Chapter 153 – Getting Home After Church

After the welcome, Jack started playing. He closed his eyes and focused on the music as he knew the song. By the time that he got through the first song, he was back in the zone. He focused on Father Mark and what was going on. He didn't miss a beat and was able to get through Mass without a single problem. He even played a completely original piece as people were coming up for communion. Nathan and Doug had just set their guitars aside and listened to Jack play. Jack was watching and as Father Mark finished and sat down after communion, he finished up and pulled the music for the final song. After the prayers and final blessing the three started the final song. Once they were done, Jack let out a deep breath. They quickly gathered all the sheet music and set it together on the little cabinet that was there for the music. Jack didn't want to mess up where the piece went. He grabbed the pen and left a little note saying that he didn't know where the music went, but it was all there both piano and guitar. He then turned the light off on the piano and pushed the bench in. They made sure all the microphones were off and before grabbing their guitars. The trio headed to the back of the Church to talk with everyone.

Security was trying to give everyone their space, but they stayed a little closer than they normally would as there were still a lot of people milling around. Nathan, Doug and Jack walked up to his grandparents and the Avery family. As soon as Cody saw Jack, he let go of his sister's hand and ran to Jack. Jack scooped him up and finished walking over the group. The guys set their guitars down along the wall.

"That was great that you could play." Bill said.

Jack ducked his head and didn't respond, but just tickled Cody.

"No need to be embarrassed, JP." Gran said. "Everyone has said they loved the music. John, we should get going if we are going to stop and pick up the maple syrup."

"Why do you need maple syrup?" Bill asked.

"Nathan was going to make bacon jam for us." Gran said. "But he needs real pure maple syrup. We were going to stop and pick some up."

"Nonsense." Bill said. "We will leave and swing by the house. I have some homemade stuff that is better than store bought. I tapped the sugar maple trees myself up at the park. We were teaching a class about it and I ended up with a lot more syrup than we thought."

"Are you sure?" James asked. "It is no problem for us to stop."

"I insist." Bill said. "We will stop by the house and then meet you back at the farm."

"We will see you there." Gran said. "If for some reason that you get there before us, just know that Kathy is there already getting lunch ready."

"Okay." Abigail said.

"Come on Cody." Bill said. "We will see Jack and everyone in a little bit. We need to stop back at the house."

Cody leaned over toward Bill from Jack's arms. Bill took Cody and they walked away. Gran watched them walk away before turning back to the group. Several people had walked up to the group to either greet John or say something to the guys about the music or they wanted to congratulate Jack and Doug on their rides the day before. Even though they knew Father Mark was coming over, they were waiting to speak to him for a moment. The moment that Jack had joined the group, he had moved toward Elizabeth. When Bill had taken Cody, Jack had put his arm around Elizabeth as she leaned into Jack's chest. Jack's hand was over Elizabeth's that was across her body, so people couldn't see her engagement ring.

Finally as people started to disperse, Father Mark came over. The group had been so busy talking to people and greeting those that came over that they hadn't been paying that much attention to those there were still around.

"I will talk to you guys when I get to the farm." Father Mark said.

He then took a step closer to Jack, Elizabeth and Nathan.

"I think you should go." Father Mark said. "William and Elena Pennybaker are at the far entrance. They haven't approached, but they have been glaring at you. They have a couple people with them that I don't know."

"Okay." Nathan said. "We are parked out back."

"Go back to the sanctuary." Father Mark said. "Jack knows that there is a back door to get out there. Go. We will see you shortly."

John had happened to overhear.

"Go." John said. "If they try to approach us we will intervene. You and I both know that no judge is going to enforce an order in a church."

Jack nodded. He tapped Lee and Doug on the shoulder. They looked at him and he nodded to go. Doug picked up both guitars and the group went back into the sanctuary. Rob, Chris and Katie moved to follow. After they moved toward the sanctuary, Pennybaker moved toward John. John and Andrew went closer to them to block their path into a side door of the sanctuary.

Father Mark had gone to change, but there was a part of him that felt he should have stayed and supported his family. He was torn because in public, he had been ordered to remain neutral. The Bishop understood the difficulty, but in public he couldn't be seen as taking sides. It was hard, but there was a fine line that had to be walked. As much as Father Mark loved his family, he knew that as a priest, that he had to make difficult choices at times.

There was a part of him that wished that Pennybakers would transfer over to the other Church and yet every time that he thought that, he stopped and prayed for a humble heart. He also prayed for forgiveness for what he was feeling toward that family because of all the pain that they had caused his family.

As he finished changing and doing the last of his chores, Father Mark heard William Pennybaker say something to John in a raised voice. For a moment Father Mark thought about stepping in until he heard Peter speaking to his boss. He knew that security would handle it, but there was also a part of him that wanted to end the discord. He also knew that John didn't seek it out and he wasn't going to be pushed around by people, especially someone like Pennybaker.

Jack and his group stepped outside the Church and saw not only Lacy Pennybaker, but Trip Steele. As soon as they saw Jack and Nathan, both started yelling. Chris looked at Rob.

"Get them out of here." Chris demanded.

Nathan grabbed Jack and pulled him toward the truck. Doug and Lee immediately took Elizabeth as Doug had handed Lee one guitar. They got Elizabeth in the truck and Lee set both guitars in the back. Nathan and Jack weren't far behind, as much as Jack didn't want to go, Nathan wasn't giving him a choice. Jack was trying not to listen to what was being said, but it was hard.

Once Rob was sure that they were all safely in the car, he signaled for Nathan to leave. Rob immediately pulled out his phone and made several calls, including having police respond to the Church. He had a shadow team pick up Nathan and he also alerted Marcus. Once those things were done, he went back to stand by Chris and Katie.

"Neither are you supposed to be here." Chris said. "I suggest you leave before you are arrested."

"I am not going to let Thornton and his brat friends ruin my brother-in-law." Trip yelled. "I am also not going to allow them to continue to harass my cousins and their friends."

"They all brought those things on themselves." Chris said.

"Pennybaker." John said.

The man glared at John.

"I am not going to allow your brat grandson to continue to drag my family through the mud." William Pennybaker said. "To that, I am demanding a retraction of your statement from yesterday."

"I will do no such thing." John said. "You all brought this on yourselves.

Peter stepped in front of his boss.

"Sir." Peter said. "Walk away."

"Yeah, Thornton." William sneered. "You should listen to your little handler and run away. I knew that you weren't a real man."

James saw John flex his hands like had seen Jack do. So James stepped forward.

"Come on John." James said. "We have guests coming. Let's just have a nice family day."

"Sir." Peter said. "Please listen to Mr Sims. Besides, Pennybaker is just making our case for us. Remember what Ryan and Daniel said. Don't sink to their level."

John closed his eyes and let out a harsh breath.

"You are right." John said. "Let's go.

John turned to leave.

"This isn't over Thornton." William yelled. "I am going to make that grandson of yours pay. He can't just get my baby pregnant and walk away from his responsibility. I am coming after both of you!"

John, James and Margaret left out the front doors of the Church. Andrew and Peter were right behind them. Once they were all in the car, Andrew pulled away. After a moment, he looked in the rear view mirror at his boss.

As soon as Nathan rounded a corner and was on the main highway, he saw a car behind him. Without taking his eyes off the road, he reached into the small of his back and handed his pistol to Doug.

"I am going to assume you can handle that." Nathan said.

"Yes." Doug said, taking the weapon.

"Good." Nathan said.

Elizabeth was upset and Jack was trying to comfort her, but he didn't miss the exchange in the front seat. Jack and Lee exchanged a look. Jack's phone started ringing and he handed it to Lee.

"Jack's phone." Lee answered.

After a moment Lee held out the phone to Jack.

"Put it on speaker." Jack said.

Lee did as Jack asked, but continued to hold the phone since Jack had his arms wrapped around Elizabeth and he wasn't going to let her go.

"This is John P Thornton II." Jack said.

"This is David." He said. "I have Aiden with me. Rob called us to follow you."

"If Rob really sent you." Jack said. "What is your response to 'What did the witch doctor say?'"

David groaned.

"You are seriously going to make me say this out loud." David said.

"If you are who you say you are, what is the response?" Jack asked.

"Fine." David said. "Ooh eeh ooh ah aah ting tang walla walla bing bang."

Everyone else in the car stifled giggles.

"Thank you, David." Jack said. "What is the plan?"

"I still can't believe you made a grown man respond like that." David said. "The plan is to get you back to the farm safely. Just a warning, there is press camped out on the road to the ranch. Marcus has sent state police to try and keep them back, but as long as they are not blocking the road, there isn't much that they can do."

"Alright." Jack said. "We will deal with it."

Jack looked at Doug.

"Already calling Bill." Doug said.

"David." Jack said. "Keep us in sight. I am going to see if I can direct Nathan into a different part of the ranch. I normally wouldn't take the truck from there to the main site, but I think Grandpa will understand."

"We will follow." David said. "We were told to see you safely to the house."

"Understood." Jack said.

Jack nodded to Lee and he hung up the phone.

"What are you thinking?" Nathan asked.

"I want you to turn off a mile before you normally would." Jack said. "You will come to a sign that says entering private property, no unauthorized persons allowed."

"Okay." Nathan said.

"Elizabeth." Jack said. "Please look at me."

Elizabeth looked up at Jack.

"Everything will be fine." Jack said. "I just need to make a call and do something."

Elizabeth nodded and Jack took his phone back. Jack dialed the phone and no one answered.

"Damn it." Jack said.

"What is wrong?" Doug asked.

"Nothing." Jack said. "Change of plans. Go to the main gate. What did Bill say?"

"They just got there and he said it was crazy." Doug said. "I am going to assume that everyone has their hands full."

"What were you thinking, Jack?" Nathan said.

"I was going to take us through a part of the ranch that has very tightly controlled access." Jack said.

"What was that?" Nathan asked.

"The storage facility for our breeding facility." Jack said.

"Can't you open the door with your thumb print?" Doug asked.

"Yes, with that and a passcode.." Jack said. "I just didn't want to risk getting out."

"I think it is going to be safer than going through the main gate." Doug said.

"Jack." Nathan said. "I need a decision. The turn is coming up."

"Make it." Jack said.