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The only person who could fully manage all her energy was Striker, and Roland and Frazier didn’t envy him one bit. Luckily, Margo already loved the women they were marrying and thought Lennox and Rylee were perfect for her uncles. Roland and Frazier thought so, too. Frazier had given Roland the journal their father had kept and Roland had been touched to learn that Harold Connelly had loved Roland’s mother until the day he’d died.
Roland’s friend Drew, and his wife Toni, were basking in the joys of new parenthood with the birth of their son Anderson; and last week, Dak and Mellie had announced they were expecting, too. And not to be outdone, all three of the Granger brothers - Jace, Caden and Dalton - had announced their wives were pregnant as well. Now that all his sons were living on the Sutton Hills Estates, Sheppard was happy about that.
Roland glanced around the church. Because of Margo, the wedding was a lot bigger than Roland and Lennox had planned, but it was all good. Margo had even designed Lennox’s wedding dress, claiming he would love it when he saw it.
Roland’s groomsmen were Striker, Stonewall, Quasar, Dak, Byron, Grayson, Drew and Sheppard. Her bridesmaids were --Margo, Randi, Mellie, Byron’s wife Lynn,Grayson’s wife Doria, Toni and Carson. Joy was her matron of honor. Lennox and Rylee had become friends and Lennox had asked her to be a bridesmaid, as well. Roland’s goddaughter, Ava, was the flower girl and his grand-nephew, Wade Murdock, was the ring bearer.
Two ministers were officiating—Roland’s friend, Rev. Luther Thomas and Lennox’s minister, Rev. Dale Carswell. Roland had been shocked to discover it was Rev. Carswell who’d kept the box containing Dr. DeWalt Bellamy’s belongings all that time.
Before Lennox had known anyone wanted the box, she had decided to ask her minister to pray over the box so when she did go through the contents, she would have the strength to find closure.
Roland had been with her when she had gone to get the box back on that Sunday, the day after the shootout with Meadows. It was also the day before they left for New Orleans. Reverend Carswell had heard about the shooting incident at her condo, then just that morning, he’d read about the shooting at the house she’d recently moved into.
The minister had suggested--and Roland had agreed--that the box wasn’t the only thing that needed to be prayed over. Both Roland and Lennox needed all the prayer they could get, since danger seemed to follow them around.
So far, the prayers had worked. Just as the FBI had hoped, Dr. Bellamy had placed a copy of the official autopsy report performed on the federal judge in his personal belongings. Undoubtedly, he had suspected foul play, but it was unclear if he’d known Dr. Steven Owens was involved. Still, that official report had prompted even more arrests. Fifteen police officers, eight FBI agents and six medicalexaminers, all from various states, had been charged with corruption, with connection to a human trafficking ring.
Included in that scandal was the big news break that Federal Judge Neil Lemon had not died of a heart attack as reported, but had been murdered. That news story also mentioned Dr. Bellamy’s murder, as part of the cover-up, and told of Dr. Steven Owens’s corrupt duplicity.
Another surprise came when the FBI held a press conference about all the arrests being made. The Bureau wanted to set the record straight and give credit where credit was due. They announced that it hadn’t been two undercover FBI agents who had broken up the human trafficking ring, but Roland Summers and Dr. Lennox Roswell, who, though running for their lives at the time, had risked everything to stop a horrendous crime from being committed, and to save the lives of twelve young girls. The FBI’s revelation had made Roland and Lennox overnight heroes, who’d even made international news when the press had turned its attention to them. A number of children advocacy groups had commended them for their fortitude and bravery. Several prominent magazines and Hollywood movie producers had also taken notice. And in fact, many news outlets had put a romantic spin on it, printing that Roland and Lennox had fallen in love, even with the threat of imminent death stalking them, and were now engaged to be married.
After Roland and the ministers had taken their place at the altar, Frazier leaned over to him and asked, “Are you ready to do this?”
Roland grinned. “About as ready as you will be next June.”
That brought a huge smile to Frazier’s lips. “In that case, you are ready.”
As Roland had threatened the night of the shootout with Meadows, he hadn’t let Lennox out of his sight. She had moved into his condo with him that same night, saying she didn’t mind the building—she just didn’t want to be in her condo. They decided not to do anything with it right away, though they talked about selling it or renting it out later. Right now, though, they much preferred having the fifth floor all to themselves again.
He loved going to bed with Lennox every night and waking up with her in his arms each morning. He took her to work and picked her up in the evenings. If she got delayed due to a case she was working on, he hung around at Summers Security until she was finished.
He loved sharing his kitchen with her and the conversations they had about how their days had gone were always informative and upbeat. They had found closure with the people they’d loved and lost and were ready to build a new life together. And they wanted kids and intended to start making babies soon after the vows were spoken.
The music began playing and Roland took a deep breath. This was it. Because there’d been a rehearsal last night, he had known what to expect and thought both Wade and Ava did an outstanding job as ring bearer and flower girl. However, the highlight of his day was seeing Lennox walk down the aisle to him on her own. She was wearing a short, beautiful white lace wedding dress with a long train and a pair of silver stilettos. Never had a bride looked so breathtakingly sexy.
He even heard a few men in the audience, probably some of her policemen friends as well as his former Air Force buddies, let out loud whistles. He didn’t mind. The gorgeous woman walking toward him was his--totally and completely. He couldn’t wait to give her the wedding gift he’d chosen for her—the keys to the house on Lake Erie Beach. It was now theirs, to spend as much time there as they wanted.
When she reached him, he took her hand and couldn’t resist leaning in to place a kiss on her lips before they turned to the ministers. To Roland, it seemed to take forever before both ministers finally said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife. Roland, you may kiss your bride.”
Happiness filled Roland’s heart when he pulled Lennox into his arms, close to his heart, and into his life. He gave her a kiss filled with love, passion and a promise that there would always be plenty of love between them. Love that would never grow old or end.
After all, there were still all those infinite possibilities they had yet to explore. And he was determined that they’d do just that…for the rest of their lives.
