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“How did you know?”
“Because it takes a man to make you feel the way you sound. I can hear something new, even through the phone. After Jarod, I didn’t thi—”
“It is Jarod.”
The silence lasted so long, she knew Gilly was picking herself up off the floor.
Tears of joy filled her eyes. “He left the priesthood and came to see me ten days ago. We’re getting married on Saturday at ten in the morning, in Ennis. We want you and Alex to be witnesses for us.”
“Sydney!” her friend’s ecstatic cry was deafening. “Do me a favor and start at the very beginning. Don’t leave anything out. I want a blow-by blow-account.”
Sydney had been dying for this moment. Gilly was the only person who’d lived through the fifteen months of heartache with her. Only Gilly, who’d lost her first husband Kenny, could have understood the kind of pain Sydney had gone through.
It was therapeutic to be able to confide in her best friend, especially with such joyous news. A whole world was going to open up now that she was going to be married, too. Sydney was so divinely happy, she could barely contain it.
“The first thing I did after you two left for Hawaii, was throw my maid of honor bouquet in the ocean. I decided to consign my love for Jarod to the sea.”
“But the flowers came back.”
“Yes! How did you know?”
“Remember that movie where Steve McQueen is trying to get off of Devil’s Island? He figures out it’s the seventh wave that escapes the undercurrent, so he counts seven waves before throwing in the coconuts that carry him out to sea?”
“I remember.”
“Well, after that movie, Kenny and I tried the same thing, but found out there is no seventh wave in front of our house. Everything always comes back. I could have warned you and saved you the trouble.”
Sydney laughed. “When I saw the roses strewn across the beach, I had this foreboding I was doomed forever. But everything changed the second I returned to Gardiner. After I’d driven to my apartment, Jarod was there!
“He’d been at the Park looking for me. Chief Archer had to be the one to tell him my new address. Oh Gilly—”
“Yes… I’m waiting…”
After ten minutes, Sydney came to the unhappy part. “I’m afraid none of our families are going to be there for the ceremony.”
“Your parents just can’t bring themselves to come?”
“No. I’ve phoned them to give them the date and time. Jarod has done the same with his family, but neither of us has had an answer back.”
“That’s horrible, but I know how much you love Jarod. And he’s right. At thirty-eight, naturally he’s anxious not to lose any more time, especially if he wants to be a father.
Where are you going on your honeymoon?”
“We can’t take a long one until Christmas. A beach vacation sounds marvelous to both of us, so I think we’ll be going to Hawaii, too.”
“Stay in Maui where we did. When I see you later in the week, I’ll give you the brochures.”
“That would be wonderful. I’ll talk to you later then. I’m so glad you’re home, even if you’re not,” Sydney teased.
“Of course we’re happy to be back, but over there I didn’t have to share him with a single soul, let alone a telephone. No emergencies.”
That sounded like paradise to Sydney.
“Give Alex my best.”
“I will. As for Jarod, I’m consumed with curiosity about that man. I honestly can’t wait to meet him. Take care.”
Sydney hung up, wondering why he hadn’t called yet. Maybe she’d go over to his work and surprise him. It was almost time for their office to be closed for the day.
