A Long Road to Redemption

Chapter 7

Finding a date for the wedding proved to be more difficult than Sidney thought it would be after the proposal. Lawson's travel schedule grew heavy with his expanding role at his father's company. He told her Leonard was grooming him to take over the business. Lawson had to take a far more active part in the company's operation. This new role was a complication and a blessing. On one hand, she was happy for her husband-to-be but saw less of him.

When they did get together, he was not interested in talking about setting a date. Sidney began to believe that he was trying to avoid the subject altogether. He grew angry with her for bringing the subject up on one particular night. The reaction surprised her, and she sat quietly for several minutes, not wanting to make eye contact with him. Lawson apologized and explained that he was stressed out from work. He did not mean to take it out on her, and of course, they should talk about a date later.

Time passed, and they still did not set a date. Several coincidental events began to arise anytime he agreed to set a date. It appeared to Sidney that he was again avoiding her so he would not have to pick a date. In a way, she understood his reluctance with his new responsibilities, but at what point did his behavior cross over to avoidance?

Another thing she noticed was that he was taking less interest in her physically. While she didn't mind abstaining from "night surfing," as he called it, he didn't sit with his arm around her as much when they were together. He had stopped holding her hand when they were out in public. While none of that necessarily meant anything, taking all of it together concerned her. She even tried to bring it up to him once, but it drew the same excuse of him being stressed or exhausted from work.

The fighting started to occur more often as well. Every couple fights now and again, but Lawson's reluctance to do much in the way of wedding planning worried her. Sidney started to suspect that something was wrong, and their arguments seemed to prove it. She wanted desperately to reach out to him, to help him through whatever was bothering him, but the thought that she might be the problem worried her more than anything. She decided to try to work it out once, and for all the next time they were together.

That opportunity came on a Sunday night before Lawson's trip to Seattle. She cooked his favorite meal, three cheese lasagna, and all the fixings. Lawson seemed to be in a better mood when he arrived. The couple sat down, enjoyed their meal together, and settled in for what Lawson thought would be a quiet night.

Sidney prepared herself for the moment at hand. What she planned was far short of an ultimatum, but she wanted a meaningful conversation. Something that they had not done much of in the last month or two. "Lawson, we need to talk about the wedding."

"Oh God, Sid, not this again. I told you when my workload lets up, we'll talk about it."

"Lawson, there are things that have to be done to get ready. Some reservations have to be made, and there's premarital counseling.."

"Counseling? You know I don't like that kind of stuff. Why do we need that?"

"Because Brother Paul won't marry us until he has two counseling sessions with us."

"Well, why does it have to be him? My father knows several ministers; we could use one of them."

"Because Brother Paul is the one who baptized me when I was twelve. He taught me so many life lessons as my youth minister that I want to have him marry us. It's only for an hour each session. And he won't try to talk us out of marriage or tell us how hard it is or anything like that. He only wants to be sure we understand the commitment we're making to God."

"Okay, fine, you're right. I'm sorry, Sid, I've been so stressed out recently that I haven't been myself. Please call him up and make the appointment. Text me the date, and I'll be there."

"We also need to set a date to reserve the venue. My church has a calendar that.."

"Stop," Lawson interrupted her. "My family estate is where we need to get married. My father and brother were both married there. Churches are fine, but it's our tradition."

"Okay, yes, fine, that's fair. You need some input, too," she said, clearly disappointed. They were making progress. Sidney began to think that she was starting to worry over nothing. If she could get him to commit to a date, the rest would take care of itself. "But we have to pick a date. Lawson people are starting to wonder when our marriage will take place. We both have family coming in from out of town and all those other arrangements that need to be made."

"Sid, you're right. Let me get back from Seattle. I will be back late Thursday night. Why don't we plan on meeting on the yacht Friday night, just me and you? We'll sit down and set a date. Then on Saturday, we can go scuba diving out near the reef. Sound good?

Suddenly, Lawson was back to being his old charming self. Maybe he was right, and the stress was getting to him. Sidney understood some of what he was going through because of a similar problem she had at work. Sidney understood he was stressed; maybe she was to blame for being too pushy. "Yes, That sounds wonderful. I'm sorry if I'm pressuring you; I want this to be perfect. I want it to be something we will remember our whole life. And I'm sorry you're having a hard time at work."

The tension in the room died down. "I guess I haven't been very attentive to you either," Lawson said. "Don't worry, Sid, I will make it up to you this weekend. Just us."

"I would love to go diving or anywhere else with you. I love you and want to make you happy."

"Same here. Love you, Sid," he said with his sly smile. "I've got an early morning flight, so I need to go. I'll call you when I get settled in." He kissed her and left the apartment.

The conversation went much better than she thought it might. She was relieved that Lawson was finally coming around to setting the date for their marriage. It's not like she wanted to run off and elope, but she wanted to make sure he understood her side of the issue and that things needed to move forward. Friday would be a big night for them, and they could settle this once and for all. Once that happened, she could start planning their dream wedding.

She returned to the sitting area of her apartment to collect the evening's drinking glasses and dessert dishes. She spotted a small object lying on the floor as she took hold of the glasses. Sidney took the glasses and plates to the kitchen sink and returned to the sitting area. She picked up the object and saw it was an ordinary flash drive. That's strange, she thought. Sidney thought that she had put all of them away, but this one had somehow gotten left out.

Thinking nothing more of it, she took it over to her laptop computer and set it down on its closed top. Sidney felt that she should be more careful with those. She kept every paper she had ever written in school, backed all her personal files many times over, and kept business records to take home on the rare occasion she worked from her apartment. She scolded herself again for not paying attention and thought it pretty lucky that it didn't get stepped on while Lawson was here.

Calling it a night, she turned out the lights and went to bed to read a book for a while. After completing a few chapters, she turned off the lamp on the nightstand and drifted off to sleep. It was a peaceful sleep, and she felt as if a heavy weight was lifted off of her. Tonight, she believed that all was right with the world.