One year later

❝ꪜ𝒊𝐨ŀꪋ❞

“Everyone will be here in a minute,” Sinclair announced from the door.

I wasn’t sure why I’d thought it was a good idea to rearrange the kitchen cupboards at the last minute, but if Marcelina were here right now, she’d probably say something meaningful about the way I was dealing with my nerves.

Not that I felt nervous, maybe over-excited, but whatever caused it, right now it was vitally important that I and Sin’s home was tidy, with everything in order.

We’d only been living here for a few months.

“I know exactly when everyone will be here. Mars has been giving me ten-minute warnings, for the last hour. Not to mention Marvin, who keeps messaging me with questions about what to bring. I told him we didn’t need anything, but he and Lyanne are determined.”

“And we’re sure that asking Marvin and Lyanne to the party was the right idea? You don’t think they’ll be overwhelmed by our friends?” Sinclair took a container of dried fennel from my grasp and placed it between the cardamon and the jalapeno chili powder.

“It’s a bit late to refuse them entry now that they’re nearly here,” I began after some thought. “Anyway, Vinny is a friend—my friend at least.”

Sinclair had found it hard to forgive as easily as I had, but then he was overprotective in the best way.

“Yeah, I like the guy,” Sin admitted grudgingly.

“He’s a good guy now he’s shut his doors and started life with Lyanne. Plus she seems like a good fit for him, and… yeah... I think they can handle our friends.” I picked up a pot of hot paprika and stared at the label. “I’m just worried that everyone will get here expecting this really cute place, with me miraculously being the perfect host, when actually I’m so nervous that I accidentally mixed oregano into the Bs.”

“We do have a really cute place,” Sinclair said, removing the paprika from my precarious hold.

The apartment had a living-dining room, one bedroom, and a shower room... the most we could afford to rent even in the cheaper parts of Montana near where I worked. But it was big enough for a few close friends to gather for drinks and pizza.

We were here a few more months anyway, then moving in the New Year to a small house in a quiet suburb outside Montana. I had been lucky enough to have won a prestigious award for my work, and as a consequence, had had the pick of job offers from various universities.

Sin and I had sat down and written a pros and cons list, and when we realized that what was important to us was family, we chose the University that was close to my family and accommodated Sin’s mother’s wish to see him follow what, and who, he wanted.

His dad had healed and his mom had taken a few shaky steps out of her chair on one of the hottest days of the summer. And they were the first to encourage Sin to move on, pointing out, he wasn’t moving to the other side of the world.

That meant leaving Montana and making a new start in a place where we were able to afford to buy property. Maybe get a dog, or start a family? I was certain of my future with Sinclair and wanted to suggest, with caution, that we get married, but I didn’t want to mess it up.

I couldn’t decide between the ocean, candlelight, swelling music, a stunning sunset, in the snow, loud or silent.

Yeah, and if Sin wasn't going to do it, I was going to get a ring and do it.

I just had to wait it out for a few more days maybe. Or maybe I should do it right here in this shabby kitchen in a temporary house where I’d had the happiest year of my life loving Sinclair Bergman.

“We don’t really have a cute place,” I said instead and offered a rueful smile as I waved at the beige walls and the faded drapes.

“Any place that has you in it is cute” Sin pressed a kiss to the end of my nose, and then, in one smooth move, lifted me onto the counter and spread my legs to settle between them.

“You’re so nice to me,” I said.

“That part is easy because I love you.”

“I love you too. And I don’t know what I’d do without you” I smiled into the next kiss.

“You have that backward. It’s more like what would I do without you?”

“Well, for a start you’d have to organize all your own spices and herbs,” I deadpanned.

We kissed some more. I linked my fingers behind his head and regretted that I had to let go when Sin eased himself away and turned serious. For a brief moment, I wondered if the spice and herb thing was a deal breaker, but that was stupid.

Sinclair had seen me at my most confused and closed off, and like Mars, he went with the flow. There was no one more perfect for me than him.

“I can’t imagine my life without you being part of it,” Sinclair said, his eyes shining with emotion.

“Same,” I whispered. “Forever.”

Now is definitely the right time to hint at it.

I could feel it in my heart. And the words were on the tip of my tongue as tears pricked my eyes. Sinclair cradled my face.

“Vie, I love you. So much. I can’t wait to have our own place, with a yard, somewhere for us to build a life. I was going to wait... but what’s the point? I love you. I know you might think I’m rushing things, but will you marry me?”

I blinked at Sinclair, seeing a mix of hope and fear in my boyfriend’s expression, then stared at him, my chest tight.

“No! You can’t ask me that!”

“What?” Sin’s eyes widened. “You don’t have to say yes, I didn’t mean—”

“I was going to ask you!” I blurted. “So fuck it! Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you, Sin! But only if you’ll marry me right back.”

Sinclair went from devastated to smiling in an instant.

“That’s kind of how it works, babe,” he teased, and we kissed to seal the agreement, exchanging words of love, and commitment, and promising a future together.

A knock on the door separated us, and Sinclair sighed.

“I guess we shouldn’t mention the whole marriage thing now. I mean there are so many people we should be telling first.”

“But what if the happy just bursts out of me?” I asked, bemused, but Sinclair didn’t get a chance to answer, because whoever was outside the door, the first of their guests, knocked again.

I was the one to open the door and Mars, Marvin and Lyanne, Rhoda, and my little sister Erin all clustered in the tiny landing waiting to be let in.

I grasped Sin’s hand and held it tight. When they all glanced at each other, I knew I couldn’t keep my happiness inside.

“We have news.”

“They’re getting married,” Marcelina muttered to Erin. “You owe me twenty, baby girl.”

“You said they’d get engaged on Christmas Day, not Eve,” Erin said, but she was grinning as she rooted in her purse for a twenty dollar bill and slapped it into Mars’ hand.

“Semantics,” Mars said as she pulled me into a hug.

“Congratulations, Vie! Did he give you the ring yet?”

“Not yet,” Sinclair said, and Erin frowned.

“Woah, woah, woah now hang on,” my sister said. “You knew Sinclair had a ring? I want my money back!”

Bickering and laughing, with added congratulatory hugs, everyone moved inside, and I closed the front door.
Then, I sat on my fiancé’s lap, drank fizzy wine, ate cold pizza, and realized something very important.

With open doors or closed ones, my life right now was pretty damn perfect.

***
Thank you so much for Sinclair and Viola; the first book in the Montana Heartstrings series.

The next book in the Montana Heartstrings series is Erin's story and like this book, can be read as a standalone.

I hope you stick around for it.

With much love,
Akosua ♥

***

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