Laughing and joking with one another, the passengers disembarked at the massive dock in a sheltered cove near the south shore of Azimuth Island. Mike and Karen King, the host and hostess, were there to greet them. Mike wore a tuxedo and Karen a black ankle length skirt and cream colored blouse. Both, in bare feet, stood beside a yellow sign with large black letters, “BARE FEET ALLOWED.” Beside Mike and Karen stood a bag-piper in full Scottish regalia and playing “Mull of Kintyre.” When everyone was ashore, the Segwin left and the piper led them to the cottage, a rambling three-story, white framed structure at the height of the island. There, they had an hour and a half to freshen up, get to know each other, and drink champagne, or some other poison of their choice.
At precisely 6:15 P.M., Mike stepped to the front door and rang a large brass bell, terminating most of the conversations. “Could I have your attention, please?” he shouted with a huge smile. “Karen and I invite all of you to proceed to the gazebo.” He pointed south. “It’s that way. I strongly recommend that you you fill up your glass before you leave.”
Following Mike’s request, the guests left the cottage and made their way across the well manicured lawn and down the gentle slope to a rocky promontory forming the southern shore of the ten acre island. Perched atop the promontory was a large octagonal gazebo, sporting a fresh coat of white paint. The view, arguably one of the best in Muskoka, featured an unobstructed five mile vista of blue Lake Muskoka water. Instead of chairs, totally impractical on the rough terrain, Mike had arranged for a local carpenter to construct two large bleachers, each opposing the other and forming an aisle between. Karen had arranged that all of the seats be well padded for the comfort of the guests. Occupying the gazebo was an Irish trio, two males and one female. One male played a fiddle, the other, a guitar. The female played Uillean flute, pipes, and whistles. As the guests took their seats, they played, “Haste to the Wedding.”
Mike waited on the verandah for his daughter. “Wow!” he said, as she opened the screened door and stepped from the cottage. “You look fantastic.”
Kerri, stunning in her strapless white knee-length laced dress, kicked off her sandals and approached her father. “I feel fantastic. I’m in love, I’m getting married, and my family and friends are here to watch me do it.”
“Then let’s go do it,” Mike said, then took Kerri’s arm and led her to the gazebo.
They arrived to see Steve and the minister standing in the gazebo in front of the Irish trio. Displaying his irresistible smile and wearing a tuxedo with no shoes or socks, Steve stared lovingly at his bride to be. The minister, the son of the Presbyterian minister who had married Karen and Jim Servito almost thirty-two years earlier, wore black trousers, a black clerical shirt, and white clerical collar. He had not been convinced to remove his shoes. As Mike led Kerri down the aisle between the bleachers, the trio played the Irish version of “Canon in D,” a haunting and beautiful tune.
The minister raised his hands above his head, asking for silence. Conversations stopped. Only the call of seagulls and the hum of motorboats could be heard in the distance. “We are gathered here in this beautiful place, and in the sight of God, to join together this man and this woman. Through marriage, Stephen and Kerri intend to make a commitment, to embrace their dreams, realize their hopes, and accept each other’s failures. The occasion marks the celebration of love with which Stephen and Kerri begin their lives together. Through me, God will join them together in one of the holiest of bonds. Who gives this woman in marriage to this man?”
“We do,” both Mike King and Barbara Harmon said in unison, then looked at each other, smiled and waved, as if to say, “all is forgiven.”
“Kerri, I understand you have something to say to Stephen.”
Kerri smiled at Steve and squeezed his hand. “Steve, you are a wonderful man. I am honored that you have chosen me to be your wife. So many times since the day I met you I have dreamed of this day, but events conspired to ruin that dream. Today, here and now, incredibly, it is no longer a dream. It is reality. I am fulfilled. I promise you that for so long as I live, I will treasure your decision, and to love you more with each tomorrow.”
“Stephen, I understand you have something to say to Kerri.”
Steve took Kerri in his arms and looked into her beautiful blue eyes. He spoke loudly, and with passion. “Kerri, you have saved my life. For that, and so much more, I will be eternally grateful. When I met you not too far from where I stand, I knew immediately that you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I have since learned that you are also the most generous and compassionate woman I have ever known. For so long I was afraid that our relationship could be nothing more than a friendship. I was wrong and very fortunate. It is now more than I could ever have dreamed it could be. You have given me something far greater than friendship, and I promise you that for so long as I live, I will never, ever, take it for granted.”
The minister presided over the exchange of rings, then took Steve’s left hand and joined it together with Kerri’s right. “Inasmuch as you have given your vows, one to the other, in the sight of God, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
Steve did not wait for the minister’s obligatory authorization. Once again, he took Kerri in his arms and kissed her with all of the passion he could muster.
After the kiss, Kerri remained in Steve’s arms, but turned her head to face the guests. “I want all of you to know that this is the happiest day of my life, but it’s not quite complete. There’s more. I have two wedding presents for my husband.” She pointed to Tom MacDonald who was standing just outside the steps to the gazebo. “Tom, would you come up here and make the presentation?”
MacDonald climbed the stairs and stood to Steve’s right. He raised his palms and showed them to the guests. “I would do what Kerri has asked, but I don’t have it.” He pointed to Dan Turner, who sat in the front row of the bleachers to his left. “Dan, would you come up here and make the presentation?”
Turner hurried to the gazebo and faced Steve. He removed a twice folded document from the breast pocket of his tuxedo and handed it to Kerri. “I think you should do it, Kerri. After all, it was your idea and your money.”
Kerri smiled and handed the document to Steve. “This is from the bottom of my heart,” she said.
Steve, displaying a puzzled expression, accepted it, then opened it. He realized immediately that he was holding the deed to The Monster, the north Lake Joseph cottage into which he had poured his heart and soul, the ownership of which had been taken from him so ruthlessly by Jamie Stewart. Overjoyed, he turned to face Kerri. “Thank you. You have not only saved my life, you’ve given it back to me.” He paused, then gave her another puzzled expression. “You said two presents. How could any gift be better than this?”
Kerri wrapped her arms around Steve and said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “I’m pregnant!”
THE END
Be sure to read
THE BRIDGE TO CARACAS
VOLUME ONE OF THE KING TRILOGY
and
TAINTED TRUST
VOLUME TWO OF THE KING TRILOGY
Contents
Copyright
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTE
R 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
CHAPTER 60
CHAPTER 61
CHAPTER 62
CHAPTER 63
CHAPTER 64
CHAPTER 65
CHAPTER 66
CHAPTER 67
CHAPTER 68
CHAPTER 69
CHAPTER 70
CHAPTER 71
CHAPTER 72
CHAPTER 73
CHAPTER 74
CHAPTER 75
CHAPTER 76
CHAPTER 77
CHAPTER 78
CHAPTER 79
CHAPTER 80
CHAPTER 81
CHAPTER 82
EPILOGUE 1
EPILOGUE 2
Stephen Douglass, Kerri's War
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