“Well, he had a charming smile, so I took pity on him. He asked me out to dinner, and I figured why not? I gave him my number, and we made plans. He picked me up, took me to a nice place, did the gentlemanly thing with the doors and all that.”

“I can’t imagine how this goes from polite to disaster,” Maddie said.

“It was the wine,” Sydney said with that mischievous smile Luke loved so much.

“What about it?” Maddie asked.

“He ordered soda water with lime, and when I ordered a glass of chardonnay, he got this really weird look on his face. I asked him if everything was all right. He says, ‘I didn’t realize you were a drinker.’”

The entire group erupted with laughter.

Sydney held up a hand, clearly enjoying her moment in the spotlight, and Luke’s heart contracted. She was so beautiful when her eyes sparkled with mirth. “You haven’t heard the best part,” she said. “I told him I’m not a drinker. I just like a glass of wine with dinner. He got really quiet and closed his eyes. I had no idea what he was doing. Then he opens his eyes, and says, ‘I talked to Jesus, and he said it’s fine for you to have a glass of wine with dinner.’”

Luke stared at her as if he’d heard her wrong, while the others hooted with laughter.

“What the heck did you say?” Janey asked, wiping tears from her eyes.

“I asked him to thank Jesus for me, and then I closed my eyes for at least as long as he had closed his. Then I opened them, and I said, ‘I talked to Jesus, too, and he said this date is over.’ I got up and walked out. The restaurant called me a cab, and that was that.”

“Fabulous,” Joe said. “Good for you.”

“You never heard from him again?” Mac asked.

“Oh, I heard from him. The phone calls started at eight the next morning and kept up until I mentioned the words ‘restraining order.’”

That earned her another round of laughter.

“And that was my only foray into dating.”

Luke slipped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “Jesus told me to give you all the wine you can drink.”

As the others cracked up, Syd rewarded him with a big smile. “And for that I shall be eternally grateful.”

Luke thought his eyes were surely deceiving him when Grant McCarthy strolled into the bar.

“Mac, Janey,” Luke said, nodding to the doorway.

“What the hell?” Mac said, grinning. “Janey, look who it is.”

Janey let out a piercing shriek when she saw her second oldest brother coming toward them wearing a big smile for his siblings. She launched out of her seat and into Grant’s welcoming arms. “What’re you doing here already? The wedding isn’t for another two weeks!”