Beach Bride

Beach Bride

Emmalie drove slowly along the edge of the beach before pulling over. “This is it,” she smiled, turning to her fiancée. A handful of palm trees dotted the white sand near the shoreline, and there was no one around as far as she could see.

Lincoln stepped out of the car, stretching his legs while Emmalie called the preacher they had requested to perform their wedding. After a few minutes, she joined him beside the car. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Then they walked toward the trees, holding hands.

The hem of her pale blue dress fluttered as they went. They stopped an equal distance between two palm trees, about ten feet from the ocean. Lincoln turned to her, smiling, and whispered, “Are you ready?”

She grinned and returned the whisper: “Yes.”

“Good. Here comes the preacher.” They turned to see a burly man in a suit make his way toward them.

They introduced themselves. There would be no friends and no family, just the couple and the preacher. Before they started, Emmalie thought out loud, “I feel like we’re missing something.”

Lincoln turned to her and reassured her, “Everything’s here. Let’s do this!”

As the waves hit upon the shore behind them, the couple repeated their vows. Finally, it was time for the rings. Lincoln dug in his left pants pocket and stopped. He looked up at Emmalie, turning red. Oh no, she thought. Then he reached into his right pants pocket and pulled them out. When it was all over, they thanked the preacher and paid him with cash.

Emmalie turned to the crashing waves and realized that what she had been missing earlier was part of her honeymoon attire for the after-party: her bikini!