05-29-2026, 01:57 PM
A Chintz ‘n China Wedding
Bonus Scene (Takes place several years after Well of Secrets)
A loud crash came from the living room and immediately, before I could move, I heard a Kip call out to me.
“Mom! I need your help!”
I shoved the pan of baby quiche onto the stove as I raced toward the living room. “Kip, are you all right?” He sounded like he was in trouble and, knowing my son, he probably was.
I entered the living room just in time to see Kip sprawled on the floor. The stepladder was on its side, and one of the bookcases had tipped over, spilling books everywhere. Joe was in his wheelchair, trying to navigate over to Kip’s side between the books that covered the floor. Silk garlands of ivy, red roses, and white carnations were scattered between the books.
Racing over to Kip’s side, I knelt down. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, looking a little woozy. “Yeah, I just tried to reach too far and the ladder tipped. I couldn’t steady it in time and…well…I grabbed for the bookshelf without thinking.”
I stared at the mess. “At least nothing broke. All right, let’s start cleaning this mess up.”
Joe was already leaning down, picking up books and stacking them on his lap. “Kip and I can take care of this. Why don’t you go back to the kitchen?”
After making certain Kip was—indeed—all right, I kissed both of my guys and returned to the kitchen. Miranda and Chess were getting married tonight, and we wanted the house and food to be perfect.
***
When Miranda had texted me that she and Chess had finally set the date, and asked if they could have the wedding at home, Joe and I had been ecstatic. She and Chess were living in Seattle, where Randa was teaching at the University of Washington, and Chess had finished her residency and had opened a boutique health care clinic for women. She and her partners charged a monthly fee that bypassed insurance and provided family focused medical care for an affordable monthly fee.
Kip still lived in Redmond, working for a high-tech company called American Game-Bot Technology—AGT for short—where he programmed video games. He and Miranda saw each other on a regular basis, and Kip drove back home to visit Joe and me once a month. He was dating, but he hadn’t found anyone he wanted me to meet yet, and I wasn’t pressing.
I removed the quiche and set them on a platter, then covered them with a sheet of plastic wrap and carried them to the garage, where we had a spare fridge for parties. It was already full of trays: stuffed mushrooms, deviled eggs, salmon dip, casseroles of mac ‘n cheese to pop into the oven, baguettes ready-spread with butter and parmesan, Waldorf salad, all sorts of retro dishes that Miranda and Chess loved. A five-pound ham was there, too, ready to be carved at the buffet. Murray would pick up the wedding cake from the bakery, and Harlow and James were bringing wine from their vineyards.
As I returned to the kitchen, ready to tackle baking cookies and pies, Kip popped his head in the kitchen. “The garlands are all up, the books are back on the shelves, and now I’m going to push back the furniture and set up the chairs. Oh, by the way, it’s snowing.”
I glanced out the window. Sure enough, big white flakes were lazily drifting to the ground. The yard was already covered. I hadn’t even noticed, I’d been so busy. “I hope this doesn’t impact anybody coming to the wedding.”
When Joe and I’d had the new house built, we had the architect create a large great room that included the living and dining room, along with a solarium that had clear accordion doors that could be folded back to include the solarium in the great room. The officiate—a friend of Miranda and Chess’s, would be there, on a raised stage that Kip had put together, and there, he would officiate over the wedding. We were expecting forty guests altogether, including the engaged couple, and we had just enough room for that many chairs if we pushed all the furniture out of the way.
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it!” Joe called out.
I continued to measure sugar and butter into the mixing bowl, but stopped as Harlow and Murray entered the kitchen.
“What can we do?” Murray asked. “We’re here and ready for you to put us to work. James and Jimbo are helping Joe and Kip out.” Murray was my best friend. She had been the Chiqetaw Chief of Police for nine years now, and had settled comfortably into her job.
“Harlow, can you go check if Miranda and Chess need any help with their outfits? They’ve taken over the guest house out back.” A few years before, when we moved into the new house, I’d taken a small windfall that I had when I won thanks to a lottery ticket that Kip had bought for me and had a small guest suite built out back. It was basically a bedroom-bath with a kitchenette and a small seating area.
Harlow brushed past me, patting me on the arm. “Of course.”
As she headed out the back door, I looked over at Murray. Suddenly, everything hit me. Miranda and Kip were out leading their own lives, and now Randa was getting married. Joe and I were officially heading into middle age—well, Joe was ten years younger than me, so he wasn’t there yet, but still…And I’d turned my Chintz ‘n China tea shop into a catering company, as well, which I headed up while I had someone manage the tea shop.
Everything was changing, and we were all headed into a new chapter of our lives. I hiccupped and began to cry.
***
Everything was ready. Miranda and Chess were almost ready, still out in the guest house. Harlow texted me that they’d be coming in through the kitchen in five minutes. I glanced in the great room, where everybody was milling, waiting. At the front, under an arch covered with green ferns and white roses, along with red carnations, Kip stood waiting. He was Miranda’s best man. Alice, Chess’s cousin, was her bridesmaid, and she was waiting at the front, too.
Jimbo—Murray’s husband—was waiting with them. He’d gotten his online ordination from the Universal Church of Life, and he was going to marry them. His long beard was neatly braided with tiny roses and bits of fern, and his hair was pulled back in a salt-and-pepper ponytail that reached his lower back.
Joe entered the kitchen, his wheelchair smoothly rolling over the tile. “Are you ready for this?” he asked.
I shook my head. “It feels like I was calling her in off the roof just yesterday. I can’t believe she’s getting married. How did the time fly?”
“I know, love. I know.”
But fly it did. I remember when we met, when Harlow had been in a wreck, down in a ravine. Joe had helped rescue her. He’d been a paramedic at the time, and even though he was ten years younger than I was, he had convinced me that we belonged together. Now, years later, we were still in love, still happy, and Kip and Randa treated him like their father. He was more their father than Roy had ever had been.
The kitchen door opened and I turned to see Miranda there, a vision in black. She had opted for a black wedding gown, mermaid style that fit her figure perfectly, with sparkling crystals blinging out the waistband and where the massive floof of ruffles blossomed out at her knees. Behind her, Harlow carried her train so it wouldn’t drag in the snow.
Behind Harlow, Chess entered, wearing a white satin tuxedo, with a white satin top hat. Chess was gorgeous, with red hair that was coiled up in braids atop her head. She had a red handkerchief peeking out of her jacket’s pocket, and she carried a silver walking stick. Together, they looked ready for the most elegant ball ever.
I gasped, taking in the sight. Joe squeezed my hand.
“Oh baby, you look so beautiful,” I said, my heart racing. “You too, Chess.”
“Where’s Samantha?” Miranda asked, looking around.
“We locked her and the others in the master bedroom, so they can’t get out.” I understood why she asked. Samantha and her kittens had been with us from the beginning, from shortly after we moved to Chiqetaw. They were as much fixtures in our lives as were Murray and Jimbo, and Harlow and James. “I think you should say hi to them after the party, okay?”
Randa nodded. She looked at Chess, nervously smiling. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”
“I can’t believe you said yes,” Chess said. “Together forever?”
“Forever together,” Randa said, and the look in their eyes told me how much they were in love. “Are you ready?”
Chess let out a long, slow breath. “Absolutely.”
They turned to me, waiting.
I motioned for Harlow to take her seat with James. Murray was in charge of the music, and she silently moved to her station at the back of the great room and asked people to please take their seats. Another moment, and the flutes of Mannheim Steamroller began to echo through the room. The solarium had enough height for the music to reverberate off the walls.
Chess took her mother’s arm and she began to walk her down the aisle to the Carol of the Birds. I glanced at Joe and he squeezed my hand again as the music switched to Embers, again by Mannheim Steamroller. On cue, about a minute into the song, I looped my arm through Miranda’s on her left side, and she reached down for Joe’s hand on her right. James, Harlow’s husband, began to push his wheelchair forward.
As we walked her down the aisle, flashes of the past flickered through my mind. Randa on the roof, watching the stars overhead…Randa crying because her father had forgot her birthday again…Randa excitedly showing me her report card and telling me she’d been nominated valedictorian of her senior undergraduate year…Randa telling me she’d met a woman named Chess and was going out on a first date with her…
The solarium had wide windows all around and skylights overhead that gave us a backdrop overlooking the backyard, and outside the snowflakes danced down. As we approached the altar, James wheeled Joe to the right, where he sat next to two empty chairs. I kissed Randa on the cheek and then moved to sit by him.
Chess’s mother kissed her and joined us. Her father hadn’t accepted that his daughter was gay yet, and had refused to come, so we had accepted Chess as our daughter, as well as our daughter in law.
The music faded.
Jimbo cleared his throat. “We come together today, to celebrate the union of two souls who—in this often heartless and frightening world—managed to find each other. Love matters. Love makes the shadows bearable, love dries our tears, and comforts us in the darkest hours. Miranda and Chess have elected to share their lives, to bind their fortunes and destiny together. They’ve written their own vows, to share with us, asking us to bear witness to their union. Chess, please recite your vows.”
Chess took a deep breath. She took hold of Miranda’s hands and looked deep into my daughter’s eyes. “Randa…the day we first met, I knew there was something special about you. I was so afraid to ask you out, because I thought you might say ‘no.’ But you said yes. Today, as I ask you to say yes—again—to be my wife, I pledge to you my loyalty, my honesty. I pledge to be your cheerleader, and your consoler. I pledge to always make you macaroni and cheese when you’re sad, and to always help scoop the litter box. I’ll be there for you, whatever comes, and love you forever and together.”
Jimbo turned to Miranda. “Miranda, now your vows.”
Randa’s voice was shaking, but she stood straight and sure. “Chess, after that first date, I knew that I wanted you in my life. Everything fit so well—we fit together so well. When you proposed to me, there was no question—it was always a ‘yes.’ And today, on our wedding day, I pledge my loyalty and love to you. I’ll always be honest. When you come home sick at heart from work, I’ll comfort you. Whatever victories you have—large or small—I’ll be cheering you on. I pledge to always keep fresh roses on the nightstand for you. I’ll rub your feet after a long shift. And every time I look at the stars, I’ll see you shining against the sky. I’ll be there for you, whatever comes, and love you forever and together.”
I tried to stifle my tears, but it wasn’t going to happen, so I let them fall. Kip, standing beside his sister, was crying. Joe was crying. So many tears, and so much joy.
Jimbo cleared his throat again. “Do you have the rings?”
Eileen, Harlow’s daughter, stepped forward, carrying an ice blue pillow on which rested two platinum wedding bands. She stood to the side, presenting the pillow.
“Chess, take Miranda’s ring and repeat after me. I, Chess, wed thee Miranda, for today, tomorrow, forever and together. Let this ring be a promise of my love.”
“I, Chess, wed thee Miranda, today, tomorrow, forever and together. Let this ring be a promise of my love.” She slid the ring on Miranda’s finger.
Miranda took up Chess’s ring and, following Jimbo’s instructions, slid it on Chess’s finger. “I, Miranda, wed thee Chess, for today, tomorrow, forever and together. Let this ring be a promise of my love.”
Jimbo closed the book. “Then, with the power invested in me, I now pronounce you wife, and wife. You may kiss.”
Chess reached forward, cradling Randa’s face as she kissed her. They both looked radiant. I glanced over in the corner and saw the glowing outline of Nana, my beloved grandmother. She winked at me, and blew me a kiss as outside, the snow began to fall in earnest.
***
After the festivities came to a close, and Randa and Chess were off to their honeymoon, Joe and I snuggled on the sofa. James and Jimbo had helped get all the furniture back before everybody left. We settled in, sparkling cider in hand. I didn’t drink—once a long time ago, it had been too much of a comfort for me—but the sparkling cider was crisp and cold, and the leftover wedding cake was just the right note of sweet.
“Well, that’s one down. One to go,” Joe said. “Did you ever think you’d see this day?”
“No,” I said. “I didn’t even think about it. Life takes you by surprise, sometimes.” I stared at the snow as it piled up. “Jimbo said he’d come plow our driveway in the morning.” Murray and Jimbo had bought my old house and they lived next door. Joe and I had the new house built so he could get around with his disability, and I no longer mourned the house I’d brought up Kip and Randa in. It was full of life, still, and that’s all that mattered.
“What are you going to do tomorrow? The roads will probably be closed due to the snow. I’m glad the girls got off on their honeymoon before we got snowed in.” Joe yawned and finished his cider.
“I think I’ll write.” I was writing a book. Harlow had become a famous romance novelist, and now I was writing how-to’s on the paranormal. I had decided—though I hadn’t told anybody yet—to sell the tea shop. New adventures awaited us all, it seemed. I stood, yawning. “Ready for bed?”
“Am I ever,” Joe said. He shifted back over to his wheelchair and headed for the bedroom.
As I made sure the doors were locked and turned off the lights, I paused at the solarium. My daughter was officially married. My son was working at a job in the Seattle area and doing well. The cats were snoozing—at their ages, they did a lot of that now. And as we moved into our mid-life years, I was ready for whatever might come.
Bonus Scene (Takes place several years after Well of Secrets)
A loud crash came from the living room and immediately, before I could move, I heard a Kip call out to me.
“Mom! I need your help!”
I shoved the pan of baby quiche onto the stove as I raced toward the living room. “Kip, are you all right?” He sounded like he was in trouble and, knowing my son, he probably was.
I entered the living room just in time to see Kip sprawled on the floor. The stepladder was on its side, and one of the bookcases had tipped over, spilling books everywhere. Joe was in his wheelchair, trying to navigate over to Kip’s side between the books that covered the floor. Silk garlands of ivy, red roses, and white carnations were scattered between the books.
Racing over to Kip’s side, I knelt down. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, looking a little woozy. “Yeah, I just tried to reach too far and the ladder tipped. I couldn’t steady it in time and…well…I grabbed for the bookshelf without thinking.”
I stared at the mess. “At least nothing broke. All right, let’s start cleaning this mess up.”
Joe was already leaning down, picking up books and stacking them on his lap. “Kip and I can take care of this. Why don’t you go back to the kitchen?”
After making certain Kip was—indeed—all right, I kissed both of my guys and returned to the kitchen. Miranda and Chess were getting married tonight, and we wanted the house and food to be perfect.
***
When Miranda had texted me that she and Chess had finally set the date, and asked if they could have the wedding at home, Joe and I had been ecstatic. She and Chess were living in Seattle, where Randa was teaching at the University of Washington, and Chess had finished her residency and had opened a boutique health care clinic for women. She and her partners charged a monthly fee that bypassed insurance and provided family focused medical care for an affordable monthly fee.
Kip still lived in Redmond, working for a high-tech company called American Game-Bot Technology—AGT for short—where he programmed video games. He and Miranda saw each other on a regular basis, and Kip drove back home to visit Joe and me once a month. He was dating, but he hadn’t found anyone he wanted me to meet yet, and I wasn’t pressing.
I removed the quiche and set them on a platter, then covered them with a sheet of plastic wrap and carried them to the garage, where we had a spare fridge for parties. It was already full of trays: stuffed mushrooms, deviled eggs, salmon dip, casseroles of mac ‘n cheese to pop into the oven, baguettes ready-spread with butter and parmesan, Waldorf salad, all sorts of retro dishes that Miranda and Chess loved. A five-pound ham was there, too, ready to be carved at the buffet. Murray would pick up the wedding cake from the bakery, and Harlow and James were bringing wine from their vineyards.
As I returned to the kitchen, ready to tackle baking cookies and pies, Kip popped his head in the kitchen. “The garlands are all up, the books are back on the shelves, and now I’m going to push back the furniture and set up the chairs. Oh, by the way, it’s snowing.”
I glanced out the window. Sure enough, big white flakes were lazily drifting to the ground. The yard was already covered. I hadn’t even noticed, I’d been so busy. “I hope this doesn’t impact anybody coming to the wedding.”
When Joe and I’d had the new house built, we had the architect create a large great room that included the living and dining room, along with a solarium that had clear accordion doors that could be folded back to include the solarium in the great room. The officiate—a friend of Miranda and Chess’s, would be there, on a raised stage that Kip had put together, and there, he would officiate over the wedding. We were expecting forty guests altogether, including the engaged couple, and we had just enough room for that many chairs if we pushed all the furniture out of the way.
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it!” Joe called out.
I continued to measure sugar and butter into the mixing bowl, but stopped as Harlow and Murray entered the kitchen.
“What can we do?” Murray asked. “We’re here and ready for you to put us to work. James and Jimbo are helping Joe and Kip out.” Murray was my best friend. She had been the Chiqetaw Chief of Police for nine years now, and had settled comfortably into her job.
“Harlow, can you go check if Miranda and Chess need any help with their outfits? They’ve taken over the guest house out back.” A few years before, when we moved into the new house, I’d taken a small windfall that I had when I won thanks to a lottery ticket that Kip had bought for me and had a small guest suite built out back. It was basically a bedroom-bath with a kitchenette and a small seating area.
Harlow brushed past me, patting me on the arm. “Of course.”
As she headed out the back door, I looked over at Murray. Suddenly, everything hit me. Miranda and Kip were out leading their own lives, and now Randa was getting married. Joe and I were officially heading into middle age—well, Joe was ten years younger than me, so he wasn’t there yet, but still…And I’d turned my Chintz ‘n China tea shop into a catering company, as well, which I headed up while I had someone manage the tea shop.
Everything was changing, and we were all headed into a new chapter of our lives. I hiccupped and began to cry.
***
Everything was ready. Miranda and Chess were almost ready, still out in the guest house. Harlow texted me that they’d be coming in through the kitchen in five minutes. I glanced in the great room, where everybody was milling, waiting. At the front, under an arch covered with green ferns and white roses, along with red carnations, Kip stood waiting. He was Miranda’s best man. Alice, Chess’s cousin, was her bridesmaid, and she was waiting at the front, too.
Jimbo—Murray’s husband—was waiting with them. He’d gotten his online ordination from the Universal Church of Life, and he was going to marry them. His long beard was neatly braided with tiny roses and bits of fern, and his hair was pulled back in a salt-and-pepper ponytail that reached his lower back.
Joe entered the kitchen, his wheelchair smoothly rolling over the tile. “Are you ready for this?” he asked.
I shook my head. “It feels like I was calling her in off the roof just yesterday. I can’t believe she’s getting married. How did the time fly?”
“I know, love. I know.”
But fly it did. I remember when we met, when Harlow had been in a wreck, down in a ravine. Joe had helped rescue her. He’d been a paramedic at the time, and even though he was ten years younger than I was, he had convinced me that we belonged together. Now, years later, we were still in love, still happy, and Kip and Randa treated him like their father. He was more their father than Roy had ever had been.
The kitchen door opened and I turned to see Miranda there, a vision in black. She had opted for a black wedding gown, mermaid style that fit her figure perfectly, with sparkling crystals blinging out the waistband and where the massive floof of ruffles blossomed out at her knees. Behind her, Harlow carried her train so it wouldn’t drag in the snow.
Behind Harlow, Chess entered, wearing a white satin tuxedo, with a white satin top hat. Chess was gorgeous, with red hair that was coiled up in braids atop her head. She had a red handkerchief peeking out of her jacket’s pocket, and she carried a silver walking stick. Together, they looked ready for the most elegant ball ever.
I gasped, taking in the sight. Joe squeezed my hand.
“Oh baby, you look so beautiful,” I said, my heart racing. “You too, Chess.”
“Where’s Samantha?” Miranda asked, looking around.
“We locked her and the others in the master bedroom, so they can’t get out.” I understood why she asked. Samantha and her kittens had been with us from the beginning, from shortly after we moved to Chiqetaw. They were as much fixtures in our lives as were Murray and Jimbo, and Harlow and James. “I think you should say hi to them after the party, okay?”
Randa nodded. She looked at Chess, nervously smiling. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”
“I can’t believe you said yes,” Chess said. “Together forever?”
“Forever together,” Randa said, and the look in their eyes told me how much they were in love. “Are you ready?”
Chess let out a long, slow breath. “Absolutely.”
They turned to me, waiting.
I motioned for Harlow to take her seat with James. Murray was in charge of the music, and she silently moved to her station at the back of the great room and asked people to please take their seats. Another moment, and the flutes of Mannheim Steamroller began to echo through the room. The solarium had enough height for the music to reverberate off the walls.
Chess took her mother’s arm and she began to walk her down the aisle to the Carol of the Birds. I glanced at Joe and he squeezed my hand again as the music switched to Embers, again by Mannheim Steamroller. On cue, about a minute into the song, I looped my arm through Miranda’s on her left side, and she reached down for Joe’s hand on her right. James, Harlow’s husband, began to push his wheelchair forward.
As we walked her down the aisle, flashes of the past flickered through my mind. Randa on the roof, watching the stars overhead…Randa crying because her father had forgot her birthday again…Randa excitedly showing me her report card and telling me she’d been nominated valedictorian of her senior undergraduate year…Randa telling me she’d met a woman named Chess and was going out on a first date with her…
The solarium had wide windows all around and skylights overhead that gave us a backdrop overlooking the backyard, and outside the snowflakes danced down. As we approached the altar, James wheeled Joe to the right, where he sat next to two empty chairs. I kissed Randa on the cheek and then moved to sit by him.
Chess’s mother kissed her and joined us. Her father hadn’t accepted that his daughter was gay yet, and had refused to come, so we had accepted Chess as our daughter, as well as our daughter in law.
The music faded.
Jimbo cleared his throat. “We come together today, to celebrate the union of two souls who—in this often heartless and frightening world—managed to find each other. Love matters. Love makes the shadows bearable, love dries our tears, and comforts us in the darkest hours. Miranda and Chess have elected to share their lives, to bind their fortunes and destiny together. They’ve written their own vows, to share with us, asking us to bear witness to their union. Chess, please recite your vows.”
Chess took a deep breath. She took hold of Miranda’s hands and looked deep into my daughter’s eyes. “Randa…the day we first met, I knew there was something special about you. I was so afraid to ask you out, because I thought you might say ‘no.’ But you said yes. Today, as I ask you to say yes—again—to be my wife, I pledge to you my loyalty, my honesty. I pledge to be your cheerleader, and your consoler. I pledge to always make you macaroni and cheese when you’re sad, and to always help scoop the litter box. I’ll be there for you, whatever comes, and love you forever and together.”
Jimbo turned to Miranda. “Miranda, now your vows.”
Randa’s voice was shaking, but she stood straight and sure. “Chess, after that first date, I knew that I wanted you in my life. Everything fit so well—we fit together so well. When you proposed to me, there was no question—it was always a ‘yes.’ And today, on our wedding day, I pledge my loyalty and love to you. I’ll always be honest. When you come home sick at heart from work, I’ll comfort you. Whatever victories you have—large or small—I’ll be cheering you on. I pledge to always keep fresh roses on the nightstand for you. I’ll rub your feet after a long shift. And every time I look at the stars, I’ll see you shining against the sky. I’ll be there for you, whatever comes, and love you forever and together.”
I tried to stifle my tears, but it wasn’t going to happen, so I let them fall. Kip, standing beside his sister, was crying. Joe was crying. So many tears, and so much joy.
Jimbo cleared his throat again. “Do you have the rings?”
Eileen, Harlow’s daughter, stepped forward, carrying an ice blue pillow on which rested two platinum wedding bands. She stood to the side, presenting the pillow.
“Chess, take Miranda’s ring and repeat after me. I, Chess, wed thee Miranda, for today, tomorrow, forever and together. Let this ring be a promise of my love.”
“I, Chess, wed thee Miranda, today, tomorrow, forever and together. Let this ring be a promise of my love.” She slid the ring on Miranda’s finger.
Miranda took up Chess’s ring and, following Jimbo’s instructions, slid it on Chess’s finger. “I, Miranda, wed thee Chess, for today, tomorrow, forever and together. Let this ring be a promise of my love.”
Jimbo closed the book. “Then, with the power invested in me, I now pronounce you wife, and wife. You may kiss.”
Chess reached forward, cradling Randa’s face as she kissed her. They both looked radiant. I glanced over in the corner and saw the glowing outline of Nana, my beloved grandmother. She winked at me, and blew me a kiss as outside, the snow began to fall in earnest.
***
After the festivities came to a close, and Randa and Chess were off to their honeymoon, Joe and I snuggled on the sofa. James and Jimbo had helped get all the furniture back before everybody left. We settled in, sparkling cider in hand. I didn’t drink—once a long time ago, it had been too much of a comfort for me—but the sparkling cider was crisp and cold, and the leftover wedding cake was just the right note of sweet.
“Well, that’s one down. One to go,” Joe said. “Did you ever think you’d see this day?”
“No,” I said. “I didn’t even think about it. Life takes you by surprise, sometimes.” I stared at the snow as it piled up. “Jimbo said he’d come plow our driveway in the morning.” Murray and Jimbo had bought my old house and they lived next door. Joe and I had the new house built so he could get around with his disability, and I no longer mourned the house I’d brought up Kip and Randa in. It was full of life, still, and that’s all that mattered.
“What are you going to do tomorrow? The roads will probably be closed due to the snow. I’m glad the girls got off on their honeymoon before we got snowed in.” Joe yawned and finished his cider.
“I think I’ll write.” I was writing a book. Harlow had become a famous romance novelist, and now I was writing how-to’s on the paranormal. I had decided—though I hadn’t told anybody yet—to sell the tea shop. New adventures awaited us all, it seemed. I stood, yawning. “Ready for bed?”
“Am I ever,” Joe said. He shifted back over to his wheelchair and headed for the bedroom.
As I made sure the doors were locked and turned off the lights, I paused at the solarium. My daughter was officially married. My son was working at a job in the Seattle area and doing well. The cats were snoozing—at their ages, they did a lot of that now. And as we moved into our mid-life years, I was ready for whatever might come.
Yasmine Galenorn
NYT Bestselling Author
"I break for Starbucks"
NYT Bestselling Author
"I break for Starbucks"