“We will.”
“Will you look for the positive in each other?”
“We will.”
Gertie tied the ribbons and loops together after each confirmation.
“Your hands are bound. Your lives and spirits are joined in a union of love and trust for a year and a day …”
“And forever,” added Ryan. He proclaimed it loud enough for us all and anyone else listening to hear.
I felt the tears slip down my face before I realized they were there. I quickly swept them away.
Handfasting used to be done quickly.
A year and a day was promised for a couple to decide whether or not it was for forever, but Ryan knew.
So did Lu. She hiccuped her agreement, tears running down her face. Ryan reached forward and swiped them away with the pad of his thumb.
“And so the binding is made.”
* * *
“Just a sip?”Dom smirked between me and the bottle of sweet, honeyed wine we had broken out not long after the two lovebirds bound themselves together.
As if anyone was surprised.
The wine was thick and refreshing, somehow all at once. I had also probably drunk way too much of it somewhere between the impromptu handfasting and all the food Celeste had brought out to eat.
Now, the sun was already beginning to set, casting the yard and the house in a warm glow while I giggled.
I lifted the neck of the wine bottle back toward my mouth for another sip before I handed it over to him. “Well, it is the holidays, and we’re celebrating.”
“How many are there a year again?”
“Eight, not counting the full and new moon cycles.” I extended the wine toward him. He eyed the bottle skeptically. “Come on. Care to have a little fun around all your brooding? It’s only celebrational, I assure you.”
“Right.” His voice dropped low, as if he still wasn’t sure about any of that, but he took the bottle. Giving it a swirl, as if it were a fine glass of wine, he almost took a sip before he paused halfway to his mouth. “And I don’t brood.”
“You’re right; you’re too old to brood. Now, it’s just called being cranky.”
Dom huffed and took a long sip of the concoction. When he pulled it away, he blinked a few times before huffing out a breath of air. His face twisted as he tried not to cough. “You sure you call that wine?”
“We didn’t know what else to call it. We only know that it aged long before anyone wanted to go down into the house’s basement, where they found it a few years back. It’s probably from the Prohibition era.” I laughed.
Dom laughed along with me. He took one more swig before setting it down on the table and starting to walk with me.
Everyone was surrounding the firepit, debating on if they wanted to start a flame or turn on the fairy lights to light up the yard as it turned dark. Lu and Ryan had already run off somewhere.
“Wow, I can definitely say I’ve never tasted anything like that.”
I shrugged, looking up at him, and he curved an arm around me, so I leaned into his side. Today had all felt so real and bright and warm in the air while the grass remained cold on my feet, holding me steady, grounded. Or at least as grounded as I could be after drinking half of a bottle of honeysuckle wine. Heat pouring through me when I bit my lip and stared at Dom for the first time without forcing myself to look away.
Oh,Dominic Rovnik.
His name sounded like my own personal incantation.
No longer a curse.
