Hannah’s shoulders pushed back. “Lily, there’s no need for—”
“We’ve got some ideas,” I started, “but not one of them involves a fucking church, Hannah.”
Her eyes widened. I made a point not to swear when talking to Lily’s mother; it was a throwback to Margreet’s upbringing. However, it was clear Hannah needed to be jolted into paying attention to Lily and that I was the one who needed to make that happen, so I didn’t hesitate to do what had to be done.
“There’s no need for that language, King,” Hannah chastised.
“There is when you won’t listen to what your daughter is telling you.”
She hit me with an expression of disbelief. “I do listen. Today was the first time it’s been mentioned that you won’t be holding the wedding in a church.”
Lily cut in. “I’ve tried to tell you before, Mum, but King’s right; you just don’t listen.”
The disbelief in Hannah’s eyes turned to hurt and she picked her handbag up and slung it over her shoulder. “It’s fine, Lily. If you don’t want my input on this, I will leave you two alone to make all your decisions. I’ll simply show up on the day.”
I stood and followed her out of the house. “What did you say to Lily about her making the wrong choices when she married Linc?”
She eyed me like I was talking another language. “I didn’t say anything like that to her. Why?”
“Yesterday, you said something to her about screwing her marriage up to him right from the beginning. That her marriage failing was her fault. What was that about?”
“No, that wasn’t what I said. I would never say that it was all Lily’s fault. It wasn’t.”
“Well what the hell did you say? Because she seems to think you said that and that you believe a church wedding is the right way to start a marriage. And as far as I’m concerned, that’s bullshit, and I don’t want Lily stressed over something ridiculous like that. So you and I need to come to an understanding about how you’re going to proceed from here on out.”
Her eyes widened again. “I am her mother, King, and I will not have you talk to me like that.”
“Yes, you’re her mother, and I respect that, but you need to respect the fact I’m going to be her husband, and that her happiness falls on my shoulders. There is nothing I won’t do to ensure that happiness, even if it means I have to tread on your toes. So tell me what I need to know, Hannah, and I will help you two fix your shit.”
She huffed her disapproval but started talking. “Yes, we were discussing her first wedding yesterday. And reflecting on what I said, I may have given her the idea that I wasn’t fond of her wedding choices back then. But I never said they were the wrong choices, just that I would have made different ones.”
“Like getting married in a church?”
“Yes.”
“And what else?”
“What do you mean, what else?”
“Did you say that if she’d married him in a church, her marriage would have lasted?”
“No.” She paused briefly before saying, “The only thing I said about that was that God would look favourably on her for choosing a church wedding.”
Fucking hell.
This religious shit Hannah had going on pissed me off. It wasn’t that I didn’t respect her beliefs; I just had zero patience for where those beliefs sometimes took her and how she tried to force them on her daughters.
“Did he look favourably on you for your church wedding?” I demanded, knowing this was a prick of a question because Hannah’s husband had left her. But fuck, she needed to see her own faulty thinking.
Her lips pursed. “That’s a whole different situation—” she started, but I cut her off, unwilling to listen to her justifications.
“No. It’s not. And I want you to think some more about this before you set foot in this house again.” I stepped back from her. “Lily and I are not getting married in a church and I don’t want to hear another thing about that. Are we clear?”
She stared at me for a long moment before finally nodding. Without another word, she made her way to her car and left.
Fuck, I’d forgotten what it was like to deal with family who got in between a relationship. And while it was a headache I didn’t need, I’d go to battle for Lily every day if I had to.
“Has she gone?” Lily asked when I entered the kitchen again.