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“It’s the same damn brand, Martha,” Earl added as he snatched up his own cup to be refilled.
“There is nothing wrong with the coffee, or the breakfast that Miss Landry has provided, madame.”
We all turned to look at Mark, who had spoken to Martha without raising his head.
“Furthermore, if you continue to make disparaging remarks about Miss Landry, her home, or the breakfast that she so kindly provided you, I will personally see that you are removed from the premises.”
Well, hot damn. I normally wasn’t one for allowing a man to speak for me, but I loved the way that Mark had laid down the law.
Martha looked from Earl to me and then back again to Earl. “Are you just going to let that man speak to me like that? I am your wife!”
Earl grinned but didn’t say a word. The rest of the meal was pretty uneventful, but that didn’t matter, because for once, Martha was quiet. It was a full-on miracle.
I might have fallen for Mark just the tiniest bit at that moment.
Chapter Eight
Sutton
“Must you follow me every minute of the day?”
I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before, but Mark did not indicate when he said I was free to make arrangements that he would be with me every blasted moment. Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t rude or disrespectful in any way.
No, it was far worse than that. He was helpful and so devastatingly handsome with his day’s growth of beard and yesterday’s clothes that I couldn’t help but make a complete fool out of myself.
“If I wasn’t here, who would have picked you up when you fell off the sidewalk?” Mark answered with a quirk of his lips.
“I didn’t fall,” I corrected him. “The sidewalk was being elusive.”
A full-blown smirk was beginning to form as he answered me. “What about when you gouged your eye with the straw?”
The injured eye was still throbbing a bit.
“That was intentional.”
He laughed, and dear Lord that was a sound I would never be sick of. I couldn’t stay mad at him because he hadn’t done anything wrong. It wasn’t his fault that everywhere we went the people of Otterville Falls couldn’t keep their eyes off of him—mostly the women.
Alice and Reena fell all over themselves when we checked in on them. First off, they both hugged him. I might have enjoyed the panicked look that he got when Reena gave him an extra nuzzle with her cleavage. Next, they ushered him into their home as if he were the president or God.
By the time we left, Mark had arranged for the local market to deliver their groceries weekly. You would have thought that the man killed a fire-breathing dragon on their behalf.
From there we went to Martha and Earl’s, which was located next to the vicarage. Sadly, there we ran into a bit of trouble with Father Montgomery.
“Devil’s Spawn! You aren’t welcome here!” That was all the good father got out before Mark had him pinned up against the church’s brick wall.
In a voice that was backed with steel, Mark threatened, “You are supposed to be a man of God—act like it. I suggest you change your approach to Miss Landry.”
I tugged on Mark’s sleeve, “Maybe we should go?”
“Maybe he needs to explain to his Maker why he treats perfectly good people like shit,” Mark said in what could only be described as a threatening way.
“I am pretty sure that you aren’t supposed to say shit at church,” I answered, not knowing what else to say.
Mark turned to me. Those gray eyes seemed to see more than I wanted to share. Finally, he said, “We aren’t in church. We are outside.”
“Everywhere God’s light touches is his church,” Father Montgomery sneered.
“What happens when the sun goes down?” I asked, mostly to see Father Montgomery fume.