1022 Evergreen Place - Debbie Macomber [122]
Roy shook his head.
“Bring me a shot of whiskey,” Chad told him, and then, looking at Roy, he said, “Never mind. Just bring the bottle.”
Thirty-Five
Mack had always assumed it was the bride who’d be nervous, not the groom. He certainly didn’t expect to be the one pacing back and forth an hour before the wedding. Everything had come together so quickly that his mind was spinning. Once Mary Jo had agreed to marry him—and once they’d told his mother—the wedding seemed to take on a momentum of its own. But the best news was that Ben Rhodes had gotten David to agree to sign relinquishment papers, although he hadn’t told anyone how he’d managed it or what he’d said. It had happened the day of another wedding—Troy and Faith’s. Some people, like his father, thought Ben had offered David an incentive; others, like Jack Griffin, believed he’d used some kind of leverage. All Mack cared about, however, was the fact that he could now adopt Noelle.
Linnette and Pete’s plan to visit Cedar Cove in early August made the choice of a wedding date easier. If his sister and new brother-in-law were going to be in Cedar Cove, he and Mary Jo should take advantage of it.
Once the date was set, the details all seemed to fall into place. A whirlwind of events followed. His mother had arranged the reception and hired a photographer, while Mary Jo and Linc’s wife, Lori, worked on the wedding dress. Lori had designed it and had seen to its completion in record time. According to Mary Jo, Lori was immensely talented, not that Mack knew anything about women’s clothing. Although he hadn’t actually seen this work-of-art wedding creation, he’d certainly heard enough about it from Mary Jo.
In getting all the arrangements made for the wedding, they’d also attended premarriage classes with Pastor Dave Flemming for two weeks. The sessions had seemed like a waste of time and effort when the pastor first mentioned them. Now that they were over, Mack was happy Dave had urged them to attend. Of the many things they’d discussed, the one that stuck in his mind was the way that assumptions could be detrimental to relationships. Assumptions about themselves and each other.
The six hour-long meetings with the pastor had made him aware of various issues between him and Mary Jo. Issues that could lead to contentious problems later on. Like his tendency to be overprotective and Mary Jo’s to withhold her feelings. He was grateful to have had this opportunity to prepare for marriage and felt confident that they had a good chance of making their life together work.
“You okay?” His father stepped into the small vestibule behind the altar where Mack waited. Waited and paced. He’d sit down and then vault to his feet and resume pacing.
“I’m fine.” He heard the hesitation in his own voice.
Roy chuckled and slapped him on the back. “Linc will be here in less than ten minutes, so you can stop worrying.”
Linc Wyse would serve as Mack’s best man, and Lori was standing up as Mary Jo’s matron of honor.
“You mean to say he’s not here yet?” Mack stopped abruptly. He’d been so consumed with his own nervousness that he hadn’t realized his best man hadn’t shown up.
“Everything’s going to be just fine,” Roy assured him, grinning widely.
Mack scowled at his father. “I don’t know why you think this is so funny.”
“Sorry, I can’t help it. This wedding business brings up a lot of memories. I was a nervous wreck before I married your mother, too. In fact, I nearly fainted at the altar.”
Mack could hardly believe that his highly competent, unflappable father had ever been nervous about anything, let alone his own wedding.
“Your mother was so beautiful I couldn’t keep my eyes off her and when it came time to repeat my vows I was so tongue-tied—”
“Dad, stop it,” Mack said. He was already having enough difficulties; he didn’t need his father regaling him with horror stories just before his wedding.
“Sorry, son.” Roy did have the good grace to look guilty.
“Where’s Mom?” Mack asked, hoping a change of subject would settle his mind.
Appearing cool and relaxed, his father