A Baby For The Minister. Laurel Blount

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СКАЧАТЬ for a second. When he finally did come over to claim the empty chair, his leg brushed hers and she caught a whiff of spicy, masculine soap. She scooted a little farther away, wishing their seats weren’t quite so close together.

      This man sure didn’t look like any preacher she’d ever seen before. He was way too good-looking, for one thing. As if being born with golden hair and sea-blue eyes wasn’t enough, he also sported a strong square chin and broad, quarterback shoulders.

      He was watching her silently, drumming his fingers on his knees.

      “You look like you’ve had the wind knocked out of you, Pastor. I’m guessing nobody told you about my...condition?”

      The minister cleared his throat. “No, I’m afraid not.”

      Not this again. Old Pastor Michaelson had only agreed to marry them after a long and embarrassing lecture. She wasn’t sure she could take another one of those, not right now. “Do you have a problem performing the ceremony? Because I’m pregnant, I mean?”

      This was exactly why she’d lobbied for a courthouse wedding. She’d been getting this kind of reaction from people ever since the day she’d had to change into maternity clothes. If she hadn’t needed her new faith so desperately, she might have given up on religion altogether.

      As it was, she’d just given up on churches.

      But this man immediately shook his head.

      “No! Not at all.” The denial came out with such force that Natalie actually believed him. “Sorry, it’s just...there’s no easy way to say this.” The minister took a deep breath and looked at her directly. She braced herself.

      “What?”

      “Adam has had some...uh...second thoughts.”

      “Second thoughts?” Natalie blinked. That was the reason for all this?

      She’d had a few second thoughts of her own. But in the end she always came back to the same hard truth.

      Marrying Adam was the right thing to do.

      “But isn’t that pretty normal?” she asked. Especially for a man who’d basically been strong-armed by his grandmother into getting married in the first place.

      She kept that last bit to herself. There was no need for everybody to know that the father of her baby had needed an awful lot of convincing to marry her. This situation was already humiliating enough.

      “It’s totally normal, but I’m afraid this is more serious than an ordinary case of cold feet.” He paused. “I’m so sorry.”

      Natalie’s heart fell. He was so sorry. That could only mean one thing.

      The wedding was off.

      She could feel him watching her, obviously braced for some kind of explosion. Well, he was wasting his time. She was way too exhausted for anything like that.

      Instead, she just blinked at the burgundy carpet, her still-new Bible pressed against the bulge of her pregnant tummy, her brain struggling to catch up.

      Could this really be happening? After all the praying, all the planning... Adam was dumping her here at the last possible minute? Seriously?

      What on earth was she going to do now?

      “Natalie? Could I go out to the sanctuary and get somebody for you? Your mom? A sister, maybe?”

      She brought her gaze back to his face. “No,” she managed. “There’s nobody. I don’t actually...have much family.”

      The worry in his eyes morphed into a compassion so warm that she had to fight a crazy urge to bury her face in his shoulder and sob.

      “I understand,” he said. “Well, in that case, Natalie, I—”

      He was interrupted by a knock on the door. A blonde woman who’d introduced herself to Natalie earlier as the church pianist poked her head in the room, her eyes wide. “There you are, Pastor Stone! I’m so sorry to interrupt, but there’s a lady out here who really wants a word with you.”

      “Step aside, please.” Natalie winced as she recognized the voice booming from the hallway. She really didn’t feel up to coping with Adam’s grandmother right now.

      Cora Larkey pushed herself into the small room, the stiff veil on her lime-green hat trembling. Her entire outfit was the same shade, and she had the white rose corsage Natalie had given her earlier pinned to her substantial bosom.

      “This wedding was supposed to start a half hour ago. What’s going on?” Cora’s blue eyes flittered between Natalie and the minister. “Where’s my grandson? And who on earth are you?”

      The last question was directed at Jacob Stone, who cast a quick, concerned glance at Natalie before rising from his seat. He introduced himself to the elderly lady and ushered her into the chair he’d just vacated.

      Natalie wished he hadn’t. As Cora sank down, a dense cloud of her expensive perfume replaced the light scent of his soap, making Natalie feel faintly queasy.

      The minister unfolded a metal chair that had been leaning against one wall and sat down across from them. Natalie listened tensely as he repeated his news to Cora, adding some details that made Natalie cringe. Now she was the one bracing for an explosion. She knew from personal experience that Adam’s grandmother didn’t take bad news well.

      “He did what?” Sure enough, Cora started spluttering in the middle of the explanation. “That aggravating boy! Of course,” she added quickly, darting an alarmed look at the minister’s face, “he’s young. He’ll come around and do the right thing eventually, I’m sure. But this is quite...difficult.” Her small eyes flickered back over to Natalie. “Could I have a moment alone with the bride, Pastor? The two of us need to talk privately.”

      “Of course.” The minister stood. Judging by that relieved look on his face, Adam wasn’t the only man who wanted to run away from her today. “I’ll be just outside if you need me.”

      As soon as he’d closed the door, the older woman shifted in her chair and pointed a finger at Natalie. “I should have known the two of you would pull something like this. Well, it won’t work. I made myself very clear. You’re not getting any help from me until you’re decently married.”

      “I had nothing to do with this!”

      “You expect me to believe that? You never wanted to have this wedding in a church. You made that very plain.”

      “I just thought a civil ceremony would be less stressful for everybody, and more appropriate, given the...circumstances. That’s all.”

      “The Larkeys do not marry in courthouses. And the circumstances you find yourself in are your own fault.”

      “Not only mine.”

      Cora made an impatient noise. “Of course not. And that’s why we’re here. So that Adam can do the responsible thing for once in his life. I should never have left him alone. I should have been watching him like a hawk.”

      “But СКАЧАТЬ