Erin hoped so. Even though this was supposed to be her and Julie’s big day, Erin decided that she would postpone her wedding if the little bear wouldn’t settle in with Four Toes before the scheduled time for the nuptials. She didn’t want Vickie and Slade to be so worried that they couldn’t enjoy the celebration. And she didn’t want to be upset, either.

Holding Erin’s hand, Wyatt led her around the camp to visit with friends from Mystic Creek who sat on lawn chairs in meager patches of shade. Erin enjoyed catching up with everyone. Even her former boss, Blake Adams, and his wife, Marietta, were in attendance. Over the course of the afternoon, Erin had been poured so many cups of wine or beer that she had to dump the contents behind trees on the sly. The last thing she wanted was to be tipsy as she joined hands in marriage with the wonderful man who walked beside her.

She was delighted to see that Four Toes had finally succeeded in soothing Ginger’s fears. The pair of bears ate ravenously from the tub of baked goods and then snuggled up together under the tree to have a nap. Everyone who’d witnessed the bear nuptials was pleased by that outcome. A common refrain around camp was that Ginger now knew where her food would come from, and even if she dashed away again, she probably wouldn’t go far. She lay curled up against Four Toes’s big belly as if he was now her protector. Erin believed that Four Toes was already wrapped around Ginger’s little bear claw and would fight to the death to make sure nothing happened to her.

That evening, Mother Nature worked her magic to create a beautiful wedding venue as the sunset glimmered on the lake in streaks of rose. Wyatt and Erin, and Blackie and Julie, exchanged vows with the preacher officiating. Kennedy stood in as Wyatt’s best man. Both brides walked across a short expanse of meadow to reach their grooms, Julie with Tony Chavez, who’d offered to give her away, and Erin with Uncle Slade, who had agreed to stand in as her father. Julie wasn’t ready to tell her family that she was pregnant, so she hadn’t notified them of her wedding. Erin had chosen not to invite her parents simply because this was her and Wyatt’s moment. Her mother would detest the montane scenery, and her father would have kittens over her plans to be a rancher. She wanted to begin her life with Wyatt on a happy and positive note. He understood that and reminded her that her folks would have plenty of opportunity to rain on their parade later.

When the wedding ceremony began, Wyatt watched the preacher intently instead of gazing down at Erin. Erin understood that he was reading the minister’s lips, and since she wanted him to remember this wonderful moment for the rest of their lives, she didn’t allow herself to feel slighted.

As they had agreed prior to the wedding, Erin and Wyatt made their vows in ASL and then repeated them vocally for all the witnesses. And Erin got plenty of deep, heartfelt attention from Wyatt as he vowed to love and cherish her in sign language for the rest of his life. She knew ASL was Wyatt’s first language, liberating him from the effort it took to formulate words in spoken English. Blackie and Julie repeated their vows shortly after Wyatt and Erin did. With the breeze blowing like a kiss across the pristine mountain lake and fading sunlight shimmering on the deep green grass in brushstrokes of pink, it was an incredibly beautiful ceremony.