Buried In Buttercream

happiness from her loved ones, the feel of her two dear friends’ strong hands supporting her from either side, walking her toward this most important moment of her life.
    And best of all ... the pure joy on her man’s face as he watched her coming toward him.
    “Oh, yes,” she told them. “I’m happy.” She took a deep breath, filling her heart with it all, to the brim, and then overflowing. “I am just so, so happy.”
    “That’s wonderful, love,” John said, patting her arm.
    “In fact,” she said, “I’m so darned happy that I’m about to burst right out of this dadgum corset.”

    “Will you, Dirk,” the elderly minister asked, “take Savannah to—”
    “Yes. I will. Absolutely. Positively. I will.”
    The clergyman smiled. The assembled guests laughed. And Savannah looked up into the eyes of the man who, within moments, would be her husband, and knew he was the one she wanted, today and forever.
    “For your lawfully wedded wife,” the minister continued. “To have and to hold from this day forth.”
    To hold him ... in her heart ... in her arms. The thought flowed through her like Ryan’s and John’s fine, warm cognac.
    “For better and for worse ...”
    Dirk had seen her at her worst, she thought. He’d been there with her through PMS with its chocolate cravings, bloating, and crankiness. He’d seen her family squabbles and understood her fierce need for independence. The guy knew what he was getting into.
    “For richer and for poorer ...”
    They hadn’t known much about the “richer” business. “Poorer” they had down pat.
    “In sickness and in health ...”
    Stomach flu on stakeouts—they’d been there.
    “To love and to cherish ...”
    She’d always loved him. It had just taken a lot of growing to realize it, to trust the happiness it offered.
    “For as long as you both shall live?”
    Yes, for that long and then some.
    “Yes, I do,” Dirk told the minister. Then he squeezed her hands, looked into her soul, and said, “I do, Van. I really, really do.”
    She smiled, griped his hands tightly, and said, “Me, too, my love. Me, too.”
    A few minutes later, after Savannah had given her vows and slipped Grandpa Reid’s ring onto Dirk’s finger, and he had placed the diamond band onto hers, the minister turned to the family and friends encircling them. He said, “And do those of you gathered here give your blessings to this marriage? And do you vow to Savannah and to Dirk your continued support and love?”
    “We do!” was the resounding response.
    “Then, by the authority invested in me by the State of California, I pronounce that they are husband and wife. Dirk, you may kiss your bride.”
    He did.
    Very well.
    And though the multitude around them was shouting joyously, the seagulls overhead were squawking, and a wayward wave was rolling onto the beach and over their feet ... to Savannah, they were the only two people on earth.
    And that was enough.

Chapter 26
    “ H ow does a newlywed couple get far, far away from her crazy family so that they can have a little privacy?” Savannah asked as they walked to the entrance of a motel that would probably be rated half a star.
    “Let me guess,” he said. “They get on a ferry and go to the nearest island?”
    “Hey, hey, you win the prize.”
    He lifted one eyebrow and gave her a sexy grin. “Oh, goodie. I’m looking forward to collecting that.”
    For a moment, they paused and looked off to their left, which afforded them a gorgeous, sweeping view of tiny, picturesque Santa Tesla Island, which lay just off the coast, due west of San Carmelita.
    Across the water they could see the night lights of the California coastline. And to their right, at the very end of the island stood its crown jewel, the Santa Tesla Lighthouse.
    For over a hundred years it had stood, casting its beam out across the waters to warn ships of the dangerous channel nearby. And Savannah thought it was one of the most romantic things she had ever seen.
    “Isn’t it beautiful?” she said.
    “I hope they give us a room where the light won’t shine in and keep me awake all night.”
    She laughed and shook her head. “You’ve been married to me for a whole”—she looked at her watch—“five hours, and I haven’t been able to reform that grumpy streak of yours?”
    He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side. “Let’s go get a room and see if my mood improves.”
    As they walked into the tiny lobby and