“ARE YOU NERVOUS?”
Glancing over to Paislie, I smiled. “No. Should I be?”
She gave me a sweet grin in return. “I don’t think so. Even though Elizabeth is like my mother, and father, and sister, and best friend all rolled into one.”
My heart sank. “Okay, now I’m nervous. Do I earn any extra points for being raised Catholic?”
She chuckled and squeezed my hand. “Nope, but I’m sure she is pleased about that.”
“She’s not going to ask me to recite anything, is she? Paislie, I haven’t stepped foot in a catholic church in a number of years. Even then I always had headphones on.”
Shaking her head, she looked forward. “There, pull over and park in front of that store. The restaurant isn’t too far from here.”
I did as she said and parked her car. We got out and walked hand in hand down the busy street. I’d already been by St. Patrick’s and talked to the bishop. The wedding date was set for six months out and he had insisted Paislie have a wedding with a mass. Memories of my cousin Jenn’s wedding flashed through my mind. I’d never tell Paislie, but I got up thirty minutes into the ceremony and left.
When she stopped walking and took both my hands in hers, I knew she was nervous. “Are you sure you want a catholic wedding?”
It was as if she had been reading my mind. “What would you like, babe?”
Her eyes fell to the ground as she kicked at a pretend rock. “I’ve always wanted a traditional wedding, but if you want something simple, we can do that too.”
Pulling her to me, I gently kissed her on the lips. “I want what you want, baby. I’m in this for the long haul.”
Her eyes lit up and I knew there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her.
“Paislie, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you to make you happy.”
“I love you so much,” she whispered. “You ready?”
Taking in a deep breath, I nodded. “Ready.”
The moment we walked into the restaurant, I searched for a nun. When Paislie said, “There she is!” I looked in the direction she was facing.
“Where?” I asked as I followed her. A slightly older woman stood and smiled warmly at us. “Is that her?”
“Yep!” she said as she wrapped the woman in her arms. “Elizabeth, I’ve missed you so.”
I couldn’t believe my eyes. The woman standing before me was beautiful. She was dressed in a simple black dress with a belt that wrapped around her waist, showing her figure. Her blue eyes took in Paislie with so much happiness, I could practically feel the love she had pouring out of her. Her hair was in a sleek ponytail and she wore very little if any makeup.
“Elizabeth, I’d like for you to meet Malcolm. Malcolm, this is Sister Elizabeth, but you can call her Elizabeth.”
“Sister, I mean, Elizabeth. I um . . . well you’re not what I expected.”
Her brows rose as she tilted her head. “Pray tell what were you expecting?”
I motioned with my hands to look at her. “Not this. A habit, an older woman who was grumpy looking.”
Paislie playfully hit my chest as she motioned for us to all sit down.
“Mr. Wallace, how long has it been since you have been to the church or spoken with a nun?”
My face burned as I sat. “Please, call me Malcolm. To be honest I couldn’t tell you the last time I actually talked to a nun. Probably while taking my catechism classes. Sister Margret was old and grumpy. Had I had a teacher such as you, I might have kept going to church.”
“Malcolm!” Paislie said with a look of horror on her face. Elizabeth laughed and told Paislie to loosen up some.
“It’s okay, I’m rather flattered, Mr . . . I mean . . . Malcolm.”
“So, when did you become a nun?”
“I was about sixteen when I felt the calling.”
I about choked on my own spit. “Wow.”
“I get that response a lot.”
Paislie cleared her throat and said, “We just met with Bishop Mark. I requested Father Tim for the wedding.
Elizabeth forced a smile and moved about in her seat. “I’m sure he would be honored to perform the sacrament.”
Paislie grinned from ear to ear. “He is very happy to do so; he said so himself when we asked him.”
“He was there? I thought he was on his trip.”
Something moved across Elizabeth’s face, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say Elizabeth had feelings for Father Tim.
No way.
“He must have come back early because he was in the bishop’s office,” Paislie said. I could tell by the look on her face, she had the same thoughts I had.
Clearing her throat, Elizabeth picked up the menu and looked over it. “This is my favorite place to eat, Malcolm. They have the best lasagna in all of Dallas.”
That was a fast change of subject if I’d ever seen one.
Peeking over to Paislie, our eyes met and I made a mental note to ask more about the relationship between the sister and the father.
Wait. That sounded weird.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. It didn’t take long for both women to fall into an easy conversation. I even got to hear about when Paislie was younger.
Sitting back, I watched the two of them as they talked about everything from the wedding to a movie they both wanted to see together. It was clear Paislie loved this woman very much.
“Thank you for dinner, Malcolm. I really enjoyed meeting you. Everything Paislie has told me about you is so very true.”
With a smile, I nodded. “All good I hope.”
She let out a girlish giggle and said, “Yes! Of course it was.”
As both of them locked arms and walked, I heard someone call out Paislie’s name. Turning, I saw an older man come walking up quickly. He gave me a once over and stopped to look at me before turning to Paislie.
Both women had a look of horror on their faces as Elizabeth seemed to stand a little in front of Paislie, almost as if sheltering her.
“Paislie, my little girl. Look at you still hanging with sisters, huh?”
Elizabeth smiled but I knew it wasn’t genuine.
“What do you want, Dad?”
Dad?
My head snapped back to look at the guy. Paislie hardly ever mentioned her father. On occasion he would contact her to ask for something, usually money. Seeing him standing there made him all too real.
“Now, why do you think I want something? I saw my daughter walking down the street and I wanted to say hello to her.” He turned his attention on me. “And who are you?”
I went to answer when Paislie jumped between us. “None of your business.”
He let out a whistle and reached down for her hand. “Holy shit, look at that fucking rock on your hand.”
“Dad!” Paislie exclaimed as he looked over to Elizabeth.
“Forgive me, sister, I’ll go to confession on Saturday.”
I was stunned to see the look Elizabeth gave him. When Paislie pulled her hand from his, I wrapped my arm around her. “You’re getting married. I think I have the right to know who the man is who is marrying ya.”
With a forced laugh, Paislie shook her head as she said, “You gave up that right when you left me on the steps of the orphanage.”
“Malcolm, I’d like to leave now.”
Gripping my hand tighter on her waist, I led her away when my name was called out.
“Malcolm Wallace. I thought that was you.” Looking at Paislie, he smirked. “Looks like you done good for yourself, Paislie.”
“Let’s go, please, Malcolm.”
Doing as she asked, we walked away from her father. Taking one last look over my shoulder, I saw him watching us. I had the feeling that now he knew Paislie was getting married, and to someone with money, he wasn’t going to just let her walk away so easy.
Next time he came sniffing around, I’d be ready.
“Elizabeth, where are you parked?” Paislie asked in a shaky voice. I hated the affect that asshole had on her.
“Around the corner. You’re more than welcome to walk me to the car if you’d like.”
“Please. I don’t want him seeing my license plates. He’ll know where I’m living.”
My heart was pounding in my chest and when we rounded the corner, I pulled her to a stop. “Would he do something to you if he knew where you lived?”
Her expression was blank. “No. He’d just start sending me letters asking for money. I doubt he would show up if he knew you would be there. He’s a coward, so most of the time he sends me a letter or text message.”
Asshole.
We walked Elizabeth to her car and chatted with her a bit more before we headed back to the car. I could feel Paislie’s body relax the moment we rounded the corner and she didn’t see her father anywhere.
“I’ll never let him bother you again, baby. I swear.”
Giving me a weak smile, she looked straight ahead, lost in her own thoughts.
Once we got to her car, I opened the door while she got in. Pressing a number on my phone, I waited for Kathleen to answer.
“Hello?”
“I’ve got some work for you in the Dallas area if you get your guy on it.”
She rustled some papers and finally said, “Send it over to me by tomorrow and I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks,” I said as I hit End.
“Who was that?” Paislie asked.
Tossing my phone on the console, I replied, “An old friend who is doing some work for me.”
I reached for her hand and held it gently. “Did you want to talk about it?”
“No, not really. I’d just rather focus on planning the wedding and him not finding out about it.”
I let her words sink in as we drove almost the entire way back to Waco in silence while I tried to think of a way to keep the lowlife asshole who called himself Paislie’s father, away from her.