the time of her life.
Rosa apparently wasn’t ready to let go of the story about the captain. “I’m trying to imagine what sort of courtship you would have with the captain of a cruise ship, Jolene,” she said. “Will you have to live at sea if he asks you to be his?”
“Oh, I haven’t thought about that.” Jolene frowned. “I don’t know that I could ever leave Splendora. I love my friends and my church. They had a little chapel on the ship, but it’s just not the same thing.”
“What a barrel of pickles this is.” Bonnie Sue sighed.
Jolene’s eyes filled with tears. “Well, I don’t suppose I have to marry the captain. I can just dream of him. He can be that one special memory I have of a beautiful cruise to the Caribbean.”
“Jolene!” Twila shook her head. “It wasn’t a beautiful cruise to the Caribbean. We were swept out to sea by a hurricane.” “Technically, it was a tropical storm,” I said. “Not a hurricane.”
Twila’s eyes narrowed as she turned my way. “Honey, call it what you like, but when you’re on the inside of a metal tube, hurling this way and that, a sprinkle can feel like a hurricane. We were trapped inside there like sardines, and I didn’t think we were ever getting out.”
“Thank God we found some other believers and went to prayer,” Jolene said.
“Oh?” This piqued my interest for sure.
“Heavens, yes,” Twila said. “You know what the Bible says about two or more being gathered together. So we went on a hunt for Christians. And by the time we were in the eye of the storm, we had a real prayer meeting going on. In the casino, no less. Even the captain joined us.”
“That man can really pray.” Jolene sighed. “That’s how I knew he was the right man for me. Handsome and a good pray-er—the perfect combination.”
I had to admit, I understood that last part. After all, D.J. was one of the best pray-ers I’d ever met. And it went without saying that he was handsome.
What could I make of this story? The poor ladies had almost been lost at sea and still managed to find the good in the midst of the bad. Unfortunately, it looked like they were fading quickly. I offered them two rooms—mine and Sophia’s—and they headed upstairs for what I hoped would be a good long nap. After all, I had work to do. With the skies finally clearing, I saw my first glimmer of hope that this show—er, wedding—might just go on!
Demo version limitation
24
Goin’ Out of My Head
After the incident with Laz and Rosa, I decided anything was possible. Not only would we pull off this wedding on the heels of a tropical storm, it would be the best wedding anyone on Galveston Island had ever seen.
If we could just avoid the paparazzi. We had two more visits that afternoon from reporters. One of them posed as a Food Network employee, but we saw through his bag of tricks. The other one hid in our bushes, scaring the daylights out of me as I came up the front stairs.
Brock kept his distance upstairs, but I felt bad for him. Was this how he lived, hidden away from people? Sure didn’t seem like much fun.
Thankfully, Twila, Jolene, and Bonnie Sue managed to sleep through all of the chaos. Who could blame them? They’d had a rough voyage. And D.J.—sweet D.J.—went back and forth from our house to the wedding facility, doing anything and everything I asked him to do. At 4:30 I snuck up on him helping Laz and Jenna with the turkey legs.
“Hey, you.” I wrapped my arms around him and planted a kiss on him that he wouldn’t soon forget. “Thank you so much for all your help.”
“Anything for my girl.” He returned my kiss, this time more passionately than before. He stared into my eyes, his baby blues making my heart flutter. “What’s the plan for tonight? You’ve got the rehearsal, right?”
“Yeah.” I sighed. “I was hoping to catch a few minutes with the family for dinner first, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. The Food Network is
Rosa apparently wasn’t ready to let go of the story about the captain. “I’m trying to imagine what sort of courtship you would have with the captain of a cruise ship, Jolene,” she said. “Will you have to live at sea if he asks you to be his?”
“Oh, I haven’t thought about that.” Jolene frowned. “I don’t know that I could ever leave Splendora. I love my friends and my church. They had a little chapel on the ship, but it’s just not the same thing.”
“What a barrel of pickles this is.” Bonnie Sue sighed.
Jolene’s eyes filled with tears. “Well, I don’t suppose I have to marry the captain. I can just dream of him. He can be that one special memory I have of a beautiful cruise to the Caribbean.”
“Jolene!” Twila shook her head. “It wasn’t a beautiful cruise to the Caribbean. We were swept out to sea by a hurricane.” “Technically, it was a tropical storm,” I said. “Not a hurricane.”
Twila’s eyes narrowed as she turned my way. “Honey, call it what you like, but when you’re on the inside of a metal tube, hurling this way and that, a sprinkle can feel like a hurricane. We were trapped inside there like sardines, and I didn’t think we were ever getting out.”
“Thank God we found some other believers and went to prayer,” Jolene said.
“Oh?” This piqued my interest for sure.
“Heavens, yes,” Twila said. “You know what the Bible says about two or more being gathered together. So we went on a hunt for Christians. And by the time we were in the eye of the storm, we had a real prayer meeting going on. In the casino, no less. Even the captain joined us.”
“That man can really pray.” Jolene sighed. “That’s how I knew he was the right man for me. Handsome and a good pray-er—the perfect combination.”
I had to admit, I understood that last part. After all, D.J. was one of the best pray-ers I’d ever met. And it went without saying that he was handsome.
What could I make of this story? The poor ladies had almost been lost at sea and still managed to find the good in the midst of the bad. Unfortunately, it looked like they were fading quickly. I offered them two rooms—mine and Sophia’s—and they headed upstairs for what I hoped would be a good long nap. After all, I had work to do. With the skies finally clearing, I saw my first glimmer of hope that this show—er, wedding—might just go on!
Demo version limitation
24
Goin’ Out of My Head
After the incident with Laz and Rosa, I decided anything was possible. Not only would we pull off this wedding on the heels of a tropical storm, it would be the best wedding anyone on Galveston Island had ever seen.
If we could just avoid the paparazzi. We had two more visits that afternoon from reporters. One of them posed as a Food Network employee, but we saw through his bag of tricks. The other one hid in our bushes, scaring the daylights out of me as I came up the front stairs.
Brock kept his distance upstairs, but I felt bad for him. Was this how he lived, hidden away from people? Sure didn’t seem like much fun.
Thankfully, Twila, Jolene, and Bonnie Sue managed to sleep through all of the chaos. Who could blame them? They’d had a rough voyage. And D.J.—sweet D.J.—went back and forth from our house to the wedding facility, doing anything and everything I asked him to do. At 4:30 I snuck up on him helping Laz and Jenna with the turkey legs.
“Hey, you.” I wrapped my arms around him and planted a kiss on him that he wouldn’t soon forget. “Thank you so much for all your help.”
“Anything for my girl.” He returned my kiss, this time more passionately than before. He stared into my eyes, his baby blues making my heart flutter. “What’s the plan for tonight? You’ve got the rehearsal, right?”
“Yeah.” I sighed. “I was hoping to catch a few minutes with the family for dinner first, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. The Food Network is
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