Page 70 of Must Love Lavender and Little Lies
“And I… I pledge that we will always have sandwich parties.”
At that, the crowd chuckled.
Granik gave me a knowing look. While the pledge itself was silly, I was sure he understood my meaning. Just because we were now married, that didn’t mean all the silly things we loved to do, including our sandwich parties, would come to an end. We were friends and lovers, now and forever.
“Then let us drink one last time, and may all the ancestors hear your pledges.”
I drank again, then handed the cup to Granik, who polished it off, then toasted Gree-Gree, who chuckled.
Master Mirefoot gestured to Elder Thornberry, who stepped forward once more.
“Embrace hands,” he told us.
Taking out a wand, he tapped it on our entwined hands.
“People of Moonshine Hollow, I bind Juniper and Granik as husband and wife,” he said, and a ribbon of golden magic emerged from his wand, wrapping around our hands. “They are bound together for all time. Two hearts, one soul, tied together, never to be untied,” he said, then the magic sparkled brightly, the spell complete.
“Juniper, kiss your husband,” Elder Thornberry said. “Granik, kiss your wife.”
Granik leaned forward, but paused before he kissed me. “I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you too. Forever.”
My husband then pulled me into a deep kiss, the taste of tea lingering on his lips and the heat of love and emotion pulsing from him.
Behind us, the crowd cheered.
I had married my best friend…and pledged myself to a life of sandwich-making. I couldn’t imagine a better life in the world.
CHAPTER 26
GRANIK
The reception was very…orcish.
But it was also filled with excitement. Everywhere I looked, people were laughing, smiling, drinking, and dancing. Music filled the air as the band from The Pig and Piper played, the sounds of fiddles, washboards, and spoons filling the air.
Within ten minutes of the ceremony ending, my brother Durrik had challenged three of the Moonshine Hollow farmers to a lifting competition, Gree-Gree had commandeered the best chair and was holding court like a small, ancient queen, and my mother had cried no fewer than four times—twice out of joy and twice because the wedding cake was, according to her, “so good it makes me emotional.”
I didn’t mind any of it. Not a single chaotic moment.
Because Juniper was laughing.
She was across the dance floor, sandwiched between Rosalyn and Tansy, all three of them red-cheeked and breathless from dancing to the last reel. Her laugh carried over the noise of the band and the chatter and the clink of glasses, finding me the way it always had. Clear and bright, like the first warm day after a long winter.
My wife.
The word still didn’t feel entirely real, and I suspected it wouldn’t for some time yet, but it didn’t frighten me the way I’d once thought marriage might. Nothing was frightening about spending all of my life with Juniper. In fact, I couldn’t think of anything better.
“You look happy,” Narrow said with a nod of his head. “As you should be.”
“I still can’t believe my luck.”
“Me neither,” Narrow said with a laugh.
Out of the corner of my eye, however, I saw dark-haired Zarina headed our way. And her eyes were not on me.
“Maybe your luck’s about to change,” I said in a low tone.
