At First Sight - Nicholas Sparks [75]
After the ceremony, the guests lingered on the beach. Doris had prepared a small buffet, and the food was spread out on a nearby picnic table. One by one, Jeremy’s family congratulated them with hugs and kisses, as did Mayor Gherkin. Jed vanished after the ceremony before Jeremy could thank him but reappeared a few minutes later, carrying a plain cardboard box the size of a small refrigerator. In the interim, he’d changed back into his overalls and his hair had reverted to its wild state.
Lexie and Jeremy walked up to him just as he was placing his gift on the ground.
“What’s this?” Lexie asked. “You weren’t supposed to bring any gifts.”
Jed said nothing. He just shrugged, somehow implying that he’d be hurt if she didn’t accept. She leaned in and hugged him, then asked if she should open it. When Jed shrugged again, Lexie took that as a yes.
Inside was the stuffed boar Jeremy had seen him working on; in his signature style, he’d made the boar look as if it were about to maul anyone who got close.
“Thank you,” Lexie said, her voice soft, and though Jeremy believed it was the first time it ever happened, he swore he saw Jed blush.
Later, after most of the food had been eaten and the event was winding down, Jeremy wandered away from the guests toward the water. Lexie joined him.
“You okay?”
Jeremy kissed her. “I’m fine. Wonderful, actually. But I’m thinking of going for a little walk.”
“Alone?”
“I want to let this—all of it—sink in.”
“Okay,” Lexie said with a quick kiss. “But don’t be long. We’re going back to the cottage in a few minutes.”
He waited until Lexie had gone off to talk to his parents, then turned and walked slowly through the sand, listening to the sound of the waves as they rolled onto shore. As he walked, he replayed the wedding in his mind: how Lexie had looked walking toward him; the quiet power of Jed’s oratory; the dizzying sensation he’d experienced only hours before when pledging his eternal love. With every step, he was struck by a growing sense that anything was possible and that even the sky, with its exquisite colors, seemed to be flying a banner of celebration. When he reached the lengthening shadow of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, he noticed a group of wild horses congregating on the grassy dune before him. While most of the mustangs were grazing, there was one that stared back at him. Jeremy moved forward, noting the sturdiness of the horse’s muscled haunches and the soft, rhythmic flicking of his tail, believing for an instant that he would be able to get close enough to the horse to actually touch him. It was an absurd notion, one he would never test, but when he suddenly slowed to a stop, he found himself raising his hand in a gesture of friendship. The horse’s ears rose in curiosity, as if trying to understand, then just as suddenly he bobbed his head up and down in a seemingly friendly gesture of his own. Jeremy watched in silence, marveling at the idea that they were somehow communicating. And when he turned around and saw Lexie and his mother entwined in a tender embrace, all he could think was that he was experiencing the most wonderful day of his life.
Fifteen
The weeks that followed passed in a dreamlike state. An early summer heat wave blanketed Boone Creek, and the town settled into a slow, gentle rhythm. By mid-June, Lexie and Jeremy had also fallen into a comfortable routine, the traumas of the past weeks now behind them. Even the renovations seemed to be proceeding more smoothly, albeit slowly and expensively. The ease with which they’d adapted to their new life didn’t particularly surprise them; what they hadn’t expected were the many ways in which married life was so unlike being engaged.
After a brief honeymoon at the cottage, with lazy mornings spent lounging in bed and long afternoon walks along the sandy beach, they returned to Boone Creek, cleaned out Jeremy