Ray climbed the stone steps beside Ginger, his hand on her arm in case she should stumble on the uneven surface. Not that she ever would. Except when being knocked sideways by an errant wave, she was as surefooted as a mountain goat.
He grinned to himself. Ah, yes, Ray Clyde, ever the man who had a way with words. No wonder his friendship with Ginger hadn’t developed further in all the years they’d known one another. He wasn’t exactly a sweet talker.
Not that he’d have tried to talk her out of a calling from God.
Willow and Graham walked ahead of them with the girls, each holding a child’s hand. Something about this moment satisfied something inside Ray—and it wasn’t only because he and Ginger were momentarily at peace.
Ginger must have felt it, as well, because she allowed him to hold her arm and guide her.
Halfway up the stairway, she paused and looked up at him. He didn’t ask if everything was okay. He could tell from her expression that she, too, felt the rightness of this moment, for Graham and Willow, for the children.
Her eyes filmed with tears, and then she placed her hand over his and continued up the steps.
He contained his surprise. What had suddenly come over her?
Helen and Steve had hired a minister from a local congregation to perform the ceremony. The elderly, native Hawaiian man led the intimate service as if he had done this kind of thing quite a few times. He didn’t falter when Graham and Willow explained to him that they had written much of their own ceremony. He seemed overjoyed when they added something to include the children.
Ray had never been more aware of Ginger’s presence beside him, her fragrance, her living energy, as he was at this moment. He heard her sniff, and she delicately dabbed at her eyes with a lacy handkerchief.
Ginger had often referred to herself as a sentimental fool, but he loved that about her. No one would ever accuse Ginger Carpenter of being an automaton. She was a human being with a breakable heart.
He had reminded himself countless times that no matter what he had done last year, her heart would still have been broken.
Lucy followed Graham and Willow to the minister who held his Bible in his hand and smiled. Lucy glanced up at Uncle Preston, who winked at her.
Graham and Willow recited the first few words of their ceremony.
Lucy knew those words. She should. She’d listened to them practice enough times, sitting quietly in the hallway while they worked together to memorize everything. How she’d loved listening to them as they planned this day. They’d laughed and hugged each other any time one of them stuttered or said a wrong word. No yelling or anger.
Willow held up Graham’s ring and smiled at him. They stood staring at each other for a few seconds, and she swallowed.
Lucy caught her breath. Oh, no! Willow had forgotten her line! She’d always had trouble with this part.
So Lucy leaned forward and whispered the words to Willow. “Graham, this ring is only a pale symbol—”
Willow glanced down at her and grinned. Graham chuckled. The minister smiled.
“Thank you, sweetheart,” Willow whispered, then continued her line.
Graham didn’t forget his, of course.
Neither of them forgot anything else, and soon the minister pronounced them husband and wife. Aunt Ginger cried.
Why did grown-ups cry at times like this? There was nothing to cry about, they had so much to celebrate!
When the preacher finally told Graham and Willow they could kiss, Graham picked Willow up and swung her around, and everyone laughed, even Larry Bager.
Lucy felt so good. Of course, she’d seen Graham and Willow kiss before, but this was their first time as married people.
In one more week, they’d all be a family!
Graham and Willow turned to Lucy and Brittany, knelt on the ground and hugged them. Then Graham pulled a little white box from his pocket and opened it. Inside were two gold chains. Graham took one out and placed it around Brittany’s wrist, while Willow did the same with Lucy.
“These are charm bracelets,” Graham said. “We thought about getting you rings, but we were afraid you’d outgrow them too quickly. A charm bracelet can have links added to it as you grow, and as more charms are added. We want these bracelets to signify the beginning of our lives together as a family.”
Lucy held up her arm and touched the beautiful crystal heart attached to the chain. For the first time she understood why grown-ups cried when they were happy. Because the happiness built up inside until it felt like it might burst. She’d never been happier.
“The beginning of our lives together,” Willow murmured softly, then kissed Lucy’s cheek.
Ginger dabbed at her tears, wishing the wedding party had more time to linger in the Fern Grotto. This place held her spellbound, the cool, dripping cave with lush, green, lacy ferns hanging from the ceiling of stone. What a beautiful metaphor. By God’s grace, life could find its way through the hardest of surfaces when there was opportunity.
She lingered behind the others, watching the girls walk back down the stone steps beside Graham and Willow Vaughn. Though today felt bittersweet to Ginger, she knew the loss of her mothering role with the girls would be worth it in the end. She’d raised her sons successfully into adulthood; it was Willow’s turn to enjoy motherhood now.
As Preston and Graham escorted Lucy and Brittany into the boat, Ginger spotted Larry Bager drawing Helen and Steve Courtney aside at the bottom of the stairway.
“It was beautiful, wasn’t it?” came a voice behind Ginger that seemed to resonate through the grotto.
She turned and looked up at Ray and nodded, unsure of her own ability to speak at this moment.
“I know this must be difficult for you,” he said. “Lucy and Brittany are precious little girls, and you’ve spent so much time with them.”
“So has Willow. We worked things out at the free clinic and at Hideaway Hospital so that Graham, Willow or I could be with them at all times. They needed that special attention this past year.”
Another boat half-filled with tourists disgorged its passengers at the dock.
“Would you be interested in a beach walk later tonight?” Ray asked. “I think it’s time we had that talk.”
“But we’ve got the luau, and it’ll last until long after dark, and—”
“There isn’t going to be a luau for us tonight.”
She grimaced. “Please don’t tell me there’s been another glitch.”
“Not this time.” Ray glanced at the group of newcomers who had started up the steps. He took Ginger’s arm as they began their descent. “Our hired bodyguard, Larry, has made the executive decision not only to skip the luau, but to change lodging.”
She stopped. “We’re leaving the island?”
“Please keep your voice down. We have no idea who might be listening. No, we’re not leaving, but we won’t return to the hotel.”
“Then where will we go?”
Ray leaned closer. “He’s arranged for us to stay at the north shore of the island,” he said, lowering his voice further.
“Do Steve and Helen know about this?”
“I have a feeling they just found out,” he said, nodding toward the couple as they climbed into the boat. “It seems Rick Fenrow has discovered our location.”
She felt a tremor of fear. “Oh, Ray, this is all my fault. Why did I leave that calendar up on the wall with all our travel information on it? I should have known better.”
Ray put his arm around her and urged her forward again. “I fail to see how you’re to blame for the actions of a madman.”
“I could have prevented—”
“Stop that. You aren’t the culprit here.”
“But I knew Fenrow was out of jail, and Lucy was convinced she saw him outside her bedroom window. I kept trying to tell her it was one of her nightmares, and I persuaded myself everything would be okay.”
Ray’s arm tightened around her shoulders. “Would you stop beating yourself up and listen to me for a minute? Larry hopes to convince Fenrow we’ve left the island.”
The warmth of his arm, his closeness, distracted her. “How…uh…how’s Larry going to do that?”
“He’s left a trail of misinformation.”
“Don’t you think we should leave?” Ginger asked. “I know I may sound like a coward, but do you know how wicked this man is?”
“Yes, but I also know that it’s easier to keep a lookout for someone in a smaller area. He doesn’t know Kauai, and we’ll be out of sight. Law enforcement all over the island will be watching for him.”
Ginger stopped at the foot of the steps and frowned up at Ray. “Why do I suddenly feel like cheese in a mousetrap?”
“I don’t think that’s what this is, but wouldn’t you rather give him a chance to expose his location here than let him follow all of us back home?”
“We wouldn’t necessarily have to go back home,” she said. “We could go to California or Montana, New York City or Florida. Lots of places to get lost on the mainland.”
“Larry seems to think it would be easier for the police to close in on him here on this island.”
She raised her hands in surrender and headed for the boat. “You know what? I disagree, but I’m finished arguing for the day, with anyone.”
She’d made enough mistakes in the past two days. Let someone else make the decisions now.