Epilogue
Iris swayedher hips from side to side, knocking her cream coloured dress out as she went. It was a soft dress, with no lace, no fuss, no complication, which fit her perfectly. It blew up around her every time there was a gust of air, but it was not enough to be too revealing. It felt free and birdlike, which matched Iris’s new lifecompletely.
“Are you ready for this?” Ewan asked her quietly as they stood outside the quaint little church they had found to marry them on such short notice. After weeks of travelling together on the boat, they were keen to get married as soon as possible to start their new life together. They had been forced to accept a six PM ceremony, but that hardly mattered. “Or are you having secondthoughts?”
“It would be a bit late if I were,” Iris teased playfully. He had a lovely suit on, which made him look more fabulous than usual. Iris had not thought that she would ever get a husband, let alone one that was so handsome and kind. She had gotten very lucky with Ewan. “Since we are now very far from home. I do not think I could turn backnow.”
They were in a small, oceanside Californian town to be exact. They had chosen a place that was big enough for them to blend in, despite their accents, but also small enough for them to feel at home. Ewan needed to be by the water too, so he could keep working with his ships and trading. This was the perfect place for the both of them, they were incredibly excited to getstarted.
“Let us do thisthen.”
Ewan took Iris’s hand and he guided her into the church, and as she moved Iris could feel a skip in her step. It was almost as if she was uncontrollably light now, that without the weights on her shoulders bringing her down she could fly away at any givenmoment.
“Wait!” All of a sudden she stopped, realizing something huge. “We do not have any witnesses. We do not have any family here, so we must have someone watch us get wed, or it will notcount.”
“Oh!” Ewan understood that she was right. “But we do not know anyone here. My crew has all gone, what shall wedo?"
It was very possible that in the past Iris would have allowed herself to become consumed in panic. She would have given up, caved at the first obstacle in their path, but Iris was different now. She had more strength than anyone Ewanknew.
Maybe sharing her story with him had helped her to say goodbye to the past, or maybe physically leaving it behind had given her power. Or maybe it was everything that she’d been through. Ewan knew now that it was a lot. It seemed to him that she had always had somestrength.
“I will ask someone,” she giggled. “We must get to know the people in our new town anyway. Maybe this is the perfect way to dothat.”
Ewan reached out his hand to stop her, but it was too late. Iris had already bounded over to an elderly couple and she was pleading with them. “Please, I would love to get married to the love of my life today, but we have left all our family behind. Will you watchus?”
“You are English?” the man asked her. “Why have you come toAmerica?”
“Because America is such a wonderful place, with so many opportunities.” Iris flung her arms out widely causing her enthusiasm to shine through. “Why would we want to be anywhere else in theworld?”
"And what do you do?" The man looked a little bewildered as if Iris and Ewan might be criminals on the run. It was obvious that they had wealth, but of course, there was no guarantee where it had comefrom.
“My husband to be is in the trading business.” All of a sudden they all turned to look at Ewan, and he gave them all a very uncomfortable wave. “And I have not decided yet. But who knows? America is where anyone can be anything, is itnot?”
There was something so likable about Iris, something so utterly irresistible that Ewan could see the hearts of this couple melting. She had this sweetness to her, an adorable air that made him love her all overagain.
If this was what it took to make her his wife, then so beit.
“We will come,” the lady of the couple said decisively. “We will watch you start your life together. Do you have something old, something new, something borrowed, and somethingblue?”
“Well, my dress is new,” Iris mused. “And my shoes are old, but I do not have any of the other things. I do not think that we need any luck though.” As far as Iris was concerned, she was already the luckiest person on theplanet.
“Here.” The woman pulled a blue comb from her purse. “Tuck that in somewhere while you say your vows. Then it is something borrowed andblue.”
Iris clutched it to her chest as happy tears filled her eyes. “Thank you so much, you have no idea what this means tome.”
“We have been married for years now,” the lady continued in a loud whisper. “And although it is wonderful, it is not always easy. I believe that it is best to start things in the best waypossible.”
Iris and Ewan shared a grin, knowing that they had started things perfectly. Nothing about their love was traditional, but they hoped that everything to come next willbe.
“Let us goinside.”
Having never had a wedding before, or even attended one, Ewan was not sure what to expect, so he held tightly onto Iris’s hand as they walked down the aisle together. Iris was not sure what to expect from an American wedding either, but everything about it felt lovely. There was a true sense of love and happiness in the air, which made the ceremony perfect before it had evenbegun.
The pastor who stood at the end of the aisle had a delicate smile playing on his lips, as of he found this very small, nontraditional weddingamusing.
Once Iris and Ewan reached the front of the church, they stood hand in hand and waited for the words to be spoken that would bind them togetherforever.
“We are gathered heretoday...”
