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I would never forgive Coco for dying.

But I would always thank her for this.

For giving me my home again.

The people. Not the place.

Dominic opened the front door and let in a blast of frigid air. He was bundled from head to toe, carrying a few packages.

“A delivery driver just dropped these off,” he mumbled through the scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face.

Veronica pranced over to him before I could untangle myself from the curtains.

I was relieved to see the packages. They were the only Christmas presents I’d had time to buy for anyone. But I was even more relieved when Veronica took them from her husband’s arms, stood on her tiptoes, lowered his scarf, and kissed him.

“Now get back to work,” she sang.

“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted her.

It was adorable.

I was just glad they were working things out.

Coco was right. Sometimes things had to come undone before they could come back together the right way.

Not that everything was magically fixed between everyone.

But we were all working on it.

I didn’t think relationships were ever really done. Like Tate said, it was two imperfect people trying hard and fighting for each other every day.

Maybe I would have to write that on a wall somewhere in the house and cover it up with wallpaper for the next generation to find.

As the hours wore on and my fingers started to go numb from sewing, one by one, all our helpers left until it was just Tate and me.

And the house.

He sat next to me on the stairs, smelling of wood and hard work, his skin still faintly glistening from everything he’d done that day. There was something so attractive about it. About him.

In the quiet, we looked around at our handiwork.

The old house shone a bit brighter now.

And it felt different.

It felt like ours.

Not just Coco’s.

A thought that made me both happy and sad.

It was what she wanted for us. But it meant that she was gone.

Tate took my hand, his thumb immediately brushing what we were still calling my semi-engagement ring. It was funny because I think we both knew there was nothing semi about it, but there hadn’t been time to make it official or set a date.

“Let’s take a tour,” he said.

“Okay.” I yawned and set aside the last curtain panel that needed to be hung. It could wait until morning.