As Grace and Adam drew near, she smiled up at them and got her head back in the game. She needed to get some questions answered while they were still fresh in her mind, before she left the tent. She wondered if Hank and Travis would still be waiting, like they’d said. She braced herself, figuring that as handsome as those two were, they probably were already distracted by the other female wedding guests.
Chapter Four
“There’s nothing wrong with that cantankerous woman that a thorough spanking and some masculine attention wouldn’t cure.”
Hank chuckled at Kate Benedict’s comment about the wedding protestor. Tabitha Lester was becoming more and more of a thorn in his side.
Although he loved nothing more than delivering an erotic spanking, he shuddered inwardly at the thought of delivering such a spanking to the woman who’d disrupted Maizy’s wedding. It’d been ages since he’d been on the giving end of a spanking but the only bottom he’d consider turning hot and pink had sashayed seductively toward the reception tent a few minutes before. The connection he’d felt when he’d touched her finely boned hand had zipped up his arm and left him breathless.
“Did you place her in custody?”
Hank shook his head. “No, but I did inform her I’d be within my rights to do so since she was disturbing the peace. She trespassed at a private function when the rose garden was closed to the public. I think she would’ve enjoyed it if I’d put cuffs on her, though. More sympathy from her followers, but I didn’t want to do that. My deputy took her back to the station to cool off for a bit.”
“Well, I admire the resilience of the Divine ménages. It can’t have been easy worrying about people like that showing up everywhere, making such ignorant accusations and passing judgment.”
He knew from speaking with Kate on past occasions that she not only understood the true nature of the ménages located in his pretty community, she also officiated over binding ceremonies in Lusty in much the same way Ethan was doing in the reception tent.
They were currently giving her a tour of the Memorial Rose Garden, which had been dedicated to all the veterans of foreign wars in the community.
“I myself served in the military during World War II, as did both of my husbands, Gerald and Patrick. They were flyboys.”
Hank patted her hand and said, “Kate, could you tell us what it was like, having two husbands?” He sensed Travis’s acute attention as she answered.
“Well, once I settled in, I can tell you it felt as normal as it would for a woman married to only one man. Gerald and Patrick would probably tell you that I was far too independent and set in my ways for my own good but we managed fine and brought five beautiful children into this world.”
Travis said, “And how are you related to Veronica?”
“Her grandfather was a cousin to my husbands. I’m actually her first cousin by marriage, twice removed, but to make things simpler, I just ask that everyone calls me Grandma Kate.”
Hank looked over at Travis and said, “Kate’s the family matriarch and inspires all the women of Lusty to great mischief.”
Kate burst into laughter and hugged his arm tight. “The hell you say, lawman. I’m docile as a well-fed kitten and you know it. Travis, can you tell me how you know my honorary granddaughter?”
Hank was eager to know the answer to that question, too. “Yeah, Trav. Enlighten us.”
“Well, it’s not a long story. I’m a game warden and eleven years ago I was stationed in Wyoming. I was called out to investigate the report of an illegally trapped golden eagle in Montana. The witness insisted the eagle was entangled and injured inside a cage trap.”
“Veronica?”
“Yes, ma’am. Veronica met me at a trailhead early the next morning and…well, she showed me the way to the trap. We rescued the bird which was indeed injured from trying to fight his way free.”
“And…what?” Grandma Kate asked gently, obviously not overlooking his brief pause.
Travis chuckled and his cheeks flushed a little. “She berated me first thing for not coming the day before and told me it’d be my fault if the eagle died. Really let me have it. She was pretty upset until I explained that I’d been detained while trying to wrap up another illegal trapping case in the next state. I felt terrible because she looked like she’d been crying.”
“Berated you? That doesn’t sound like my sweet girl. Crying over the eagle definitely does, though. Veronica has a tender heart.” She looked up into Travis’s eyes as though she was searching for something. “Was the eagle able to make a full recovery?”