My tongue tied, I couldn’t answer. I wasn’t sure what I wanted. Everything was happening way too fast.
Cletus stepped between Billy and Diane. “As the aforementioned town simpleton and the fiancé of Ms. Donner’s lovely daughter, may I just say—”
“No, you may not!” Elena snarled, stunning not just me back into silence. The crowd, which had started to talk among themselves and shift toward the exits, abruptly held still and quiet. They seemed to strain, every person’s focus on the tiny blonde woman next to my father, seemingly a shadow who’d always been so quiet and meek.
Like me. No. Not like me.
Like old me.
But I knew better. I knew for a fact that Elena Wilkinson was just as dangerous as my father.
“Now, ma’am, really. Please use your inside voice,” Cletus chided, sounding entirely affable, like he was reprimanding a child. He then addressed my father. “Kip—in the spirit of mending fences, I’ll call you Kip and you have my permission to call me son—now, Kip, we all know why you’re here. You feel slighted, like you haven’t been given the proper respect due the father of the bride. And I think that’s something everyone here would be able to understand.”
A few flutters of surprised and uncomfortable laughter tittered around us, like folks couldn’t believe Cletus’s words, and I didn’t blame them. My father was universally despised in this town and any attempts by Cletus to mend fences would be met with cold shoulders from everyone gathered. I suspected the only reason people hadn’t left yet was because they wanted to see Kip Sylvester humiliated, and now Cletus was going to offer an olive branch?
But that wasn’t what Cletus was doing, not at all. Knowing him, I knew full well what he was about to do. I gripped Beau’s hand harder, which I didn’t realize I’d been holding until just this moment. Cletus did this so well, lulling folks into a false sense of security before he made them lose their minds with rage, befuddlement, or embarrassment, and then rage again.
“Oh no,” Beau said under his breath. “Here we go.”
“Cletus Winston, you shut your mouth.”
Elena’s vitriol had my father cutting in, “Elena, the men are talking. Let me handle this.” His tone remained superior despite his slurred words.
“Are we, though? Men?” Cletus paused here, and I knew it was for effect, before adding thoughtfully, “I mean, you’re not really a man, are you?”
“Now you listen to me—”
Cletus didn’t listen, he didn’t even pause. “You weren’t man enough to take care of your family or keep them together. You weren’t man enough to step up and cherish a wife as exceptional as Diane, a pillar of Christian charity and goodness in this community. Unlike this—what did you say?—woman of ill repute?”
I expected my father to lose it at this point, but Elena was the one to step forward. “You hillbilly, club-trash bastard. I’ll make you pay for what you did to my sister.”
Cletus continued like she hadn’t spoken, “And you’re obviously not man enough to keep your mistress from making you—a fallen man, a person of ill repute—look like a fool. Now an even bigger fool than you already were, which I didn’t think was possible. You two deserve each other.”
My father lifted his voice, spewing slurred insults that ran together and made no sense. But it was no use. Cletus’s voice was bigger, more commanding. Plus, Cletus wasn’t drunk.
“And in front of—I mean—the whole town is here. Literally everybody you know.” Cletus chuckled like he couldn’t believe it, like our guests had suddenly materialized. “How mortifying for you, but I reckon you’re used to that by now. So, on second thought, don’t call me son. I think I speak for everyone here when I say associating with you would be an embarrassment. Embarrassing even for the town simpleton.”
My father must’ve done something then, maybe tried to throw a punch, because a scuffle ensued and exclamations of surprise and distress from onlookers followed. I covered my mouth, trying to see past the heads and shoulders of those blocking my line of sight, but it was to no avail. Even in these shoes I was too short!
Without thinking, I left Beau and Shelly and pushed to the front, needing to see what was going on and that Cletus and my momma were okay. My father and Elena were psychotic, I knew this. I should’ve made them leave, I should’ve stepped in already, and now fear had completely gripped me. What if they wanted to hurt Cletus? What if all their failed business dealings and drained bank accounts meant they had nothing left to lose?
I was assaulted by the delayed suspicion, maybe they’d wanted this to happen? Maybe one of them had brought a weapon? What if they’d planned this?
Billy, bless him, held Cletus back, and my father was fighting off Hank’s attempts to do the same to him. Meanwhile, Elena was scratching at Billy and Cletus, and my heart seized for a split second as I braced myself for whatever was coming next, too paralyzed by the train wreck to think past my own bystander status.
Out of nowhere, like a miracle, Sheriff James’s voice boomed from somewhere, “Y’all cut this out, right now. Right. Now. Shame on you.”
Like a knight of goodness and righteousness, the sheriff was there. And even though he wore an I’m getting too old for this shit expression, he’d inserted himself between the parties, holding his hands up.
Elena screeched, “This piece of trash tried to—”
“You hush.” Sheriff James pointed a finger at her face. “Unless you’d like to be arrested, and don’t think I won’t.”
“They should be the ones arrested, this club garbage and her!” Elena smacked away the sheriff’s hand and charged at my mother.
My father was raving again. “Soon everyone will know what you did, the two of you. You’ll rot in jail! Jennifer will see then, she’ll come back to me then, begging for forgiveness!”
Mid-rant, the sheriff began forcibly pushing my father toward the door.
“All right, all right. We’re taking this outside. Jackson, Evans, Boone—” he lifted his hand toward the entrance of the barn, motioning to his deputies who’d just arrived “—take Mr. Sylvester and Ms. Wilkinson out. Ms. Donner, Billy, you’re with me.”
I’d almost caught up to Cletus, but then he moved like he was going to follow the deputies outside. Before he could, the sheriff turned and put a hand on Cletus’s chest, unveiled disappointment in his eyes.
Because I was close enough, I heard the sheriff’s whispered, “Stay here and apologize to Jennifer. She deserves better from you. Your momma would be ashamed, she raised you better. And, for the record, I expected better.”
With one more lingering hard look for Cletus, Sheriff James lifted his eyes and addressed the crowd, “I know I speak for Janet when I say we’ve been looking forward to celebrating Jennifer’s happiness and this engagement for many months. Let’s not let temporary unpleasantness cast a shadow over what is supposed to be a joyful event. Those cooks are working hard, and the tables are set. This is a party. You’ll never hear your sheriff say this again, but I’m insisting y’all go grab a drink. Or two. Possibly three.”