“New and different. She’s got her eye on Ward now, too.” And from the way Ward was looking at Jenn while they slow-danced to a song Meredith had never heard before, he might not mind spending some time with Jenn.

“You don’t think she’d try to steal him away from you?” Forbes leaned forward, concern evident in his slate blue eyes.

“It won’t be stealing.” She leaned across the table to retrieve her glass of tea.

“I see.” Forbes resumed his more relaxed posture. “You’ve already told Jenn that?”

“Yeah. But I need to tell Ward.”

“Best do it now.” Forbes nodded at the two of them coming toward the table together.

She’d hoped to put it off as long as possible, but she could see the struggle in Ward’s eyes when he sat down beside her.

Forbes sighed and stood. “Come on, Jenn. Dance with your decrepit old brother.”

Ward reached over and took Meredith’s hand. “You don’t look like you’re enjoying yourself.”

“Ward ... there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Sounds serious.” He rubbed his thumb against the palm of her hand.

“It is.” She pulled her hand out of his and rested it on her lap. “It’s something I should have told you awhile back, but I’ve been putting it off, hoping things would change.”

He leaned forward and braced his hands on his knees. “Hoping things would change—as in the way you feel about me?”

“Yeah.” She drew the word out. “I have had so much fun going out with you, and I have never felt more cherished and admired than I have since I met you.”

“But you aren’t falling in love with me.” Kindness permeated his voice and soft smile. “Would it surprise you to learn that I’m not in love with you either?”

Breathing came a little easier. “A little. Why keep asking me out if...?”

“Because I wanted to fall in love with you. On paper, Meredith Guidry is the perfect woman for me.”

“But I’m not the same person in real life that I am on paper?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. I mean that every quality that I’ve ever dreamed of finding in a woman, I found in you.”

“But the spark isn’t there.” She began to relax, understanding that he really did feel the same way she did.

“Exactly.”

“I was seeing definite sparks between you and Jenn.” She grinned at his surprise. “Henry leaves day after tomorrow, and while she’s having fun flirting with him, when I told her I was going to break up with you, she wanted to know if that meant you were fair game. So I’m giving you the same blessing I gave her: go for it.”

And he did. As soon as Jenn came off the dance floor with Forbes, Ward took her right back out and relinquished her to Henry only twice.

“I’m proud of you, Mere.”

“Hmm?” Meredith hadn’t caught all of what Forbes said. She was too caught up in watching Major make his way around the room. It must be almost time for the cake cutting, since he’d said he was going to make an appearance for that.

A sudden welling of emotion took Meredith by surprise. She’d wished, wanted, hoped, desired, prayed for so long that what Mrs. McCord had said would come true—that she would marry Major O’Hara. The desire to melt into a heap of tears, in private, drew her to her feet, but before she could disappear and give into the temptation, Anne waved her over to the table where the enormous cake Aunt Maggie had created stood.

As soon as Anne and George had finished feeding cake to each other and the servers had taken over cutting the masterpiece into pieces for the guests, Meredith slipped out the front door and followed the wraparound porch to the place overlooking the lake that lay between Lafitte’s and the university campus.

She immediately wished she’d stopped to get her wrap as the cool, damp air prickled her arms and cheeks. But she didn’t feel like going back inside to get it. She’d come out here to feel miserable, and being cold only added to her self-pity.

Leaning against one of the pillars, she wrapped her arms around her middle and gave into the tears that had been building for weeks, months, years. Tonight she’d lost Anne and Ward. Though Anne would never cease being her cousin and friend, their relationship would never be the same again—she’d seen the hints of that over the past six months since Anne and George met. And even though she hadn’t been in love with Ward, at least she’d had the appearance and comfort of having a boyfriend for a couple of months.

“Lord, what’s wrong with me? Why doesn’t anyone want me? Are You trying to show me that I’m going to be alone for the rest of my life?”

She wasn’t really sure she expected an answer. For years, she’d been praying the same prayer in different ways, but basically asking for one thing: a husband. Someone, as the song said, to watch over her. The one person who would not only flatter her vanity and make her feel cherished, the way Ward had, but who stirred the very embers of her soul, the way Major did.

But maybe Anne had been right. Maybe she should be praying for something other than for Major to come to his senses. She closed her eyes. “Lord, I’ve been begging for You to make Major return my feelings for a long time now. And I’ve never once prayed to ask You to show me Your will in my relationship with him—or any relationships. Father, please help me to be content with where I am and what I have in my life, and to be looking for the ways in which I can make myself a better person and serve You better.”

The muscles in her shoulders cramped with the cold, and she shivered violently. But she couldn’t go back inside. Not yet. Not until she got all the tears out of her system. She hoped God would start giving her that contentment soon, because right now, all she had was a great big, empty, gaping hole of loneliness.

“You know, you really shouldn’t be out here without a coat.”

Warmth enveloped Meredith’s shoulders—and the scent that was unmistakably Major’s. She snuggled into his leather jacket even as she tried to wipe away any evidence she’d been crying.

“How’d you know where to find me?” Hoping her supposedly waterproof eye makeup hadn’t run, she turned, her heart wrenching at the familiar and beloved sight of him in his pristine white chef’s jacket.

He reached over and pulled the collar of the jacket closed under her chin. “I always try to make sure I know where you are.”

The gruffness in his voice nearly keeled her over. “Oh.”

“Meredith, I—” He swallowed a couple of times. “I’m sorry Ward Breaux hurt you the way he did tonight. I couldn’t believe it when I saw him blatantly and openly flirting with Jenn right in front of you.”

A sob-laugh burst from Meredith’s throat. “He didn’t hurt me. I told him tonight that I don’t have any feelings for him—not romantically anyway—and I gave him and Jenn both my blessing.”

“Your blessing?” Major moved closer, clasping her shoulders, his eyes midnight blue in the faint moonlight. “You’re saying you’re not in love with Ward Breaux?”

“Yes, I’m—”

Major’s lips pressed to hers in a kiss that buckled Meredith’s knees. She kissed him back with all the intensity eight years of hoping for this moment had built inside of her.

When the kiss finally ended, Major pulled her into his arms and pressed his cheek to her hair. “I love you, Meredith. I have for a very long time.”

She laughed. God hadn’t taken very long in answering her prayer for contentment.

Chapter 24

“I still can’t believe you laughed at me when I told you I love you.”

“You’re so cute when you’re disgruntled.”

Major couldn’t help smiling back at Meredith. When he’d seen Ward Breaux dancing with Jenn last night, he’d been ready to call the guy out—forget the fact that Breaux had the advantage of at least four inches and a couple tons more muscle. And at that moment, Major knew he couldn’t live one more day without letting Meredith know he loved her.

“Are you sure that coming to Sunday dinner with my entire extended family isn’t going to be awkward for you? No one knows about us.”

“Um, I think they can see us sitting here together.” Major looked around the sanctuary and back at Meredith. He wanted to go with her, to have her show her family that they were together, that they loved each other. And as long as this family meal didn’t last three or four hours, he would be able to get out to BPC before Ma started wondering where he was—though she had been a lot better since the trip to the emergency room a week and a half ago.

Meredith half turned on the pew to face him. “Major, you know how I feel about you.”

He grinned. “Yeah. You’ve been in love with me since we first started working together.” He’d been both surprised and humbled when she’d told him that last night.

“Right. But even though we’ve worked together for a long time and I love you for who you are as a person, before we can move forward with our relationship, there’s something you’re going to have to do for me.”

The organ music started, and around them, everyone rose to sing the call to worship.

Heart throbbing with guilt, knowing what she was about to ask him, Major stood and opened the hymnal. He leaned over and whispered, “We have plenty of time to talk about our relationship. Let’s just take things slowly.”

He did have a lot he needed to tell her. She didn’t even know yet that he’d turned down her parents’ offer to open the restaurant. And then there was Ma. He prayed for wisdom.

It shouldn’t have surprised him that Meredith had a special journal in which she took notes on the sermon. The few times he’d attended the late service when the quartet sang, he hadn’t taken the time to notice how studiously she paid attention and wrote down ideas sparked by Reverend Kinnard’s sermon.