”I have no earthly idea,” Kerry murmured. ”It must be a sand bar, look how shallow it is here.”

Eyes turned to her. ”Hope we don’t get stuck,” Mari remarked with a grin. ”Can you imagine the story that would make?”

Kerry peered out into the slowly growing light, chuckling. ”No, she anchored us in a deep enough draft. It slopes up there. I can see the water getting lighter.” She leaned over. ”Hey Dar, what are you doing?”

They could hear splashing noises coming towards them.

The water parted, and then Dar reappeared from around a bend, her overalls damp almost to her groin and a rope over one shoulder. She moved steadily towards the boat and as she came closer, they saw something trailing behind her. The wind tugged at her knotted hair, sending tendrils of it whisking around her face, and a flash of white appeared as she smiled up at them. ”Here you go.” She handed up the rope. ”Pull.”

Duks took hold, and tugged, and they watched as a barnacle bedecked wooden platform came towards them. It was old, but seemed to be in one piece, consisting of sun bleached wood on rubber pontoons.


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”Dios Mio, it’s a sidewalk,” Maria said, surprised. ”How clever you are, Jefe.”

Dar leaned against the boat and pulled the wooden bridge into place, tying it securely to the railing. ”Well, actually I made this in my much less clever days.” She gave them all a wryly frank look. ”High school, to be exact.” She used the railing to pull herself up, standing on the bridge and removing a piece of impudent seaweed that had attached itself to her thigh. ”Water’s nice.”

Kerry had retrieved the diving ladder from its hooks, and she set it into place, then climbed down onto the bridge. It bobbed under her weight, but held firm, and she bounced up and down on it a few times.

”Well, for a high school shop project, it sure feels sturdy.” She gave her lover a warm smile. ”Okay, let’s go, folks.”

With some hesitation and muted screams, they did, and landed safely onto the bridge with little incident, moving along it towards the small beach they could see ahead. Dar waited to bring up the rear, and collected Chino, then she followed along, not surprised to find Kerry waiting for her. ”Hey.”

”Hey.” Kerry looked around. ”So this is an old haunt of yours, huh?” She smiled. ”It’s nice out here.”

Dar took a deep breath of the familiar air. ”You could say that.

Most kids have tree houses. This was mine.” She stepped off the pontoon bridge onto the soft, sandy beach. ”It’s too small for anyone to bother with it, and it’s about the best place I’ve ever known to just sit and watch the sun rise.” She paused, as they walked towards the small group standing on the beach in the growing light. ”Or just to daydream.”

Kerry looked up at her. ”Bet you had some great parties out here.”

She nudged her lover in the ribs gently.

Dar regarded the intertwined mangroves reflectively. ”You’re the first people I’ve ever brought out with me,” she remarked quietly.

Kerry sucked in a surprised breath. ”Oh.” Then she put an arm around Dar and leaned against her as they walked along in silence.

They joined the small group on the beach, where the waves were rolling gently up and hissing back with almost hypnotic regularity.

Seagulls coasted overhead, circling lazily, waiting for the sunrise which was now painting the eastern horizon in bands of coral and a deep russet. Only a thin tracing of clouds obscured the view, and the breeze grew stronger as if in anticipation.

Dar put Chino down, and watched her dash excitedly over the water, almost immediately encountering a startled crab.

”Yawp!” Chino barked, watching the crab skitter backwards.

'”Yawp!”

The group laughed. ”Chino. Don’t go there,” Colleen warned, shooing the crab down it’s hole. ”You’re gonna get your little nose bitten.”


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357

Dar cleared her throat. ”Thanks for coming out here, folks.”

”Thanks for inviting us,” Mari answered promptly. ”I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday morning.”

Dar stuck her hands in her pockets and regarded the horizon. ”I know sunrise isn’t everyone’s favorite time of day, but it seemed appropriate to me because I’ve always regarded dawn as being a time of...” she paused, ”a time to start things.”

Duks chuckled softly. ”I always suspected the reason you were constantly one step ahead of us was because you just woke up earlier, my friend,” he stated, with a wry grin. ”It is nice to have that confirmed.”

Even Dar laughed. ”Thanks,” she drawled in response, then fell awkwardly silent.

”Well, you can’t take the blame for this,” Kerry spoke up, as she moved to Dar’s side, and they faced the oncoming dawn. ”Pastor Robert here was visiting in Miami. He’s been my pastor since I was...well, let’s say a long time.” She paused, sucking in a slightly nervous breath.

Another round of gentle laughter.

”And he offered to preside at a commitment ceremony, and I kinda talked Dar into it. So, it’s my fault we’re all out here,” she continued bravely. ”I guess it’s time to get started.” She actually heard Dar swallow audibly at this, and gave her lover a mildly concerned look.

Pastor Robert stepped in front of them, his plain, black sweatshirt highlighting the polished silver cross on his chest. He drew out a small bible and held it, regarding them with kindly eyes.

Kerry smiled back at him, her hand instinctively finding Dar’s, and feeling the faint tremor run through it. She glanced at Dar, and saw the brief tightening of her lips, and the sudden movement as her jaw muscles clenched under the skin. A gentle squeeze of her hand brought a smile to the tense lips, however.

The pastor folded his hands. ”My children,” he stated, softly, then glanced at Dar. ”It’s okay to call you that, isn’t it?”

Dar nodded. ”Sure.” She let out a breath, unsure of what to expect from him. Kerry had merely said he had words prepared, but...

”Good.” He exhaled, then started speaking, his voice taking on a rounder, more mellow tone. ”My children, we stand here in the eyes of God, beneath his sky, and amongst the waters of life he put upon the earth,” he paused, ”and as those things are by his mercy, and out of our control, so too is the coming together in love of the two people who stand before me, so this ceremony is not a thing of permission, or of sanction, or of regulation, but rather a simple affirmation of a truth that is one of the greatest gifts our Lord has bestowed on us.”

The sky brightened, and the sea eased from gray to a thousand shades of green.

Dar drew in a breath, and released it. Waiting.

”So I will state here, in the name of God, whose servant I am, that no 358

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person shall sunder what the Lord has chosen to join together, and may his gentle hand guide you, and watch over you for all the days of your lives. ”

The pastor turned to Kerry, his eyes twinkling a little. ”Kerrison, I have known you since you were a small child running rampant in my classrooms.”

Kerry bit back a nervous chuckle, but nodded. ”Yes, you have.”

”I have never known you to give your word and not mean it, or enter into a thing if you didn’t intend to carry it through, so if you say to me you wish to spend your life with this person, she’d better watch out,” Pastor Robert intoned. ”Because for you, I know in my heart, that forever means just that.”

Kerry felt tears sting her eyes, but she just nodded in affirmation.

Now the pastor’s eyes shifted to Dar. ”I have just met you.” His voice was quiet, and thoughtful. ”But the person I see before me is someone I believe would be steadfast, and loyal, and a friend you could depend on above all others.”

Startled, the pale blue eyes flicked to his face.

”And I feel that your word, once given, is never taken back,” the pastor went on.

Dar hesitated, then nodded quietly.

Robert nodded as well. ”Then sit at the side of the Lord, for His hands cup your souls gently together. ” He held out the book, and took their joined hands, resting them under his own on top of it. ”Go with God, and know that where love exists, He is present, now, and forever.”

A pristine rose light spread over them, as the sun hit the horizon, sending a palette of reds, and golds, and tropical tints across the sky.

The pastor squeezed their hands, then let his drop, watching as they turned towards each other, the sound of the surf suddenly loud as he stopped speaking.

Kerry felt very nervous, conscious of the people watching, and the expectant air. Then she lifted her eyes to meet Dar’s, and found herself swallowed into them, sparkling there in the rose light, warm and familiar, and her nerves settled. ”Me first, I guess.” Screwing up her courage, she took a breath, hoping she’d remember all the words, in all the right places. ”I’m not really sure where this came from. I was sitting outside looking out over the water, and thinking of you, and when I looked down, there it was, in my handwriting.” She paused, reflectively. ”It was like my heart wrote it for me, but anyway...” Kerry cleared her throat. ”When I look at you,” she stated softly,

“I see sunlight and shadows

Deep, still waters, and wild rapids

A fiery heart and a cool, clear mind.

When I look at you,

I see all that I am, and all that I could hope to be.

My past, and my future,

My one safe harbor in a terrible world.


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