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Lauren crossed the bridge over the Big Thompson River in a shower of leaves. Golden swirling ribbons of aspen caught in her hair. The tiny heart-shaped foliage crowned her with their beauty. Rowan and Jean-René waited for her in a clearing. A minister stood behind them. Their friends and families gathered around, smiling. Some eyes were red with happy tears.
Bahati helped her with her skirts as she walked across the meadow. She carried a bouquet of wild pasque flowers and daisies. It had been dressed with blue ribbons tied in eternal knots.
Rowan took Lauren’s hand when she reached him. His eyes were glistening. “You look beautiful,” he said. A tear tumbled down his cheek.
She smiled. “You clean up pretty good yourself.”
“Wanna get married?”
She smiled. “I’d love to.”
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God.” The minister began, but Rowan’s gaze held her in a trance stronger than any magic Tsul’Kalu could do. She didn’t hear a word of it. She was lost in Rowan’s eyes, and he in hers. She’d never seen him in a tuxedo before, but then, he’d never seen her in a white dress.
Her hair had been curled and piled up on her head, a circlet of Swarovski crystals kept most of the tresses from spilling down her back, though a few had escaped, framing her strong face. The same knotted ribbons in her bouquet had been tied into her hair. He reached up and freed a leaf from a curl.
“We come today to witness the union of Rowan Charlemagne Pierce and Lauren Diane Grayson.” She gazed into her groom’s eyes. He couldn’t seem to stop smiling any more than she could. His dimples dug craters into the corners of his cheeks.
Yes, this was the right choice. Her heart was his no matter how long nor how hard she’d fought against giving it away. No one else deserved it. She knew it now. Her heart had always been his. She would spend the rest of her life proving her commitment to him, not that she needed to. She was happy to do it.
“With this ring, I thee wed ...” she came back to herself, realizing Rowan was slipping the ring on her finger. She glanced down. Her brow furrowed and she looked up at him. This wasn’t the same ring he’d given her a year ago. This one was a much larger emerald cut diamond with a smaller diamond on each side of it.
Rowan exchanged glances with Jean-René, then winked at Lauren. Lauren turned to Bahati, who handed Lauren the ring for Rowan. His was a thick white-gold band inlayed with smaller chips taken from the same diamond in Lauren’s stone. She inspected it and puzzled a moment, looking at the ring on her finger. Finally, she reached for his hand. “With this ring ... I thee wed ...” her voice trembled, not in fear, but in disbelief that this day had finally arrived.
“Lauren,” Rowan squeezed her hands.
She came to herself realizing she’d drifted away again. “You may now kiss your bride,” the minister repeated. Rowan made sure he had her attention. She leaned in to him. Rowan took her in his arms and pressed his lips to hers, lingering a lot longer than anyone expected.
Cheers rose from their families and the whole Veritas Codex production team who’d come to witness the nuptials. Lauren came up for air, feeling light-headed; practically giddy. She leaned on Rowan and smiled at everyone who’d assembled. Her mother stood at the edge of the gathering, smiling at her. Her brow furrowed. But her gaze moved past her to the mountain. Dark eyes peered out from the trees and as the cheers raised across the valley, they were answered with one somber yowl after another from all around the mountains. Lauren glanced at Rowan. She sensed the presence of the unseen figures in the trees. Rowan leaned in and whispered, “We have a flight to catch.”
“Didn’t you hear that?” Jean-René furrowed his brow. It wasn’t like Lauren or Rowan to ignore something like that.
“I didn’t hear anything,” Rowan held her and kissed her again. “Let’s go, or we won’t make it to Denver in time.” She took Rowan’s arm. She turned one last time looking past her mother into the darkened forest. Tsul’Kalu stepped out a moment, then faded back into the shadows.
“Where are you heading on your honeymoon?” Bahati asked Rowan, trying to keep up with them.
“It’s a secret,” Rowan smiled.
“But ...”
“He won’t tell me either,” Lauren said. “See you in three weeks.”
“Three weeks?”
* * *
“I need another piña colada,” Lauren lifted her empty pineapple cup without looking to see where he was.
Rowan had pulled every string he could tug to make their dream honeymoon happen. Now, they lay on the beach of an isolated island in the middle of the South Pacific. There wasn’t another soul for a hundred miles — living or dead.
Lauren had made a cabana from branches and coconut leaves and was lying with her face in the shade and her naked body in the sun. It felt warm and safe, and she was at peace.
Rowan arrived, dripping water on her leg as he returned holding up two large fish by the tails. “Room service,” he grinned. Lauren sat up on her elbows, shading her eyes with her hands.
“Yummy,” she said, sitting up. “I’m going to need a fresh cocktail before dinner.”
Rowan bowed. “Yes ma’am.” He grinned. “One more piña colada coming right up.”
Despite the remote location, Rowan had thought of everything. They had plenty of alcohol and mixers, even ice. He’d had a screened-in bungalow erected with a hanging bed. A portable generator provided power for the few appliances needed to keep them relatively comfortable. There were fairy lights strung around the cabana and torches all up and down the beach. Lauren got up and followed him to the beach front table, tying a sarong around her body as he took the fish over to the prep table by the gas barbecue grill. He had everything he needed to prepare a gourmet meal. A golden statuette stood at the corner of the table.
“Why did you bring this?” She picked up the Emmy, inspecting it.
“I intend to take it everywhere.” He grinned. He ran the blender and poured the thick concoction into her cup. “Your drink, Mrs. Pierce.”
She raised her cup to him before putting it to her lips. “Doctor Pierce.”
“Of course.” He shook his head. “Silly me.”
“What day is it? How much longer do we get to stay?”
“How much longer do you want to stay?”
“I guess forever is probably too much to ask,” Lauren shrugged.
“We have enough booze for about three more days, the way you’re going at it,” Rowan said, chopping the head off first one fish, then the other. “The boat will come back in a few days. We can decide if we want them to get us more supplies or if we want to head to Hawaii.”
“Hawaii?” Lauren arched a brow. “What’s in Hawaii?”
“Our next assignment,” he grinned.
“Oh really?” she leaned her chin on her fist. “What’s that?”
“We’ve been asked to investigate some paranormal activity around the Kilauea volcano,” he grinned. “Interested?”
“Another volcano?” She seemed to hesitate for a moment as she leaned back. “Why not? But what will Bahati have to say about it?”
“Is she an Executive Producer of the show?”
A curl formed in the corner of Lauren’s cheek. “Nope, that would be me. She’s just the Lead Researcher.” Bahati had earned a promotion too.
“Did I mention we got renewed for another twelve episodes?”
Lauren’s head snapped around. “You did not.”
“Maybe we got nominated for the People’s Choice Awards too.” He spitted the fish and put them on the grill.
“Oh yeah? What else don’t I know about?”
Rowan rinsed his hands off in the bucket of water he’d brought up from the beach. “I heard some scuttlebutt about a live show in Scotland at some old castle next Samhain.”
“I liked Scotland,” Lauren came around and put her arms around his neck.
“You just like men in kilts,” Rowan grinned, leaning into her. Her lips hovered just inches from his.
“You look very braw in a kilt,” Lauren smiled, playfully. “Not sure how I feel about the ghosts, though. Even in kilts.”
“Don’t worry,” Rowan kissed her. “I’ll protect you.”
“I’m counting on it.”
“Ye’r verra bonnie. Ah’ll no’ let harm befall ye.” He did a fantastic Scottish brogue.
“Save it for the cameras, silly.”
He reached down and peeled off his shirt, reaching for the button on his shorts. “There’s no cameras here.”
Lauren laughed and bolted, but he caught the hem of her sarong. It fell to the sand as she leapt for the waves. The sun set across the clear blue lagoon as he caught her and pulled her down into the water, careful not to hurt her. She rolled him over and pinned him in the sand, kissing him.
He lay beside her in the warm shallow waters with the sunlight golden on her skin. “So, tell me the truth,” he said between kisses. “Did we really see a Bigfoot in Washington State?” He’d been trying to get the truth out of her for months. All the evidence suggested they’d encountered something, but no one could really remember what it was. Fans swore they could see a big hairy shadow in one of the video clips and their social media posts had trended for weeks. They got millions of hits. News reporters had been clamoring for interviews and they’d appeared on every major network. But Lauren had been less than forthcoming with information, though he knew, eventually, he’d get the truth out of her.
“We saw something,” Lauren said. That had been her standard response the whole time.
“Come on, Lauren.” He insisted.
“You want the truth?”
“Isn’t that what we’re all about? Veritas?”
She sat up. “Okay. The truth is, Bigfoot is friends with the little green men from Mars. He’s been around since the age of the Aztecs and Mayans. Oh, and our radioactive headless chicken corpse was the infant child of the ancient gods.”
Rowan had a stern expression, studying her dark eyes that glowed in the setting sun. Then he broke out laughing. “That’s the biggest load of BS I have ever heard.”
“You wanted the truth!”
“I don’t believe it,” Rowan said, flatly. “Tell me the real truth.”
Once, Lauren might have been wounded by his lack of trust. But now, she didn’t need him to believe her. She knew the truth, and that was all that mattered. It was enough. “The real truth?” Lauren softened, reaching for his cheek “The real truth is, I have loved you from the moment you first smiled at me.”
That same smile broke like the dawn across his face. “Now that, I believe.”