They were married the following July, on the first anniversary of when they met, at the beach house. Lauren was barefoot as she walked down the aisle, holding onto Sheriff McNally’s arm, in his dress uniform. Her dress was lightweight and she had a ribbon the same shade of blue as Marc Kelly’s eyes tied around her waist, the skirt fluttering around her knees. Her hair—which she had dyed back to its natural brown—fell in loose waves around her shoulders.
Marc was dressed just as casually. He, too, was barefoot, with dress pants and a button-down shirt open to reveal the tattoos on his chest. His hair had grown again and was almost as long as it had been on the day they met. His clear blue eyes rivaled ocean and sky as he gazed at his fiancée’s form, walking down the aisle toward him. There was something predatory in his gaze that gave Lauren chills and caused heat to pool between her legs when she thought about their wedding night.
At the end of the aisle, she kissed the sheriff’s cheek and turned to her mother, who was wheelchair-bound, leaning down to press her lips to her forehead. There were tears in her mother’s eyes as she stroked Lauren’s cheek and squeezed her hand, before letting her go to stand before the man she loved and all of their friends and family.
One man stuck out to her. He was dressed in navy blues, his blonde hair freshly cut down to an inch of perfectly straight hair. He had deep green eyes and a dimple in his left cheek. She could see a tattoo on the side of his neck, peeking out under the crisp white collar. His smile was almost as charming as Marc’s and just as white. She locked eyes with him for a moment and he gave her a curt nod and she could practically feel the tension when he locked eyes with Marc. It wasn’t bad or negative in any way, but there was some challenge there; some kind of history that the two had.
Lauren wondered if this was the old college buddy that Marc had told her about. The one that had decided to go into the navy instead of Quantico. She remembered her fiancé telling her about how they’d always tried to one-up each other all throughout their classes. His name was…Cooper? Cody? It was something like that.
She turned back to her future husband and felt herself melt at the heat in his eyes.
“Dearly beloved,” the minister started, “we are gathered here today to witness the union of Special Agent Marc Kelly and Dr. Lauren Stanley Stanton. If there is anybody who objects to this union, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
For a split-second, Lauren was genuinely terrified that she would look out into the aisle and see her ex-husband coming toward her, his hands already outstretched for her neck, that crazed smile on his lips as he choked her, here, in front of all of her friends.
She snapped out of her daze when she felt a squeeze of her fingers and blinked to see into the clear blue eyes of Marc Kelly; her fiancé, her protector, her everything. He had a look on his face that told her he could practically read her mind at that very second. That everything was going to be alright from here on in.
She smiled back and relaxed when there was only silence around them. Not even a cricket or a seagull made a peep. It was as if they just knew; these two were meant to be together.
“Very well,” the minister said. “Let’s begin then, shall we?” Both Lauren and Marc nodded. He chuckled. “Do you, Marc Kelly, take this woman to be your wife? To love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse, until death do you part?”
“I do,” Marc said, looking straight into Lauren’s eyes.
“Good,” the minister said. “Now take this ring,” he held up the ring they’d chosen together and handed it to Marc, “and slide it onto Lauren’s finger as a token of this bond.”
Marc took the ring and Lauren offered him her finger, which was already heavy with her sapphire engagement ring, sliding it one and whispering a small vow that only she could hear.
“No matter what.”
A tear leaked from the corner of Lauren’s eye and she hastily swiped it away, before turning to the minister and listening to him ask her the same question. She waited impatiently until she could finally say “I do” and slide the other ring onto Marc’s finger.
“No matter what,” she husked, her voice breaking just slightly.
Marc gave her a lopsided grin and leaned forward.
“Wait one minute there,” the minister chastised, making the audience laugh. He cleared his throat. “By the power vested in me,” he said, “by the State of Rhode Island, I now pronounce you Man and Wife. You may now kiss the bride. Well, go on!” More laughter as Marc pulled Lauren against his chest and applause and cheers as their lips connected in a feverish kiss. Lauren couldn’t stop smiling, which caused their teeth to clash, but neither of them seemed to care.
They were finally where they were meant to be.
*****