Penny (Orlan Orphans Book 6) Read online

  Penny laughed and shook her head. “She’ll just tell me one of the grand-bastards might need it. I’m not worried about her peppermint stick. It gives her character.”

  “You are so much more casual than I am about these things. One of the reasons I was willing to marry so quickly is I didn’t want to think about what she would do at a wedding.”

  “Sarah Jane, Edna Petunia has been a godsend for all of us. Don’t get all high and mighty about her little flaws.”

  Sarah Jane frowned. “I’ve been doing better about being so judgmental, but I’m not feeling great. The baby is still making me throw up several times a day.” As soon as the words were out, she covered her mouth with her hand. “Well, that’s not something I should have said in mixed company.”

  Tom laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I plan to have a baby on the way very soon.” As he said the words, he looked at Penny making her blush.

  “I think it’s time for us to head out.” Penny got to her feet, hugging her sister. “I’ll see you Sunday. Let me know if you need some help. I think you need a break from Chrissy for a night or two.”

  Sarah Jane shook her head. “No, she’s my responsibility.”

  Penny nodded. Chrissy was Sarah Jane and Micah’s adopted daughter. They’d both fallen in love with her when she’d moved to the orphanage there in Nowhere, and they’d married so they could adopt her. Penny knew they had genuine feelings for each other now, and they’d been attracted to each other when they married, but she didn’t think they were really in love. Not like she and Tom were.

  Penny stopped walking. She was in love with Tom? How had she not realized it? And was he in love with her? Suddenly, she needed to know. She knew she’d agonize over it until he told her he loved her…if he ever did. How could you be someone who was fated to marry and not be in love?

  She was quiet for the first part of the drive home until Tom pulled onto a side road. He hadn’t done that since they’d become engaged, because they’d both been so focused on getting ready for the wedding.

  “Why are we stopping?” Penny asked.

  “So I can spend a few minutes kissing my bride. We only have a week until the wedding, and it seems like it’s been years since we kissed.”

  “We’ve only known each other a month!”

  “It still feels like years. We’ve been surrounded by people constantly since we got engaged. I need kisses like crops need rain!”

  She smiled turning fully toward him in her seat. “You need them, do you? Well, at the moment, I’m kind of needing some kisses myself. I’m nervous.”

  “About being married to me?” His hand went to her cheek, the back of his fingers stroking it softly.

  “No, not about being married. About the wedding itself. I’m afraid Edna Petunia is going to have a stroke. She’s so nervous, and she’s fretting all the time. I thought I was giving her what she wanted by letting her plan a wedding, but honestly, I think she was happier complaining about the other girls not letting her plan a wedding.”

  “We could still turn around and have Micah marry us. You know he’d do it.”

  “No, your mother and Edna Petunia put too much time and effort into planning our wedding. We really have no choice but to go through with it now.” She sighed. “So kiss me and help me forget my worries.”

  “Do my kisses do that?”

  She laughed. “Your kisses make me forget the rest of the world even exists. I’m addicted to your kisses.”

  He smiled. “I like that.” One hand went to the nape of her neck, and the other to her chin, tilting her face up for his kiss. As his lips came down on hers, she closed her eyes and let everything fade away.

  Her arms wrapped around him, and she pressed closer to him, realizing she wanted more. More than the kisses. She was ready for her wedding night, and she hadn’t realized it until that moment.

  Pulling back she smiled. “I needed that. Thank you.”

  He rested his forehead against hers. “I did too. I’m ready for the wedding. I wish it was tomorrow instead of next week.”

  “I’m not even finished with my wedding dress! Don’t wish my time away so quickly! Edna Petunia’s already worried I’ll be walking down the aisle in my skivvies.”

  He chuckled. “Well, I’m the only one who gets to see you in your skivvies, so please don’t forget your clothes.”

  She felt the heat rise to her face as she snuggled closer to him. One more week. In one more week, she’d be his forever, and she’d go home with him. She was ready.

  Chapter Nine

  The closer the wedding date got, the more frantic Edna Petunia became. Penny spent most of her time sewing so she could make sure to have the dresses done on time. Mrs. McClain came over on Monday to help with the baking, and Penny sat at the dining table while the two older women rolled out cookies and got them ready to bake.

  “All of our personal items will be out of your house by tomorrow night. We’re leaving the furniture, because that is part of the inheritance. There’s furniture waiting for us in the parents’ house.” Mrs. McClain carefully cut out some heart shaped cookies with a cookie cutter as she spoke.

  Penny kept the dress she was sewing on her lap to keep it out of the flour. “I wish you’d keep that house.”

  “As soon as you’re married the babies will start coming. It’s easier to get the move over with before the wedding than wait until you’re expecting.”

  Looking down at the dress, she couldn’t help but blush a little. She didn’t want to talk about how quickly babies would come with her future mother-in-law! “I appreciate you thinking of me then. I just hate the idea of you moving out of the house where you raised your boys before you need to.”

  “It’s not a big deal for me. I think because when I moved in, I knew I would only be there until my seventh son married. I had thirty-five years in that house. It was plenty.”

  Penny couldn’t help but wonder how long she would live there. How soon before her seventh child was old enough to marry? It was absolutely unfathomable at the moment, so she kept sewing, listening as Edna Petunia started another one of her rants.

  “I’m starting to think the other girls did me a favor by not waiting to marry. Planning a wedding is a ridiculous amount of work, and only a crazy woman would want to do it. Why, as soon as this wedding is over, I’m going to sit down and write Mary Sullivan a letter telling her she’s a crazy woman. It’s not like she’s fond of me anyway—thinks I’m a bad influence on her impressionable girls. Ha! Like anyone could be a bad influence on her non-wilting flowers of Seattle.”

  Mrs. McClain simply nodded. “It is a lot of work. I’m glad I only had boys.”

  “You should be! I have fifteen girls. Fifteen! What if the last ten of them want big weddings? Well, I’ll sneak them the money to run off and marry, I will. I’m not going through this nonsense again! And Penny Sanders, you were very unkind to ask me to take on planning a big wedding. What on earth were you thinking?”

  “I’m sorry, Edna Petunia,” Penny said dutifully, knowing it was expected of her. She’d come to a very significant conclusion in the last four weeks—Edna Petunia liked to rant, and she was going to let her do it if it made her happy. Why not? It was no skin off her nose.

  Cletus wandered in from the formal parlor where he spent his days poring over law books. He pinched off a piece of cookie dough and popped it into his mouth. “As delicious as everything you make.” He wandered off again before Edna Petunia could get onto him for touching her dough.

  Edna Petunia glared after her husband, pulling her flask from her apron pocket. “That man is enough to make any woman turn to cough syrup for comfort!”

  Mrs. McClain wisely didn’t respond, and Edna Petunia continued on with her rant.

  *****

  Early on Saturday morning, Penny climbed from her bed and hurried to the bathroom. She wanted to get a long hot bath before any of her sisters woke up and demanded their time in the tub. Hope had actually told her that
she was being selfish thinking she needed to bathe first on her wedding day. There were ten other girls living in the house who hadn’t found men yet.

  After her bath, Penny wandered to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast, finding Minnie already there, making enough pancakes for everyone. “You sit,” Minnie said. “I’m fixing breakfast this morning. It’s your wedding day. You shouldn’t have to lift a finger.”

  It didn’t take Penny long to realize that her sisters had gotten together to give her a wedding gift she’d never forget. When she got to her room, all of her things were neatly packed and waiting on her bed to be carried out to Tom’s automobile after the reception.

  Gertie was waiting there, ready to fix her hair for her. Hope had neatly pressed her dress, and it was ready for her to wear. Katie had polished her shoes. They were giving her the gift of not having to lift a finger on her wedding day.

  While Gertie worked on her hair, Alice hurried in and told Penny that she would take care of packing a supper for her and Tom during the reception, so Penny wouldn’t have to worry about cooking at all that evening. And the gifts went on and on.

  It was just before eleven when the Sanders family arrived at the church for the noon wedding, and Opal was there with little Flo already wearing her flower girl dress. “I picked my own flowers on the way here. I like them better than the ones Mama told me to carry down the aisle. Can I carry my flowers instead?”

  Penny looked at the mess of bluebonnets in the little girl’s hands and nodded. “Bluebonnets are my favorite.”

  Opal smiled and handed Penny a small bouquet. “I thought you’d say that, so I brought you a bouquet as well.” The flowers Penny received were beautifully arranged, unlike the haphazard blooms in Florence’s hands.

  Penny grinned, hugging her sister. “Thank you!” She looked around the church and saw the small bouquets Edna Petunia had decorated with. The woman really had outdone herself, though she still seemed to be very cranky about having had to do it. Penny loved her so much, she didn’t even call her on her bad behavior, though she knew someone should.

  They all went over to Sarah Jane’s, because the parsonage was the perfect place for a bride to prepare herself. Once she was completely ready, and her hair up, Edna Petunia hurried in with a hat box. “This is my real gift to you, Penny.”

  Penny took the box, praying the hat didn’t have a dead bird on it, because no matter what it looked like, she was going to wear it. Edna Petunia was decked out in her finest clothes, a hat with what looked like a decapitated squirrel atop her head. “Thank you, Edna Petunia,” Penny said sincerely. She opened the box to find a hat decorated with bluebonnets. “It’s beautiful!”

  “The flowers are silk, so if you take care of it, it’ll last a very long time. I ordered them as soon as I knew you were marrying, because I knew you’d want bluebonnets.”

  “I want to thank you for all the work you put into planning my wedding. I’m going to feel like a princess walking down that aisle today, and it’s thanks to you and the hard work you put in.”

  Edna Petunia beamed, sticking her chest out. It was only then that Penny caught a glimpse of the peppermint stick she’d expected to see. “I love you, Penny, and I’d do it all again. I would grumble a lot more, but I’d do it.”

  Penny laughed, hugging the older woman. “I wouldn’t ask you to do it again. You can tell Mary Sullivan that one of your girls let you do it though, and she’ll be positively green with envy.”

  “She will, won’t she?” Edna smiled happily. “Is everyone ready? The wedding is supposed to start in six minutes, and all of the Sanders are filling up Sarah Jane’s house instead of sitting in the church where they belong. Move, girls! We’re going to go and fill up that church!”

  Penny watched her leave, all of the Sanders girls trailing behind her, which left her alone with Cletus, who had shaved off the growth of beard that had accumulated since Evelyn’s wedding. He looked very dapper to Penny. She felt a tear prick her eye as she looked at him, and he opened his arms wide. She flew into his embrace, silently thanking him for the years she’d spent under his roof as his daughter.

  “Thank you for letting Edna Petunia plan your wedding. I think now that she’s gotten it out of her system, she might just not pester the other girls so much.” Cletus stroked Penny’s back in a fatherly way. He wasn’t used to his girls crying on him yet, but he’d get there.

  Penny laughed, wiping a tear away. “She told me she’d be slipping the others money to help them elope!”

  Cletus shook his head. “I love that crazy old bat, but only God knows why!” He carefully straightened Penny’s hat. “You look beautiful today. You even put Edna Petunia to shame. I hope you know how much we love you. I know that man of yours is going to take good care of you.”

  Penny sniffled. “He wouldn’t dare not take care of me after that contract you made him sign.”

  Cletus grinned. “That was a test. I wanted to know if he’d tell you what was really in it.”

  She giggled. “I think we need to head to the church now.”

  “I know we do. I’m glad we had a minute alone, so I could just look at you, though. You really are beautiful, Penny!” He turned and offered his arm, and she took it, walking with him to the church.

  One of Tom’s brothers, and she still had no idea who was who, opened the door for them, and she walked down the aisle slowly to Mendelssohn’s beautiful melody. Her gaze met Tom’s, and his slate gray eyes caused the same reaction in her they always did. Her legs became wobbly, and she was unsure if they would be able to hold her up.

  When they reached the front of the church, and Cletus announced that he and Edna Petunia were giving her away, she took Tom’s hand, and they listened as Katie sang, her pure soprano voice filling the church.

  By the time Micah had them speak their vows to one another, Penny had tears streaming down her face. She was happy, because she was marrying the man she loved, but she was still so nervous. Marrying a man whose feelings she was unsure of may be a mistake, but it was a mistake she would embrace. This man before her truly must be her destiny.

  “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

  Tom grinned, and it was a look she’d grown so familiar with. Her hand reached up to touch his cheek as he leaned down, capturing her lips with his. When he lifted his head, his eyes were sparkling. “Hello, wife.”

  She smiled. “Hello there.”

  They were alone for the short distance between the church and the Sanders’ home. It felt strange knowing she would no longer live there.

  While she’d been gone, the wedding cake that Sarah Jane had labored over was set on the table in the dining room, and a feast was surrounding it. There was so much food, Penny couldn’t imagine it being half gone when they were done.

  Through the reception, Tom stayed at her side. She saw her sisters sneak things out to the car from time to time, but she tried to keep her attention on the man beside her. She found it difficult to eat, because her stomach was too fluttery, but when Tom fed her a small bite of cake, she smiled at the sweetness. Sarah Jane had always had a good hand with any tasks in the kitchen.

  Tom’s parents both welcomed her to the family, as did each of his brothers. She could pick out the oldest, John, and the second youngest, Edward. All the others were a blur of familiar looking faces and slate gray eyes.

  Finally, it was time for them to go, and Penny slipped away, finding Edna Petunia and Cletus together talking with several of his family members in the formal parlor where Cletus preferred to spend his time.

  She walked to Edna Petunia, and put her hand on her shoulder. “I’m about to go. Thank you again for everything you’ve done here, Edna Petunia. I can’t imagine a more beautiful wedding than mine.”

  “You’re not welcome!” Edna jumped to her feet and wrapped her arms around Penny. “You’re my favorite bastard that got married today. Thank you for bringing so much joy to my life. Now get out of here before I s
tart denying I ever said anything nice to you.”

  Penny laughed. “I love you, too, Edna Petunia.”

  Edna Petunia waved her hand as if to tell her she didn’t love her, but instead, she choked back a tear. “You’re going to be missed around here, Penny.”

  Penny reached down and squeezed Cletus’s shoulder as he sat in his chair. “Take care of her.”

  Cletus smiled. “She’d never let me stop.”

  Penny and Tom were stopped several times as they headed for the door, and his car, which she’d begun to think of as their escape vehicle. She needed to be out of there before her emotions really did get the best of her. The happiest years of her life had been spent in that big house with Edna Petunia, Cletus, and all of her bastard sisters. How could she not cry as she left?

  Once they were outside, Tom frowned. “What about your things?”

  “My sisters brought them out during the reception. We have everything I could possibly need. Including supper all wrapped up and ready to eat, so I won’t have to cook tonight, and a whole layer of our wedding cake.”

  He nodded, helping her into the auto. “Were you happy with how everything turned out?”

  She nodded. “I really had no expectations, so it was easy for me to be happy with whatever I got. Edna Petunia and your mother did all the work. I wanted them to feel like they each got to plan at least one wedding.”

  “I don’t know that Mama has ever helped plan one of my brothers’ weddings. I think it was always done by the mother of the bride.”

  Penny smiled. “I overheard her tell Edna Petunia that, so I just let them run with it. They both got it out of their systems, I hope.”

  “You don’t think Edna Petunia will do that again?”

  “Absolutely not! She’ll complain that she wants to, but it will be all bluster. No, Edna Petunia is done with her wedding planning days. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear my sisters say she gave them money to run away to marry, so she wouldn’t have to plan another wedding. She’s already told me it was too much work, and I never should have asked it of her.”