"It's because you spend too much time traveling, brother,” Noah told him. “He still hasn’t met Jess,” he said to me.
"Can we go and talk for a minute, Natalie?" Kellie asked, standing from her chair.
Natalie slipped her arm through mine again and snuggled close. "Nope. You can tell me how happy you are for me and Hunter right there."
"This is a little sudden, isn't it?" Ryan asked.
"I thought they'd been together for a while now?" Noah said, looking between us as if he was confused as to why Ryan and Kellie would have a problem with us. I guess when Noah called Ryan after my drinking binge the other night, Ryan didn’t tell him he was going to warn me away from her.
“Considering everything that happened between you two, after the way you treated her, Hunter, it seems a little fast to be getting married," Ryan said. I recognize now that Ryan's protectiveness of Natalie was like that of a big brother or maybe even a father. Still, like Natalie said, it was none of his damn business.
Before I could say anything, Gran let out a hearty ha! sound. "You're one to make judgements about getting married or hurting the woman you love, Ryan Strong."
Ryan's jaw tightened. "It's not the same Gran."
"I don't see how it's different. Isn't it correct that you asked Kellie to marry her and then broke off the engagement when she told you she was pregnant?"
All our eyes went to Ryan and Kellie. I’d known that something had happened between Ryan and Kellie around the time of their enga
gement, but I hadn't known all the details. I looked down at Natalie, and her expression suggested that she had known. Well of course she did. Kellie was her sister, and they were confidantes.
"But I was in love with her. Even then,” Ryan argued.
"Hunter is in love with Natalie. Anybody can see that,” my father said. He looked at me and gave me a nod. "Maybe it took him a little while to realize it, and clearly it terrified him, but that's what love is like. I remember it happening with your mother. Falling so fast and hard scared me to death."
Gran rolled her eyes. "Oh Lord, what a courtship those two had."
"Well, I guess there is time since we have to plan a wedding," Kellie said.
"Time for what?” Natalie's asked. I heard an undercurrent of anger like she was suspicious of her sister’s comment.
"I think they hope that with time, I’ll do something wrong or you will discover that I'm not worthy of you, and there won't be a wedding at all," I said, feeling a little disappointed in my brother and sister-in-law, even though I understood their concern too.
"Who died and made Ryan the patriarch of this family?" Noah asked. "I'm sorry brother. This is none of your business."
Ryan glared at Noah. "I'm just looking out for Natalie —"
"I can look out for myself,” Natalie charged back.
I held up my hands and made a timeout sign. "Here's the deal, and you have to take it or leave it. I love Natalie and she loves me and we're getting married. And if she's alright with it, we’re going to do it right away.” On the chance that Kellie was right, I wanted to tie Natalie to me as soon as possible.
Natalie’s eyes gleamed at me. "We could go to Vegas."
"Oh no, please don't do that,” Kellie said. “That’s impulsive—"
Natalie rounded on Kelly. "Maybe I should go to Italy and have a pretend wedding?"
A loud thump sound reverberated from the table, and my grandmother stood. “Ryan and Kellie, I know that you care about Natalie and I'd like to think that you care about Hunter too, although I'm a little concerned that you don't."
Ryan looked down in shame. I realize that in fact I was hurt by his lack of faith in me, even though I understood where it was coming from. But I knew I could be a good man for Natalie.
"If you persist with this line of thinking, you're going to drive a wedge in the family, and I've spent too many damn years in this family to let you do that. Hunter and Natalie are grown people who are clearly in love with each other, and the two of you, of all people, have no say about how they got together, what has been involved in the relationship, or how quickly they're getting married,” Gran chastised them.
We all stood in stunned silence for a moment. I suspected my grandmother thought we were quite in reverence to her, but I think mostly we were just all afraid of her.
She turned to me and Natalie. Her fierce blue eyes lasered on me. "Now, as far as you two go, I just want you to be sure. I can see that the two of you care about each other, but marriage is forever. It requires open communication that you two have seemed to have lacked in the past. But no one here has the right to tell you two how to live your lives. As your grandmother, I love you, and I'm going to support you in this. And I would hope that the rest of you would too." On that last line, she looked at all the members of her family, one by one, stopping when she reached Ryan and Kellie.
"I painted today," Natalie said, which was a strange comment. Even more worrisome was my concern that she’d tell them she’d painted me nude.