Chapter Two
"Guinevere! Swimming?" Ginny's second-eldest Bella, stood over her, her hands on her hips. "What am I going to do with you? You're nearly nineteen years old and you've ruined more clothes now than when you were younger." Bella grabbed a handful of Ginny' muddy and slightly torn skirt.
Ginny gritted her teeth, thankful that Dom had been able to retrieve the borrowed tool and head home before Bella's temper erupted. "Bella, it's just swimming. I didn't do anything wrong," she retorted.
Bella waved a finger at her. "I needed you here. Beltene is a huge festival and it requires a huge amount of food and preparation. Emma and I can't do it alone. You know Papa isn't going to help. We need you to pitch in, not go gallivanting through the forest as though you have no responsibilities."
Ginny sighed. It was an old argument, one she was not meant to win. Still holding the package of nails for her father, she turned, intent on heading to the barn.
"Don't you walk away from me, Guinevere," her sister snapped. "I'm not finished yet."
Clenching her teeth, Ginny fisted her free hand at her side and turned back around. She glared at Bella, just barely keeping her temper in check.
Bella must have sensed Ginny's inner struggle, for she narrowed her eyes and waved a dishtowel at her. "Don't give me an attitude." The older woman sighed. Shaking her head, she took up a freshly cleaned dish and began to wipe it dry. "If you were married right now, none of this would be happening," she muttered mournfully.
Any control Ginny had on her temper snapped. "Don't start that again." Her sister gave her an incredulous glance. "You aren't married and neither is Emma! How dare you try place that mantle on my shoulders when you don't have a beau in sight!" Bella opened her mouth to reply but Ginny plowed through.
"What hypocrisy! Two of my older sisters are as of yet unmarried and still you insist I take vows you yourself haven't." Ginny took a breath.
Bella threw down the towel. "That is a choice both your sister and I made to help after Ma died. He can't run this place without our help. With the work load we took on there was no time for beaus or courtships." Ginny felt a twinge of guilt as tears formed in Bella's blue eyes. "Emma and I took on Ma's responsibilities so you wouldn't have to. So you could grow up with the freedom for things we never had."
Ginny sighed. "Bella, I'm not trying to make light of your sacrifices. But I am not you. I never had the same desires as you did. I don't want a husband right now. I don't want to cook and clean and run my own household. There are great things," she hurried on at the look on her sister's face, "Noble things. But not for me." She put a hand on Bella's arm and nudged her into a chair. Ginny sat down beside her. "Can't we come to some kind of truce?"
"A truce?"
Ginny nodded. "I'll help out more around the house, if you let me find a husband in my own time." Bella looked skeptical. "I promise, Bella. Let me be who I am, instead of forcing me into this mold that you seem to think I should be and I'll do my very best to help you and Emma."
Bella watched her carefully. Finally, with a sigh and a chagrined smile, she nodded. "All right, Ginny. We have a truce. Can I just ask one question before I let this all go?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Just one," she said.
"What about Dom?" Seeing Ginny's immediate exasperated glance, she continued. "I mean, you talk about him or to him all the time. You two are around each other nearly every day. You two seem to have fun together."
Ginny shook her head, vehemently. "He's my best friend. That's it."
Bella smiled at the younger girl's blush, wondering what thoughts were causing it. "All right. We'll leave this be for now." She stood, smoothing her apron. "I baked fresh cakes. I think I might have burned one or two. Taste them for me?"
"You know you can't win me over with food, right?"
Bella laughed. "I know." She uncovered a large plate and handed Ginny a large piece of chocolate cake.
Ginny took it grudgingly and nibbled contentedly on the soft substance.
"There now," Bella said, handing her a second plate. "Take these and those nails to your father. He should be in the barn."
Ginny found her father bend over a long table in the middle of his workshop, set up at the far end of the large barn. Pieces of metal and wood and various tools littered the work table and the floor around him. A large leather apron wrapped around and soot from the pot-bellied stove in the corner stained his breeches, cotton shirt, and streaked itself across his ruddy face.
"Afternoon, Papa," she called.
Pierre glanced up from his work. "Good afternoon. Did you get those nails I asked for?"
She grinned and held out the package. Pierre gladly took them as Ginny glanced around. "Do you need some help?" she asked after a moment.
"What do you think, Ginny?" Pierre ignored her question and put down his tools, and slid out of his apron. The outline of soot on his breeches made her smile. She glanced over, following the line of his arm to where he pointed. She gasped with delight.
"Papa, it's beautiful!" Before her sat a finely crafted cradle with a curved bottom and intricately carved designs running along the sides and footboards. Pride in her father's work rose in her chest.
"I just finished shining it," he said, his chest puffed with pride of his own. "It's for your sister Merry. Due to have that baby any time now, remember? Yeah, I'll head over there next week about. Leaving right after Beltane. Time for a visit."
Ginny nodded. "She'll love it. The baby too."
Pierre shook off her praise. "Is it time for dinner yet? I'm starved. Why don't you head into the house and help your sisters?"
Ginny knew a dismissal when she heard one, and with a kiss to her father's cheek, headed back to the cottage.
The first day of the week long Beltene Festival dawned bright and clear. Ginny was up at dawn with Emma and Bella preparing the last of the food and helping her sisters put the finishing touches on the gown they had made. As she was stitching a last bit of hem into Emma's gown, she felt an inexplicable longing to wear a dress of her own.
Biting her lip, she looked over at her third-eldest sister. "Emma?"
The brunette didn't glance up from her own stitching. "Yes?"
Ginny opened her mouth to speak but closed it a moment later. She had refused to wear a Beltene gown for so long, what her sisters think of her sudden interest? They would pepper her with questions she had no desire to answer, muse over which young man she'd developed feelings for, or aw and ooh over her until her ears bled.
"Yes, Ginny?"
She swallowed hard at the stare her sister fixed on her. She took a breath. "I want to borrow a dress for Beltene." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Red bloomed on her cheeks.
Emma raised a brow. "What an interesting request from one so opposed to the feminine wiles of Beltene. Why?"
Ginny's blush deepened. "I just want to wear one," she mumbled.
Emma noticed her embarrassment and bit her tongue. "I have a dress you can borrow. I outgrew it a few years ago but it's still in good shape. Come." She put down her stitching and headed for her room at the back of the cottage. Ginny hurried to follow. Emma opened her large wardrobe and began pushing dresses and gowns aside. Ginny was struck by how many her sister had managed to accumulate. She spoke her thought aloud.
Emma just nodded. "A lot of them were given to me," was all she said. Reaching far back into the wardrobe, she grunted once and stretched before pulling out a beautiful dark blue and cream colored gown. She brushed at the skirt a bit, discarding a few mothballs before laying it out on the bed for Ginny to see.
The detail on the gown was exquisite. Gold spirals and loops had been hand stitched along the hem and the edges of the slashed sleeves and down the edges of the split skirt. Hints of gold in the cream underskirt caught the sunlight, dazzling Ginny. She reached out a hand to trail her fingers down the soft fabric.
"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," she whispered.
Emma's smile was sad as she replied, "Mother made it for Merry's sixteenth birthday. She passed it onto Bella. Bella passed it onto me."
Ginny looked up in surprise. "Oh, Emma." She shook her head, looking longingly back at the gown. "I can't wear this one. You must have another."
Emma placed a slender hand on her sister's arm. "Ginny, I want you to have it. Mother would have wanted it. I should have given it to you for your sixteenth, but I have to admit, I was a little selfish."
Ginny closed her eyes against the tears that welled. Their mother had died giving birth to her. Knowing she had been the cause of her mother's death had troubled her for years. The sharpness of the pain had dulled somewhat, but every now and again, Ginny, and she knew her sisters did as well, missed her mother she had never known more than life itself.
"Are you sure, Emma? I don't want to take such an important thing away from you." She reached out and took the older girl's hand.
Emma smiled. "You're not taking it away from me. I'm giving it to you. You'll look beautiful tonight. Whichever young man you seek to gain attention from will surely fall under your spell!"
Ginny gasped. "I'm not…" But Emma cut her off, laughing.
"After supper, Bella and I will help you get ready. We'll make you the Belle of Beltene! Every young man, whether you want them or not, will fall at your feet by midnight."
Ginny took the dress from the bed, fingering the soft material. She managed a small smile. "Thanks, Emma."
Emma nodded. "We'll find you a man. Just watch." With a matter-of-fact grin she pushed Ginny out of her bedroom with a command to try the dress on and get ready for festival.
Ginny wished she hadn't worn the dress. With the holiday came Dom. With Dom came emotions and feelings she didn't understand. Just a week ago, she had seen Dom as nothing more than a brother, and now all she wanted to for him to wrap her in his arms, kiss her breathless, and never let go.
She didn't have much time to dwell on the feelings muddling around in the pit of her stomach. Dom's sisters quickly cornered Ginny on a log at the rim of large bonfire, bursting with gossip. She focused on the meaningless chatter, wiling away the hours, hoping from the bottom of her heart that Dom had noticed the dress, noticed the way she'd pinned her hair up. She tried to keep her distance, but something in her called to him. She wanted to be close to him, closer than their friendship had afforded.
She caught Dom's gaze every now and again. Each time she strived for a light and airy mood. So she'd grin and roll her eyes. He would smile back and she'd drag her gaze from his.
The night was filled with dancing and laughter to celebrate a successful harvest. When the group gathered around the dwindling bonfire an hour or two after midnight, Ginny realized that she was enjoying herself. Until Dom's youngest sister suggested that all the young adults perform 'the jump.'
Ginny blanched when she heard the suggestion. She'd avoided the ritual for years. Twice a year, mid-spring and mid-autumn, a young man would seize the girl he loved by the hand and together they would make the jump over low burning coals. If they landed on the other side, still holding hands, their life would be one of prosperity and many healthy children. If their grasp broke, their relationship wasn't meant to be.
It was a stupid silly superstition, one that Ginny didn't share. But…still…one could never be too sure. No, she didn't want to risk it.
Bella clapped her hands. "That sounds like a wonderful idea." The group laughed at her enthusiasm. Ginny caught Dom's gaze. The low burning flame turned his skin a most appealing bronze and his dark eyes glittered with an emotion Ginny didn't want to recognize. It was better just to ignore it, but her gaze remained locked with Dom's until suddenly he was standing before her. He held out a hand.
"Will you jump with me, Ginny?"
Her heart jumped. Did this mean Fallon was right? Did Dom have feelings for her? Did she return those feelings? Or was this all a big misunderstanding?
She started to shake her head, but found her hand already clasped in Dom's as he led her to join the other young couples. She tugged on Dom's hand. "Dom, I don't know," she whispered.
Dom gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "Don't worry, Ginny. It's just a silly ritual." The carefree tone of his voice set Ginny at ease. So Dom didn't put much store in rituals either.
There was still time to stop this. "Dom!"
Dom grinned, bending closer to whisper in her ear. "Come on, Ginny. It'll be fun. I haven't hung out with you all night and now that we get a chance to do something interesting, you're backing out?"
Ginny couldn't stop that the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. She took a deep breath. "Alright."
"Here we go." Dom winked at her and they approached the flamed. Dom squeezed her hand and they began to run. Suddenly they were in the air, passing over the warm glow of the coals. Ginny was unaware of anything but the pressure of Dom's hand in hers in that moment of weightlessness. Suddenly, the ground came rushing up to meet them.
Ginny hit the ground and stumbled, but Dom never let go of her hand and pulled her up against him. He steadied her on her feet before placing a firm kiss on her hand, triumph glittering in his eyes. He turned to the crowd and held their clasped hands high.
The rest of the evening continued without incident well into the night. The full moon above and the warmth of the fires around them mixed with the incense and spices thrown into the wind provided quite a heady atmosphere. Sitting off to the side, Dom couldn't take his eyes from Ginny. When she took the pins from her hair and let it fall down her back, he had nearly been undone. She was beautiful. He lost his breath every time she danced near him. Her long dark hair shimmed in waves almost to her waist. The fabric of her dress caught the glow of the coals until she looked more a heavenly being than one whose feet are tied to earth. Her skirts billowed gracefully as she spun and dipped, clinging to her form.
Their hands had held. They were destined for a life together.
Dom tried to stifle his grin, but to no avail. He wasn't one for superstition, but living the rest of his days with Ginny by his side was an option he was not going to let slip him by. He'd tried over the last few years to show her how much he loved her, how much he cared. But Ginny wouldn't see it.
But Dom was a patient man. He would wait. As long as it took. He sat and watched her as she spun and kicked her feet high, laughing and singing. Her gaze glanced his and a smile lit her eyes.
Dom stood and went to her immediately. He held out his hand and without hesitation she gave him hers. The look in her eyes sent shivers down his spine. Did she finally feel the way he did? But she blinked, and then it was gone. She staggered a bit and caught fast to his arms, giggling. He hook his arm around her waist to steady her. She leaned into him and suddenly her arms were around his neck.
His heart pounded in his chest as he drew his face closer to hers.
"I'm really tired," she said.
Dom swallowed, feeling as though a bucket of cold water had been thrown over his head. "What…" He sighed, seeing the half-glazed look in eye. It was nearly dawn. The girl was exhausted. "Come on," he said, pulling away a little. "Let's get you home."
"I'd like that."Ginny stumbled. Dom closed his eyes, his arm tightening on her waist. He swallowed hard as she fell against him. "Thank you," she whispered.
Dom nodded and helped lead her home.