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“I love you, too,” I said. It was just that easy. Did it make sense? Probably not. Was it a little rushed? Yup. Did I care? Nope.

“I love you, Daisy Grace. I’ve always loved you.” She reached for me and our lips met and that was the period at the end of the sentence. I loved her. She loved me. The end.

I knew her. I knew her arms and her hair and her laugh and the way she smiled. I knew how she liked her eggs and that she hated pickles and that she wanted to have kids someday. I knew all the important things. The rest? We could figure it out.

I waited for some instinct inside me to scream that I’d made a mistake. That I was rushing too far, too soon.

All I felt was love. And certainty. And calm.

No panic. No feeling of wrongness.

Just right. She was right. We were right.

I pulled back from her and rested my forehead against hers.

“I love you,” I whispered.

“I love you.”

*^*^*

Mom came out to find us snuggled up a while later.

“Look at you two. Pretty as a picture.” She sighed in that dreamy way again.

“I can’t believe you wanted this all along,” I said to her. “You could have said something.”

Mom raised an eyebrow.

“Would you have listened?” Yeah, she had a point.

“Probably not.”

“Exactly.” She leaned against the porch railing and Molly updated her more on what had happened in her life and what her parents were doing and so forth.

“Well, you can come and stay anytime you want if you’d like to get out of that apartment. I have a spare room and this house is awful big and lonesome.” She had tried to get me to move in with her, but I’d put a stop to that right away. I couldn’t imagine trying to have someone over with my mom in the bedroom across the hall. No way. But Molly staying here would be something else. She could always stay at my place when we wanted to do sexy things.

“Are you sure?” Molly said. “Would you be okay with that?” She turned to me.

“It would be better than that terrible apartment, no offense. But that place is awful.” It really was.

“Really?” Molly said, squeezing my hand.

“Of course.”

“Oh, goody,” Mom said, clapping her hands. “Now I’ll get to see Daisy Grace because she’ll come over to see you.” I rolled my eyes. I saw my mom at least twice a week, if not more. And if I didn’t see her enough (or enough by her standards), she would just come to the café.

Once again, my mom was getting exactly what she wanted. I guess I was too.

“Oh, this is going to be such fun. Both my girls!” Mom hugged us both again, hard enough to almost crack one of my ribs.

“What have I gotten myself into?” I said when she let me go.

“A whole lot of trouble,” Molly said, kissing my nose.

Seven

Molly and I went back to her place, grabbed a bunch of her things—which left her apartment even more empty—and went back to my apartment.