Meant-To-Be Marriage

It wasn’t going to happen!

Maybe he got his jollies from imagining there was a woman out there who longed for him. Even if he’d only been able to get as far as his thoughts where Sydney was concerned, did that mean he had no conscience?

Could he honestly go back to his world without it disturbing the tenor of his existence?

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.”

Sydney had thought the same thing the first time she’d laid eyes on Jarod.

“Does that mean you almost croaked at the sight of him?” she teased to cover her chaotic emotions.

“Yes. He reminded me of some of those men with the black hair in The Godfather films. You know the kind I mean?”

Sydney knew exactly what she meant. He had the look of some Mediterranean types she’d met in her travels.

“Except that his eyes were green like my cat’s.”

For the second time in one evening Sydney felt light-headed.

When a priest went on vacation, could he remove his collar without it being a sin? Could they vacation alone? Didn’t they go to retreats that were off limits to the public? Sydney had no idea.

Beyond his work as a priest, and the fact that his first name was Jarod, she knew nothing personal about Father Kendall. She had no knowledge of his history, where he came from, or whether he had family still living.

“Did he specifically seek you out to ask about me?”

“I’m not sure. He saw my junior ranger name tag and said he once knew a woman from Cannon who’d become a park ranger.

“When I asked him what her name was, he said Sydney Taylor. I told him I’d been working with you this summer. He wondered if you were around. When I told him you were at a wedding in California, he asked where you lived so he could leave you a note.”

So that was how it had happened.

“Did you get it?”

Sydney’s hand tightened on the phone. “I’m afraid not.” In the next breath she told Cindy about her move to Gardiner and her new job.

The teen sounded terribly disappointed by the news, but Sydney promised to stay in close touch with her and the other kids throughout the year. Slightly mollified, Cindy said she was glad, then she brought their conversation back to Father Kendall.

“Could that man be one of your old boyfriends?”

“No—” Sydney cried before she realized how emotional that would have sounded to Cindy. “I’m thinking he was probably a parent of one of my students, but I just don’t remember. It doesn’t matter. I’ll talk to you again soon if that’s all right.”