Page 21 of Independence Bae

“Not to like tail her or anything. I really wanted to give her information as to who she was—for the wedding. I wanted to give it to her as a wedding present. I feel like she’s losing so much with the move to Chicago—I want to actuallygiveher something significant.”

We’d talked about her attachment to North Pole at length over the last three weeks. While Marley had a brave face on and knew moving made the most sense for the two of them, she was having a hard time letting go of the idea of being in North Pole.

“I may be overstepping,” I hedged, trying to get a sense of where Ted’s mood was. “But I want to give you guys a wedding present. It’s not something that I can wrap or like put in a fucking gift bag from Target.”

I’d been researching the town for a while. Other than Marley’s friend Bernadette who had managed the North Pole Inn before being spirited off with her handsome prince, the city had very little by way of hotels. Given that their little “hamlet” was in fact quite the tourist destination both at Christmastime and during the entirety of ski season—and that Marley’s house sat at the mouth of the largest ski mountain—they actually had quite the valuable piece of land in their possession.

“Marley mentioned once that she and her mom used to run a B & B out of her house.”

“They did.” Ted’s voice raised in question. It sounded curious but guarded which bode well for me.

“I’m in the business of hotels.”

Stating the obvious of course but I needed to frame this as a smart business decision.

“And in doing an evaluation there really is a significant lack of affordable places for people to stay in North Pole. What if my company took on repairing and restoring her Bed and Breakfast to its former glory, and handled the managing of the front of house? The family wing would remain yours and no one but you would have access to your living quarters—but it would allow you to keep Marley’s house, without dumping a ton of money in it to fix all the things she never got around to doing. It could be a regular source of income. Either if Marley wanted to manage it long distance and she could work as part of Ellis Properties and Holdings, or she could consult on repairs and upgrades, and other than that be hands off.”

As I spoke Ted leaned forward, setting his beer down and pulling off his sunglasses to loo me in the eye.

“You’re serious?”

“Ted—first you’re one of my closest friends. I have no reason to bullshit you. Also, it’s a really smart investment—one that will provide a long lasting income stream for both of our families. And, when we get tired of Chicago, we both have somewhere to stay if Marley gets homesick. It’s really the perfect scenario.”

I fucking loved being the hero.

Chapter Seventeen

My wedding day.My flipping wedding day! All the craziness, the drama, so many tears, and it finally arrived. In front of a handful of our closest friends, in the most beautiful setting I could ever imagine, Ted and I would finally be married. The men flying down ahead of time originally had been a cause for concern from Raven and me—because what would Penn and Ted know about table settings or color coordination or what wine paired with which meat. However, we worried over nothing and the whole day promised to be one that dreams were inspired by.

“I don’t know if I have enough words in my vocabulary to express the right amount of gratitude to your fiancé.”

Raven entered the bridal suite, her hair curled and pinned exactly so in an elegant twist. Ted and I were sharing her as maid of honor and best woman. Only Penn and she were members of the bridal party and that was fine. I had a few people from North Pole that we were able to fly in, but so many just couldn’t get the time off to come. The risks of living in a small town.

“Just wait until you see his wedding present.” She joked, handing me an elegantly wrapped package about the size of a shoebox. “That’s from Ted.” She clarified, “Penn’s you will get later.”

Dear Marley,

If I could give you the world I would. But this at least will allow us to start our lives together

with some peace of mind.

I’ll see you in an hour. I’m the sexy one with the tats in a tux at the end of the flower petal trail.

With love,

Ted

I openedthe shoebox and inside lay an old program from Dartmouth.A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Fall of 1991. Starring Joy Jacobs as Helena. He’d found the program that matched the dress we’d discovered in the basement.

“Oh, hey! Odette was right.” Raven stood over my shoulder peeking at what Ted had gifted me. “It was aMidsummers Night’s Dream!”

Indeed, she had been. I opened the program and inside was the same picture I had of my mom, with a brief bio and a quote.

“AK my cherry lips shall kiss thy stones again,” I read aloud.

“I wonder what AK means?” Raven takes a seat next to me, watching me flip through the program.

“Maybe it’s a who?” I suggested.

---