Meant-To-Be Marriage
“Don’t ever say that again.” He crushed her to him. “You have to understand I’m deathly afraid of failing you or any children we might have. I’ve often thought I had the easier life as a priest. No wife to consult, no children to be a role model for.
“Then I met you and realized I craved the comfort only a woman can bring. Every time I played sports with the kids, I found myself wishing one of them were my own son or daughter. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
She threw her arms around his neck. “Yes, darling. And you’re right about children and church. Every child should be so lucky to have two parents who care enough to take them. We’ll do it.” She kissed his jaw. “Be patient with me. I was an only child. You’ve got your work cut out.”
Rich male laughter suddenly poured out of Jarod. She’d never heard him sound like that before. A subtle transformation was taking place. She loved what was happening with every fiber of her being.
Ten minutes later the hostess at the Moose Lodge dining room showed them to a table next to a bank of picture windows looking out over the pines. The attractive redhead couldn’t take her eyes off Jarod.
“Are you a new ranger?” She handed them menus, but her whole focus, like the other females in the room, was caught up in him. No other man in the room had his extraordinary looks or charisma.
“No. My fiancée and I are celebrating our engagement tonight.”
The other woman had some difficulty covering her disappointment. “Would you like champagne?”
One of his dark brows lifted. “Sydney?”
“No, thank you.”
“It appears neither of us will be having any.”
“Then I’ll send a waiter over. Enjoy your meal.”
“Thank you. We will,” Jarod murmured, smiling straight into Sydney’s eyes.
“Would you have preferred some wine?” he asked after she’d gone.
“I don’t like alcohol of any kind. I got sick on it one time between flights when I was a stewardess. It cured me.”
He grasped her hand to examine the diamond in the candlelight. Then he darted her a piercing glance. “I developed an early aversion to it when I came home from high school and found my mother passed out on the bed in the middle of the day.
“She’s a beautiful woman. I get my black hair from her. To see her lying there so hung over she had no idea what time of day it was, and worse, didn’t care because my father had been unfaithful to her—something died inside of me.”
The waiter chose that moment to bring Chateaubriand for two. When he walked off, Jarod finished talking.
“What I wanted her to do was get up, sober up, and leave him. But she couldn’t do it. I thought it was so simple. All she had to do was stop drinking and everything would become clear to her.
“It took years of study at graduate school to understand how complex every human is. Certainly I wasn’t capable of fixing their problems or getting her to do something about her alcoholism.”
“What a helpless feeling for you, Jarod.”
“It was, but if one good thing came out of it, I determined never to drink again. If the tendency truly runs in the genes, I didn’t want to take the chance of becoming addicted.”
“I can understand that,” she commiserated. “I saw a lot of drinking go on in college. Some people can handle it, but those who can’t— Well, I’m just thankful that my experience turned me off.”
He smiled at her.
“What?” she asked, intrigued.
“The discussions we’ve been having. The whole time we knew each other in Cannon, we couldn’t probe or act too interested.”
“Don’t remind me,” She groaned.
“It’s like we’re both babies learning new things about each other as fast as we can.”
“Thank goodness we aren’t!” she cried. “If I had to wait for you to grow up, I’d go mad.”
His burst of laughter infected her, making her realize she’d never been so happy in her life.