“No! I’ll be the only one who knows what I’m telling our suspect. That way, I’ll be sure no one slipped up and accidentally told someone else. Sorry, but it’s my life on the line,” Tom told his closest allies.
Granny B didn’t like what she heard. “Then how can we help protect you?”
Tom replied, “Granny B, you and Kate can cover my absence. If anyone asks, I’m tinkering with the truck up at the cabin. Rick and Jackie, you’re going to go with me, but won’t know where we’re going until we’re on the road. You two will be snipers watching my back.”
Jackie was relieved. “I feel better about your plan. At least you won’t be like cheese in a mousetrap.”
Kate frowned and then shifted in her seat. “Just when do you plan to spring the trap?”
Tom looked up at his bride-to-be. “Tomorrow would be best.”
Kate’s face flushed, and she bit her lip. “Before or after the wedding?”
Tom’s eyes opened wide. “Huh?”
“I guess we can skip the honeymoon night.”
“Oh! Crap! I was so focused on … “
Kate faked a laugh. “Most men wait a few years before forgetting their wedding day.”
Tom thought, The spy will have to wait.
*
Chapter 9
The Clark Ranch – The Bunker
The large dining and meeting room had been adorned with balloons, streamers, and homemade flowers. The long table was covered with white tablecloths. The large windows were open to the fall sunshine, which made sharp shadows mixed in with bright sun-washed patches in the canyon. All of the ladies were dressed in the finest clothes they had. The men had clean shirts and jeans.
Granny B was to take on the role of conducting the wedding. She wasn’t a preacher, but she was the one pushing civil weddings even though they couldn’t have a religious wedding conducted by a person of the cloth.
Granny B wore a long black skirt, white blouse, and black jacket with an artificial rose on the lapel. She wore her hair in a tight bun with a red ribbon. It was the first time many of the crew had seen her in anything but jeans and t-shirts. Granny B never wore shorts, even on the hottest days because of wounds on her legs she’d received during the war.
Rick and Jackie were to be married first, with Kate being Jackie’s maid of honor and Tom giving away the bride and being Rick’s best man. June sang a love song that had been popular before the lights went out with Jack strumming his guitar. Tom walked Jackie up to Granny B and Rick and then stood by Rick with the ring in his pocket.
Granny B opened the family Bible, read some scripture, and then conducted the wedding vows. They both said, “I do,” and Granny B told them to kiss. They kissed a bit too long. “Okay, stop so we can get the next wedding done. You have the rest of your lives to play kissy face.”
Everyone broke out laughing as Rick and Kate quickly walked out of the room only to return as June started singing again.
****
The married couples spent the next two days honeymooning in their new apartments away from the others. They were happy, and Granny B was now delighted that none of that pre-marital hanky-panky was going on under her roof. She delivered room service for all meals and added a bottle of wine for their lunch and dinners.
“Kate, I’ve never been this happy before. I’ve even been able to forget the apocalypse going on around us.”
“Hon, I fell in love with you the day after we met. I wanted to kill you on the first day.”
Tom smiled and wrapped his arms around his new bride. “I felt that zing my grandpa told me about the first time I looked into your eyes. I’d never experienced that feeling before. The electricity ran down my spine to my toes, and my stomach did flip-flops.”
“Tom. We really don’t know each other that well. Do you want children?”
“Yes, but I’d like to wait a while to see how fast civilization comes back. You didn’t say, but I think you have a birth control implant under your arm,” Tom said.
“I should have …”
“Babe, that’s a good thing. I’m kinda stupid, but you said I didn’t need to …” Tom said, but was interrupted.
Kate rubbed her face into Tom’s shoulder. “I got my first implant when I was in high school because my mom was worried about an unwanted pregnancy. She really didn’t have any worries back then. This implant was installed about seven months ago, and they usually last about two to three years.”
Tom squeezed her hand. “That gives us time to figure things out, and then we can have as many babies as you want.”
Kate chuckled. “I’m not a rabbit. A boy and a girl will be enough for me.”
Tom and Kate left their room before dawn on the third day and made coffee before sitting in front of the window overlooking the canyon. Tom sat in a kitchen chair with Kate on his lap when Granny B came out of her room singing an old song from The Sound of Music. Kate joined in, and they harmonized for a few minutes.
Granny B poured a cup and joined them by the window. “This used to be my view from my upstairs bedroom before Jonas became paranoid and made us sleep in the bunker. Kate, see that little pine tree sticking out sideways? Just on the other side, there’s a small waterfall during the spring melt and runoff. I loved to watch the waterfall.”
They continued listening to Granny B reminisce about her early life at the ranch. They learned how hard life was when she and Jonas had just started life together.
