Part of me worried it was all a trick of the mind, that I’d knock on her door and she’d be gone or we’d be kicked back to a few days ago when everything was suspended midair, when we were waiting to see what would happen when the chips fell. But she’d answered the door, flushed and smiling, hair damp and smelling of flowers.

It was as if she were composed of flowers. Roses, red and thorny, delicate and dangerous. And somehow, I’d eased my way through the brambles to lose myself in the velvety beauty of her.

We climbed the steps and walked through the door to the sound of the chaos that was my family. They were seated at the table, their faces swinging to us when we entered, followed by a chorus of cheering. Dinner was freshly on the table, and so we hurried to sit, somehow managing to simultaneously greet six people in the process.

“Well, I must say,” started my mother, “the sight of you two together warms my old, rickety heart. I can’t imagine why you kept it from me all this time.”

Kash snorted a laugh, shoveling a mouthful of potatoes into his mouth. “Sure, because you would have been so hands-off and kept completely to yourself, right?”

Mom made a derisive noise. “Don’t talk with your mouth full, Kassius. And I would have been the very picture of restraint.”

Laney laughed. “Your first item of business would have been nailing down a wedding date.”

Mom gave her a look. “One day, you will have a brood of children, and then you’ll understand. Can you blame a mother for wanting her children to be happy and find love?”

“Only if she’s incessantly nosy and makes you go on dates with Jenny Arnold,” Marcus deadpanned.

With a wave of her hand in his direction, Mom said, “Jenny Arnold is a sweet girl. Don’t you worry—I’ll see you all happily in love and on your way down the aisle sooner than later. If you didn’t think I had Tess saved for one of you, you don’t know me at all.” She met my eyes, flashing a wink I don’t think anyone else saw.

Tess smiled from beside me, reaching for my hand.

“Now, I wonder which of you will be next?” Mom said, smiling sidelong as she scanned the table.

“Not it,” Kash said around a mouthful of dinner roll.

Echoing not-its made the rounds. Pretty sure Jett was last simply for the look of warning he shot at Mom, which we all knew was as useful as an umbrella in a hurricane.

But I held Tess’s hand and met her eyes. Her smile pressed a kiss to my heart.

And forever began.

Epilogue

TESS

The pop of champagne sounded with a yelp and a chorus of whoops as we stood on the sidewalk outside Longbourne, the lot of us smiling up at the brand new sign.

The last six weeks had been a heady whirlwind of action along with a settling in of routine. And this—the raising of the new sign—seemed to mark the end as well as it marked a beginning.