“It’s disappointing. We want to see you chasing your dream of owning a restaurant. But if anyone understands family obligations, we do.” Lawson stood and extended his right hand. “We’ll look for another opportunity with you in the future.”
Major sprang to his feet and shook Meredith’s father’s hand. “Thank you for the offer, sir. And you can trust that I’ll be working extra hard to get to a place where I can do something like this.”
“And we’ll do whatever we can to help.”
Over lunch Thursday, Meredith filled Anne in on the details of everything that happened at the banquet the night before. Their check arrived right as Meredith got to the part about Major.
Anne’s pen stopped halfway through her signature on her receipt. “What happened? Was he okay?”
Meredith slipped her signed receipt into the black folder and tried to remember if the pen was hers or the restaurant’s. “I think so. Apparently, he fixed breakfast for Daddy’s prayer group this morning.”
“Who told you that? You haven’t been calling in and checking on work on your day off, have you?” Anne took her sunglasses out of her purse and slipped them over the top of her head.
Meredith tried to look innocent, then grinned as she slid out of the booth seat. “Okay, just the one time. Corie told me she saw Major go in to Dad’s office after the prayer group broke up.”
“What do you think that was about?”
Meredith shrugged and followed her cousin out of the restaurant. “I don’t know, and I’m tired of speculating. If Major wanted me to know what’s going on in his life, he’d tell me. Since he hasn’t, I have to operate under the assumption that he’s perfectly happy with our relationship just the way it is. I can’t live my life hung up on every little thing he does.”
“That’s probably wise.” A mischievous grin appeared on Anne’s face. “So whom are you going to ask as your date to the wedding?”
“I’m in the wedding. I don’t need a date. Forbes’ll be my date.” Meredith feigned interest in the display of handmade soaps in the store window they were passing.
“Forbes has already asked someone.”
She stopped. “Really? He’s asked someone to be his date to your wedding?”
“That’s what he told me yesterday. But he wouldn’t tell me who she is.”
“Wow. Forbes is actually bringing a date to a family function.”
“Speaking of, I think you should ask this Ward fella.” Anne hooked her arm through Meredith’s and got her moving again.
“Ask Ward?”
“Yeah—you are still seeing him, aren’t you?”
“Not in the last couple of weeks—I’ve been too busy.” And even though he’d called and asked her out a few times, she’d told him she was too busy simply because it was easier than admitting to herself that, while she really liked him as a person and enjoyed spending time with him, she had no romantic feelings toward him whatsoever.
Anne let go of Meredith’s arm to unlock the front door of her office, located in one of the converted Victorian row houses lining Town Square. “Well, Jenn already has dibs on Henry, so it’s looking like Ward’s your only option.”
“All right, I’ll ask him.” It took a moment for Meredith’s eyes to adjust to the dim interior of the office from the bright sunlight outside. When she could finally see clearly, she saw Anne looking at her expectantly from behind her desk. “What?”
“You have a phone, don’t you? If not, you can use mine.” She pushed her desk phone closer to Meredith.
“You want me to call him right now?”
“Yes, now. Because if I leave it up to you, you won’t call.”
How well Anne knew her. Reluctantly, Meredith pulled out her phone. “What should I say?”
“Oh, for mercy’s sake. You’ve known the guy for almost two months now. You’ll think of something.”
Meredith quick-dialed Ward’s cell number, praying he wouldn’t answ—
“Hey, pretty girl.”
Instead of warmth or tingles, all Meredith felt was embarrassed. “Hey, yourself.”
“What’s up? Calling to check progress on your house? Right now, we’re on schedule to be finished about a week early.”
“That’s good to know, but it isn’t why I’m calling.”
Across the desk from her, Anne’s expression of encouragement was anything but helpful. Meredith averted her gaze.
“So to what do I owe the honor of a phone call from Meredith Guidry?” The laughter in his voice conjured a vivid image of Ward’s handsome good looks in Meredith’s mind.
“I...” She forced herself to breathe. She’d never asked a guy out before. “My cousin Anne is getting married a week from Saturday.”
“I know. You’re the maid of honor.”
The fact that he was humoring her made what she needed to do a little easier. “Right. But I was wondering ... thinking maybe you might like to come as my ‘and guest.’”
Anne sighed loudly; Meredith gave her a dirty look.
“I’d love to be your ‘and guest’ at your cousin’s wedding. It’s in the evening, right?”
“The ceremony starts at five o’clock.”
“Good. I can still go to the hospital, then.”
Taken aback, Meredith glanced at Anne. “The hospital?”
“Didn’t I tell you? I volunteer in the pediatric cancer unit on Saturday mornings.”
Could this guy be any more perfect? He was going to make someone a great husband someday. “No, you never told me. What led you to do that?”
“I’ve been doing it since I was fifteen and my youngest brother was diagnosed with leukemia.” Someone yelled his name in the background. “I’ll have to call you back, Mere.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.” She closed the phone and dropped it in her purse.
“The hospital?”
Meredith told her.
“He sounds like a keeper.” Even though Anne leaned over to pull out the binder of her wedding plans from under the desk, it wasn’t quick enough to keep Meredith from seeing her amused smile.
“For someone else, maybe.”
Anne snapped upright. “What?”
“I just don’t feel that way about him.”
“Not everyone falls in love right away. Sometimes it needs a chance to grow. I’ve planned plenty of weddings for people who were friends for years before they fell in love with each other.”
Friends for eight years before falling in love? Meredith shook her head. “I’m giving it a chance—it’s not like I have a lot of other options at this point in time.”
“You know I’ve been praying for you about this, right?” Leaving the binder on her desk, Anne came around to sit in the chair beside Meredith.
Emotion lumped up in Meredith’s throat, forcing her to nod as her only reply.
“Have you been praying about it?”
She nodded again.
“More than just, ‘Please, God, send me a husband’?” Anne’s blue eyes twinkled.
Meredith laughed. “Sometimes. But most of the time it’s, ‘Please, God, let me get over Major so I can fall in love with someone else.’”
“Oh, I can so relate.” Anne sighed. “Before I found out George wasn’t the one marrying Courtney Landry, that was my almost hourly mantra—‘Lord, please don’t let me be falling in love with a client.’”
“But he turned out not to be the one getting married, and he fell in love with you.”
“Right. But what I’m saying is that God did answer my prayer—granted in a rather roundabout fashion, but He answered. You have to trust that God will answer your prayer ... just maybe not in the way you expect or on
