Meant-To-Be Marriage

After hugging both of them she said, “Mom and Dad, I’d like you to meet Jarod Kendall.”

She turned to the man who’d set her on fire from the first moment she’d met him. He stood a few feet away, urbane and confident. “Jarod? This is my mother, Margaret, and my father, Wayne.”

Jarod extended his hand for the two of them to shake. “How do you do?” Flashing a white smile he said, “It’s a real pleasure to meet Sydney’s family at last.”

Those words caused her parents’ eyes to meet before giving Jarod a second and third glance.

“Why don’t we all sit down?” Sydney suggested nervously. She was ready to jump out of her skin. When Jarod took a place on the couch, she sat next to him.

“Can I get either of you something to eat?” her mother asked, always concerned for everyone’s comfort. It was one of the many Midwestern traits Sydney loved about her parents.

“We ate on the plane, Mom. But maybe you want something?” She turned to Jarod.

“Not right now, but thank you anyway, Mrs. Taylor.”

Her father sat forward in his easy chair with his hands folded between his legs. “So, Jarod. Are you a park ranger?”

“No—” Sydney blurted. “Jarod’s the man I met in Cannon while I was teaching school.”

The mention of Cannon acted like a bomb going off. Suddenly there was tension in the living room as Sydney had known there would be. Only a few days ago her parents had vetted her about the mystery man from her past. Now he was here in their home.

“He came to see me in Gardiner.” She moaned inwardly because there was no easy way to impart certain facts that were going to come as a stunning shock. All she could do was plunge ahead. Swallowing hard she said, “Jarod’s asked me to marry him, and I’ve said yes.”

Sounds of surprise came out of her parents. Not happy, not unhappy.

“We’d like your blessing, but I realize we’ve sprung this on you without any advance warning,” Jarod interjected with a calm Sydney would kill to possess. “Since she has this time off from her teaching, we thought we’d take advantage of the holiday for all of us to meet and get acquainted.”

“Well now.” Her father spoke first. “We knew Sydney was in love with someone back in Cannon. I guess what Margaret and I don’t understand is why it has taken until today for a meeting to take place.”

“Are you a teacher?” her mother inquired. “Is that how you and our daughter met?”

Sydney was shaking so hard Jarod must have felt it because he reached out and caught hold of her hand.

“Actually I met Sydney when she brought one of her high school students to my office for counseling.”

“Then you work for the public schools?” her mother persisted.

“No.” Jarod let Sydney’s hand go and got to his feet. “I’m originally from Long Island, New York. My family still lives there. I have a brother Drew, and a sister Liz.

“After graduating from Yale, I joined the Catholic church, then attended ministerial school in St. Paul, Minnesota, and became a priest. That was ten years ago. Until approximately two months ago, I served as the parish priest in Cannon.”

Her mother sat there frozen-faced. “I thought priests couldn’t marry,” she clipped out sternly.

Sydney’s father looked nonplussed. “Does that mean your assignment has been changed?”

At this juncture Sydney bowed her head, waiting for the moment of truth.

“I know this is difficult, but I’ll try and answer your questions. When I discovered that my love for Sydney would never go away, I laid my case before the bishop. Less than a week ago, I left the priesthood. I don’t have the Pope’s sanction. Possibly I never will. But God understands this was something I had to do.”

“Excuse me for a moment.”

As her mother left the room, Sydney sent Jarod a signal before jumping up to follow her into the kitchen.

“Mom?” Her mother started getting food out of the fridge to make sandwiches. “Stop for a minute and look at me.”

Her parent kept working.

“I swear we didn’t have an affair, Mom. The only person who behaved dishonorably was me. Jarod never did one thing to encourage me. He never sought me out.”