Page 15

15

J ack

Sunday: Wedding minus 6 days

I ’d never been a churchgoer until I started dating Tess. Even then, it took a while for me to agree to it. I figured I’d feel entirely out of place. A fish out of water.

A tiger out of the jungle.

But it had never felt like that. The congregation had welcomed me as easily as they’d welcomed any non-supernatural newcomer, and I’d grown to at least like the singing.

Mostly.

Superior Tiger Hearing, after all.

So, I wasn’t even surprised when I walked into the kitchen to get coffee and heard Tess outside offering our troll guest some breakfast and inviting him to go to church with us.

“Not a chance,” he rumbled. For the first time, he sounded hostile toward Tess, and I walked out onto the back porch with my mug.

“Problem?”

The troll gave me a dark look, which you’d think would be tough to do with orange eyes, but apparently not.

“No problem, tiger. Go chase a mouse or something.”

I grinned at him. “Maybe after I’ve had my coffee. Aren’t you missing your swamp?”

Tess put her hands on her hips and gave us both her sternest, steely-eyed stare. “Okay, boys. That’s enough. Braumsh, I’ll bring you out a plate of breakfast, if you’re sure you don’t want to come inside and eat with us.”

That was maybe going a bit too far. Sure, he smelled better, but not great.

“I prefer the fresh air. I will have a swim in your pool. I will … enjoy the food.”

Lou suddenly streaked by me and raced over to the troll, who carefully picked her up and petted her.

“Don’t eat our cat,” I advised.

The troll bared his blocky white teeth at me and hissed.

Tess threw her hands in the air and stomped back inside. “I’m over this. I have to get ready for church. You two behave.”

“You are very lucky to have won the affections of such a woman,” Braumsh rumbled at me, just when I was turning to go back inside. “You don’t deserve her.”

I glanced back at him and smiled. “I know.”

After coffee and a hearty breakfast, I cheered up considerably, even after Tess made me take a tray of food out for the troll. I put it on a poolside table, but we didn’t speak again, mostly because he was lying stretched out on the bottom of the pool, staring up at the sky through the somewhat cloudy water.

I shrugged and went back inside, fed Lou and told her she had seriously poor taste in friends these days, and then Tess and I drove to church.

“I’m glad you’re coming, even though I know you’re going to be barraged with people wanting to talk about the fight,” she said.

“It’s fine. Everything’s great.”

She gave me a suspicious look. “Why are you in such a good mood? What did you do to Braumsh?”

I laughed. “Hey. I gave him his breakfast. Nothing else. I’m in a good mood because I love the sight of you in that purple dress, and in less than a week, I’ll be married to the most beautiful woman in the world.”

She scoffed, but took my hand. “In the entire world? I don’t think so. Not even in all of Dead End, especially now that we have Fae dropping in all the time.”

“Trust me, the Fae don’t count. That beauty is cold and hard; nothing I’d want to sit next to on the couch watching Star Wars.”

“Can you imagine watching Star Wars with Queen Viviette?” Tess shook her head and then put on a fake, haughty voice. “How dare those furry creatures touch the princess? I will have my warriors cut them down where they stand!”

She wasn’t wrong. I doubted the queen would understand Ewoks.

“What’s on the agenda today? Any wedding stuff we need to do?”

Tess sighed. “I feel like more than my fair share of ‘wedding stuff’ is on my plate, especially when you ask me if we need to do any ‘wedding stuff.’”

Somehow, I understood what she meant. Dead End was soaking into my bones .

Or at least my twisted-logic comprehension center.

“I promise to step up more.”

She squeezed my hand.

A n hour and ten minutes of singing, sermons, and friendly chat later, church was over. Pastor Nash asked us to stay for a minute after everyone else left, so we hung back. Ruby and Mike invited us to lunch at their place, and Shelley told us we Had! To! Come!

I was half afraid Pastor Nash would voice some previously unspoken prejudice against the idea of a shapeshifter marrying a “normal” human, Tess’s gift aside, but he only wanted to talk about last-minute details.

“Tess, Jack, welcome, welcome. A few things,” he said, giving us a warm smile. “Are you writing your own vows?”

“Nooo,” Tess said doubtfully.

I realized she was trying to protect me from having to do it, and then I wondered why we hadn’t talked about it.

“Yes,” I said firmly.

“Yes? Are you sure?” She studied my face. “Jack, you don’t have to?—”

“I know.” I took her hand. “I want to.”

“Vows, check,” the pastor said. “Lorraine, Eleanor, and Ruby have the reception well in hand. It will take up the entire town square, since everybody in Dead End is invited.”

“Hopefully, all this stuff with the Fae will be resolved by then,” Tess said.

“Did you invite the Fae?” he asked.

Tess’s eyes widened. “It never occurred to me. I know they won’t come into a Christian church because their beliefs are different. But I didn’t think about inviting them to the reception.”

“They don’t deserve an invitation after what they’re putting us through,” I growled.

Pastor Nash smiled. “Ah, but that’s where forgiveness comes in. If we turn the other cheek?—”

“We’re likely to get punched in the face,” I said, but without heat. “Okay, let’s invite the queen and tell her she’s welcome to bring her retinue. Maybe it will earn us some goodwill.”

“I know,” Tess said. “I’ll bring her one of our invitations tonight. It’s on fancy card stock, like the cards they keep sending us. Maybe it will make her happy.”

“Or at least catch her off guard,” the pastor suggested, a hint of a gleam in his eye.

When I raised an eyebrow, he chuckled. “I don’t want to lose the church, which will happen if we’re forced to evacuate the town. So, maybe I’m not entirely feeling the cheek-turning philosophy at the moment.”

“Oh!” Tess groaned. “I can’t believe I forgot to give Braumsh an invitation.”

Pastor Nash looked puzzled. “Who’s Braumsh?”

I sighed. “The swamp troll who lives in our swimming pool.”

A unt Ruby was not one to take Sunday lunch casually, thank goodness. By the time we arrived at the farm, the table was covered with fried chicken and all the trimmings. Potato salad, fresh corn on the cob, strawberries and blueberries, and fresh rolls. Also, a chocolate cake stood ready on the counter, and I felt the smile spread across my entire face.

Shelley said she had important things to do after lunch, so she and I cleaned up the kitchen and washed the dishes quickly. Then she and Pickles ran out to the barn, and the rest of us went outside to sit on the porch and enjoy the relatively mild day. It was only 85, which for June was a delight … or a miracle.

“If only we have a day like this next Saturday for the wedding,” Tess said wistfully.

“It will be, I’m sure of it,” Ruby said, patting her niece’s knee.

“Weather forecast says yes,” Mike put in, closing his eyes and leaning back on the porch swing. He’d changed out of his church clothes before we arrived and wore his usual old blue jeans with beat up shoes and a T-shirt advertising the Southern Railway.

“Uncle Mike, you are entirely too relaxed, considering what’s going to happen tonight,” Tess said in a small, worried voice.

His eyes opened, and he grinned at her. “Would it help if I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off?”

“No, but?—”

“Then let me prepare in my way, honey. I’ll spend the day relaxing and mentally preparing. I’ll do my best tonight. That’s all any of us can do.”

Ruby leaned her head on his shoulder. “I have to admit, I don’t like this any better than Tess does. Why have three members of our family been the chosen champions so far? Three of us out of four challenges! Does that queen have something against us?”

“You outmaneuvered her a bit with the key to the city. Maybe she held a grudge,” I said. “Mike, how good are you at chess?”

Mike grinned at me. “Are you still here? Tess, whatever happened to that boring dentist you used to date?”

“Uncle Mike!” Tess’s face turned pink. “Enough! Answer the question. How good are you at chess?”

Mike stood and stretched, then stared out into the distance for a minute or two before answering. Then he shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out.”