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conference rooms off the courtroom until the defendants had all been escorted out of the building so I was staring out the window at the Boston cityscape when I heard the door open.
    Expecting Geoff, I didn't turn around right away. I was startled when I heard a familiar throat clearing from about two feet behind me. I spun and launched myself at a grinning Rhys. We just stood there holding each other, smiling like idiots for a good two minutes.
    When Rhys finally broke away, he looked a little nervous. He put his hands in his pockets and fixed his eyes on a spot over my shoulder for a moment before he took a deep breath and looked back at me.
    "I know you asked me to go with you in your last letter." I started to panic a bit that he was going to take back his answer, and it must of have shown on my face because he rushed to say, "And my answer is still yes." He paused again, gathering his words, I assume. He muttered, "I don't know why I am so nervous."
    He shook his head, pulled his hands out of his pockets and dropped to one knee all in one graceful motion. As he opened the small box in his hand, he looked straight up at me and said, "Jason O'Brennan, Will you marry me?"
    A smile split across my face, even larger than before, and I gave the only answer I could, "Yes!"
    He whooped as he stood up and put the ring on my finger before kissing me. Geoff chose that moment to interrupt.
    After much handshaking and congratulations, Geoff explained that if we wanted to do this we needed to do it now, before we signed paperwork and got placed in the program. We followed him down a few floors in the courthouse to the office of the Justice of the Peace.
    I stood up in front of Rhys, joy bubbling up in my heart as we both pledged ourselves to each other for the rest of our lives for better or worse, for richer or poorer and in sickness or in health.
    ****
    One Month Later
    "Lynch! Hey, Lynch." I startled as my new boss grabbed my shoulder and turned me around to face him. "Didn't you hear me? I was calling your name."
    I groaned a little on the inside. Even after a month I still had a delayed reaction when someone said our new name. I had to stop a grin from spreading across my face. Our new name.
    "Sorry, sir, I'm still not used to all the noise in here." The marshals, in all their wisdom, had gotten me a job at a Casino about half an hour outside our new hometown of Leon, Iowa teaching noobs to play poker.
    I had been a bit skeptical at first but it was actually really fun. I was glad that Rhys, now Reese so it wasn't so distinctive looking, was enjoying his new identity as much as I was. He had been placed at a local nursery that focused on xeriscaping and helping local farmers maintain sustainability. It was a far cry from eco-tourism but at least he got to be outside and working with nature.
    I forced myself to pay attention to my boss as he double checked who was covering my shifts for me over the next week and reinforced how much trouble I would be in if one of them didn't show up. I sighed and nodded. I had triple checked with everyone because I did not want anything to ruin the next week. I wanted everything to be perfect for our belated honeymoon.
    I was finally able to escape and I reveled in the freedom of speeding down the highway, watching the farmland race by outside my windows. I pulled into the nursery where Rhys (I would never be able to think of him as Reese) worked and just stared for a minute before I honked my horn to let him know I was there.
    He was helping one of his coworkers load a flat of plants onto the back of a truck. His tanned skin gleamed with sweat in the bright sunlight and I marveled that I got to call this beautiful man my husband.
    When he had finished, he came over and got in the car. After a brief but warm hello kiss he glanced at me and smiled. "Still not going to tell me where we are going?"
    "Nope. It's a surprise."
    "Fine." He grumbled. But he couldn't keep a smile from curving at the edge of