“You’re a softie,” she accused with a laugh.

“Oh no I’m not,” he growled.

And proceeded to demonstrate as he pushed her against the door and kissed her for a very, very long time.

Epilogue

Epilogue

Della breathed in warm, Californian air from the top of the Pixar Pal-A-Round. They’d spent two days exploring Disneyland and had crossed into Disney California Adventure Park to see what it had to offer. She wasn’t a huge fan of heights, but a Ferris wheel she could handle.

Tucker had suggested they get in one of the red cars, which were fixed and didn’t roll around on their own track like the others, and, judging by the screams coming from the other gondolas, she was grateful they had. She’d been shook, rattled, and rolled enough this past couple of days. It was nice to just sit and enjoy the soaring view, the sunshine, the breeze in her hair, and the company of the man sitting beside her.

“I can’t believe I’m here,” she said, snuggling her head onto Tucker’s shoulder.

He laughed. “You’ve been saying that for two days.”

Della laughed, too. “I know, but…I have to keep pinching myself.” Owing to their jobs, it had taken them five months to finally get away. But they had moved in together, and that had been more wonderful than Della could ever have hoped for. She lifted her head. “Thank you for this,” she murmured quietly and kissed his mouth softly. Pulling away, she touched his lips with her fingers. “I can’t believe I get to do that whenever I want.”

“I know. It’s awesome, isn’t it?” he teased, kissing her fingertips.

Sighing at how damn happy she was, Della lay her head back on his shoulder and took in their bird’s-eye view of both theme parks as their gondola stopped at the very top while the passengers below were offloaded and new ones were loaded.

“Are you going to open that thing?”

Della glanced down at the unopened envelope addressed to her in her lap. She’d brought it with her to Anaheim because she’d been too chicken to open it when it had arrived two minutes before they’d set out for Denver to make their afternoon flight. She kept pulling it out to open it, then losing her nerve. Now wasn’t any different. She knew what was in it, knew the importance of the contents.

Had she been admitted to study nursing, or had she missed out?

“I don’t know,” she admitted.

“Bok bok bok.”

Della laughed at Tucker’s chicken noises before sitting back and turning to face him. “What if I didn’t make the cut?”

“You’ve made it.”

She rolled her eyes. Tucker wasn’t biased at all. “Let’s just imagine for a moment that I haven’t.”