"Andrews, V C - The Casteels 03 - Fallen Hearts" - читать интересную книгу автора (Andrews V.C)

self-destruct."

I wanted him to see a different Heaven Leigh Casteel, I wanted him to
swallow his own predictions, his own religious arrogance, and his sinful
hypocrisy.

"you may have ya reasons," Fanny smirked, "But I'll tell ya, that Waysie
is sure gonna blow his stack when he pronounces you and Logan man and
wife. I can't wait to see it. I surely can't."

"Shall we go?" I said.

The ceremony was all that I had dreamt it would be and more. ;just
about everyone we invited turned out. Four of my male students served as
ushers in the church. I had specifically instructed them to escort
people to the pews randomly on a first-come, first-served basis, thus
playing havoc with the unwritten segregation of the congregation. Hill
and valley people sat up front with town people, some of whom were
forced to sit toward the rear with other hill and valley people.

All of the hill and valley people were smiling at me, their faces filled
with happiness and elation. Most of the town people looked dignified,
wearing looks of approval. After all, I was marrying Logan Stonewall
and completing what was, in their eyes, a complete transition from
backwoods mountain girl to a proper town girl. I would be moving out of
the cabin and into a home in Winnerow. I could see it in their faces -
they thought that in time I would forget the hill people. I had won
their respect, but not their understanding. They thought I had done all
that I had done just to become one of them.

Logan's father stood beside him where Tom, my dear departed brother,
should have been standing to be best man. My heart skipped a beat and
my eyes teared when I thought about his tragic death in the grasp of a
furious beast. Except for Fanny, who strutted before me, tossing her
hair about, turning her shoulders suggestively, and making eyes at every
available male in the congregation, none of my family was here.

Grandpa was dead and gone. Luke and his new wife were off working in
his new circus. Tom was gone. Keith and Jane were in college, neither
really as close to me as I would have liked. My real grandmother was
back in Farthy, lost in her past, babbling gibberish to herself. Tony
was at the helm of the Tatterton Toy Corporation, probably mourning this
day, when I would belong to another man, never to him.

Reverend Wise, tall and impressive as ever behind his podium, lifted his
eyes from the Bible and glared out at me. His slick, black, custom-made
suit fitted him as beautifully as usual and made him appear as slim as
he had when I first saw him.

For a moment he frightened me, as he always had, but when I locked my