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“Esme is here with ice.” A smiling Esme sailed through the house door and down the steps, bags of ice in hand. “Nora stopped in the kitchen to admire the work you two have done in there. She says you’ve definitely added value to the place in just a couple of months, so if you re-sell in future, you’ll be in good shape.”

“Well, we did it for us,” Ruby chuckled. “Not for some hypothetical future buyer. Not that we have any intention of selling, anyway.”

She and Sasha had closed on their first home only ten weeks ago. For ten whole weeks, they’d been homeowners. Ruby could hardly believe it.

Nora had used her connections in the world of LA real estate to set them up with what she called a “real bulldog of a realtor,” a friendly but tough as nails woman who refused to compromise on their wishlist for a perfect home. Marissa had been tireless in her pursuit, pulling them from house to house in the greater LA area.

But at last, she’d found their home, a cozy, whitewashed stucco house with lots of light and space for the two of them and Winston, tucked away in Echo Park. And now Ruby and Sasha were getting ready to host a blowout of a housewarming party for their friends and family.

Goldie Richards glided out into the backyard, a self-assured smile on her lovely face and her pinup-perfect blonde waves gently bouncing around her shoulders. She was cradling severalbottles of Cristal in her arms. “Where do you want these?” she called out, pausing at the top of the steps.

“There with your gal,” Ruby replied, pointing to Cam at the drinks table. “Leave room for a punch bowl, please. Also, I still can’t believe the actual Goldie Richards is in my actual yard!”

“No problem. And get used to it, sweetheart!” Goldie flashed that Hollywood smile that stopped everyone in their tracks, men and women alike, and gracefully made her way down the steps and across the lawn, the skirt of her gauzy blue sundress wafting in the breeze. It still amazed Ruby that the willowy, award-winning actress and casual to a fault Cam had gotten together and stayed that way. But they seemed a true love match. She smiled to watch them meet up at the table, as Cam took the bottles of champagne from Goldie and lined them up on the table, then swept her gorgeous girlfriend up into a sizzling kiss. Happiness radiated from them, the way Ruby hoped it did from herself and Sasha after a year and a half.

Arms wrapped around her waist, and Ruby tilted her head to look back at her own gorgeous girlfriend. Sasha’s dark eyes twinkled as she gave Ruby a squeeze. “It looks great out here, Rubes.”

“Thank you, babe.” Ruby surveyed their backyard—theirs! She still couldn’t quite believe it—and leaned back into Sasha’s embrace. “Do you need any help in the kitchen?”

“No way. I’ve had a real assembly line going in there all day.” Sasha chuckled. “I shanghai’d Nora into stuffing deviled eggs and sprinkling them with candied maple pepper bacon, I taught Holly how to fill petit fours with Cointreau cream before she came out here to play with Win, and…” She paused. “Well, Deb has turned out to be a surprisingly well-equipped catering resource. She and Hols brought so many trays of stuffed mushrooms, potato bites, and mini quiches, plus a huge pan of baklava. They were up all night actually making it all by hand.”

“We love you both, I go nowhere empty-handed, and I’m no stranger to hosting parties.” Deb swept up to them from the cornhole game and bustled off into the house. She emerged within two minutes, a tray full of roast baby potatoes filled with caviar and sour cream held securely in front of her. “Point me to a table.”

“There, next to drinks.” Ruby twisted in Sasha’s arms and leaned in for a sweet kiss. “Where’s the rum punch?”

“Chilling in the fridge, I’ll bring it out once everyone’s here. And yes, I heard you about the cups.” Sasha leaned in for a kiss of her own, on Ruby’s forehead. “What else needs to be done?”

“Not much, just a few more decorations.” Ruby glanced behind her to take stock of who was available. “I’m gonna rope Cam into helping me put up all the twinkle lights. She’s so tall, we might not even need a ladder.”

“Hey, I heard that,” Cam said, strolling up with a pout on her face. Goldie was close behind, grinning.

“I think you were meant to, sweetheart.” With a quick hand, she slapped Cam’s blue-jeaned butt. “Lean into your blessings. We can’t all be so usefully tall. Besides, it’s hot.” Goldie stood on her toes and hooked her delicate chin over Cam’s shoulder. “Go put on a show, let me be the one to watch for once.”

“Since you asked nicely,” Cam grumbled, rubbing her poor abused butt cheek while everyone tried to stifle their giggles. “Rubes, any particular instructions for me?”

“No, just whatever looks good to you. I trust your judgment, and Goldie can guide you if you get stuck, she’s got a great eye for décor.” Ruby and Sasha had been to dinner at Goldie’s exquisitely decorated home enough times to be well acquainted with the actress’ excellent taste. Ruby left them to uncoiling the ropes of lights and walked over to the patio they’d designated for the musical line-up Mia Cortés had been kind enough to arrange for them. Ruby wished Mia and her girlfriend Harper could behere themselves, but she really couldn’t fault them for being busy. If she’d been invited to perform at Coachella, she wouldn’t turn the opportunity down either. It was too big a deal. Still, they’d allotted time during the party later to stream Mia’s set to a projector screen set up at the back fence.

“The neighbors really are okay with us throwing this huge party, right?” Sasha’s voice was tight with anxiety, and when Ruby stepped back to look at her, she began to twist her fingers into knots. “I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot with them.”

“Babe. You hand delivered the world’s greatest homemade chocolate chip cookies to half the houses on our block, and lemon custard tarts to the other. You made tomato soup with croutons for Lily Jensen next door when she got sick, and the croutons were made from your own sourdough bread! We invited the Papadakis’ on the other side over for a nacho buffet two nights ago.Andwe invited any neighbor who wants to drop in tonight.” Ruby took Sasha’s hands in hers and made them go still. “There’s no more wrong feet to get off on. You have bribed literally everyone into excellent food submission. It’ll be fine.”

“You’re right, you’re right, I know you are.” Sasha closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. “I’m gonna go get changed, I smell like cooking.”

“Some people are into that!” Ruby called after her as she retreated into the house. “Some people are me,” she muttered with a chuckle.

“Kinky.” Nora Hartley strolled out of the house with yet another tray of hors d’oeuvres in her hands and one elegant blonde eyebrow raised in amusement. “I’ve got more snacks for you.”

“Over by Deb.” Ruby pointed. “Plenty of space on the table, and there’s those screen things you can put over everything to keep the bugs and dust off.”

“Great. Oh, and there’s my wife at the drinks table. Fantastic.” She smiled at Ruby. “You look happy. It’s nice.”

“I am happy. Thanks, Nora.” She couldn’t stop the smile beaming from her face as she watched Nora make her way to the food and drink area. After the willowy blonde developer had set down her burden, she tugged her tiny wife into a heated kiss. Esme’s chestnut and silver curls spilled down the back of her flamenco-red tank dress, and she was smiling into the kiss. Ruby clasped her hands over her heart to see it.

Romance was all over her back yard, in fact. Goldie had her hands on Cam’s waist as Cam strung up the lights, and she was looking up at her with adoration in her eyes. At the food and drinks table, Deb was arranging her trays of goodies, but her gaze was glued on Holly playing with Winston, and a soft smile was playing on her lips.

Natalie had arrived, hand in hand with her new girlfriend Saoirse, and they were setting up more games and making heart eyes at each other. They’d met the previous year when Nat had gone on vacation in Ireland, Ruby’s recently published Highlander romance firmly in hand. “You’re not even going to the right country,” Ruby had protested.

“Eh, I’m also not looking for a Scotsman in a kilt. I’m going for the generalvibe,” Natalie had replied breezily.

Ten days later, she’d turned up at the Lounge with dark-haired, freckled Saoirse in tow and a goofy grin on her face. They’d been all but inseparable ever since. Saoirse had even applied to UCLA to do a Masters in Linguistics and had gotten in, so she wasn’t going back to Galway anytime soon. Natalie hadn’t stopped smiling since. If that wasn’t romance, Ruby didn’t know what was.

As a classic holiday romantic film once said, love, actually, was all around. Ruby sighed happily.

“Everything okay?” Sasha emerged from the house and took Ruby in her arms again.

Ruby leaned back and snuggled in. “Everything’s perfect,” she said, happy from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. “Absolutely perfect.”