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He nodded. “Ben, I have been with Mrs. Canfield for thirty years. Do you know how hard it is to wake up every morning to the same woman? She’s not an easy woman either.” He chuckled at my expression. “She’s bossy and controlling. She’s got a way she likes things in the house. I don’t.” He shrugged.
“I leave my shoes at the front door, by the nightstand. She shouts my name and I knew I’ve screwed something up. I roll my eyes at her and it makes her mad but Ben, at the end of the day, I’d be a lost man without her.”
I nodded at him understanding exactly what he was saying.
“That’s what it takes Ben to love a lifetime. Putting up with all her faults like she puts up with mine. Loving her in sickness and in health. Mrs. Canfield was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis last year. She’s suffering Ben. She’s in pain. She’s grumpy. She snaps at me then she cries for snapping at me. I hold her Ben and tell her that it’s all right. I have to wait on her sometimes when her pain is so bad she doesn’t want to get out of bed.”
I knew why he was telling me this.
“Marriage isn’t pretty, Ben. Once the newlywed stage is over it’s hard work to stay together. Only the love that you share keeps the bond strong. Sometimes you need to walk away for a minute not forever,” he said.
“I understand,” I told him. “My parents gave up. I won’t,” I said.
He nodded. “I have an opening two weeks from yesterday. I will marry you and Disa because that is what she wants but I want to hear you say that you are sure, Ben.”
He laid his hand on my shoulder and I grasped his wrist with my own hand. I didn’t have the words to explain myself. I had emotion though. Those emotions were building up in my face and showing in my eyes. A tear rolled down my cheek and I was ashamed for crying in front of our
pastor.
“I won’t lose her again,” I whispered. My voice broken like my soul had been for so long without this woman. “I love her more than myself.”
“Ben, no shame in expressing yourself with tears, son.”
I wiped my cheeks then I nodded at Pastor Canfield.
“I’ll marry you,” he said.
“I’ll let Disa know two weeks from yesterday you’ll marry us.”
“I’ll put you down,” he said. “I have to get ready for service now.” He patted my shoulder then we parted ways. I wiped my face again and headed toward the row where my mother sat with my family.
More people started arriving as I slipped into the row and sat beside Disa. I gazed at her and took her hand in mine. “Two weeks.” I cleared my throat. “Two weeks from yesterday,” I said. “Pastor Canfield agreed to marry us.”
“What the hell?” AJ snapped. “Aren’t you rushing into this?”
“AJ,” Mom snapped at him for cursing in the house of the Lord.
“No, I am not,” I informed my brother.
Danni and Walker sat next to AJ. She was comforting an unhappy India. We exchanged looks then I told her what AJ had overheard. She looked at AJ then she looked at me. “Leave him be,” she informed my brother. He snorted at her and crossed his arms over his chest.
Then he grunted and grumbled beneath his breath. “Jesus Christ, I didn’t know they let Satan’s minions into the church.”
“AJ,” Mom snapped at him, louder this time. “Watch your mouth.” She was getting really pissed at him. I fully expected her to reach across me and Disa and slap him soon, like she used to when we were small boys and misbehaving. She didn’t care who saw her.
Daisy had arrived, looking prim and proper in a long skirt with a long, sleeved sweater that brought out the color of her eyes. The lavender suited her. She looked amazing and she had her hand wrapped through the arm of a man I didn’t know.
“Who is she with?” AJ asked Danni. I wanted to laugh at him. He was transparent in his feelings for her.
“That’s a resident from the hospital. She’s been seeing him for about three months now.”
“Really?” He declared. “She comes to church every Sunday?” He eyed Danni waiting for her response.
“She does,” Danni answered although she was hesitant about it. I shook my head. I knew what was coming next. She shouldn’t have given him that information.
“I think I might start coming to church after all,” he said almost happily. I scrubbed my hands over my face. My family was all kinds of messed up and I wanted to bring more kids into this mess. Maybe Matt had the right idea. Done with one.
Then I glanced at the woman sitting next to me. She wanted a baby too. I leaned back and kissed her cheek. “Welcome to the Hatfield family,” I told her.
