Noelle pulled her in for a hot, insistent kiss that was an entire seduction, a promise of filthy, beautiful things. Their mouths demanded and their hands grasped at each other’s clothes.

“Is that a yes, Miri?” Noelle gasped, out of breath, her pupils blown out.

“Yes! Obviously yes. Where is the bed?” Miriam asked desperately.

Noelle grinned. “It’s up in the loft.”

“Well, get your ass up there and get out of those clothes,” Miriam demanded.

They chased each other up the staircase, which did seem remarkably sturdy, and fell, laughing, on the mattress on the floor, piled with pillows. Noelle rolled to her side and propped her head on her hand.

“Do you like it?” she asked again, seriously.

“I love it,” Miriam answered, sliding a hand up under the hem of Noelle’s henley, so she could feel her skin. “I love you. Immensely. Overwhelmingly.”

Noelle crawled over her and pinned her hands to the bed, looking down at the mass of curls spread out over the pillows. One of the body pillows yawned and moved out of the way with a huffy yowl.

“Oh yeah, Kringle is living with us, too,” Noelle said. “He was disturbing the guests, and Hannah said she was going to ship him to Siberia if we didn’t take him in.”

“He can stay as long as he goes downstairs,” Miriam said to him, sternly. He went, switching his tail in annoyance as he disappeared down the staircase.

“Is this it?” Miriam asked, her body bowing up to meet Noelle’s. “Can we finally just get naked and enjoy each other, and live in our home surrounded by our family and be in love? Can we relax for ten minutes without a financial crisis, or some dude exploding our peace, or, I don’t know, a roof caving in?”

“Well, we have a family reunion coming next week, so none of us is relaxing anytime soon,” Noelle said. “And the roof in the cottage is in fact leaking, which we’ll need to deal with ASAP. Probably at some point some dude is going to appear and make drama, even if it’s just Cole. But all of it will happen in our home, surrounded by our family. And, in the meantime, we should very much get naked and enjoy each other. Finally.”

They did, repeatedly.

In between they whispered about dreams they had. They talked about trips they wanted to take, to see Noelle’s family in Santa Fe, and some of her old friends from her sustainable farming days, to antique markets around the world. They could, if they wanted, go through old napkins from Cass and then drink coffee in the same cafes she’d visited, see if anyone recognized Miriam’s face and, if so, listen to their stories about the whirlwind of a woman in a turban who’d come through their lives for a season, years ago.