Page 119

“Move back.”

Tori did as she was told, sliding into the center of the large bed. Miranda climbed on top of her, the green beads from her necklace bouncing with each move she made. Tori was completely entranced. She lifted her hands, fingering the beads before dropping lower to brush slightly over Miranda’s nipples. Miranda hummed.

Moving in, Miranda kissed Tori lightly. “I love you, Tori Frazee.”

“I love you, Miranda Hart.” Tori grinned, unable and unwilling to contain the happiness that filled her now. She really couldn’t have asked for anything more than this. Honesty. Connection. Desire. Vulnerability. “God, I love you so much.”

“Then show me what that looks like.”

Tori skimmed her hands down Miranda’s body to her hips, ready to give Miranda everything she asked for and more. “Forever and always.”

epilogue

SIX MONTHS LATER…

Miranda stood at the window waiting. Rebel played on the floor behind her. The rain had eased up that summer, but they were nearing fall again, and Miranda knew they didn’t have many nice weekends left. She dragged in a deep breath, keeping her eyes glued to the street corner that she could barely see out of her front window. Where were they?

Tori had said they’d left forty minutes ago. They should have been there already. Miranda tightened her grip on her elbows. She hoped nothing had gone wrong in the meantime, that Tori hadn’t had an accident or anything like that. She was debating whether or not to text because that could easily add another distraction and potentially cause Tori to have an accident.

The U-Haul rounded the corner, and Miranda sighed in relief. She shouldn’t have worried so much, but this was huge for her. In some ways, it was bigger than letting Tierney move into the house with her, although she only lived there about half the time anyway.

Miranda glanced at Rebel. Her hair was almost to her shoulders, the tight ringlets tamed sufficiently now that Miranda understood how to handle curly hair. “Rebel, Tori and Harley are almost here.”

“‘Arley!” Rebel jumped up and raced for the front door.

Her speech had gotten so much better in the last six months, and she was making short two- and three-word sentences. Tierney had given permission for Miranda to pay for some early intervention with speech, and that was helping in so many ways.

Stepping out onto the front porch, Miranda’s cheeks warmed from the breeze. They’d been planning this day for a couple months now, and it was finally here. As soon as Tori parked the truck, Harley jumped out of the front seat and ran toward Rebel, scooping her up. Then she raced to Miranda, wrapping her arms around Miranda’s hips and burying her face into Miranda’s side.

“Hey, Harley.” Miranda carded her fingers through Harley’s hair.

“I’m so excited!”

“I am too.”

Looking up, Miranda saw that Tori was already frazzled. She couldn’t stop the smile from blooming on her lips as Tori came around the front of the truck and pocketed the keys. She walked right into Miranda, a hand on Miranda’s waist and their mouths against each other in a quick but hot kiss.

“Please tell me we’re having beer and pizza tonight.”

“Sure, if you want.” Miranda skimmed her hand down Tori’s arm. “What’s wrong?”

“Moving is stressful. The crew will be here in about twenty minutes to get everything moved in. Want to tell me where it goes?”

Miranda canted her head to the side. “I think we get to figure that out together, don’t we?”

“Right, but until we do that…” Tori turned around and motioned to the truck “…we still have to unpack this beast and put everything someplace so we’re not tripping over it.”

“Makes sense.” Miranda hadn’t moved since she bought the house ten years ago, and this was going to be the adjustment of a lifetime. Well, she probably would have thought that before Rebel had come to live with her. But now this was just one more step toward what she really wanted—life, family, love.

Tori took Miranda by the hand and started toward the house. “Come on, girls. Let’s figure out your bedroom.”

Miranda followed dutifully, stopping at Rebel’s bedroom that would soon become her shared room with Harley. Rebel was already pulling out toys, and as much as Miranda had the urge to jump in and tell her to stop, she knew it wouldn’t do any good. In fact, it’d probably keep the two of them entertained while the adults moved everything in.

“Did you get the beds?” Miranda asked.

“Should be delivered in a few hours. I figured what’s one more thing to add to the chaos that we can accomplish today.” Tori leaned into Miranda’s side, holding her close.

“Still, we need them.”