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Mary and Neal’s wedding was simple and joyous... and completely lacking in battles, supernatural interruptions, and earthquakes.
Scarlet officiated, serene and solemn, with her red hair piled on top of her head, and Graham thought she looked soft and thoughtful, if a little sad, when Neal swept Mary into a passionate kiss at the end of the ceremony.
Alice squeezed Graham’s hand, and when he looked at her, her eyes were dancing in anticipation and glee.
They all retired back to the event hall as night began to fall, for a reception where Chef seemed to feel he had something to prove. There was a groaning table of food, and a five-tier cake decorated with animal footprints and real fresh flowers, topped with a plastic deer and a timber wolf stained reddish.
“Our supplier didn’t have any red-maned wolves available,” Darla said apologetically. “I had to improvise.”
After the food had been enjoyed and the cake had been cut, Conall and Tex did a hauntingly beautiful guitar duet, and Lydia and Saina gave a salsa-bellydance fusion performance. Saina sang a song that set a glittering feeling of optimism and peace over the crowd.
Then Tony raised his voice and tapped his glass. “Your attention, please!”
Everyone found their drinks, prepared for a toast.
“Tonight is a night to celebrate,” Tony said sincerely. “We are gathered here today in a place that been a happy ending for so many of us... and a happy beginning.”
Amber smiled at him foolishly and Graham was appalled to realize he was doing the same to Alice, drawing his mouth back into a more customary scowl with effort.
Alice, her hand in his as naturally as if it belonged there, did not miss this and poked him in the side to make him smile at her again.
Tony continued. “We’re here this evening in honor of our good friends Neal”—Neal’s former Marine buddies all cheered raucously— “and Mary.” Alice gave a cheer for her as if it was some manner of competition and she was single-handedly prepared to take on the entire platoon.
“I want to wish them a lifetime of happiness and love, and a full cup of laughter and joy.” Tony raised a glass. “To Neal and Mary! Congratulations!”
Everyone raised their toasts and cheered, with scattered applause and laughter. Neal kissed Mary soundly. Out of the corner of his eye, Graham saw Scarlet rise to start the music for dancing, and gesture Travis and Bastian to start moving the chairs away from edge of the dance floor.
But neither of them moved, grinning back at her, and Tony went on. “We also have one more announcement to share, if you will all give me another moment of your time.”
Scarlet turned back curiously, then looked to where Chef sat with Magnolia, perhaps expecting a formal wedding announcement from them. But Chef and Magnolia smiled knowingly back at her, which is when the resort owner seemed to realize that everyone was looking at her.
She returned her gaze to Tony suspiciously.
But it was Neal who stood then, grinning briefly at Tony. “I propose a second toast, to Scarlet, who has sacrificed so much for so many of us. She reminds us frequently that she is ‘not running a charity’, but time and again, she has put aside her own best interests to give us opportunity, protection, and shelter, at her own expense and considerable trouble.”
At his words, many of the staff murmured agreement.
Scarlet frowned. “This isn’t necessary...”
Neal waved her protest aside. “Words of appreciation fall short of the thanks we owe, so we have something a little more tangible to offer today. Jenny?”
Jenny was holding a folder as she stood and wove through the tables to where Scarlet was still standing.
“Scarlet,” she said simply, “we know that the resort is in trouble, and that it wouldn’t be if you hadn’t gone out of your way to help us all. You took my sister and I in when you didn’t have to.”
“And me,” Wrench growled from beside Lydia.
“And me,” Neal agreed. “All of us from Beehag’s zoo.”
“It’s my fault my mother is suing you,” Darla added.
“Our fault,” Breck corrected, an arm around her.
“You saved our retirement home,” Liam said simply. The elders sitting with him gave murmurs of agreement, except Mr. Danby, who pounded on the table until Darla gently redirected him to folding and re-folding his napkin.
Scarlet gave Graham a brief, betrayed glare, looking conflicted. “I did what I could,” she said quietly. “You don’t have to—”
Jenny beamed at her. “We did have to,” she said simply, almost bubbling over with happiness. She handed Scarlet the folder. “Shifting Sands will be yours.”
Scarlet looked at her in confusion and slowly opened the folder as Jenny went on. “We gathered the funds from a variety of sources, and we have raised the entire asking price of the island. And even if he wants to, Beehag’s lawyer can’t refuse the sale to Grant Lyons.”
Scarlet’s alarmed glance at Graham made him realize he was grinning again, and this time he didn’t even try to turn it into a scowl. At his side, Alice laughed in delight.
He knew what was in the folder and had gone over Jenny’s careful accounting of every penny: Conall’s business had finally sold, and he pledged a massive chunk to the purchase of the island. Magnolia had liquidated a large part of the royal fund she had access to again. Laura and Jenny finally received settlement of their life insurance from Fred’s estate. Bastian had sold several of the more valuable pieces from his hoard. The survivors of Beehag’s zoo had all wanted to contribute whatever they could, and their modest donations had added up slowly. Some of them had timeshare style contracts or profit shares laid out, but most of the donors had simply given the funds outright.
And Alice herself had promised forty-nine-and-a-half million (less her tax burden), thanks to the mysterious man with the business card. She had already confirmed the stunning sum in her bank account and Jenny had recommended a good accountant to help her handle the paperwork for the windfall and get her family’s finances back in order.
Together, they had pooled enough to buy the island, buffer against Darla’s mother’s lawsuit, and keep operating for at least a few years.
Scarlet’s face drained of color.
“All you have to do is sign the offer and express mail it to Beehag’s lawyer,” Jenny said coaxingly. “Graham—I mean Grant—has already signed his part of the contract, granting you full ownership. Shifting Sands will be yours, free and clear. The whole island.”
Scarlet sank slowly backwards into her chair and she put the open folder carefully on the table before her. Then, to everyone’s surprise, she put her face in her hands and wept.
There was an awkward moment of silence, and Gizelle asked in a stage whisper, “Did you break Scarlet?”
Scarlet looked up at that, her face full of aching happiness behind the tears. “You didn’t have to do this,” she said again, choked.
“We didn’t have to,” Graham said, to everyone’s surprise. “But we wanted to. You’ve done a fair bit for us that you never had to.” He raised his glass of wine with the hand not holding Alice’s. “To Scarlet.”
The room raised glasses. “To Scarlet.”
She closed her eyes a moment, more tears leaking down her cheeks, then opened them and reached for her own glass. “To Shifting Sands,” she replied, and that received a chorus of echoes as everyone toasted the resort they called home.