Page 239 of Sing with Me

“I’ll help you with it. We might need to scrub the bird bath.”

Skye chuckled, apparently at a memory. “Remember that day you came to town? You drenched me with the hose, causing me to be late for a rehearsal.”

Diehl cringed. “I’m sorry. It was really an accident.”

“I know. It was also my fault that I didn’t have spare clothes in the van and had to go home to change.”

“Remember that spot on the grass where we all lay down and looked at the sky?” Diehl pointed toward the trees. “Thank you for talking to Elisa about her issues. She told me last week that she approves of you and wants to learn to play the guitar.”

Skye sniffled. “She’s a sweet kid.”

“As for Ethan, he’s easy to please. You won him over with cheesecake.” Diehl faced Skye. “I thank God every day for you.”

“I thank God for you too. I’m so glad He worked it all out for us and our children.”

Our children.

Diehl felt his eyes sting.

He buried his face in Skye’s hair and tried not to weep openly on a public beach.

Chapter Sixty-One

Skye liked routines, the certainty and steadiness of time and schedule. No surprises. No shocks. Just expected events for her to look forward to all year long.

Like the six months of marital counseling with Pastor “Fizz” Fitzpatrick at Midtown Chapel in Atlanta, where Skye attended church with the Brooks family—except for Rose Brooks, who slept in every Sunday morning and refused to listen to any conversation about God, Jesus, church, or anything halfway religious. Diehl had been praying with Skye about his mother’s spiritual condition, and they left it at that.

By the time Diehl and Skye’s marital counseling sessions wrapped up just before spring break in April, Skye could not believe how fast the months had rolled by between Diehl’s beach proposal in August and her subsequent temporary move to metro Atlanta in September to spending Christmas on Seaside Island with Diehl and his kids, along with the children’s bodyguards, Ned and Rose Brooks, Riley Brooks with her two teenagers, and Sebastian and Emmeline with a baby on the way.

Before Skye knew it, it was June, only one of the hottest months of the year on St. Simon’s Island. One year after she and Diehl fell in love with each other and ten months after their engagement, they were finally going to be married.

Of course, it had to rain on this fine Saturday morning.

The weather wiped out their plans for a beach wedding behind the beach house they had bought from Brinley, and an outdoor reception under the trees by the bird feeders and bird baths—where Rose Brooks had gifted them a small garden of flowers from Brooks Cottage.

Still, when the weather report came that God was going to pour showers of blessings on their wedding day, Skye and Diehl chose to thank Him instead.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

As she stood in the bridal dressing room at Seaside Chapel, waiting for her brother Sebastian to accompany her to the wedding chapel down the hall, Skye recalled the words that Diehl had read to her from Philippians 4:8.

She smiled to Avery Chung, who was busy adjusting the veil covering Skye’s face and trying not to cry.

“I’m so happy for you,” Avery kept saying between sniffles.

Brinley Brooks-McMillan walked into the dressing room. She shook her head at Avery. “You’re going to ruin your makeup.”

“Waterproof,” Avery replied.

“Then by all means cry me a river.” Brinley chuckled. Her gaze moved up and down Skye’s pure white wedding gown. “You look lovely, Skye.”

“Thank you,” Skye said. “How’s little Jovan doing?”

“Sleeping at the moment. Let’s see how Ivan handles a ten-month-old at a wedding.” Brinley gave a half-laugh. “He’s sitting in the back row in case they need to sneak out.”

Skye looked past her bridal party to a small window. Outside, rain continued to fall, drowning out the sounds of the ocean on the other side of the dunes and any music that would have floated out of the wedding chapel adjacent to this room.

Brinley lifted Skye’s left hand and tilted her ring finger toward the ceiling lights. “I can’t get over how lovely that diamond is. My brother must really love you to trade his Ferrari for this ring.”

---