I slid the titanium band partway down his finger.
“Anjanette, do you take Booth to be your husband and your best friend for the rest of your life?”
“Hey, what about the rest of that shit?” Wrath demanded.
“It’s implied by the simple fact she’s marrying you on paper instead of just doing a handfasting ceremony,” Raquel reminded him.
Everyone chuckled as I grinned at my man.
“I do,” I breathed out, sliding the ring the rest of the way home.
“By the power vested in me by the State of Colorado, and more importantly Venus, the Goddess of love, I now declare you to the universe to be bound as one. You may now signify the sealing of your union with the affectionate display of your choosing.”
“So, do I kiss her? Are we man and wife, or what?”
“Come here, Daddy Cakes,” I said, tugging him toward me.
Wrath chuckled, kissing me almost to the pointwhere I was about to insist we take a minute in one of the rooms down the hall.
Taxi cleared his throat, and Wrath broke the kiss, smiling against my lips before kissing me one more time.
“I now pronounce you your chosen title of Mr. and Mrs. Reid,” Rebecca continued, and our friends let out congratulatory hoots and claps.
After signing the obligatory marriage licenses, Taxi ushered Rebecca from the house, then once the coast was clear, Sundance addressed our little group.
“Alright, alright everybody. Before we get outta here, I know we can’t do anything special for these lovebirds right now but we’ll sure as hell rectify that as soon as everything’s taken care of. But I didn’t want to leave here without the two of them at least getting to share their first dance as husband and wife. So let’s all clear the space and give ’em some room so Mr. and Mrs. Reid can have their first dance.” He pulled out his cell phone and pressed play and an ad for Chocolate YumYums blared from the cell phone speaker. “Oh shit, sorry. I thought I had the song queued up. Damn ads.”
I laughed, leaning against Wrath as we waited for the ad to end, and then Wishlist by Melody Morgan started, and Wrath kissed me, leading me into a surprisingly graceful waltz, in perfect time with the music.
I let out a quiet gasp. “You can dance.”
“I can.” He leaned down. “When mom was diagnosed with cancer, she made me promise to take dance lessons with her. I think it was her way ofmaking up for the time we lost when she was workin’ all the time. It was part of her bucket list just in case things went south. We went every Thursday for three years… until she was too sick.”
My eyes filled with tears. “I wish I could have met her.”
“I think you have.”
“When?”
“Today. In a weird way.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think she’s here right now.”
“You do?” I asked.
“Isn’t that what you’re always goin’ on about? That everything in the universe is just made up of different forms of energy?”
I cocked my head and tapped his shoulder. “You’ve been listening.”
“Concentrate, baby, you’re steppin’ on my boots.”
“Oh, sorry,” I squeaked.
“I’d never given much thought to what happens to us after we die. But after falling in love with you, I’ve found myself thinking about a lot of things I’d never given much thought to, and I have to wonder if my mother isn’t somehow here with us. Just in a different form of energy.”
“Oh, honey, I like that.” I smiled. “That’s so sweet.”