Page 19 of Independence Bae

Chapter Fifteen

After our crazy,fantastic, stressful but also wonderful weekend in Chicago it was almost as if the time gods said, “We gave you a weekend to take a breath and now back to our regularly scheduled programming.” Since it was unanimously decided that the Bear and Raven show would in fact go syndicated, it was now up to their agent Leon to iron out the details. Leon had told us all that Hursch was fine with wherever Ted & Raven wanted to broadcast—they agreed that being in North Pole wouldn’t be possible due to the lack of technology and substandard speeds in internet and phone lines. We were all in the process of weighing the pros and cons of a Chicago versus Manhattan move. Not that it was up to me, but I’d prefer Chicago to Manhattan, even if it meant being further away from North Pole.

Speaking of North Pole, the whole town conspired together and threw us a wedding shower. Since no one yet knew about the contract negotiations—or that we’d be leaving North Pole—it was so hard to smile our way through that party knowing we’d be breaking their hearts in a few weeks. We were closing in on the final count down to the wedding. Next weekend was the Fourth of July, and where I should have been involved with double checking final details we were met with an unexpected wrench.

“Cicadas?”

I’d called Ted on his cell phone as soon as I’d gotten the news from our Forest Ranger. I never used the emergency line at the studio but, the fact that they were telling us we couldn’t have a wedding… I deemed an emergency.

“Yes, Cicadas. Everywhere. So loud that it’s registering on some decibel thing that causes hearing loss. They said if we want to use the forest canopy we’ll have to wait until the Cicadas go back into the ground. They expect in early September.”

Given every other thing made me cry now a days, I was relatively calm given my entire wedding was collapsing around me.

“I have to get back on air, love. We’ll figure this out as soon as our show ends.”

Within minutes of them going off the air, Ted called back with Raven in the room with him and Penn also patched in.

“So, obviously postponing until September is not the ideal choice.” Ted opened the discussion, “Marley’s pregnancy aside, we’ll be too busy trying to organize our exit from The Pole and to start with our new venture at the top of the year.”

I didn’t know if that development was official, or what they hoped to have happen—however starting at the top of the year would be absolutely perfect for us because that meant we could have the baby in North Pole and adjust to being parents for a couple of months before we had to move.

“I don’t know North Pole very well, but can you have it at a hotel or anything in the area?” Penn asked.

“The reception isn’t the issue,” Ted clarified. “Hell we could have the reception at our house. We have a very small guest list. It’s not even forty people. But Marley has her heart set on an outside wedding, and I am one hundred percent committed to giving that to her.”

“Marley, did the ranger say which areas are affected? Like is it just limited to North Pole or is it all of the Lake Placid Area—does it extend to Syracuse? What do we have to work with?” I could practically see Raven looking at a Google map on her phone scouting new potential places.

“Guys, I have the perfect solution!” Penn cut in, cutting Raven off.

“If you’re going to say what I think you will say Penn,” Raven pushed back with an entertained huff, “Virginville is literally the least ideal place. I mean she’s getting married and then we’ll announce shortly thereafter that she’s pregnant? I can see the headlines now.”

The lines all went silent at the same time, as if we all agreed to a moment to quietly reflect.

“How about Echo Creek?” Penn broke through the silence with another suggestion, “Granted it’s a good twelve hours from here—but it’s mountainous and outdoorsy. My friend Gemini James, now Tate, is there with her new beau and I can probably convince her to put together a nice little reception dinner.”

An outdoor wedding in the mountains sounded gorgeous. Having a solution that fast just didn’t seem possible there had to be something wrong with it.

“It’s a lovely idea, Penn,” Raven pulled me out of my thoughts, “but people up here in North Pole don’t have the discretionary income to be able to just buy a plane ticket with no advanced notice.”

I knew it was too good to be true. Raven had a fantastic point. With less than a week to go, it would be nearly impossible for most people to be able to fit that into their budgets. This was a small, modest town with salt of the earth people.

“So, we charter a plane,” Ted interjected. “We find out who from those who want to respond are able to attend and we charter a plane so that they are able to.”

“The flight is just the first issue Ted, where are they going to stay once they get there?” I wanted it to work so badly, but every time someone opened their mouth another issue arose in my head.

“Penn what’s the occupancy like at Echo Creek right now?”

“It looks like there are about twenty rooms and then the bridal suite. Do you think people would mind sharing rooms?”

“I mean…if it’s free do they really have any room to complain?” Raven huffed. Through the phone lines I could hear her fingers tails tapping against her cell phone.

“Can we really afford to charter a plane?” I wish I wasn’t just on a phone call with Ted but rather having this conversation face to face.

“Marley, you literally bought a white dress from Macy’s for a hundred dollars.”

“It is gorgeous and absolutely looks bridal. I don’t need anything crazy fancy or expensive.”

“Which means that we have no issues spending a couple of thousand dollars on a chartered flight.”

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