Love on the Docks
Today was a day of excitement. The new, sprawling dock of Blue Serene Lake was finally complete. Each of the major constructions featured a private dock. The Trace Blue Shore Villas had a wide dock with three beautifully painted boats moored. The two restaurants and the bakery had theirs as well—all three were lined with tables and chairs for most of their length, and the entire structures were covered so that rain could not ruin the experience.
But it was the vast, empty area around the floating teahouse that held the most floating docks. The teahouse was central, and docks moved out from it to form three different areas of the lake, like satellites set in a right triangle around the hub. Each of these had wide circular areas in the center of the water and served as different activity zones. One was simply for swimming. The second was a vast area containing shallows lined with beautiful wildflowers, used for paddle boating and cycling—with guests able to choose from swan, glass-bottom modern, or more vintage paddle boat and cycle models.
The final area was their entertainment center. Docks with vast seating could be moved into place, and a circular dock sat central to hold a large stage for musical and theatrical shows. Each of the spectator docks had a large "bar" canoe moored to it to ensure visitors had drinks and food as they liked.
Today, all of this was reserved for the grand wedding. To be honest, Amber had wanted her friend to have a destination wedding on the other side of the world. She had been ready to volunteer the Trace Progressive jet to take guests over, or even rent a plane herself if need be. Her perfectionist core felt that the Blue Serene Lake Resort was not truly ready for such an event.
Cristina pulled her friend into a tight embrace, then pulled back and yelled into her face, "Calm down, Amber Ann!" They had both stared at each other for a long moment before falling into giggles which turned into uncontrollable laughter. It had calmed Amber greatly, but that was then and this was now.
She did not micromanage like many would assume, but when she was constantly checking with her event managers and going over the mechanics of the docks and menus, her employees were first confused and then concerned. They quickly realized she wanted perfection for her friend, but they became worried about her being under so much stress while pregnant. Several of them had gone to Dan, and he now watched his wife making herself frantic, having no idea how to help her.
Everything was beautiful. The Blue Serene Lake Resort event staff were exceptional, as always. They had decorated the movable docks with the Blue Serene's signature wildflowers—the resort had started breeding exotic varieties of wildflowers months ago and was already filling daily orders for high-end florists around the country. All the docks had been positioned around the floating platform stage in a wide semi-circle, and there were areas up front to position wide, flat-bottom glass boats for the more adventurous guests.
It was spectacular: flowers and ribbons fluttering in the lake breeze, while the no-wake buoys swirled in the wedding colors—quiet sentinels of order and protection.
Dan sighed and walked toward Amber, determination building in every step. "Am. You are Cristina's best friend and the maid of honor. Shouldn't you be giving her support and helping her to get ready? You always trust your people to do a good job." He looked around the docks for emphasis. "And they are now. Let them do their job, and you go and do yours."
He watched her in silence as his words sank into her analytical mind. She was horrified, then panicked, then understanding hit her, finally replaced by gratitude. She sighed with a slight smile and leaned forward to kiss him gently. When she pulled back, he saw that her shoulders were more relaxed. "Thank you, love. You're right. I just wanted everything to be perfect and I got carried away." She turned to the current event manager. "Jacob. I am finally going to let you be so you can do your job. I will be with the bride micromanaging her experience for a bit. Keep up the good work!"
She had turned and walked away before the man could respond. He merely smiled and nodded a thank you to Dan before getting his team to redouble their efforts. "Okay guys! You heard the boss lady. This event is on par with her vow renewal. We get this right the first time and we make sure we account for every eventuality. Let's recheck the docking mechanisms. Where are the flower petal packets prepared for the guests to throw at the beginning and the end of the ceremony? Have we checked the sound system again?"
Dan raised an eyebrow. Jacob may be a worse taskmaster than Amber. He walked off chuckling, going to check on David.
As love was ready to bloom on the docks, Albert Cummings was getting ready to make his debut into the Lance family. Jessica watched him with a smile as he prepared. It had been two months; she was eight months pregnant, and her life seemed calm and ordered. She had even found herself forgetting all about Dan—almost.
She lifted herself from the bed like a woman carrying two tiny beings within her womb and moved toward this man who actually made emotion stir within her. She was going to introduce him to her family as her new love interest. It was comical: pregnant by another and now boldly introducing a stranger as the love of her life. She found herself smiling uncontrollably.
Albert saw the smile and assumed she was thinking of Dan. "Will he be there tonight?"
He narrowed his eyes as he immediately understood his mistake. Not thinking of Dan… was she finally thinking of me?
Jessica started, then blushed, and he couldn't help but smile as she stuttered. "I… well… no, no. He won't be there tonight." She regained herself with a small head toss and raised her chin. "He and Amber are in Cristina's wedding. The family is going to the reception, but not the actual wedding." She shrugged. "I assume we will see them then."
See them? Albert smiled as he reached over and pulled her into him. He kissed her, and then her belly. His eyes twinkled as he looked back up at her. "When it is time, will you carry my babies as well, or do I need to start looking for a surrogate now?"
Jessica blushed again and he chuckled quietly. The past two months had been stressful. Virginia Lance was diving into and uncovering his burned identities faster than he had counted on—and now he would see the capable woman tonight. But having Jessica in his arms made everything else so unimportant, so irrelevant.
He hugged her again and began to think about the new life he was creating for them on paper. Most of his money was placed into cryptocurrency and then filtered into a US bank account. With that, Albert Cummings was a billionaire.
He would have his retirement and his Jessica.