Barefoot in Pearls (Barefoot Bay Brides Book 3) (38 page)

Ari looked up from her perch. “She’s…” Not exactly innocent, but still. “She knows a lot and can help you put Dissick behind bars for good.” Maybe they’d cut her a deal.

Brennan nodded, but said something to another deputy who went to deal with Michelle.

“Seriously,” the deputy said to Luke. “We could use a man like you in the sheriff’s office.”

Ari beamed and looked at Luke, not sure if he’d do his I’m-not-worthy business or show real interest. Neither one. He shook his head, smiling. “Thanks for the offer, sir. But I have other plans. Big plans.” He grinned at the other man. “I might be the one offering you a job soon.”

“Really?” He actually looked interested. “Come on over here, and let’s get the questions done then. ’Scuze us, ma’am.”

As Luke walked away, he turned and winked at Ari, and that did it. Her chest finally did burst with love.

Epilogue

One Month Later

Luke ran with purpose, his eyes closed, the wind singing in his ears, his feet hitting the earth in perfect syncopation. He sensed her before he actually smacked into Arielle, squinting into the liquid sunshine to see her sitting at the very top of the hill. He stopped, still fifty feet away, to take in the spectacular view.

She leaned back on her arms, her long, black hair hanging like a curtain over her back and shoulders, her legs stretched out in front of her, bare feet crossed, face to the sun. A creamy sundress spread around her, the pale color highlighting her golden skin.

Of course she was surrounded by the maps and letters, the charts and guidelines—copies of them, anyway. The paperwork was everything they’d need when the official archaeological dig started the next day. After weeks of planning, this was the last day their hill would be intact until everything had been excavated, cataloged, and sent to museums.

Once that was done, the Calusa House and Museum would be built…by someone else, under Arielle’s and Luke’s supervision. Paid for entirely by Cutter Valentine, in honor of his great-aunt, the wife of Balzac Valentine, and a woman who had apparently had deep emotional ties to the Native American community. Mr. and Mrs. Valentine had left Cutter a rather remarkable inheritance—several million dollars’ worth of gold bars they’d buried under the foundation of the most decrepit house in Barefoot Bay.

The maps, which Luke had managed to save in the scuffle with Dissick, had been deciphered by Dr. Marksman, and of course, all the artifacts from the Cracker Jack box had been donated to a traveling Native American exhibit. Eventually, they’d be part of the Calusa House and Museum, when it opened sometime next year.

Luke sighed as a strong northern breeze fluttered the grass and trees on the hill and made Arielle’s beautiful hair sway. He wanted to run to tell her his news, since she’d been waiting to hear, but he also wanted to stand there and drink in the woman he loved so very much.

She was definitely The One for him.

“I hear you thinking over there,” she called without moving.

“You’re lying.”

She laughed. “Well, I know you’re thinking, and I heard you come up the hill, so not a lie. Educated guess.” She turned and let her head rest on her shoulder, watching him. “Take off your shirt.”

He smiled. “So demanding.”

“Yep. But I want to see you exactly as I did that first afternoon, a great big god from across the sea, barreling bare-chested toward me.” She laid a hand on her own chest, as if trying to contain her happy heart. “It was my luckiest day ever.”

“How many times do I have to tell you?” He yanked his T-shirt over his head and tossed it to the side, striding toward her. “There is no such thing as luck.”

“Just great timing and destiny.” She extended her hand toward him, and of course he closed his fingers around her narrow wrist, exactly as he had the day he met her.
Zing
. “How’d the meeting go?” she asked.

“The deed is done,” he told her, dropping to sit next to her, to let their bodies touch and get a whiff of her flowery fragrance. “McBain Securities will be handling the entire resort as one of its first clients, and part of our compensation will be a suite of offices in the bungalows at the edge of the resort gardens. From there, we will grow a business that I already heard one smartass call Barefoot Bodyguards.”

“It’s catchy.”

“I like McBain.”

“So do I. In fact, I love him.” She snuggled into his shoulder. “Congratulations.”

He hugged her back, inhaling her fragrance, her hair, and, best of all, her spirit. He couldn’t have done this without her. “I have so much to learn about the business,” he mused.

“But your friend is coming, right? The guy whose family owns the security company in Boston?”

“Talk about good timing and great fortune,” he said, tapping her nose playfully when she rolled her eyes. “Seriously, the chances that Gabriel Rossi, a certified black ops CIA undercover badass to the max, would have time to come down here and advise me on how to run this kind of business…well, that’s some serious handiwork on the part of your universe.”

“Our universe,” she corrected. “And you said he owed you a favor for that mission in Somalia.”

“I wasn’t even sure he’d remember, but he did, and he’s coming, so I’m grateful. Between us, I think he’s getting itchy working for his cousins in Boston. That guy was not cut out for run-of-the-mill security, so I think he hopped on the excuse for a long weekend at the resort.”

“Well, this guy is cut out for the security business.” She leaned into him and sighed softly. “My guy. My bodyguard guy. You’re going to have an amazing new career.”

A swell of anticipation for all the possibilities of his new life grew inside him. There was only one more little detail to iron out.

He put his arm around Arielle and gave a squeeze. “You know, Lacey offered me one of the bungalows as living quarters, but…”

“But you’ll need all the space for your growing business,” she said quickly. “Because you won’t only do security for the resort. The billionaires all want some help, and Cutter certainly will need it now, and have you seen the boats out in the bay? Word is out that there are treasure-laden shipwrecks off our coasts. This island is crawling with strangers now.”

He let her chatter, wondering when she’d get the real reason he wasn’t taking Lacey’s offer.

“Yes, I’ll need the space, but…”

“Those bungalows aren’t that big, even if you reconfigure them into a combination of office and living space, and…” Her voice trailed off. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like you’re dense?”

She laughed easily. “Yeah, just like that.”

“I don’t want to live at the resort, Arielle.” He stroked her arm and admired the chill bumps that his touch always left behind. “I want to live with you.”

She drew in a soft breath. “Oh. I know we spend almost every night together now, and that it probably makes sense.” Turning away, she looked out to the horizon, silent.

“But you don’t like the idea,” he said simply.

“Well, I don’t hate the idea, but, well, it’s not…”

“It’s not what you want.”

She bit her lip and shook her head. “Not really.”

“You want forever and ever. You want the whole enchilada. You want legitimacy and a name change and stamps of official approval.”

Each word made her look a little more pained. “Is that so bad?” she whispered.

Very slowly, he slid his fingers under her hair, combing the long, silk strands without answering.

“I mean, I know it’s been fast,” she said, “and we haven’t dated that long, and we really ought to—”

He silenced her with a kiss on her temple. “You think we ought to get engaged?”

She didn’t answer, then very slowly nodded once.

“I don’t,” he said.

Her eyes flashed. “Really? You don’t—”

“No,” he interrupted. “I want to get married.” He stood slowly, bringing her up by holding both her hands. “At least, I want to have the marriage ceremony. Then we can call it engaged and plan something on the beach with white nets and barefoot brides and billionaires and bodyguards running around.”

Her dark eyes grew moist as she came to a stand with him.

“But now? First? I want to do this another way, Little Mermaid.”

Her frown deepened with confusion.

“Arielle, do you really think there’s any doubt you’re The One for me?”

“No, but when you said you want to live together, I…” She released a self-conscious laugh. “I thought maybe you don’t really know me at all. Remember, I am the daughter of a Presbyterian pastor.”

He threaded their fingers together. “And the granddaughter of a woman who performed some pretty awesome marriage ceremonies.”

“Would you like a Native American ceremony when we get married?”

“I would like”—he lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss on her knuckles—“a Native American marriage ceremony right now. Think Grandma Good Heart is watching?”

She almost lost her balance as emotion washed over her. “I’m sure Grandma Good
Bear
is.”

“Great. Then she can officiate.” He stood very still and looked down at her. “Arielle Chandler, are you ready for the universe to join us as one?”

Fighting tears, she nodded. “Do you remember?”

“Mostly. You can jump in and help, okay?”

“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “First, the four directions.”

Clasping her hands, he turned her so her back was against his chest and then circled so they were facing east.

He cleared his throat and started the speech he’d been practicing on the way up there.

“No matter what direction life takes us…” He turned them to south. “No matter how rocky the road to get there…” Then west. “Arielle and I will ask each other for guidance…” Finally, north, out to the expanse of blue water and the sharp line of the horizon. “And will always stay on life’s path, hand in hand.” He squeezed her fingers. “How was that? Close enough to what she said?”

“Amazing,” she whispered, turning to face him and keeping their hands locked. “Can I do Mother Earth?”

“Of course.”

She pulled him with her to their knees, placing their joined hands on the ground. “We promise to respect this land and care for it.” She closed her eyes for a moment, the power of how much she meant that promise rolling off her and washing over Luke. “This land that brought us together and almost broke us apart.” She smiled at him. “This land that meant so much to so many and put us on our journey. This land that will forever honor my people and my promise to my grandmother. We will care for this land as partners.”

They looked at each other for a moment, both a little too moved to speak.

“The breeze?” he asked.

She nodded, and they stood back up, lifting their hands in the air, still joined. “Something about beauty,” Luke said with a soft laugh. “You’ve got that covered.”

“We ask that our partnership be beautiful and alive and pure,” she told him.

“And it will be,” he said softly. “You and me, only, forever and ever.”

Her eyes glistened at the pledge of his fidelity, and she nodded, almost unable to speak.

“We need spring water for our heads,” she said.

He spied a bottled water she’d brought up. “LaVie,” he said, making a face. “French, but I guess that’s okay.” He poured a few drops into the cap and dribbled it on her head, then his. “So we never hit a dry spell?” he asked.

She laughed. “That’ll work. Now a flower seed.”

“Oh, yes. Fertility.” He glanced around and saw a honeysuckle bush and snagged some of the tiny white flowers. “I rub your belly?”

“Why not?”

He placed his whole hand on her stomach with the flowers in his palm. “Babies, Universe. We want babies. Good ones that don’t cry in the middle of the night and definitely get college scholarships.”

“Healthy ones as smart and strong as their daddy,” she added.

“And as beautiful, kind, and intuitive as their mama.”

Her eyes, already damp, nearly overflowed.

“I remember what’s next,” Luke said, the memory of her explaining this part of the ceremony crystal clear. He lifted his right hand, and she did the same, splaying their open palms over each other’s heart.

“Shhh,” Arielle said. “Listen until you hear the same heartbeat.”

He felt hers before he heard anything. A steady drumbeat, a little faster than normal, pulsing against his palm as if it fed her blood into his veins. His own heart rate kicked up, and her eyes widened as she felt it. Without being told, he closed his eyes and listened.

He heard the wind. He heard a gull squawk. He heard leaves rustle and a soft breath escape Arielle’s lips. And then he heard…peace. A completeness, a wholeness, a sense of total…oneness. He heard love. Like someone was whispering it in his ears.

When he opened his eyes, tears were streaming down her face.

“I love you, Arielle,” he whispered.

She nodded. “I know. I heard it.”

Neither had spoken, but the sounds he’d heard were beautiful.