by Julia Byrd
When the breakfast crowd had thinned to stragglers, Juno caught my hand and gave me a brief squeeze. She angled her chin toward the stairway, her eyes alight, and I nodded. She slipped out of the room without saying a single farewell. I lingered for a few minutes before following, although I’m sure we fooled no one. The daft smile had not left my face for hours.
In the master bedroom, formerly the setting of my nightmares, I entered a dreamlike scene. Juno stood before the fireplace wrapped only in a thick, wool blanket. Her toes curled against the rug, and the flames crackled merrily in the grate. My brother would have been glad for me to have found such beauty in his old chamber.
“You don’t need that,” I said roughly. I took three strides to join her, then tugged at the hem of her covering. The blanket slid from her bare shoulders and pooled at her feet.
Thus commenced our second ceremony, where we fulfilled, in delicious detail, certain private promises that had kept me awake for weeks.
The third marriage rite was performed by Sarah Greeley at the center of the hedge maze under the light of a full moon. Juno’s sister, Caroline, attended that ceremony. Upon her arrival, Caroline had measured my character and Juno’s happiness and then pronounced herself satisfied. The only music was the drone of nocturnal inserts, and the only decorations were the rich, green Taxus baccata hedges. Everett waited with me under the open metalwork of the gazebo for the arrival of my bride.
Juno emerged around the last turn of the maze with her sister beside her. She wore bronze silk and a black silk ribbon around her throat. When she smiled, my heartbeat stuttered like my tongue.
I held out my hand, and Juno stepped up beside me. Sarah, assigned her first ceremonial role, was more nervous than either of us. She spoke of love, commitment, and mutual respect. Then she asked Juno and me to speak our promises to each other.
I turned to my wife and squeezed her fingers. I had promised her everything already, before God and with my body and soul, but I was happy to do so again.
“I promise to pay attention,” I said simply. “When it comes to you, Juno Hood, I can do nothing else.”
Juno smiled. She looked carefree and young. We had each other, and our friends and family, our house, and a whole lifetime together.
“It is you for whom I have been waiting,” she said. They were the first words she had ever spoken to me, and only then did I understand the truth in them. “I promise you are under my protection now, and I will shelter under yours.”
I blinked to clear a film of emotion. “We are together. We are for each other.”
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ABOUT JULIA BYRD
Julia Byrd lives and writes in Chicago with her handsome dog and scruffy husband. She tells people she enjoys books, wine, baking, history, and architecture as plausible cover for her secret double life.
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OTHER BOOKS BY JULIA
GRAY PLACES
Released: April 2017
ISBN: 9781370803514
1790s Yorkshire, England - Katherine Gilbert sets out for Wainforth Manor in North Yorkshire to fulfill her father’s last request. Thomas Norcliffe does not welcome her unannounced arrival, so she must tread carefully around his dark moods to unlock the past. Deadly secrets from the Norcliffe family are resurfacing, and Katherine begins to realize that the biggest danger lies within herself.