“Ozzy!”Fisher yelled, loud enough for Osbourne to overhear.
“What’s up, Doc Oz?”Brock yelled.
“Hang on, Ozzy.”Jerry put Osbourne on speaker phone so he could talk to the other two.They traded friendly insults for a few minutes, then Jerry moved to the other side of the room.“How’ve you been?What’s up?”
He could hear the smile in Osbourne’s voice.“Better than I have ever been.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“What about you?How is it going with Olive?”
Just the thought of her made his heart beat faster.“Weird, really.Strange.It’s like I no longer count time by days, just by moments with her.”
“Sounds like true love to me, man.”
After a brief pause, Jerry said, “Expect so.”
“You made any serious plans yet?”
Despite the fact that Osbourne could not see him, Jerry instinctively shook his head.“Not yet.”
“Well, make plans and trust the plan, brother.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Jerry quipped.
“I’m guessing after hearing from the guys, you’re not conveniently snowed in at her house.”
“Yeah, unfortunately, she had a shift last night, so she’s actually been trapped at the hospital since yesterday.Too much ice to risk her going home.”
“The way people there drive in the snow, I wouldn’t blame her.”
Jerry chuckled, “Not to give too much credit to drivers in Tennessee or Kentucky, but you and I know the worst drivers on earth are in…”
“…are in North Carolina,” Osbourne finished along with Jerry.
Osbourne chuckled and said, “Worse than Kuwait.No joke.”Jerry watched Fisher lace up his boots and don his coat.He glanced at the clock.Lunch time.“Listen, I called for a reason.”
“Aw,” Jerry clicked his tongue.“I thought you just missed me, Doc.”
With a chuckle, Osbourne said, “Melissa and I have started planning the wedding.”
A grin spread across Jerry’s face.“We talked about this.I cannot be the maid of honor, dude.Seriously.”
“Keep that up, and you won’t even get invited.”He cleared his throat.“We’re going to do it on a cruise ship.”
“A cruise ship?”Of all the things he might have predicted, that did not make the list.“Interesting choice.”
“Comes with the ability to completely secure the area,” Osbourne said.Again, Jerry nodded, even though his friend couldn’t see him.Jerry knew Melissa’s sister was in witness protection.Clearly, they planned something around the security and containment of the cruise ship so she could attend.Since Phil’s dad was a federal judge, he could probably make that happen with few hitches.
“What do you need from us?”
“Just you, brother.I can’t ask you to be my best man, but I want you to be a groomsman.My best groomsman, let’s say.”
Emotion clogged his throat, and he couldn’t speak right away.With a harsh clearing of his throat, he said, “I would be more than honored.”After taking a deep, cleansing breath, he asked, “Who is the best man?”
“Dad’s gonna stand in for my brother.”He could hear the emotion in Osbourne’s voice.
Drug cartels tied to Melissa’s sister had murdered Osbourne’s brother to send a message.“That’s very cool,” he said.
