something vital.

  Something special.

  And something very real.

  Molly smiled as her body began to warm and the butterflies stilled in her belly.

  “He loves me,” she said out loud, staring out the windshield at the outline of his tall body.

  He did; she knew it. She just wondered if he’d realized it yet.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  “So, it all worked out fine, Nana,” Molly said happily as she finished summarizing the events of the previous night for Devil’s grandmother. “After apologizing to Pastor Martin for his glib behavior and explaining that while he’d drifted from the Catholic Church, he still felt loyal to its teaching, the Pastor said he respected his honesty and agreed to marry us. Of course, Devil had to promise to attend services with me as much as he could, but our ceremony will be held at Hillhaven.”

  “That’s my grandson. Gifted with a silver tongue, he was. At least, he has it when he needs it,” the elderly woman sighed, her blue eyes dancing with amusement as they met Molly’s.

  “I didn’t think he’d be able to pull it off,” Molly admitted, still slightly awed by the feat he’d pulled off with the head of her church. Pastor Martin wasn’t exactly known for being the most cooperative man of God. He liked to have things the way he wanted. The fact that he’d relented was testament to Devil’s skill at negotiation.

  “What did ye threaten the boy with, lass?” Nana asked, keenly aware of how stubborn her grandson could be.

  “Calling off the wedding,” Molly mumbled guiltily, averting her gaze from Nana. “I was desperate,” she added defensively, relieved when the old woman laughed and banged the cane her hand rested upon on the floor.

  “Ye know how to get the point across with the lad,” Nana remarked, approval glittering in her lively eyes. “My Willy has met his match with you, me girl.” She nodded in satisfaction. “I knew ‘twould be a match well made. I’ve been tellin’ ye momma for years that this was meant to happen. She pished me away, but I knew, I tell ye. The question is, why are you so very surprised by his actions? Of course, the lad did what he had to do, child. He wouldn’t risk ye or hurtin’ ye heart. A gal’s wedding is a milestone in ‘er life. Ye should have things the wa
y ye want for it. Willy knew that. Besides, swallowing a tad of crow is good for ‘is soul, it is.”

  Closing her mouth on what she’d been about to ask as the elderly woman’s hired nurse walked into the room, Molly smiled at the young woman.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” the woman apologized, “but, it’s time for a pill.” Dropping a white tablet in Nana’s hand, she waited until her patient had popped it between her lips to hand her the water. “I’m Elizabeth, the RN assigned to care for Mrs. Delancy,” she introduced herself to Molly, shaking the other woman’s hand.

  “Pleased to meet you,” Molly greeted the other woman. “Molly Ramsey soon-to-be Delancy.”

  Swallowing a sip of water, Nana sighed. “It’s one pill after another around here,” she muttered with a mock glare at the pink-scrubs-clad petite nurse. “What was that one?”

  “Blood pressure pill,” the woman answered with a gentle smile. “You’re free of me for another few hours,” she declared with a wink as she finished taking the old woman’s pulse and made a note on the pad she kept in her pocket.

  “You know, I’m capable of taking my medicine all by me lonesome,” Nana huffed, rolling her faded blue eyes as her nurse chuckled.

  “I agree, but I’m here because your grandson insisted,” the nurse reminded her. “You’ll have to have that argument with him. After speaking to him during my interview, however, I got the feeling that few people are brave enough to take that gamble.”

  “My granddaughter to be, here,” Nana countered as she nodded at Molly. “She could take up the cause, couldn’t ye, lass?”

  Looking from the nurse to Nana, Molly shook her head. “Not when your health is at risk, I won’t. Devil is right about this. If you won’t go stay with Momma and Daddy or move in with us after we’re married, you’re stuck with a nurse until you’ve recovered. I know you feel better, but you had a heart attack.” While she understood the older woman’s need for independence, not even she was willing to risk Nana’s health.