“And what does that have to do with me?”
“It has everything to do with you.She has it in her head that after her and Reed marry, that he’ll change his mind about living in Bayberry, and he’ll want to move back to Chicago.I wonder where she got that idea.”Abby let the sarcasm drip from her voice.
There was a distinct pause.“Did you ever stop to consider that maybe she has a legitimate reason to worry?”
“No.”Her answer was quick and firm.“You don’t see them together day in and day out.They are happy together.Reed has made a home here.He has friends here.He has work here.And he has the woman he loves here.”
“There’s something you’re forgetting.Before he knew Bayberry existed, he had friends and work right here in Chicago.”
This man was so frustrating.Couldn’t he just accept that his friend was happy in Bayberry?
“I thought you had gotten over all of this,” she said.
“Gotten over what?My best friend making a decision that’s going to impact the rest of his life?”
“Reed already made the decision when he proposed to Sadie, don’t you think?”
There was another distinct pause in the conversation.“Maybe he didn’t think it the whole way through—”
“Whoa!Stop right there.You’re the only one with doubts.Stop sharing them.”
“I didn’t share them.And for the record, I don’t have doubts about them as a couple.I worry about Reed moving to Bayberry.But after talking to you, it sounds like I’m not the only one with doubts.Maybe they should delay the wedding.”
This man could be so aggravating.“I don’t know why I thought calling you would help anything.”
“Listen, I didn’t do anything.I’m sorry your friend is getting wedding jitters, but I had nothing to do with it.Maybe you’re just too stubborn to see what’s right in front of you.”
“They are in love.They have plans for the future.They are going to get married.”
“I hope you’re right.I mean it.”
“Wait.What?”Surely she hadn’t heard him clearly.
“You heard me.I want them both to be happy.”
He did nothing but confuse her.One moment, she thought he was opposed to the wedding.And then in the next, it’s like he’s all for the wedding.Now she didn’t know what to believe.
“Is that all you wanted?”His tone was businesslike.
He was dismissing her.She suppressed a frustrated sigh.“Yes.”
“Okay.I have to get back to a meeting.”And then the line went dead.
She was left to stand there and try to make sense of what was just said.She didn’t know if she should be angry with him or feel bad for jumping all over his case.
Was his friend having second thoughts?
Brad was caught off-guard by that phone call from Abby.He loved Reed like a brother.And that was why the next day, he was already considering flying to Vermont.But he was struggling to come up with a legitimate reason.
Instead, he would have to settle for calling Reed.He wasn’t sure what he’d say.He would have to wing the conversation.Before he could talk himself out of it, he picked up the phone.
On the second ring, Reed picked up.“Hey, Brad, I was just going to send you that report.”
Report?It took him a moment to figure out what his friend was talking about.“I didn’t call about it.I was wondering if you wanted to hang out and catch a hockey game?”
“You mean you’re coming to Bayberry?”There was a definite note of surprise in Reed’s voice.
He was thinking of getting tickets and going to an in-person game.He hadn’t given visiting Bayberry a thought until that moment.But maybe this required a quick visit.“Sure.”
