Page 115 of Wish You Faith

“Yes, all good.”

Evan smiled at Rosie. “Time flies and here we are.”

“I know, right?”

Rosie recalled the passage of time and how they had gotten from April to January so quickly.

She still remembered chatting with Evan on the beach that April afternoon, one month before Evan had taken her suggestion and found a maritime security company to merge with. Seven Seas Maritime Security came under the Cavanaugh Shipping umbrella in July. Evan had opted to keep their name, and often called it simply Seven Seas.

A happy camper in Savannah, Evan enjoyed going to work at his new Seven Seas office in downtown Savannah. He had chosen the closest location he could to Tybee Island to shorten his daily commute to work.

Oh yes, about that. Evan’s parents gave their beach house to Evan and Rosie as their wedding gift. It surprised everyone, especially Rosie.

Rosie suggested to Evan that they should consider inviting his parents to stay with them whenever they came to town. After all, the beach house had six bedrooms. Perhaps that had been why Mei had bought it in the first place—to prepare for her own future visits.

Then again, Mei had told them that they could sell the house and buy a better one if they wanted. Both Rosie and Evan told her they liked it—for now.

After all, Evan’s relationship with his mom had improved by leaps and bounds throughout the months of working with her. He credited God for keeping Rosie’s mom alive so that his mom could get free motherhood advice whenever she came to Savannah and Tybee Island.

In return, Mei had taught Mom to play competitive mahjong. They organized competitions at SSLR and tried to make mahjong a household game among the seniors in the area. Now Dottie and Marcella were avid mahjong fans. That was almost all they talked about—besides the TV dramas they liked to watch.

Rosie was pleased that Mom was keeping busy on her own. With SSLR taking care of Mom, Rosie could spend her free time with Evan, who joined her to teach Sunday school when he moved to Savannah a few weeks before Rosie welcomed a new batch of third graders in her class.

With the Christmas tree farm being busy from October to December and wedding preparations demanding her attention, Rosie had to put her part-time job at SSLR on hold until after the honeymoon.

Evan wanted to marry in August, but they hadn’t finished their premarital counseling with Pastor Samuel Flores—who happened to be Lorenzo and Pastor Flores’s father.

By the time they completed the six-week course in September, it was too late to be wedded because Rosie would be too busy at work from October to December to have any time for a wedding—unless they eloped. Rosie didn’t want to elope. She wanted Mom to invite all her friends, new and old, to the wedding. Mei concurred. She wanted a party!

“But it’s our wedding, not theirs,” Evan had protested.

“I know, but this is the last wedding for these mothers of the bride and groom. If it’s a good thing to let them have a bit of say, when we lose nothing but gain happiness, why not?”

“Our one and only wedding. I don’t care if it’s simple or elaborate, as long as I have you.”

And Rosie remembered how Evan kissed her then.

Well, things hadn’t gone too simply, but thanks to Amy, they had hired a wedding coordinator to work with Mom and Mei, and to make sure that they didn’t go overboard. Rosie wanted both mothers to be happy, but she also wanted to prioritize Evan’s preferences.

For example, they ended up not being able to invite everyone on Mei’s list simply because the SSLR community center wasn’t that big. All their many relatives from Hong Kong, Canada, and the United States made the guest list, but not all of Evan’s childhood friends’ mothers, other adult nephews, plus their spouses and kids.

All of the SSLR residents were invited, as well as Mom’s two best friends, Dottie and Marcella. Dottie would be moving in with Mom on the evening of the wedding, when Rosie and Evan were booked to fly out to New Zealand for their honeymoon. They had chosen the southern hemisphere for their January honeymoon because the weather would be warmer there at this time of the year.

Their luggage was packed. The only things on their agenda today after the photography session were to take a few minutes to freshen up, go to the community center for the wedding, and then to the dining hall for the lunch reception, catered by Piper’s Place.

“You look beautiful in white,” Evan kissed her gently on the neck.

“Hold that position,” Amy said. “This one is for a magazine cover.”

Now Rosie felt nervous. “What magazine cover?”

“Don’t move,” Amy instructed.

The shutters snapped.

“I’m glad we’re taking some of the photos before the wedding,” Evan said in between takes. “I get to see you in your wedding gown first before the wedding guests.”

Rosie was glad to see that Evan had settled down. Not quite half an hour ago, Evan had cried a little bit as they prayed together.

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