“What’s up with that?” I asked Ryder.
He shrugged. “I have no idea.”
I turned to Trina, my eyes glaring at her with the same question.
She gave a little wince. “Mayor Valentine has a little crush on-”
“Crush? He crashed my wedding. Who the hell does he think he is?” I turned to the judge. “This is still America, right? He can’t just walk in and stop a wedding because he’s the mayor, right?”
The judge shrugged, clearly baffled by the turn of events as well.
“I know, I know, he’s being crazy.” Trina looked back to where Sinclair exited with the mayor. “I don’t know what he’s thinking. He’s never acted on his interest in her. He’s her boss, and he’s a stickler for the rules. But it’s no secret that he’s been biding his time.”
“Is it me or would he interrupt anyone she married?” I asked, trying to decide if I should take this personally.
“It’s probably the speed at which it’s happening,” Ryder said.
“Does he know?” I asked Trina. “About the arrangement?”
She shook her head adamantly. “No. Not specifically. He may have guessed. I don’t know.”
What kind of man would I be if I let another man steal my bride away in the middle of my wedding? I’d be a pussy, that’s what.
“Fuck this shit,” I said as I strode toward the door. I didn’t care if Sinclair got mad. “Wyatt!” my mother yelled, glancing at Sinclair’s parents, probably with concern that my language would put them off.
I reached the door just as Trina joined me. “She won’t like it if you barge in there guns blazing.”
Torn as to what I should do, I decided to determine what they were talking about. I leaned my ear to the door to see what I could hear.
“It’s not like you to run off and get married, Sinclair. What’s really going on here?” I heard the mayor ask.
“Firstly, it’s none of your business.”
Good, she was going to give him a tongue lashing.
“It’s as if you’re doing this just to be able to build opposition to Stark. Really, you have more sense than this. What you’re doing is nuts.”
“What I’m doing is getting married. You have no say in my personal life.”
I liked the sound of that.
“If dealing with Stark is that important, we’ll find another way,” he said.
“He better stop if he doesn’t want me to tell all of Salvation how the mayor is trying to take my woman,” I muttered.
Trina pursed her lips. “Don’t call her your woman to her face. She won’t like that. And you don’t have to worry. Sinclair has lots of experience putting him off.”
I stared at her. “Lots of experience? Jesus, doesn’t he take no for an answer?”
“Wyatt, you need to settle down. It’s annoying, but she’ll be back. She’s going to go through with this.”
“What if he fires her??
? Personally, I didn’t care. In fact, I might have been glad because I didn’t want her working around him. But for the purpose of having the farmers’ voices in the mayor’s office, our agreement wouldn’t work if she was fired.
“He won’t. He’s hyper-sensitive to workplace harassment law.”
I looked at her like she’d grown a third eye. “He’s harassing her at her wedding.”