Page 89 of Thaddeus

I noticed that Faith was looking at Gumby with so much motherly love I wondered how close she and Sidney were. By the approval in the elderly woman’s gaze, I’d say they were extremely so, and Faith was more than pleased Sidney had found a man as honorable and kind as Gumby.

Emerson

“I love her,” I announced when we were in the car on the way back to the hotel. “Did you know, she’s doing the remodel on the house herself?”

“Yeah, babe, you mentioned that,” he returned.

Okay, so, I may’ve had a tiny woman crush on Sidney. But the chick was awesome. Totally and completely awesome. Before she’d accepted a job from a friend of Gumby’s—the contractor who’d been working on Gumby’s house before Gumby’d met Sidney—she’d worked as a handywoman.

A freaking handywoman.

How cool was that?

“Did you see the patio furniture she made?”

“Yeah, I saw it.”

“Did you know she made it out of recycled pallets?” I went on ignoring his exasperation.

“Yep. Knew that, too.”

“Did you know—”

“Pleased as hell you like Sidney, babe, but I wanna talk to you about something.”

“Okay, shoot.”

I turned in my seat to face Thaddeus and caught him smiling at my acceptance.

Damn, he was hot.

“How do you feel about making a stop on the way back to the hotel?”

“Where to?”

“The courthouse.”

“The courthouse?” I scrunched my nose at his off-the-wall suggestion. “To do what?”

“To get married.”

“Married?” I nearly choked. “Right now?”

“Yes.”

“Um. Two problems with that. First I don’t have ID and second I’m not getting married in shorts and a tee.”

“I talked to my friend Tex. We can pick up a certified copy of your birth certificate and a copy of your passport at the Passport Agency at the Department of State building.”

“How is that possible?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care. I learned long ago that when John “Tex” Keegan says he can get shit done, it means it will be done. I’ve learned not to ask, because he won’t tell anyone how he does what he does. Got word when we were at Gumby’s your birth certificate had been sent to the Passport Agency and now you have a brand-new passport waiting to be picked up.”

“That’s kinda scary,” I told him.

“You don’t know the half of it, or you’d know that it isn’t scary, it’s world domination shit. Let’s just pray Tex never turns to the dark side or we’re all fucked.”

“Would he do that?”