From beside Doug, Emily smiled at Amy.“I get it too.”
This time Amy nodded.“Thank you.”
Tish looked from Doug to Emily to Amy and finally back to her brother.“Are you sure?”
Ray nodded.“Very.”
“Then I guess I get it too,” Tish said.“And I’m here for you, and I’ll stand in line behind in case he misses anyone.”
“Thanks, sis.”
“We’d better get this show on the road,” Drew urged.“The good reverend still has two scheduled rehearsals this evening.”
“And Jessica’s probably hungry.”Courtney laughed.
Without any chairs on the bridge, all the new guests stood facing the shore and the soon-to-be-married couple.
“Very well,” the reverend began.
Amy and Ray resumed their positions.
With every word of the beachside ceremony, Amy’s heart pounded a little faster.This was really happening.
“Do we have rings?”the minister asked.
Panic shot through Amy’s system.When she’d called Carrie’s officiate and asked him to arrive early for a real ceremony, she thought she’d covered all her bases, but she’d forgotten about the rings.
“Yes.”Ray reached into his pocket and pulled out a stretchy pearl band.The kind sold at every Hawaii souvenir shop, including the one in their hotel lobby.“It’s not what you deserve, but it will have to do as a placeholder.”
“When did you…”
“When you stopped to use the ladies’ room, I ducked inside, on the off chance they had something.This was the best I could do.”
If she’d thought she couldn’t love this man more, she’d be wrong.With every passing hour she loved him a little bit more.“I don’t have one for you.”
Doug stepped forward, pulled a plain gold ring set with a black onyx square from his right ring finger and handed it to her.“For a placeholder.”
She knew this was the ring he’d been given by his foster parents when he graduated from EOD.Even on loan as a temporary token, she couldn’t accept such a treasured heirloom.“I—”
Doug didn’t give her a chance to object.He squeezed her fingers around the circle of metal and bobbed his head.
Taking her left hand in his, Ray repeated the reverend’s words.“I give you this ring as a symbol and promise of my everlasting love and devotion.”The elastic band of pearls fit perfectly on her finger.
She too repeated the same words, slipping her brother’s ring onto Ray’s finger.
“By the power of God and according to the laws of the State of Hawaii, I pronounce you husband and wife.You may kiss the bride.”
