*Payne*

I stood at the altar at the top of the hill where the packhouse once stood. Instead of rebuilding the Pomeni mansion, we’d left the hilltop empty.

Now, it was where I was getting married.

An arch made of vines stood behind me and white cherry blossoms from a nearby tree blew in the wind, sending white petals skittering across the ground.

Guests sat in tiered seats on the hill with a white silk carpet laid out between the chair rows as an ...