“Drake’s watching her at the hotel.”
“Drake?”
She shrugged with a frown. “I know. Drake’s so irresponsible he can barely be trusted with a goldfish. But he’s her father, and he’s threatening to sue for visitation rights. If I let him play house, maybe he’ll be too lazy to pursue it.”
Drake was a worthless piece of scum who happened to contribute his DNA to Kelsey’s baby. “You know I’ll help you with any kind of custody battle.”
“In California?” Her eyebrows lifted in a humorless smirk. “Besides, it’s for less than an hour. Drake’s bringing her to the picnic.”
He groaned. “Damn Aunt Debra. I hear she’s having a softball game too.”
Kelsey laughed. “Mom’ll love that. She only knew about the barbeque. It’s likely to cause a fight.”
“They’ve already had one that registered 6.5 on the Richter scale. And your ears must have been burning.”
She beamed. “I love being the center of attention. Tell me what they said.”
“Nope. That’s what you get for not being here to have my back.”
“Mom’ll tell me.”
Probably. His mother loved to complain about his aunt.
As if on cue, Aunt Debra leapt to her feet and approached the altar. “We’ll have to do it again. You didn’t practice lighting the unity candle.”
Blair headed back into the sanctuary, followed so closely by Neil it was a wonder he didn’t step on her shoes. “We’re not lighting a unity candle.”
Debra put her hands on her hips. “And why on earth not?”
Clearly gunning for a battle, Blair stopped in the middle of the aisle, her hands on her hips. “Because we chose not to have one.”
“How could you not have a unity candle?” his aunt asked, as though it were the most preposterous idea in the world. “Don’t you want your marriage to be unified?”
“Of course we want our marriage to be unified, but lighting a damn candle won’t make a bit of difference.”
Debra gasped and rushed over to her big purse, pulling out the cursing jar. One of the plastic ears had caved in, and the cat’s belly was bulging, presumably from all the money stuffed inside. “I can’t believe you cursed in the Lord’s house!” She held it out in front of her and shook it, causing the money to rattle around inside. “That’s five dollars!”
“What in God’s name is that?” Kelsey whispered.
“Aunt Debra at her best.”
Blair shook her head and pointed at the kitty. “I’m not putting five dollars in that damn jar!”
Debra gasped, her eyes flying wide. Her face turned red, and she spat out, “I’ve resigned myself to Neil marrying a foul-mouthed woman, but the least you could do is try to watch your tongue in church. Your mother should have raised you better.”
Blair’s body tensed, and Garrett dropped Kelsey’s arm and took an instinctual step forward. As protective as Blair had always been toward her mother, this was bound to end badly.
“Mom,” Neil warned.
“Why are you marrying her, Neil?” she demanded. “Why can’t you find a nice girl who will take care of you and give you babies?”
“Mom!”
“Where’s her mother, Neil? She couldn’t even bother to show up for her daughter’s rehearsal. If she were any kind of mother at all, she’d be here washing her daughter’s mouth out with soap.”
Blair took several steps toward the woman, her face frozen into one of her most intimidating looks. The older woman had the sense to take a step back.
Blair’s eyes were cold as ice. “You can say whatever you like about me, but don’t you dare talk about my mother in a derogatory manner ever again. Have I made myself clear?”
The woman nodded, her body shaking.
Blair spun around and stomped out of the sanctuary.
Neil clenched his fists. “If you ruin this for me, I’ll never forgive you, Mother.” Then he spun around and hurried out of the church. “Blair!”
Kelsey moved next to Garrett. “He loves her, Garrett,” she whispered. “You need to let this go.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Kels. He thinks the two of them are going to be some sort of power couple, and he’s already counting the future money he hopes she’ll make. Add to that the fact that she doesn’t require much of his time and attention and the reality that he’ll be taking the woman he knows I want, and he’s become like a rabid dog who won’t let go,” he snarled under his breath. “Love doesn’t compute in that equation at all.”
“What an ass.” Her words weren’t very loud, but they bounced around in the silent sanctuary.
Debra’s eyes narrowed. “Kelsey Lowry, you’re just as vile as that girl who’s trying to steal my boy.”
Kelsey laughed. “You don’t scare me, Aunt Debra. And if you don’t like Blair, then I know I’m gonna love her.”
“She’s lowlife trash, and I’m gonna put a stop to this.”
While Garrett appreciated her goal, he was livid over her assessment of Blair’s character. And he wasn’t the only one.
“Excuse me?” Libby demanded, stalking down the aisle toward the woman. “Did you just call Blair lowlife trash?” Her eyes were wild, and her hands had fisted at her side.
Megan rushed after her and put her hand on her shoulder. “Libs, she’s not worth it. Let’s go.”
Libby shook her off and gave Debra her full attention. “You have no idea what Blair’s been through. Her family had money until her father divorced her mother to marry one of his mistresses and left his family destitute.”
“I wasn’t even talking about her money. I was talking about her filthy mouth.” The older woman lifted her chin. “But if her father was a cheater, then all the more reason for Neil not to marry her. Cheating runs in her family’s blood.”
Megan gasped, and Libby’s eyes filled with rage.
“Are you kidding me?” Libby raged.
“Libby.” Garrett’s firm voice cut her off. “Go find Blair.”
She sucked in several short breaths as she continued to stare his aunt down.
“Come on, Libs. Don’t do this to Blair,” Megan said, grabbing Libby’s arm and tugging. “Garrett’s right. Let’s go find her.”
Mitch looked baffled as he watched the scene, but Noah knew exactly what to do. When Libby continued to refuse to let Megan drag her out of the church, he walked over to them and stared her down. Finally she let Megan turn her toward the door, and Noah murmured comforting words to her, coaxing her down the aisle. He looked back at Neil’s mother. “If Blair’s smart, she’ll run far and fast to get away from you.”
She gasped. “Well, I never . . .”
“Do you think she will?” Kelsey asked Garrett.
“Not a chance. Blair loves a good fight. She’ll marry him for the sake of pissing her off.”
Aunt Debra had probably made his mission ten times harder.
Chapter Twenty-Three