Chapter 13: The Deed is Done

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Cameron and Glynnis Stuart," the minister said with a broad smile.

The service was short and happily without incident, either before or during. Cam and Glynnis's smiles mirrored the happiness of their parents and families. The gathering almost filled the little church on a glorious, sunny day in Frigate Cove. The morning fog had burned off by noon and while still cool, the day spoke of the perfect setting for the wedding.

The wedding party walked slowly to the Community hall and the festivities began. The church and hall were side-by-side, walking distance from the Stuart home. Ian had arranged for a car to take the couple back to the house so that they could change before returning to the hall. They would be leaving later that afternoon for their brief honeymoon at Yellow Point, near Ladysmith. The parents would stay behind to take care of the house and the children, while enjoying their brief holiday as well.

"Well, Mrs. Stuart, do you feel any different?" Cam asked as they lay together that night.

"Yes ... I do," she murmured. "I can't quite explain it, but I feel secure and relieved. I'm happy to be with the man I love for the rest of our lives. It does feel different."

Cam rolled toward her and kissed her gently. "I feel that way too. It is hard to express just how it's different ... but it is. "You have no idea how happy you make me, Glynn. I think it was fate that brought us together, and I have no intention of tempting fate."

They lay quietly in the afterglow of their lovemaking.

"Do you think your parents will move out here?" she asked.

"I think it's possible. Mother said she had no idea just how peaceful and beautiful it was in this part of the world. She's having a hard time thinking that it's winter still. If Dad suggests it, I'm sure she'll agree. I would be nice to have at least one set of parents in the area."

"Grandparents, remember," Glynn poked him. "We could use a handy babysitting service now and then."

"There is that, too," he agreed. "But, it's up to you to decide when you want to try for more children."

"We already have," she grinned. "I quit my birth control pills yesterday when they ran out. If you don't want to start this soon, now's the time to tell me."

"No," he smiled. "I'm ready if you are. It will be the perfect result from a perfect romance."

It was four days later that the Stuart household was restored to normal. Jamie was back in school, the parents, sisters and brother's-in-law and their offspring had left for their homes, Aaron had left with his wife for San Francisco, and Marjean had returned to New York.

"We've officially graduated to an 'old married couple, '" Glynnis remarked as they readied the evening meal.

"I've finally got the wedding and all our guests out of my mind and got some proper work done today. Marjean's pretty sure we'll have number three ready for printing in October. If that looks like it's going to hold, I'm going to book a trip to Hawaii when Jamie's out of school for the Christmas break. Is that okay with you?"

"You know it is," she beamed. "I can't wait. "I'll let Howard know that it's possible. When would you do the tour?"

"Likely the last two weeks of November and the first week of December. That's prime time for book selling," he grinned.

"I'll call the school and see when Jamie's classes will end," Glynnis said. "I'm sure we can have two weeks at least."

"Ah, two weeks of sun, sand, and sex. What more could a man ask for," he chuckled.

"Of course," Glynnis said thoughtfully, "if you've already got me pregnant, I might be a bit bloated ... or worse, ready to go."

"Hmmm ... I hadn't thought of that. Well, either way, it will be a great occasion," he said, wrapping her in his arms and kissing her lovingly.

"Are you guys kissing again?" Jamie complained as he came into the kitchen.

"Yeah ... you caught us," Cam admitted. "That's what married people do, you know."

"All the time?" Jamie asked.

"Yup ... all the time. Get used to it," Cam kidded.

"Looks like our strategy is working, Cam," Aaron told him on the phone. "That vacation I took seemed to cement the idea in their heads that we weren't about to budge and accept their terms. Faschinau's office left a message that they were still discussing the matter and would get back to us. That was two weeks ago. I'd love to be a fly on the wall for those deliberations."

"All we can do and wait to see what their next offer is, Aaron. So far, they haven't given any indication that they're going to go away."

"Faschinau has too much time tied up in this to quit now. Even if they do come down to $100,000, Ms. Delahey will be lucky to see half of it. I've confirmed that the wait to get a civil case of this type on the docket in Ontario is twenty-seven months. That's more money spent that the plaintiff can't recover. I'm sure they'll eventually find what we are willing to accept. In the meantime, I haven't had to do very much work on this file, so the costs aren't running amok. I'll keep the pain as small as possible."

"Thank you, Aaron. There's nothing good that will come of this, but I've accepted that I'll have to pay something. It just galls me that she can pull this kind of stunt off and profit from it."

"I don't feel any better about it than you do, Cam. But, it's the system we have in place, for better or worse."

"Call me anytime, Aaron. I'm always happy to talk to you."

Cam hung up and sighed. This process couldn't end too soon. The bitch was going to get something, but it wouldn't make her rich. That was the only satisfaction he was likely to get.

"Cam, if you do finally settle with Andrea, will you have any trouble raising the money to pay her and Aaron?" Glynnis asked.

"No. I've already alerted my bank that I may need access to a substantial amount and I've held some back from my book earnings to make it available. I don't want to pull anything out of our tax sheltered savings, so I'm preparing for the worst ... whatever that is. It will be better, tax wise, to borrow the money and pay it back out of future earnings."

"This is so wrong," Glynnis frowned. "She shouldn't be able to do this to us ... even if we can afford it."

"Marjean said it was because I'm a public person now. I'm a target and I always have to be on the watch for someone trying to take advantage of me. A successful author is automatically rich by association with Stephen King or John Grisham or Robert Ludlum. I don't even come close to that, but because people see my name on books and reviews in the newspaper, they assume I'm in that category."

"That's awful!" Glynnis snapped. "I hope we don't have any more of these things crop up."

"I'm with you on that. I'll just have to be careful. It's the price of fame, dear. The good news is that it provides us with a good living. That bad news is that celebrity brings other things with it that aren't particularly pleasant. I've taken care not to make our specific location public. Our phone is unlisted and the number only given to family and other necessary people. Most of my publicity work has been done in the U.S., and I don't advertise that I live here. That's all I can do."

"I guess I never really thought about the downside to your success," Glynnis admitted. "It's going to take some getting used to."

"Don't obsess over it, Glynn. I don't expect it to be a part of our everyday life. I'm not a rock star, or on TV, or the movies. It's a different kind of fame ... less visible."

She nodded, still a bit discomforted by their conversation. Cam's picture was on the back cover of his novels. That made him more visible, and that was what baited Andrea Delahey to try and extract money from him.

"Mom and Dad called this afternoon," Cam announced as Glynnis arrived from work.

"Oh, that's nice. What did they have to say?"

"Dad's retiring at the end of June and they have decided to see if they can find a place to live out here," Cam said with a smile.

'"Out here' ... as on the Island?"

"Yes ... in fact, in this area. They were both really taken with our little village, and the more they thought about it, the more they wanted to live in a place just like this."

"Oh ... I guess that's not really a surprise. I knew they really enjoyed their brief stay. It would be good to have them close by, don't you think?"

"I'd be very happy if they could find something they liked nearby. Their home in Toronto is worth a small fortune, so even with the inflated prices here, they could have a very nice home for themselves."

"I wonder how your sisters will feel about them moving away?"

"I'm sure they've covered that base, dear. I know my mother would certainly have tested the idea out on them. Pamela has been telling them to find a retirement home and not worry where it was. When we add to our family, I'm sure they will want to be close."