Finally (18 page)

146

Willa’s Epilogue

It didn’t matter that we were already into the college basketball season or that I’d just seen every single one of these women over the past week. Sunday night dinner was a necessity this week. We could continue our dinner hiatus until the season was over starting next week. Tonight was a must. It would be a surprise for almost everyone here. And not just because I was the one cooking.

“Honey, are you sure you don’t want me to do the grilling?”

Quinn had one foot on the patio and one inside the house. She looked more beautiful tonight than when we’d fi rst met, even with the touch of concern in her eyes.

“I’ve got this, angel.”

She rubbed her thumb under the fi ngers of one hand, glancing at me scraping the grill in prep and back toward the kitchen where she was doing the rest of the cooking. I’d grilled for us many times, but I’d never tried feeding more than four people at once.

She was justifi ed in being worried.

“You don’t have time to grill, cook, and entertain. I can handle this.” I can, I think. No, I can, almost completely certain.

The front doorbell rang a full half hour before anyone was supposed to arrive. Since moving to Virginia and meeting this clan of ours, I’d had to get used to a lot of things. Usually it was something minor like playing referee for the little jabs some 147

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of them took at each other or being the sounding board for the sometimes constant whining a few of them could do about their spouses. I’d put up with it because I really did like each one of them for different reasons. I liked some of them more than others, but I was never really choosey when it came to friends. If they’d bless me with their friendship, who was I to shut it down for insignifi cant reasons? Showing up mega early to a dinner I was hosting, though, never failed to irk me.

“That better not be Des,” Quinn muttered. She never minded the early arrivals as much as I did unless it was Des. Away from our home, Des was a good friend to have if a bit, or a lot, obnoxious. In our home, dealing with Des longer than necessary could wear on both of us.

Quinn turned toward the door then swiveled back and hurried up to me. I recognized the look in her eyes and waited for her kiss. Just the press of her lips on any part of me could settle me down. No matter what I’d been feeling before, her kisses always equalized me. This one didn’t disappoint. Soft but insistent, she kept it PG rated so we both wouldn’t be in agony for the rest of the night. Kisses like these reminded me over and over how lucky I was to have taken that fi rst chance with her and never given up when life threw us both some diffi culties.

She pulled back and ran her fi ngers down my cheek. “My God, Willa, what you do to me.”

“It’s that look, Quinnie. Gets me every time.” I tilted my head toward the door. “Better let her in or she’ll get more obnoxious.”

Quinn laughed and headed inside. If it was Des, she’d load her up with busy work to keep her out of our hands. Turning back to the grill, I gave it one last scrape and inspected the layout.

Pam, check, spatula, check, meat thermometer, check. I was all set for the grilling to begin.

“Looks good,” a quiet voice said from right beside me.

I nearly jumped out of my shoes, turning to see that M had 148

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materialized on our patio without a sound. I had grown very good at not being noticeable whenever people came up to Quinn in public, but I was convinced M had a cloaking device. Over the past couple of years, she’d become the best friend I had in the group, but her stealthiness had caused many heart stopping moments. “Jeez,” I managed when I caught my breath.

“Hi,” she smiled knowing full well she’d scared me.

I glanced over her shoulder to catch Quinn’s giggle from the doorway before she turned back inside. What surprised me more than M being on our patio was that I didn’t see her partner, Briony, anywhere. “If you think coming early means you get to leave as soon as everyone shows up, think again, sister.”

M fl icked her brown eyes up to mine for a moment before looking away. “I fi gured you could use help and wouldn’t ask.”

Little know-it-all punk, not that an inch difference in our heights made her that little, but she did know a lot about a lot, and she was so damn right about this. “So you came over by yourself to a house that will soon be swamped with living human things?”

Panic entered her expression before her shoulders relaxed and she laughed. Since falling in love with Briony, she’d become so much more at ease. Quinn and Jessie had never understood how we got along so well because the M they saw barely said four words in a row. Now with Briony’s confi dence, M showed a little more of herself to everyone, and they no longer wondered.

“You kinda suck at cooking, Will.” Her snarky side was pretty much reserved for me and Briony. I couldn’t wait for the day she’d let it loose on the rest of our mob.

“Barbequing is not cooking,” I protested. “Plus I have a meat thermometer.”

She pinned me with a long stare. “You think a thermometer will keep you from burning the hell out of a steak?”

She was right, dammit, the little smart-ass. I’d bought extra in preparation for the all too likely disaster. I fl icked my eyes into the 149

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kitchen and she took the hint, bolting inside to get the marinating steaks. With her help, we could knock this out. I felt grateful and proud to have a friend that would step in to help, especially on this of all dinners. I’d had to let her in on the surprise because I knew she’d need the time to prepare. She’d wanted to decline, but she almost never did with me.

Soon enough, the clan started showing up in pairs. When Quinn and I fi rst relocated to Virginia, the group only had two couples: Des and Skye and Caroline and Sam. Kayin and Isabel were just beginning to date, but Jessie, Lauren, Austy, and later, Briony, were all single, some of them happily so. Now everyone was partnered up, most ecstatically so.

“Hey, guys,” Jessie greeted when she stepped out onto the patio. “Are we eating out here tonight?”

We laughed, our breaths showing in the cold November air.

“I haven’t set the table yet, Jess.”

“Lauren’s on it. Is my buddy coming tonight, M?”

She looked at me fi rst before remembering I wasn’t Briony, who would have answered for her. “Not tonight. We thought it would be too much for Olivia to take. They’re having a pizza and movie night with the sitter.”

Jess and I shared a proud look, wanting very much to talk to M about their new eleven-year-old foster daughter. Neither of us asked, though. We’d have to wait for Briony if we wanted a full account. When I’d fi rst learned that they were getting a foster child, I’d been surprised, but then I started thinking back to all that M had left unsaid about her upbringing and deduced that she might have been a product of the foster system herself. If I were the type to pry, I’d ask her outright, but it made perfect sense that, as an adult, she’d want to provide a safe haven for another child.

If I had any patience, I might be inspired to do the same.

“Anytime they want to scrape gum off the machines and fold towels at the gym, they’re welcome,” Jessie offered.

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“Screw child labor laws, right, Jess?” I joked.

“No worries, I know a good lawyer.”

“I leave you alone for a second and you already need a lawyer?” Lauren asked as she stepped outside with a blissful smile for her partner. They were constantly showing each other affection. As a non-PDA advocate, I’d normally be nauseated by their lovey-dovey ways, but something about these two friends who’d taken years to fi gure out their love for each other made these little displays heartwarming even to me.

“I’ll always need a lawyer,” Jessie promised.

Lauren laughed and turned her attention to me. “Is there something going on that I don’t know about? You normally postpone these dinners until after Quinn’s season is over.”

“She’s got home games this week, and I felt like seeing everyone,” I said coyly. Keeping secrets in this group was tough, but I’d managed this one somehow.

“You?” Jessie asked, disbelief dripping from her annoyingly gorgeous face. “Shouldn’t we be worried that you’ll go crazy and bite everyone’s head off before you slink back to your cave for the winter?”

My retort was cut off by several of the friends poking their heads outside to say hello. Quinn ordered everyone back inside to keep the cold out and give us some peace. Amazingly, they complied. Briony lingered a little longer with an update on their kids’ plans with the sitter, but the cold air and our cooking focus pushed her back inside soon enough.

“Tell us you did most of the grilling, M,” Caroline insisted when we brought in the fi nished product. “Willa burns water.”

“I’m surrounded by comic geniuses.” I rolled my eyes, but it turned to a quick smile when I caught Quinn’s gaze. Everyone was taking their usual seats at the table. A nice warm buzz of chatting fi lled the room. I had to admit, when everyone behaved themselves, there was no better feeling than being surrounded by 151

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friends.

The doorbell rang again. It was too noisy for anyone to notice, but I winked at Quinn and headed toward the door.

“Welcome home,” I greeted my visitors on the doorstep.

Stepping back, I brought them inside and marched them into the dining room.

“What the—”

“Oh my—”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Austine!” Lauren’s surprised shriek stopped everyone else’s reaction to having our usually absent friends, Austy and Elise, standing in the room. She jumped up from her seat and enveloped her best friend in a fi erce hug. “You said you wouldn’t be here for another two weeks, you liar!”

“Don’t hog the hugging, L,” Isabel ordered and grabbed Austy as soon as Lauren let go.

Greetings went round in the usual boisterous manner. Elise had grown used to it, and now that her job was the reason Austy was moving back, she’d instantly become just as important.

I reintroduced M and Briony to Austy and Elise. They’d met briefl y on a couple of Austy’s visits, but I was glad I’d insisted they come tonight. As the newest additions to our group, they’d need to feel included when we welcomed back a member who’d left before they joined in. I was once in their position, and it took a long time before I felt comfortable around everyone. Austy had made the integration easy for me, and I knew she’d do the same for them.

“How are you here?” Kayin asked Austy.

“I settled my last case early, and we sold the loft sooner than expected.” Austy fl ipped her eyes to me, the new owner of the loft, before looking back at the group. The clan had been worried she’d be stuck in Seattle for another six months trying to sell her place before they could buy in Richmond. As soon as I heard she 152

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was moving back, I made the offer on her loft since my sister and I already owned the rest of the units in the building. That it helped bring Austy back to Virginia earlier was an added bonus.

“You’re really moving back?” Sam asked.

“We’re already moved back,” Elise told them. “Or as close as a fi fty minute drive is to being back anyway.”

“I can’t believe you kept this from me,” Lauren accused Austy. “I was going to be waiting at your house to help you move in. It was going to be a whole day!”

“Movers,” Austy told her. “Plus, Will thought it would be fun to surprise you.”

“Willa!” Lauren turned her charming ire at me.

“Surprise,” I said mildly. Elise hid a grin, almost as relieved as Austy had been that she wouldn’t have to deal with the entire group when moving into their new house. As helpful as Lauren would be, it would have been hard to keep everyone else away.

“Do you start work tomorrow?” Lauren asked her.

“I’ve got two more weeks of freedom.”

“Good, we can get you settled before you’re overloaded at this U.S. Attorney’s offi ce,” Lauren said.

More questions about logistics and plans went around the group. I settled back and watched the change in the group dynamic. We’d missed Austy these past fi ve years. Things hadn’t been quite the same. Now that everyone was back together and we’d acquired two more cherished friends, our not so little group who’d become our adopted family was fi nally complete.

I glanced at Quinn, catching her eye. She smiled at me, and it felt like a window opened in my heart. Lightness and warmth seeped in as I took in the happiness in our home. When we’d fi rst gotten together all those years ago, I hadn’t let myself think too far ahead. Now, I didn’t need to wonder where life would take us.

With Quinn by my side and these wonderful women to support us, we could handle anything.

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