Daniel leaned forward, glancing at the door. “It’s all about him. Did you see that platform in there?”
Holly snickered. “He gets up there on Sunday mornings and lays down the word from on high. There’s no subtlety. It’s all about getting everyone worked up and ready to race out to do the lord’s work and the reverend’s bidding.” She pursed her lips. “The thing is, what he says isn’t right sometimes. It’s inflammatory and hate-filled.” She shivered. “Mama insisted that we use him. But I wanted to just have a friend perform the ceremony and leave the church out of it altogether.”
Howard leaned closer to her. “It’s okay. Once we’re married, we can live the lives that we want. We don’t have to go to church here, we can find a place where you and I both feel comfortable.” He held Holly’s hand. “We’re keeping your mother happy.” He shrugged.
James got up and looked around the office. When he stepped behind the desk, Daniel snickered. James was already tall, but he looked like André the Giant looming over that desk. James checked the bookshelves and pulled out his camera, taking a few pictures of the room, and then slowly sat back down. Damn the man was calm and cool. Daniel hadn’t been able to look away because confidence was sexy as all hell and James wore it as well as he did those thigh-hugging jeans.
“I’m sorry. There was a parishioner who needed my guidance.” The reverend lowered himself regally into the chair once more. Daniel had seen drag queens perch themselves on a throne with less drama. “Shall we review the meaning of marriage?” He proceeded to go over what marriage meant in great detail, drawing each of them into the conversation. Reverend Peterson was charismatic as the devil, explaining the meaning of the various parts of the service, asking questions.
“I always wondered about that,” Holly said in response to his explanation on the sanctity of marriage and the deep need for openness and communication, and how secrets could destroy a marriage.
Daniel half listened, watching the reverend and glancing at James, who looked completely enthralled with what the reverend was saying. The man was charismatic, that was for sure, and Daniel could see how people became enamored with him. He gave each person his full attention in turn, taking in every word they said and then skillfully turning them to his way of thinking without leaving anyone the wiser. If Reverend Peterson went into politics, the next stop would be the White House.
Finally, the reverend pulled the updated program out of the folder. He looked it over and seemed ready to comment. Having gone through enough drama already, Daniel was about ready to step in at any changes, but the reverend simply smiled. “This is not a problem.” He set the program down on the table. “I wanted to talk about the vows. Many couples decide to write their own, but here, we use the traditional vows that have been part of the service for decades. We want to stay with tradition—it grounds the service in history.” His expression hardened, and Daniel turned away to keep from laughing.
“That’s fairly obvious,” Daniel quipped and somehow managed to not roll his eyes. He meant it sarcastically, but the reverend didn’t even flinch and sat up straighter, like he had an ally. James met his gaze, and the two of them had to turn away. Daniel took a deep breath to keep from laughing. This church and this particular reverend were anything but traditional, and for this guy to espouse traditional religion while housed in this white concrete monstrosity was ridiculous.
To Daniel’s surprise, Holly didn’t argue and watched the minister as though some heavenly light shone down from up above. Daniel turned to James, who nodded slightly, running a finger over his hand out of sight of everyone else. Daniel’s heart sped up and this meeting could not end fast enough.
“Do you have any more questions?” the reverend asked.
“No. And you have all the information you need?” Howard asked, and Reverend Peterson nodded and smiled.
“I know everything I need to know,” he said and stood up, indicating that the meeting was over. Daniel stood as well, waiting while the others got ready to go, and after thanking the minister, they filed out of the office, winding their way back to the front of the church and outside the cavernous building into the fresh air.
“That was a total crock of shit,” James spat once the doors were closed.
“Why?” Holly asked, blinking like she was just realizing what happened.
Daniel chuckled. “That guy has a Napoleon complex the size of Montana. Did you see the floor behind that desk? It’s angled to make him seem taller and more important, like he wants to lord it over everyone. That’s just damned weird. And fake...all those smiles and the way he paid attention...he didn’t give a crap what any of us said. He just twisted it to his way of thinking.”
Holly ground her teeth, swearing under her breath. “He did do that, didn’t he?” Damn, she looked about ready to march back into the church and rip off the reverend’s balls. Not that Daniel could blame her for a second. Everyone hated being played.
“Let’s get something to eat somewhere and we can talk someplace that isn’t the church parking lot.”
* * *
“Just relax and don’t worry about it,” Howard told Holly gently as she continued raving about the minister.
“But I don’t want to be married by Reverend Nutcase,” Holly half wailed and half cried as she leaned against Howard’s shoulder. “I know it’s too damned late to back out now.” She turned to Howard, wiping her eyes. “Now you know why I refuse to go to church with my mother.” She shivered.
The server brought their coffees and hurried away to handle the myriad of other customers. Holly sipped hers and sighed. “Didn’t you meet with him before today to discuss the basics of the service?” Daniel asked. That seemed a little strange to him.
“Mother insisted and arranged for him to perform the ceremony.” Holly seemed calmer the more coffee she got in her, and Howard did his best to settle her down. Daniel couldn’t help wondering how much more Grace could insinuate herself into this wedding.
Daniel leaned closer to James. “You looked huge when you were behind that desk.”
James chuckled, his gaze heating enough that Daniel could feel it. “How do you know?” James shifted his view to a leer, and Daniel did roll his eyes.
“Leave it to you to turn this into a dick joke.”
James howled drawing Holly and Howard’s attention. “This whole thing is a dick joke. The reverend’s full name is Richard Peterson.”