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Suddenly, all of the events from the night before came rushing into my mind. Willow was on my bed. She was right in front of me but also wasn’t. She told me to date Tori. Willow (or some form of her) showed up in my room to give me and Tori her blessing. The way Tori was acting could only mean one thing. “Did Willow visit you?”
Tori’s face shot up and wide eyes met mine. “How did you know that? I… I figured it was some very illusive dream. Did you have it too?”
I nodded and sat down beside her. “I did, but I don’t think it was a dream. I think she was really here somehow, even if it was just in our imaginations.”
“Has that happened to you before? Have you seen her?”
I took Tori’s hand in mine and sat it on my lap. “No. I’ve felt her presence, but I’ve never actually talked to her the way I did last night.”
“What did she say to you?”
“That we should be together.”
“Do you think… Does this mean…?” Tori stood from the bed and threw her hands in the air as she began pacing the floor. “I want to believe this really happened and that it means we have Willow’s blessing. But is that even possible? Did we both just imagine it because it’s what we wish could be true?” Tori looked toward the ceiling. “All right. Come on, Willow. Come out one more time. Prove that you really meant it. Show us that it wasn’t all just a weird dream.”
At that moment, I looked out my window and couldn’t believe what I saw. I jumped from the bed and ran over to make sure I wasn’t imagining it. “Did it rain this morning?”
Tori scrunched up her face in confusion. “I don’t know. Why?”
I pointed out the window at what had caught my attention. “There’s a rainbow. I swear, whenever I feel Willow’s presence, a rainbow appears. I think it’s her way of telling me she’s here. You asked for a sign, and a rainbow shows up. That has to mean something, right?”
Tori stood next to me by the window and put her hand on my back. “I want it to.”
All of my questions, every hesitation, from before slipped away as I stared at the rainbow while Tori stood beside me. All of Willow’s words from the night before repeated in my head like a soundtrack to my life. “Willow loved us, Tori. All she wants is for us to be happy. I think we’ve been looking for all of the reasons this shouldn’t happen when maybe we should have been looking for the reasons it should.”
“So, what are you saying? Are you saying—?”
I nodded my head. I couldn’t believe what I was saying, especially since it was a complete 180 from the night before, but everything inside of me was telling me that we weren’t just imagining this. Willow really gave us her blessing. “I think we should give this a try. It’s still a lot to take in, so we should probably take it slow.”
“Coming from the girl I live with who has already met my daughter,” Tori said with a laugh.
I couldn’t help but laugh along with her, and some of the tension surrounding us seemed to melt away. “Okay, so maybe taking it slow looks a little different for us. Take it easy on me. I don’t know how any of this works. I haven’t dated anyone since I was in my early twenties, and it was one person.”
The cutest shy smile spread across Tori’s face and her cheeks turned the slightest bit red. “Would you, you know, wanna go on a date with me?”
I shrugged nonchalantly, as if it didn’t feel like there was a little man doing back handsprings in my stomach. “It’s a good place to start. Maybe we’ll go and find out we’re not that compatible anyway.”
“Oh yeah, because that worked so well with our second kiss,” Tori said sarcastically. Her face became more serious and she took both of my hands in hers. “How does Saturday sound?”
“It sounds like it’s almost a week away.”
Tori laughed, and the sound was like music to my ears. “You said you wanted to take it slow. I’m respecting your wishes. Plus, I have a busy week at work. I’m working weddings on Thursday and Friday, then doing prep and set-up on Saturday, but Marley is taking over for the wedding. Then I’m completely off on Sunday. I’m slowly trying to wean myself off actually working events and into all the preliminary planning instead. With most weddings being on weekends, I can’t do it. Not enough time with Bella. Also, I can’t keep pawning her off on you or Willow’s parents. I feel bad.”
I wrapped my arms around Tori’s neck and thought about kissing her, but decided against it since we hadn’t even been on our first date yet. Instead, I kept them there and held her close to me. “I was only messing with you, but for what it’s worth, I never feel like your pawning Bella off on me. I love her as if she’s my own daughter.”
“You know, if I hadn’t already hit ten, that comment would have done it.” Tori threw her head back and groaned. “I really want to kiss you right now.”
I playfully pushed Tori away. “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I don’t kiss before a first date.”
“Speaking of which, what are we going to tell the girls when we go on our date?
“That they are spending the night with their grandparents? I don’t think we need to explain things. I assume you haven’t given any details when you were out with your lady friends in the past.”
“That’s different. That was for a night. You… well… I hope it’s much more than that.”
My heart leapt in my chest. “I hope so too, but let’s just see how this first date goes first. Deal?”
Tori smiled wider than I had ever seen before. “Deal.”
