Epilogue – Dean
“Those dishes were mine,” I growled in Grace’s ear, wrapping my arms around her waist and kissing her neck.
She continued scrubbing, though she angled her neck for more. “I can’t help it if Piper likes your singing better than mine. Is she asleep?”
“She’s close. Let me have the scrubber, babe.”
Grace put down the plate she’d been holding and handed back the scrubber. Only, when she moved out of the way, I didn’t see her grab the sprayer and aim it at me until it was too late. I got a blast to the chest that had me gasping in shock and her laughing her head off. We wrestled for the sprayer, and I got another blast, this time in the face, but then it was mine. Instead of soaking Grace, l stripped my shirt off and guarded the sink.
“What’s your big plan now?” Grace asked, openly admiring me with her hands on her hips. Her lips twitched with a smile.
“My plan is to finish these dishes and then come find you and bother you to death while you’re illustrating.”
“This plan sounds familiar. Except I like it when you come bother me.”
“Oh really? ”
“I get plenty done during the day. Wanna have a dance party, husband-o-mine?” she asked.
“Always.”
“Here, toss me that shirt, and I’ll go start a load of laundry.” She caught my shirt when I tossed it and walked off down the hall.
I cleaned up the water mess and finished the dishes as quickly as possible. Then I went to find Grace, where she was indeed cross-legged on the couch, illustrating with her tablet in her lap and her stylus in hand.
I’d always found the process amazing. I sat down carefully so I didn’t jostle her and watched. “This is for Rocky Road Rescue?” I asked when she leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder for a second. The road she’d created looked just like the ice cream flavor. I hadn’t been into reading graphic novels as a kid, but now I understood their appeal.
“It is. Now I just need to add the jungle to the background and the monkeys in the trees holding ice cream cones.”
“Naturally. You and Jessica have this weird brain connection I’ll never quite understand. Is it ever like that with other projects?”
Grace shook her head. “Usually, the author has nothing to do with my part of it. Even in picture books, where there’s only a few words on each page, I get to bring them to life in any way I choose. Well, as long as the publisher likes how it turns out.” She put her tablet aside and climbed into my lap.
“Still want to dance?” I asked.
“Mm-hmm. In a minute.” She snuggled up against my bare chest and her whole body relaxed. “Thank you for not letting me give up on me. I can’t believe I once thought this wasn’t possible. You, Dean Kinney, are the stuff of dreams.”
“You’re easy to love.”
She lifted her head and looked at me. “I hog the bathroom. And I hiss like a vampire when you turn on the lights in the morning. ”
“And I forget to inside-out my socks before putting them in the hamper. And my feet stink after I work out.” I kissed her neck.
“Exactly. You’re worth loving. And so am I.” Grace ran her hands through my hair and gently rubbed the tip of her nose against mine. “Two songs, and then I’m taking you to bed, sir. Do you have any requests?”
“Usher?”
Grace laughed. “I knew he’d grow on you. But if we play Usher, Piper will run down the hall to join in, and then where will that leave us?”
“With a family dance party.” I kissed her softly. “Which I don’t think is what you had in mind tonight.”
She gave me a slow smile. “No, it’s not. How about some George Strait?” She slid off my lap and picked up her phone.
I stood up and pushed back the ottoman that had migrated from her house to mine when we became a family. It was still always in the way.
The strains of “Carrying Your Love with Me,” started up, and I took Grace in my arms. “This is the first slow song we danced to in your house.”
She nodded. “And you ran your thumb down my spine, and I pretended not to notice.”
“I was hoping you were so indifferent to me that it didn’t even register. I didn’t want to get kicked out.”
“For excessive flirting?”
“Yeah.”
“Well.” Grace tucked herself in closer and rested her forehead in the crook of my neck. “I was not indifferent to your flirting. I’m still not.”
“That’s what I like best about you.”
She laughed. “I’ll bet. ”
***