"Jackie?" His voice was soft, and there was a tremble in his tone.
"Jacob, what's wrong? Something's wrong, I can hear it in your voice."
"We have a situation."
Dammit. I spoke too soon.
"Just tell me what it is." I laid the flower I was holding on the table in front of me before I crushed its poor little stem.
“The rings.” He paused. I could hear him take a deep breath on the other end of the line. “The rings are gone, Jackie. They’re gone. I had the box with me, and I just went to look at them, and they’re not there. I don’t know where they could have disappeared.” He blurted it all out and then there was silence.
I felt my mouth drop open, but no words could escape. This was not the kind of thing I wanted to hear the afternoon before our wedding day.
“Jackie? Are you there?” he asked.
“I… uh… yeah, I’m here,” I replied quietly. Who would do this to us? I didn’t even have to ask, I knew they were stolen. Just like my dress.
“I don’t know what to do. Tell me what to do?” he pleaded. The rings were special. They’d belonged to his grandparents, who were no longer with us, and they’d been resized to fit us. Jacob had been married before, but he made sure every bit of our nuptials were special and unique to us. These rings were one of the ways he did that. When he showed them to me months before, I shed a tear over the sentimental gesture. Losing these rings was heartbreaking for both of us.
“Jacob? Are you sure we should do this?” I asked without thinking. My instinct was to run and hide. I thought we should postpone the wedding until we figured out who was behind trying to sabotage us, because it was clearly no longer a coincidence.
“Jackie, what are you saying?” I could hear the panic in his voice.
“I’m just saying that we need to consider the real possibility that someone is sending us a message. And maybe… we shouldn’t get married tomorrow.” I couldn’t believe the words were coming out of my mouth, but I was scared. A year ago, I’d been poisoned, and now my dress and our rings were stolen?
Someone was out to get us, but mostly, I was afraid someone was out to get me. What if they did something to Jacob? I couldn’t live with myself if someone’s crazy vendetta with me put him or anyone I loved in danger. What if the next thing that happened wasn’t thievery at all. What if it was something far more sinister, and someone at the wedding got caught in the crosshairs? No, I decided we were putting this wedding off.
“Jackie, hold on.”
“No, Jacob. I’m serious. This is becoming scary. I think that everything is connected. I believe whoever poisoned me last year is responsible for trying to ruin our wedding.” In my eyes, it was settled.
“Jaqueline White, we are getting married tomorrow. We didn’t find each other the way we did to just give up. That’s not who we are. Stolen dresses, stolen rings… it’s just stuff. It has nothing to do with our love for each other. I know you’re scared, and we’ll get to the bottom of this, but we are not calling off the wedding.” He was stern and authoritative, and truthfully, if it weren’t for the topic at hand, I’d have been completely turned on by it.
“Jacob, what are we going to do. Those rings belonged to your grandparents. It’s too late to find new ones.” He was bringing me back on board, but we still needed rings.
“Just leave the ring situation to me. I will take care of i
t, and I’ll meet you at the altar.” He was quiet for a moment, then added, “I can come home tonight, you know.”
“Jacob McIntyre! If you think for one minute with all that’s going on, I’m going to let you jinx us even further by seeing me before the wedding? You’re crazy. No way. Not happening. You better not come home!”
He laughed, a sound that calmed my nerves and lifted my spirits. “Okay, okay. I won’t come home tonight. But I’m not far away if you need me. Please don’t worry, Jackie. I’m serious, it’s going to be okay, and after tomorrow we’ll be husband and wife. We’ll figure out what’s been going on, then we’ll move on with our lives. But tomorrow is all about us, and celebrating what we have, okay?”
“Okay, babe,” I replied.
“I love you to the moon and back, Jackie. I can’t wait to make you my wife.” he said softly.
“I love you back, Jacob. I can’t wait to become your wife.”
I hung up the phone, feeling better but still unsettled. He was right though, we couldn’t let some unknown crackpot ruin our day. It was all just missing stuff, and if he said he’d figure out the ring situation, he would. I trusted him with my life, so I could certainly leave figuring out how to get us some wedding rings on the fly in his capable hands.
6
Jacbo
When Jackie said she thought we should postpone the wedding, I damn near lost my mind. There was absolutely no way we weren’t getting married tomorrow. Sure, the thefts were suspicious and my own concern was growing, but we were getting married, there was no doubt about that.
As soon as I got off the phone with her, I talked to my buddy Eric, who I was staying with. He and his wife Noelle had become very good friends of ours, and they offered to house me the night before the wedding so we could keep up with the tradition of the groom not catching a glimpse of his bride before the big day. I didn’t like to compare my relationship with Jackie to my first wife but in moments like this, I couldn’t help but be reminded of how much more traditional Jackie and I were.