She left her red-gold head bare and her feet were bare too.
She was an island bride.
‘A lovely bride,’ the islanders had said of that first bride, the Fern of several weeks ago.
Now there was hardly a dry eye on the beach but they weren’t saying ‘a lovely bride’.
‘Our lovely Fern,’ they whispered as they watched her make her vows. ‘Our Fern…’
‘Our Fern,’ her aunt and uncle murmured with love and pride, but Quinn had a different adjective for his lovely bride.
‘You may now kiss the bride,’ the vicar said at last, eyeing this handsome couple with placid ease. If ever a marriage would work, he thought contentedly, this one would.
Man and wife…
‘My Fern.’ Quinn’s words sounded out as a vow as he gathered his island bride close and Fern lifted her lips to receive his kiss.
To receive all his love with all her heart.
‘My Quinn.’
Their marriage vows were sealed for ever.
And were blessed…
The waves rolled in. They’d roll in for ever, Fern thought gladly. On us, on our children and on our children’s children.
And out to sea a pair of dolphins leapt high in the rolling smell of glistening ocean.
The world was theirs.
And who was to say their thoughts weren’t exactly the same?
Marion Lennox
Marion Lennox has had a variety of careers-medical receptionist, computer programmer and teacher.
Married, with two children, she now lives in rural Victoria, Australia. Her wish for an occupation that would allow her to remain at home with her children and her dog led her to begin writing, and she has now published a number of medical romances.
