Meant-To-Be Marriage

Jarod Kendall had only made it over her parents’ threshold in her dreams. All of them had turned into nightmares because he’d come dressed in his priestly vestments. Such wouldn’t be the case if Sydney had fallen in love with a local from Bismarck who attended her parents’ church. They could approve wholeheartedly of someone like that, a man they could relate to spiritually, who had no baggage.

Someone nice and uncomplicated. Someone there’d be nothing not to like. A rancher who would charm her mom by complimenting her cooking. A man who was open, with an easy-to-get-to-know nature her dad could admire. A man like Joe, her cousin’s husband.

Sydney’s parents liked him a lot. He was the solid, reliable type who would be a devoted husband and father. Joe had proved to be a hard worker who could talk ranching and horses with the other men.

If Sydney had fallen for a man like that, nothing would be standing in the way of her happiness.

“How long will you be staying?” her father asked, jolting her from the fears that had been plaguing her all night so she’d had no sleep.

“That depends…on a lot of things.”

“I see.”

“We’ll be there in a minute, Dad.”

“Can’t wait.”

But he hadn’t said it with the same intensity as before. He knew without her telling him that something was wrong. Something big.

Huge.

“It’s going to be all right,” Jarod whispered after she hung up. He kissed her neck before claiming her mouth once more.

Forgetting the driver, she kissed him back with a ferocity that would shock her when she thought about it later.

Not until the cab slowed to a stop did Sydney realize they’d arrived at the house. With her cheeks on fire, she pulled away from Jarod and slid out her side of the car before he could come around to help her.

Relieved her father wasn’t out on the porch watching for them, she waited on the steps for Jarod who paid the driver before he pulled their overnight bags from the trunk.

To see the man she loved come walking toward her family home in broad daylight still made her feel like she was in the middle of some impossible dream.

He was dressed in the tan suit he’d worn the other day. The dazzling white shirt gave him a sophistication her parents would immediately notice.

Her dad was medium-size. Nothing like Jarod whose powerful build and height could be intimidating to some men less sure of themselves.

But it wasn’t the physical that mattered as much in her parents’ eyes. They took measure of other things more important…

One thing that was the most important.

She felt Jarod slide his hand up her back to her neck and cup it. “Ready?”

“No,” she answered honestly.

“Courage, my love.”

My love.

He was her love. Her parents had to accept him.

They had to!

Taking the final step, she opened the door. “Mom? Dad? We’re here!”

“Your mother just got home. Come on in the living room, honey.”

Jarod followed her into the house and shut the door before lowering the bags. She took his arm and they walked through the foyer. Her parents were already on their way to greet them.

Sydney saw the way their gazes summed up Jarod without being obvious. He was by far and away the most handsome, impressive-looking man they’d ever met or could hope to meet.