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“I didn’t say that. I just said that I prefer to get married in my church. When I get married to whoever I marry,” she said, knowing that it would get a rise out of the man. It had been a few months of her turning him down, but she wasn’t going to rush into marriage just because she was pregnant. After all, her entire family already knew, not to mention the entire town around them. There was no way to put that genie back in the bottle.
Tess was sure it was Mia who had made the gossip spread, becoming old news by the time she and Math returned to Landstad. Mia only had a few details, but she had been able to seamlessly fill in any blank there was.
Math had called his kids and broke the news before the gossip could get to them. Cora was upset because she didn’t want to have to raise a baby—as if she would have to. Mason didn’t care, and Juniper was more excited than Math’s mom was about it. Tess was sure the older woman was now going to pressure her daughters about having more kids. Or pressure them more than usual.
Over the past few months, there were some things that she gave in on easily: moving in with him, getting a new vehicle, speaking Russian more often. Since her brothers had taught Math a few words, he liked to use them when he could. Not that he said them even close to correctly, but he was trying, so it counted.
Not once since they drove back into town had she stayed at her apartment. In fact, she had moved out already. There was no way Math would let her not stay in their bed at night. He and Hue had cleaned out her place one day when she was working. It should have made her mad, but it hadn’t. But he had done it right before the first of the month, so she didn’t have to pay another month’s rent. She wasn’t cheap, but she did like to save money when she could.
“Stubborn like your mama, you are,” Math grumbled and turned to his dad to say something about the wheat crop. He was getting used to the rejection.
The biggest change since she’d started dating Math was at the bank. It seemed that dating a local had been her ticket to work friendships. Every day, someone asked her about Math or the kids or the farm, or even the baby. The tellers were even planning a little baby shower one day. Suddenly, she was included in conversations that used to take place behind her back. The instant change of attitude had been unnerving at first; she had a feeling something was up. Math had sworn to her that the bank employees were not that deviant, but she had her doubts.
“Shot him down again?” Mandy asked from beside her. In the pew, Tess could feel her giggle.
“He’s not serious most of the time,” Tess told her, and it was true. It had turned into more of a joke between them than real. One day it would be real, and she would know it.
“Real or not, I think he is willing to take a yes at any moment,” Mandy assured her.
“And one day, I will say yes, just not at Natalie’s wedding. How rude is that?”
“Rude is making us sit in this heat for an extra ten minutes. It was supposed to start already,” Mandy said and looked at the door at the back of the church.
“Do you think Mia lost control of the wedding?” Tess asked. Mia was the personal attendant to the bride, and she was in charge of almost everything and everyone during the wedding.
“After all the partying the groom did last night, maybe he is still sobering up? Or at least that’s what I heard.” Mandy looked around the church again as if anything had changed in the last few minutes.
Tess followed her gaze and saw Ruth and Anderson sitting a few pews behind them. Anderson had his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders even in the heat. It was nice to see her happy.
The only other book club member was in the back of the church with her son, a boy who didn’t seem all that interested in being there. Hazel was trying to keep him occupied, but she seemed as interested as Tess was about getting out of the hot church.
Two days ago, Tess had seen the extent of Hazel’s reaction to Natalie. For months they had been cordial, and Tess didn’t understand why they weren’t closer. After seeing the woman’s panic attack, she now knew exactly why. Amanda had given her a brief overview of the accident that took the lives of Hazel’s brother and sister, an accident that Natalie was involved in.
Tess’s heart went out to the younger members of the group. Even if Natalie was getting married, she didn’t seem all that happy about it. But then again, maybe that was because she was moving away, and like Tess, she saw that this town might be home.
Another wave of heat washed over Tess, and she shifted away from Math, only to get too close to Mandy. She was trapped between two hot Nordskov’s and couldn’t get away from them. Most of the time, she didn’t want to, but today, right now, she needed some space.
“I am going to the ladies’ room,” she said to Math.
“The wedding is about to start. Can it wait?”
“No, it cannot. I have a tiny human sitting on my bladder,” she said, though it wasn’t true. She just needed out.
“Are you feeling okay?” Mandy asked from beside her, more concerned than she needed to be.
“Fine. I just have to pee,” she said as quietly as she could since the people around them were starting to pay attention to them.
She heard someone behind her, probably Mia’s mom, announce too loudly that Tess was feeling sick. There were more murmurs from those with the woman, who must be Mia’s sisters.
Turning to them, she stated, “I am fine.”
“You look pale, dear,” Dotty said and patted her shoulder. “Math, you need to take better care of your—” she paused for a moment “—girlfriend.”
“Fiancé, Aunt Dotty. She just hasn’t said yes yet,” Math told his aunt through gritted teeth.
“She has to say yes before you can call her your fiancé,” Mandy argued with her brother,
“Stop, stop, I am fine, everyone. I will wait until after the wedding.” She wasn’t moving now. Everyone was looking!
