Meant-To-Be Marriage

She’d bet her life his colleagues in the diocese didn’t know where he was, or what he was trying to do, let alone why…

Thank heaven they didn’t know what Sydney had been doing on Saturday.

He had to know that coming to Yellowstone was an unconscionable act on his part. When he returned to Cannon, would he confess what he’d done?

A priest on the up and up probably would. But Father Jarod Kendall would no doubt consider himself exempt from confession because he hadn’t yet committed an overt act against the commandments.

It took two, and she hadn’t been available after all.

Did he truly believe she would welcome any crumbs he threw her way because she was so beguiled by him she couldn’t help herself?

An icy smile broke out on her lips. She walked over to the door and locked it. For once he would learn what it was like to have the door eternally closed to him. Let him rail against it till he was bloodied.

Damn you forever, Father Kendall.

Shaking from emotions she had no idea how to control, she started to undress so she could shower. When her cell phone rang, she jumped.

Had he managed to get her number from Chief Archer, too? She plucked the phone from her purse and clicked on.

“Hello,” she said in a terse tone.

“Sydney?” Cindy Lewis questioned tentatively.

It wasn’t Father Kendall on the other end after all. Furious at herself because she felt a gush of disappointment, Sydney disciplined herself to calm down. “Hi, Cindy.”

“You sound odd. Are you okay?”

She took deep breaths. “Yes. I just came in to get ready for bed.”

“How was the wedding?”

“Fabulous. Jamal Carter told me specifically to say hello to you when I talked to you next.”

“He did?” she cried excitedly.

“Yes. His mom and sister came all the way from Indianapolis with him for the wedding. They’re as nice as Jamal. I found out Alex and Gilly have invited him to live with them next summer and work in the Park.”

“You’re kidding—”

“Nope. I’ve got pictures of him in his tuxedo. I’m going to have double prints made up so you can have your own set. He looked even better in the tux than in his junior ranger uniform.”

“Jamal’s cute.”

“He’s very cute.” Sydney smoothed the hair off her forehead. “Listen, Cindy—I’ve got some things I have to do right now. If you don’t mind, I’ll call you next weekend so we can talk longer.”

“I’d love that! But before you hang up, I wanted to tell you that some man came to the Park on Saturday looking for you.”

“What man?” Sydney played dumb, trying to stifle the moan that escaped.

“He left the visitors center before I could ask his name, but he said he knew you back in Cannon when you were a teacher.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He made a thousand dollar donation to the new visitor center fund.”

Sydney almost dropped the phone. Where did a priest with a low income get that kind of money? Why would he do such a thing? “That was incredibly generous of him. Was he there with his family?”

“I don’t know. When he walked over to the display, he was alone. He was more gorgeous than a movie star.”