Penny (Orlan Orphans Book 6) Read online

  “Tomorrow?”

  She frowned at him. “Don’t you care about poor Cletus? She might strangle him!”

  “Does he always flinch when she walks up behind him?”

  “Only when he knows he’s doing something she won’t like.” She shrugged. “I think I need to wait at least a month to marry. I want Edna Petunia to have time to plan something. We should probably keep her away from your mother until after the wedding, though. I’m not sure your mama could handle Edna Petunia.”

  Tom frowned. “Can anyone handle Edna Petunia? Mama will help. She’ll want to. I’d rather marry tomorrow, but if you think we should, I’ll wait a month. What all goes into planning a wedding anyway?”

  “How would I know? I’ve never been married and all my sisters have had rushed weddings. I know I need to make myself a dress. I’ll talk to Edna Petunia about it tonight.”

  “My mama will want to help out with the planning.”

  Penny bit her lip. “Are you sure that’s wise? She won’t run away after meeting Edna Petunia?”

  He shrugged. “She believes in fate. She knows I’m supposed to marry you, so she may not like her a lot, but she’ll not say anything about it to her or to you.” He picked up her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger, before bringing it to his lips to kiss. “Now it’s official.”

  “It’s not official until we tell Edna Petunia and Cletus. She’s going to be so happy she gets to plan a wedding!” Penny almost wanted to leave work early, but she had orders to fill. No, she needed to continue to do her job, not hurry home and start planning a wedding with her adoptive mother.

  He couldn’t stop grinning. It wasn’t just that he was fulfilling his fate, though that was nice. No, he was going to marry the girl of his dreams. Soon. “I’ll come by and drive you home tomorrow after work. I’ll bring my mama and she and Edna can start planning.”

  “I’ll start making my dress as soon as I finish the last of your shirts.”

  He looked a bit embarrassed. “I don’t really need shirts. I just made that up so I could come and meet you.”

  She’d had the feeling for a while, but she shook her head. “Our whole relationship is based on a lie!”

  He sighed. “Don’t hold it against me!”

  *****

  When she got home from work that evening, the first thing she did was seek out Edna Petunia in the kitchen, holding up her hand with the engagement ring. The old woman’s eyes widened. “You are not marrying him tomorrow!”

  “No, I’m not. We’re going to wait a full month to give you some time to plan the wedding.”

  “I won’t have it! I deserve some—wait, you’re going to give me a month?” Edna Petunia stared at Penny as if she’d lost her mind.

  “That’s what you always wanted, isn’t it?”

  “Well, in theory that’s what I always want. Now I have to actually plan a wedding though.” Edna Petunia walked into the dining room and collapsed into a chair. “I don’t even know where to start.”

  Penny laughed softly. “Do you want me to marry him tomorrow? That’s what he wants.”

  Edna shook her head emphatically. “No. Absolutely not. We’re doing it right this time!”

  “I’ll make my own dress, of course, but what else should I do?”

  Edna Petunia looked completely unnerved for a moment, but then she started barking orders like a sergeant. “Get Gertie and Betsy and tell them to finish supper. Oh, first get me some paper, and then tell them to finish supper. And then get Katie down here. I need her to sing. Do you have fabric for your wedding dress?”

  “Not yet.” Penny sat for a moment, waiting to see if the orders would change. Is Katie supposed to sing now for Edna Petunia, or is she supposed to sing for the wedding?

  “What are you still sitting for, girl? Move, move, move! We have only a month to put on the most spectacular wedding this state has ever seen! If only Mary Sullivan could see me now!”

  Penny got to her feet to get the paper and pencil. When she got back to the table, Edna was pulling at her hair from each side. “Are you sure you don’t want me to just marry quickly like the others? I don’t want this to be too stressful.”

  “Stress? Who cares about stress! We’re planning a wedding!”

  Penny hurried away before she could be given any more orders. She got back to the table five minutes later, and Edna was still staring at a blank page. “I’m making your wedding hat.”

  Penny smiled. “I’d like that a great deal.” Oh, how she prayed there would be no dead birds on it, but if there were, she’d still wear it with pride. Edna Petunia had made too many sacrifices for her and her sisters for her to complain about a little dead bird on her head.

  Soon the whole house was abuzz. Penny was getting married, and more importantly, Edna Petunia was planning a wedding.

  *****

  When Tom picked her up after work the following afternoon, Penny peeked over his shoulder out the plate glass window to see his mother sitting in the front seat of the wagon. “Edna Petunia’s losing her mind.”

  Tom started to ask if she’d ever had one, but it was just too obvious. He couldn’t force himself to make the bad joke. “Mama will help her, and together, they’ll make the wedding special.”

  Penny sighed. “We should have just run off, but now that I’ve offered this to Edna Petunia, I can’t take it away from her. But she’s going to make everyone around her crazy for the next month. I don’t think Cletus got a wink of sleep.”

  Tom leaned down to kiss her cheek, knowing it was best not to argue with her again. “Have you picked the fabric for your wedding dress?”

  She nodded, handing him a box filled with fabric and various other things she’d been told to pick up for Edna Petunia. “I’m going to start on it tonight if Edna Petunia will let me.”

  “Are you going to work right up until the wedding?”

  “I—I haven’t really thought about it. I wasn’t thinking about stopping even after the wedding.”

  “Of course, you’ll stop after the wedding. You’ll be needed at home.”

  She frowned. “What if I want to do some extra sewing to help with the household budget?”

  “There’ll be no need. I promise. And as soon as the babies start coming, you will be too busy.”

  She finally nodded. He was right. Women just didn’t work after marriage, and she was silly to want to.

  On the drive home, his mother asked her questions about her plans. “Do you want a big wedding or a small one?”

  Penny shrugged. “I want whatever Edna Petunia wants me to have. I don’t really care about the wedding, but it’s making her happy to plan it, so I’m letting her plan it.”

  “You don’t have any opinions at all?”

  Penny shook her head. “No, I don’t. I want to make my own dress, but that’s all I really care about. My sister Katie will sing, because she has the most beautiful voice in all of Texas. Other than that, it just doesn’t matter to me.”

  “I see.” Mrs. McClain seemed to deflate at her words. She’d obviously been excited about helping.

  “I’m sorry. You and Edna Petunia can have all the fun of planning, and I’ll sew and dream of being a wife.”

  Tom squeezed her hand for a moment as he parked the wagon in front of her house. As he helped her down, he whispered, “We’ll get Mama helping Edna Petunia, and then we’ll go for a walk. I want to talk about marriage.”

  “You just want to kiss,” she whispered back. “I should really be there helping.”

  “Why? This wedding is for them, not us. We’ll go for a walk, and they can do whatever they want to do.”

  She thought about it for a moment before grinning. “I’d like that.”

  Once they were inside, Penny called out for Edna Petunia. For once there were no delicious smells coming from the kitchen. Gertie came out into the hall holding a wooden spoon. “She’s in the formal parlor planning.”

  Penny nodded, having expected no less. This w
edding was the most important thing in Edna Petunia’s world, at least for now. She led Tom and his mother back to the formal parlor and found Cletus sitting in his chair reading his law books, while Edna Petunia paced in front of the sofa.

  “Edna Petunia? I brought Tom’s mother to help you with the wedding plans.”

  “Thank heavens someone around here is willing to help me. Do you have any idea how much work goes into planning a big wedding? This is absolutely ridiculous.” Edna Petunia took Mrs. McClain’s arm and led her to the sofa. “Do you cook? Because I’m going to need someone to help me cook the feast we’re planning for the reception. Sarah Jane will bake the wedding cake, but she’s expecting and not up to doing much more than that.”

  Mrs. McClain took the seat she was offered, and the piece of paper Edna Petunia shoved into her face. “You’re planning on cooking all this? For the reception?”

  Penny slowly closed the door to the parlor and grabbed Tom’s hand, running down the hall toward the front door. She was going to have her time alone with Tom, while the crazy women dealt with her wedding plans.

  Chapter Eight

  A Friday three weeks later was Penny’s last day at the mercantile. She’d talked the matter over with Lewis, and they’d decided together that Edna Petunia would go insane if Penny worked right up until the wedding. She only had a week left before she was officially Mrs. Thomas McClain.

  As she left the store for the last time as an employee, she hugged her brother-in-law. “I’m sure Minnie will be able to keep up just working after school until she graduates in a couple of months.”

  Lewis nodded. “But no one is quite as fast or as good as you are. Don’t tell Ruby, but you’re a lot better than she ever was.”

  Penny laughed. “I wouldn’t tell her.”

  With her basket over her arm, and her last week’s wages in her purse, she left the mercantile and started the long walk home. Tom picked her up more often than not, and she was happy to see he wasn’t there. She loved spending time with him, but her walks were her time to think, and she’d missed them.

  During the time she’d been engaged, winter had ended. It was the end of March, and she’d be married the first Saturday in April—April second. She took a deep breath, inhaling spring. This was her favorite time of year. It wasn’t too hot, and it wasn’t too cold. Texas felt good for the two weeks that it was actually spring before summer reared its ugly head.

  She tried to picture herself as the mother of seven sons, and the visions just wouldn’t come. She believed that Tom knew they were meant to be married, but she wasn’t sure she believed it for herself.

  Penny would have her wedding dress finished within the next couple of days, and then she and Edna Petunia would start baking. Edna had decided that a wedding cake wasn’t enough in the way of sweets. They were baking cookies and pies as well. Only the two families had been invited to the reception, because they were both so large, no one else would really fit in the house!

  When Penny walked in the door, she called out as she always did. “Edna Petunia! I’m home!”

  Edna Petunia came to her, her eyes blood-shot. She looked as if she hadn’t slept in three weeks. “How much more do you have to do to finish the dress? When can we start baking?”

  “I’ll be finished before Monday. We can start baking then.”

  “Laura McClain will be over on Monday to help as well. She’s been packing up her house this week, and her boys are supposed to be moving her to the new house on Monday and Tuesday. She doesn’t want to be in the way, so she’s going to help.”

  “How have you two been getting along?” Penny asked, almost afraid of what the answer would be.

  “We’re fine. Now that she understands the wedding will be done my way, there are no problems.” Edna Petunia yawned, covering her mouth with her hand.

  “Why don’t you get a nap? You don’t need to be up working on my wedding preparations twenty-four hours per day.”

  “Just a few more things to do. Did you finish the flower girl dress for Flo? She’ll be coming over on Sunday after church for her fitting.”

  Penny groaned. “I forgot the flower girl dress. I have the fabric…I’ll get to work on that tonight. You won’t have me for baking until Tuesday or Wednesday.”

  Edna Petunia sighed. “I’ll get one of the other girls to help me.” She frowned at Penny. “Your wedding is a lot more work than I thought it would be!”

  “I’m sorry, Edna Petunia. I would have been happy without a big wedding.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t have, so you can get that thought right out of your head!” Edna Petunia glared at Penny. “When is Tom picking you up? Don’t you have to meet with Micah tonight about the wedding?”

  Penny nodded. “I need to change clothes right now. He’s taking me to supper, and then we’re meeting with Micah, Sarah Jane, and Chrissy.”

  “All three of them?”

  “Micah thought I’d be more comfortable with Sarah Jane there, and Chrissy goes where Sarah Jane goes. You know how attached she is to Sarah Jane.”

  “I do. Okay, you go get ready, and I’ll see who I can force into indentured servitude to be my baker’s helper on Monday and Tuesday.” Edna Petunia shook her head. “I sure hope you aren’t forgetting something else. If you walk down that aisle in just your skivvies, Cletus will have a heart attack!”

  Penny shook her head as she hurried up the stairs to change. When she got back down, Tom was sitting at the table being lectured by Edna Petunia. “You’re to wear your Sunday best for the wedding, you hear me? No cowboy hats! And I want to hear only good things from my Penny about the wedding night. Now, I know you’re a randy young man who wants his needs taken care of, but Penny is an innocent, and you’ll treat her with respect. You got that?”

  Tom stared straight ahead, his eyes wide. It was all Penny could do not to laugh. She was torn between acute embarrassment, and laughter at the look on Tom’s face. He’d never heard Edna Petunia when she was on a roll before. Oh, the things he’d missed!

  “I’m ready,” Penny said loudly, over Edna Petunia’s tirade. “If we don’t hurry, we’re going to be late.”

  Tom jumped up without a word, taking her hand and pulling her toward the door. As soon as they were outside, Penny felt the bubbles of laughter escape. “Oh, you should have seen the look on your face!”

  Tom shook his head. “That woman is a menace. She should be locked up in an asylum somewhere!”

  Penny just kept laughing. Planning the wedding, even though she’d had little to do with it, had been very stressful. The laughter helped her feel so much better.

  Tom sighed, recognizing a lost cause. She was gone in giggle-land, and there was little he could do to get her back. He helped her into the automobile and set out for town.

  When she finally stopped laughing, he smiled over at her. “You seem happy today.”

  She shrugged. “I think I’ve been so stressed with the whole wedding thing that I haven’t been smiling much. I’m sorry about that. I should have been better company for you.”

  “You’ve been fine company, but I have been worried.”

  “I realized as soon as I got home today that I completely forgot to make the dress for my flower girl, so I have more work. The good part about that is that I won’t have to help as much with the food preparation for the wedding, because I’m not fond of cooking.”

  “You don’t like to cook?” he asked, his face aghast. “I had no idea.”

  “I’m a good cook, but I don’t like it as much as I enjoy sewing. I’ll have to sew more than I thought before the wedding, so your mom and one of my sisters will have to pick up the slack.”

  “Mama has the entire house packed up and ready to move to the smaller house across the ranch.”

  Penny frowned. “I feel guilty that we’re kicking your parents out of their home. They should keep the big house, and we can take the smaller one.”

  “There’s no need for that,” he said. “All my life I’
ve known it was going to be this way. I told them they could stay with us even, but Mama said we needed our privacy.”

  Penny didn’t say it, but she was glad his mother had refused that offer. She couldn’t imagine being a newlywed and living with her in-laws. Well, at the moment, she couldn’t imagine being a newlywed. “We’ll still see them often, and she’s already talked to me about hosting the once a month Sunday suppers for your family. She’ll come over, and we’ll cook together.”

  “She’s going to be a good companion for you while I work,” he said. “She’s really looking forward to getting to know you better.”

  “I’m sure we’ll be fast friends.” Penny really wasn’t as sure as she sounded though. His mother seemed too serious to ever like her, but she would do her best. She wanted to get along well with her mother-in-law.

  After supper, they had their session with Sarah Jane and Micah. While they talked, Chrissy spun around the back of the church. “Do you want me to take Chrissy home with me tonight?” Penny asked. “Edna Petunia could use the distraction from wedding preparations.”

  Sarah Jane shook her head. “With the baby coming, Chrissy is feeling a little insecure. She seems to think that when the baby comes, and we have our own child, we won’t love her as much.”

  Penny frowned. “That’s sad. I wish there was something you could say that would fix it.”

  Micah shrugged. “I think we just need to keep telling her she’s loved and leave it at that.” He took Sarah Jane’s hand in his. “Are you two ready for the wedding? It’s a week from tomorrow.”

  Tom nodded emphatically. “I was ready a month ago, but someone’s been dragging her feet.”

  “Edna Petunia must be over the moon to finally get to plan one of her bastard’s weddings,” Sarah Jane said, shaking her head.

  “She is,” Penny responded. “I’m worried about her though. She’s wearing herself out. Everything has to be perfect.”

  “Please tell me she’s not going to have a peppermint stick in her cleavage for your wedding! Did you talk to her about it?”