“Just like—you’re back between gigs, you mean?” she asked.
“No, I’m back for good, Jorrie,” he said as Albert and Lucy moved back to the window. “Wait, now,” Mack said and stepped away from a shocked Jorrie. “Are you two sure about getting married? How is this going to work out?”
“You think we haven’t talked about it?” Albert said indignantly. “Of course we’re sure. And we need to get to it. Not like I have a lot of time left! That’s why I called Lucy right after you left me this afternoon. With you home for good now, you can have that house all to yourself.”
“But what does Goose think?” Mack asked.
Lucy reddened and pressed her lips together.
“You haven’t told him?”
“Well, no,” admitted Lucy. “We—we were gonna get married on Friday at your house, with you as a witness.”
“But you need another witness,” Jorrie interjected.
“We know, but we hadn’t worked all that out yet,” Lucy said. “Although we were hoping that Goose and Harriet—”
“Hey, you can be the other witness!” Albert interrupted, reaching for Jorrie’s hands. “There’s your invitation! Come to the wedding and make yourself useful at the same time!”
“You’re still one witness short,” Mack declared, and crossed his arms over his chest. Jorrie noted that the clerk at the window was extremely entertained by the little drama, and she figured it beat doling out drivers’ licenses.
“But what about you?” Albert pointed to his grandson.
“What if I’m not there?” Mack threw back at Albert.
“We’ll get another witness, that’s what!” Albert exploded. “It’s not like you can stop us from getting married by refusing to be a witness!”
“Mack,” Lucy said softly and gently put a hand on his forearm, “this is gonna happen. Don’t worry, I’m not moving in or anything. Albert’s coming to my house after we marry.”
“Which is gonna happen on Friday!” Albert declared.
“Pa, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Figured you’d act like this,” Albert said. “Like an idiot. Now I gotta put up with you for the next two days in your snotty mood! I knew you wouldn’t like me marrying Lucy under any circumstances, that’s why it was going to be a surprise.”
“And was Goose going to be invited?” Mack asked, looking to Lucy for an answer.
“Of course,” Lucy said. “Like I tried to tell you, we were hoping that you two would be our witnesses,” Lucy said, nodding at Jorrie. “It’s at four o’clock, by the way. That’s when the judges said they could make it after their own Thanksgiving meal.”
“Hey!” the clerk called. “It’s getting late! Y’all want a marriage license or what?”
“Indeed we do!” Albert said, and put his arm around his fiancée and gently pushed her toward the window.
Jorrie checked the time and realized that she needed to get back in line to get her driver’s license. She stepped away from Mack, leaving him standing alone in the middle of the county clerk’s office and staring at the back of his grandfather and future stepgrandmother. Mack turned his back on the couple and walked to Jorrie’s side, then looked at the line.
“Can we go somewhere to talk?”
“Not right now. I need to get my driver’s license renewed before the end of this month, so that means I have to do it today.” She held out her nearly expired card for his inspection.
“So it is true that you’re back. You wouldn’t be getting it renewed here in Craig County if you were still in Frankfort.”
“That’s right,” Jorrie said, eyes on the ground. “I’m back.”
He touched her chin and brought her gaze to meet his.
“And so am I.”
She swallowed as she felt herself trembling under his gaze.
“Mack, I—”
He dropped his finger from her chin.
“After you’re done here, can we please talk?”
“I have to get on the road to Frankfort.”
“But I thought—”
“I’m going back to my parents’ place for the holiday, that’s all,” she clarified.
Jorrie took a deep breath. She was extremely disoriented by Mack’s sudden reappearance in her life. She eventually expected to run into him in Bourbon Springs some weekend he was back from Nashville and had braced herself for that likelihood. But he’d just told her he was back for good.
What did that mean?
She hadn’t dared contact him since she’d lost her job. She’d been too ashamed to tell him what had happened, even though none of it had been her fault.
Well, it had been her fault that she’d cut him out of her life, despite his pleas.
“Did you know about this?” he asked in a whisper. Mack dipped his head in the direction of the marriage license window to their left.
Jorrie glanced at Albert and Lucy, who were filling out forms at the other window.
“No! I’m just as shocked as you are. I had no idea.”
“I’m gone for a little bit, and look what that old dog got up to.”
“Goose is in for a big surprise, isn’t he?”
“I’d say so. Love to be a fly on the wall when he finds out what I just learned.” Mack ran a hand over his face. “It’s really going to happen, isn’t it?”
“Unless you can run to Judge Forrest in the next forty-eight hours and get Albert declared incompetent, which is something I would definitely counsel against, I’d say you’d better get used to the idea of having some new members of your family.”
Mack sighed and turned to Jorrie, his bemused demeanor gone.
“If I can’t talk to you after you’re done here, will you at least promise that you’ll come to the wedding on Friday?”
“Of course,” Jorrie said. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
29
Her parents wanted her to stay the entire weekend, but Jorrie explained she needed to get back to Bourbon Springs to attend an impromptu wedding. She also hoped that she might be able to contact Drake. Even though the courts were closed, Jorrie expected him to be in the office the day after the holiday or perhaps at the wedding itself.
She left Frankfort shortly after lunch and was back in Bourbon Springs within the hour. Realizing she had no gift for the happy couple, she swung by the grocery and picked up a bouquet of red roses. Minnick’s was nearly deserted, and she recalled her mother’s observation that one of the best days of the year to go to the grocery was the day after Thanksgiving because people couldn’t stand the thought of looking at more food after stuffing themselves the previous day.
After short stops at her condo and then the grocery, Jorrie headed west on Brush Grove Pike. She’d never seen so many vehicles in the small dirt and gravel driveway and had to maneuver her car onto a grassy area far to the left of the house to park.
Carrying the roses, she climbed the few short steps to the front door, where she was greeted by Harriet.
“Great to see you!” Harriet exulted as she took the roses from her. “Come on in. The gang’s all here, except for Rachel and Brady. Rachel and the baby are sick.”
“But who’s going to perform the ceremony?”
“I called Cara.” Harriet pointed toward the far wall of the sitting room as she headed toward the kitchen with the flowers.
Standing at the far right of the room and chatting with Bo and Lila while simultaneously bouncing a toddler on her hip was a young woman with shoulder-length blond hair. Jorrie immediately recognized her as Cara Forrest, the only Craig County District Court Judge.
Judge Forrest sat on the bench one level below Rachel and Brady in the state judicial system and handled misdemeanors, probate matters, and small claims cases. During the ice storm of the previous December, Judge Forrest’s husband had died when his car skidded off the road and tumbled end over end down a steep embankment. Only in her early thirties, she became a widow with a year-old son to raise on her own.
Jorrie was happy to see Judge Forrest, since the judge rarely was seen out and about in Bourbon Springs; word in the community was that the young widow was not handling her loss well.
Tossing her coat on a chair, Jorrie moved away from the door and into the bustling room. The entire Davenport family was present, and Jorrie noted that Lila was finally sporting a baby bump under a bright red dress. She was also happy and relieved to see Goose beaming at his mother and soon-to-be stepfather.
“So if you’re going to be my stepfather,” Goose said, pointing to Albert, “what will Mack be to me?”
Mack appeared from the kitchen, looking very handsome in a dark blue suit and pale blue tie. He scratched his chin and considered Goose’s question as Lucy, resplendent in a pale pink dress, adjusted her fiancé’s boutonniere, a single white rose.
“I guess we’ll be stepbrothers?” Mack suggested, and twisted his mouth into a contemplative smirk.
“Mack isn’t Albert’s son, so they can’t be stepbrothers,” Hannah reasoned. She sat on the couch next to Kyle, who held his son in his arms. It was the first time Jorrie had seen the sheriff since he’d been shot. He looked a bit thin and pale, but smiled pleasantly at his son and stuck the baby’s pacifier back into his eager little mouth.
“So you’re my stepuncle?” Mack asked, disbelief thick in his voice.
“Does it really matter?” Goose asked with a shrug. “Bottom line is that we’ll be family,” He extended his hand to Mack, and when Mack took it, Goose pulled his new relation into a bear hug.
After Goose released Mack from the embrace, Mack turned and Jorrie caught his eye. He immediately walked over and hugged her.
“So glad you’re here. And you look great.” He kissed her on the cheek.
“Thanks.” She had dressed for the occasion by wearing one of her favorite pieces, a black wool dress with a velour trim along the cuffs and hemline. “You seem to be handling this development a lot better than the last time I saw you.”
“I realized I had to accept it.” Mack looked over at his grandfather, who was laughing with Goose. “Albert is happier than I think I’ve ever seen him. How could I get in the middle of that? I will miss him though. He’s moving out, and Lucy’s house is on the other end of town. I’ll be here all alone.”
Mack excused himself to answer the doorbell, and Jorrie turned to see Drake arriving with a bottle of Old Garnet.
Mack took the bottle and headed toward the kitchen.
“I think we already have plenty, but this is most welcome. Hannah already brought two bottles, along with the makings for Bluegrass Bubbly,” Mack said as he walked away.
“Hey!” Drake greeted Jorrie as he removed his coat and tossed it onto the pile in the nearby chair. “Good to see you here. You come back for this happy event?”
“Well, not only that,” Jorrie said. “I—um—I’m back in Bourbon Springs now,” she said.
“What?” he asked her, and adjusted his grey tie. “But I thought you were in Frankfort.”
“Didn’t work out,” she said in a whisper. As much as she wanted to have this conversation with Drake, she didn’t want to have it in the middle of Albert and Lucy’s wedding.
“But—”
A screech echoed through the room, and both Jorrie and Drake were suddenly set upon by Judge Forrest’s toddler son. He had escaped from his mother’s grasp and darted toward the front door.
“Nathan, you get back here!” Judge Forrest cried.
The child was large enough to reach the handle on the interior glass door, and Jorrie saw Judge Forrest’s eyes grow large in fear.
“No you don’t,” Drake said and pulled the boy from the door by the waist. “You’d better go back to your mommy.” He scooped the tow-headed child into his arms and tickled him, causing the boy to erupt in laughter.
“Thanks,” Cara said as she moved toward the door. “He’s a bad one to escape sometimes. If he’d made it out that door…”
“So you like to run away, huh?” Drake teased and tickled Nathan’s belly again.
The child was totally enraptured by Drake’s attention. After giggling, Nathan began telling Drake all about some kind of toy.
“You don’t have to keep holding him,” Cara said. “Just make sure that door behind you is locked though.”
“I don’t mind. Besides, don’t you have a wedding ceremony to perform?” Drake asked, looking across the room.
Jorrie saw that at the far end of the room near the kitchen, the happy couple, flanked by Mack and Goose, were looking at the judge and seemed to be waiting for her to join them.
“You sure you’re good with handling that little monster?” Cara asked Drake.
“Do you see any problem?” Drake asked as Nathan put his head on Drake’s shoulder.
Cara nodded, thanked Drake, and walked across the room. Hannah and Kyle, still holding his son, stood on one side while Bo and Lila gathered in from the other side of the room.
“Is everyone ready?” Judge Forrest asked as Jorrie, Drake and Nathan stood behind her.
“You bet!” Albert exclaimed and tucked Lucy’s arm underneath his.
Judge Forrest went through the ceremony quickly. The bride and groom exchanged rings, kissed, and were pronounced husband and wife within a few minutes. Everyone cried except for Jamie and Nathan, both of whom slept through the entire ceremony.
Hannah and Harriet hustled into the kitchen to make Bluegrass Bubbly to celebrate, although Lucy tried to discourage the effort.
“Of course I’m going to make it, Lucy,” Hannah said. “I brought the bourbon, cider, cherries, and the flutes.”
“If you insist, at least let me help you,” Lucy said.
“No way!” Hannah said and stood in front of the entrance to the kitchen. “You’re the bride and shouldn’t have to lift a finger today.”
Lucy put her hands on her hips and glared at Hannah.
“And just maybe I want to make sure my glass has sufficient bourbon in it!” she said and pushed past the startled Hannah.
“Understood,” said an amused and subdued Hannah, who followed Lucy into the kitchen.
After toasting the bride and groom, the newlyweds announced their departure for their honeymoon.
“Where are they going?” Jorrie asked Mack as he took her emptied glass.
“Just to Lexington overnight. Nothing big. Albert is really already moved out. He took most of his belongings over to Lucy’s place yesterday,” Mack said sadly and returned to the kitchen with several emptied flutes.
The newlyweds left, followed by the Davenports, and Drake helped Judge Forrest into her coat. The judge thanked Drake and then looked around frantically.
“Where’s Nate?” she cried as her head turned from side to side. “Oh, no—he didn’t get out, did he?” she said, panic rising in her voice.
Drake put a hand on her shoulder.
“Cara, he’s right there.” Drake pointed to the little boy, curled up on one end of the couch with his back to the world and sleeping under his coat.
Cara sighed and shook her head. “Thank goodness,” she whispered. She walked to the couch and tried to rouse him. “Nathan… Nate, honey…,” she cooed as Drake put on his coat.
The child made no movement, and Cara picked him up, causing his coat to slip from his body and fall to the floor. Drake retrieved the coat and offered to carry the boy, but Cara demurred.
“I’ve got him,” she said, kissing her son’s cheek.
“At least let me help you out.” Drake draped the coat over Nate’s shoulders. He then held the front door open for the judge, and gave his regards over his shoulder to Mack and Jorrie before leaving.
Jorrie and Mack stood together alone in the middle of the room.
“Can you stay for a while?” Mack asked in a plaintive voice.
She hesitated and looked at the ground. Jorrie had the urge to go, even though she was extremely curious about Mack’s statement that he’d returned from Nashville to stay. She fe
lt awkward in his presence, knowing that she’d hurt him, and also felt embarrassed by her own failure.
“What did you mean when you said you were back in town for good?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” he said.
She sighed and swallowed. “The job didn’t work out. They lost funding for it, so I’m back.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I really believed you wouldn’t come back.”
“But I’m right in front of you telling you that I am back.”
“I know,” she said and teared up. “I was wrong about that, and wrong to leave too. That’s why I didn’t call you, Mack. I knew that after everything that you’d experienced, after you promised me that you’d be back, that you couldn’t forgive me for leaving. You’d lived that kind of sense of failure, returned from it, and had been transformed by it. You knew your own mind and heart and tried to assure me of your intentions. But what did I do? I didn’t trust you… and then I went off and failed in just the same way.”
“No, Jorrie, you just had bad luck,” he said.
“And you didn’t? No, Mack, I failed because my expectations didn’t get met. Just like you, I had to leave something I loved, that I thought I might do for the rest of my career, only to have it pulled out from under me. Because I just didn’t lose a job. Even though I was there only a short time, just a few weeks, I loved it. The people, the work—it was so interesting and fulfilling. So to lose that was horrible—to have a taste of that kind of fun, that kind of success, only to have it snatched away.
“So even after you shared your experience with me and gave me your promise to return, how could I face you? I was wrong, so very wrong. I’m a complete hypocrite, and I know it. And I know you can’t forgive me for my doubt and cutting you off like I did. I’m not going to insult you by asking for it. Just let me leave, because being with you again is killing me.” Tears spilled from her eyes as she looked around for her coat.
Mack grabbed her by the hands and pulled her to him.
“Why would you think I wouldn’t forgive you?” he asked in an incredulous whisper. “I love you, Jorrie, and—I think I need to ask your forgiveness.”
Bourbon Springs Box Set: Volume III, Books 7-9 (Bourbon Springs Box Sets Book 3) Page 26