&n
bsp; eyes. “That was about as beautiful a vow as I’ve ever heard.
I’m not sure what’s going on in your personal lives, but you
both seem like you have a long, happy future ahead of you. If
you want to take each other’s hands and face each other, we
can start.”
They clasped shaking hands. Neither of them was steady.
Something cold and unsettled crept into Giana’s chest and
stuck there. The feeling that she was making a mistake. She
brushed it aside. She was just unsettled. There was nothing
about her life that was right at the moment. This woman, who
she apparently loved, was losing her father. She’d already lost
her mother. She was being bled dry. The world was against
them. It was going to be an uphill battle.
Coralyn managed to keep her expression neutral during the
whole thing. Giana watched her without trying to watch her,
but Coralyn probably knew she was studying her. Or maybe
her head was spinning, and everything was happening too fast
and she wasn’t aware of it.
When they came to exchanging rings, Giana had an ornate
gold band that she’d found upstairs in her closet in one of the
many jewellery boxes she’d rifled through, searching for
something that would work. It didn’t match the engagement
ring that Coralyn slid off the chain at her throat, but when
Giana pushed both rings onto Coralyn’s dainty finger, they
were both a perfect fit.
“My grandma’s ring,” Coralyn said in wonder. “I always
wanted to wear it.” Wonder, but sadness too. Pain. It would
take a lifetime to unpack everything she felt in that moment.
Giana had no idea what she was feeling either. She’d just