Safe Harbor (The Lake Trilogy, Book 3) (5 page)

“I, Layla, take you, Will, to be my husband. I promise to love you every day with a love you never imagined was possible. I will let you take care of me as I will take care of you. I promise to encourage and support you, to be there, all the time, no matter what. I promise to never be afraid because I know you will always be by my side. I’ll be your partner, sharing my life with you, knowing that all my dreams, even the ones I didn’t know I had, will come true. And I will spend my life making sure that we not only have the best days to come, but that we have the best string of yesterdays
anyone’s ever known. This is
my
vow to
you
, and it will
never
be broken.”

We stand there for only a moment, our eyes locked on each other
in this beautiful moment, before Will takes my face in his hands and kisses me. The world around us seems to disappear as our lips move together in perfection. It’s exactly as I imagined the first kiss after our vows would be. It’s beautiful and slow, full of love and every emotion we have for each other. Now I know why the first thing couples do after they say their vows is kiss. It seems to me that there’s no way you can start your marriage with a kiss like
this
and ever fall out of love.

We hold each other there, both amazed at what we’ve just shared. At this point I almost don’t care if we ever have a real wedding. I’ve been married to Will in my heart since the
moment I told him I loved him, and now that I’ve said my vows to him, that union with him is even more solidified.

Without a word, Will takes my h
and and gently tugs, forcing my cemented feet to move. We walk down the brick path that has become my personal cloud nine and don’t stop until we reach a clearing along Lake Hall. It’s perfect, really. All the plans we had for our wedding day, filled with people and music and dancing and food…they were wonderful plans. They
are
wonderful plans. Standing here with Will right now, though…this couldn’t be a more picture-perfect ending to the day I married Will.

“You’re not going to apologize now, are you?” I ask.
Will has a history of apologizing after we’ve shared some incredibly beautiful moments and I don’t want him to spoil this wonderful memory.

“No
, I’m not. I will never apologize for committing my life to you. I’ll never apologize for loving you.” Will pulls me tighter to him and kisses the top of my head. “I love you so much.”

“So
when do we leave for our honeymoon?” I ask in jest, thinking it’ll be fun to engage Will in some conversation about our future.

“
I wish! You have no idea how I wish!” he chuckles.

“
Well…can I at least start introducing myself as Layla Meyer? Hi, I’m Layla Meyer, it’s nice to meet you? See, doesn’t that sound great?”

“It sounds
like heaven!” he says, squeezing me tighter to him.

“I guess we better head back. Reality is waiting.” I sigh, feeling sadness come over me that our imaginary wedding is over.

“Hey,” Will says as he lifts my chin so our eyes meet. “Don’t think this didn’t mean anything. I meant it when I said I couldn’t wait a year to marry you. I love you, Layla, and while I can’t wait to make it official, I don’t need a piece of paper to commit myself to you. In my heart, you are my wife.”

“
But it still doesn’t change why you won’t, you know…” I’m a little embarrassed as the words leave my mouth. So embarrassed that I can’t even form the words
sleep with me
or
make love
, but Will knows exactly what I mean.

“
There’s honor in waiting for something so valuable. I want you, Layla. Believe me. I. Want. You. But I want you to look at me as a man who has character, integrity, and honor more. We’ll get to the other, but if I don’t have your trust now, I never will.”

“I do see you that way, and I trust you more than I’ve ever trusted anyone. Don’t worry. I’m a convert. I’d have a hard time saying no if you wanted to have your way with me right now, but…I’d still say no.
I look forward to the perfect day when it’s right.” I reach behind his head and grab a fist full of his hair. I want him to really hear what I have to say. “What you did today was the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me. We’ve been through more than two people should have to just so we can be together. I’ve worried and struggled and been fearful, and it’s been difficult at times. You need to know that you made all of that go away today. Thank you. I love you.”

I kiss him. I kiss him with everything in me. I kiss him like our lives depend on it. I kiss him like a wife kisses her husband, because that’s what
he is to me. No legal documents, preacher, or witnesses necessary. Today we exchanged vows and committed our lives to each other. No matter what happens from this point on, we can do anything.

Will has more than proven
his unfailing love for me and I’m going to stand by him and support him as we reclaim the life we were meant to have. I’m an expert at that, actually. I worked hard to take back the life that Gram stole from me, and we’ll do the same thing with the life his father took from us.

I struggled for so long with the truth that I have a life with Will because my parents died that horrific night. I thought that I didn’t deserve anything good that came to me as a result of my life being turned upside down. I
know now that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I had everything good and wonderful ripped away from me when I was just a little girl. Was I meant to suffer for the rest of my life because of that? No, and I realize that more than ever as I stand here with the man I was born to love. Life is not perfect. It never will be. If we take the terrible things that happen to us in life as some sign that we’re destined to be doomed forever, well, that’s not a life at all.

S
ometimes life really can be a series of misfortunate events. What we turn those events into is what matters most. I could have lived like the weird, reclusive girl I had initially planned on being when I moved to Davidson, but I’m so glad I didn’t. Will and Luke and Claire all looked at me and saw who I
could
be, drawing me out and helping me find myself again. My life and my future are embraced in my arms right now and I wouldn’t change a single thing that brought me to him.

Will brushes my cheek with his thumb as we release each other. We seem to let out a simultaneous sigh, both feeling the high of our private wedding of sorts. As we stroll back down along the path to the car, I can’t help but think about the next steps. Will and I are solid and nothing is going to change that, but there is still so much to be done, so much to consider.

“What now?” I ask him. “I know we’re finishing the semester, but is there a target date for moving back?”

“Well, there’s a lot that has to happen first, at least before anyone knows we’re there. Luke is working with Holly on preparing her defense. He’s bringing in some people who will speak to my father’s tactics of coercion and manipulation. He’s made the same deal with the prosecuting
attorney as he had with Agent Croft and his team. Wes, Taylor, and Cline will testify in exchange for immunity.”

“I should hope so
. They were all victims of his coercion themselves.” I’m relieved. The idea of Wes being punished for what Meyer made him do is infuriating and I think I could actually throw up if I consider it much longer. “But what’s the point of having them testify? Holly did it.”

“Luke is trying to get her the minimum
sentence or a conviction on a lesser charge. He’s hoping that if the judge can see the lives my father destroyed, he’ll go easy on her. So that means that at some point…”

“You and your mom will have to testify.
Wow. How’s your mom doing with that?” I can’t imagine having to sit up there and tell of all the ways my husband disrespected and abused me. She may have to listen to how Meyer used Wes, too. Her worlds are going to collide and I’m not sure if she’s strong enough yet to handle it.”

“I haven’t told her yet. I think we’re going to have to get through the press conference first. Claire suggested having someone from Victim’s Assistance help walk her through how to give that kind of testimony
, and Luke will help her with what to say to the press if she has to say anything at all.” Will’s face is somber, thinking about what his mother is about to endure.

“She’s going to do great, Will,” I say with
as much confidence as I can. “This is it. Once she steps down from the stand, she never has to talk or even think about him again. There’s finality and closure to this, don’t you think?”

“
Yeah, there is,” Will says. I can tell he wants to end this conversation. His answers usually get short when he’s nearing the edge.

“Do you know what you’re going to say to the press?” I wonder. Surely he and Luke have discussed what to say, which exact words to use and which ones to avoid. There’s a system for speaking to the press. You can’t be
transparently honest or they’ll take things out of context, especially in scenarios like this.

“We’re going to be
truthful, but protective. The last thing I want is for the press to hound my mom about how awful my dad was to her. And I certainly don’t want them coming after you. So, we have to give information without telling them everything. Luke’s a master at that, so I feel pretty confident going into it.”

“So, I already asked this, but, when? When is all this going down?
”

“We don’t have a target
date, but with the semester ending May tenth, I’m guessing we’ll be back in Davidson by Memorial Day.”

“And…when will Luke hold the press conference?” I’m just as unsure about this as Will seems.
It’s all becoming so real.

“I don’t know. We’re still ironing that out.”
We stop at the car and Will presses his body to mine as my back leans against the car. “So…do you think today will hold you over for a little while until the real thing?” Will is done talking about the heaviness upon us. He’s good at changing the subject abruptly, but always to something I want to talk about so I’m engaged right away.

“Hmmm…maybe,” I tease.

“Maybe?” Will says, poking my ribs causing me to twist in tickled agony.

“Yes! Yes! Today held me over! It did! Stop!” I’m laughing and crying all at the same time. Will finally stops and presses his lips against mine in a hard kiss.

“Good! I love you, Layla, so much, and I cannot wait until our real wedding. It’s going to be the most amazing day ever. And…I think you’re going to be pretty happy with the honeymoon, too!” Will gives me a smoldering look that is so unfair.

“Will Meyer
! You better stop with all the honeymoon talk! You finally got me to agree that waiting was the best thing, so don’t go mucking it up by making me think about it!”

“Alright, alright. But just so you know…” He tucks my hair behind my ear and moves his mouth to where his lips are touching my ear and whispers, “I think about it all the time.”

I feel the blood rush to my cheeks and my body temperature starts to overheat in an instant. Of course he thinks about it. He’s a guy! I hadn’t really thought about him thinking of me like that until now, but he does. Does he dream of us on our honeymoon the way I do? Does he think about what it will be like, feel like, to be as close as two people can possibly be? Tears fill my eyes as I think about that beautiful moment, and how unconditional it will be.

“Oh, bab
e, did I say something wrong?” Will wipes my tears and holds my face.

“No, not at all. I’m just really,
really
happy,” I say through the tears of joy.

“I’m happy, too. C’mon…let’s go be happy at home.”

We drive home listening to music, stopping most of the songs halfway through to skip to another favorite. I play my Avett Brothers albums, skipping to some of my favorites like
I and Love and You
and the sentimental version of
Swept Away
.

“Oh, I love this one!” I say excitedly.

“You love the song about chickens and milking cows?” Will teases. He really loves the Avett Brothers, too, but likes to pretend to give me a hard time.

“You’re about to introduce a band to me that dresses in leather and huge platform boots, and wears makeup as a part of some weird character
s they play on stage. You’re really going to give me a hard time about the American heritage of farming?” Will is still giving me music lessons and says next week I’ll be learning all about KISS. I’m not sure how I feel about that one but I promised Will at our first lesson that I would always be willing to learn.

We spend the rest of the short drive home laughing and singing and teasing each other when we sing the lyrics we think are right but really aren’t.
It’s a beautiful afternoon of normalcy between two people in love; so normal that I almost forget about the logistical nightmare that lies ahead of us.

*****

We walk into the house and I immediately hear Luke’s voice. I never know when he’s going to be home from his jaunts to Charlotte to meet with Holly, so I’m pleasantly surprised because this time he was only gone two days.