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I grin. “I'm not sure. I guess whenever he decides it's time.”

She raises a brow, looking from where Ford stands, on the other side of the pool, to me. “I know how to make him decide. Hey, Alex!”

Alex, standing beside an ice sculpture in the shape of Penhallow’s mascot, glances around him and then lopes over. “What's up?”

“I'm taking pics of everyone. You and Grace stand right there by the pool.”

He hitches a shoulder and walks beside me, wrapping an arm around my waist.

“You do look amazing,” he says, while Kappy fiddles with the settings on her phone. “If you ever decide to leave your church, you've got to give me a call.”

“You'll be in Chicago,” I say with a grin.

“I'm sure there's a local school that's just as good as Northwestern,” he jokes. “Penhallow Community College is actually known for their fine economics prog⁠—”

“Hey,” says Ford, walking up from my right, his jaw set in a hard line, looking from me to Alex. I'm not even sure how he got around the pool that fast without jumping over it. “Can we talk?”

“Sure, just a second. Kappy's⁠—”

Kappy snaps the picture while I'm mid-speech. “Got it!” she calls. “Go have your conversation!”

I roll my eyes and squeeze Alex's forearm. “I'll catch you later. And I was talking when she took that, so I'll destroy the evidence while she's asleep.”

He grins, giving me a light punch in the shoulder before he and Kappy walk away.

I turn to Ford. “What's up?”

He runs a hand through his hair. “It's possible that I got irrationally, unreasonably jealous just now, but I'd prefer not to admit it.”

This version of Ford—open, self-effacing, somewhat embarrassed—is among my top-five favorite versions of him.

“Would you like to go to your room now?” I ask.

He exhales. “Fuck yes.”

“Why don't I meet you there?” I ask. There are too many witnesses here. I don't need to be seen walking off to a room with him alone.

He nods at the lower tier. “I'm sleeping in the pool house again.”

I tell him I'll see him there and walk in the opposite direction. I do a round of the entire house, go down via the basement stairs, and—making sure no one's around—enter the pool house through the side door.

He's already inside, sitting on the bed. I lock the door behind me and he rises, crossing the room to cradle my face in his hands. “You're sure?”

I nod. “Very.”

His kiss is soft and unhurried, but I'm too much in my own head to enjoy it. “Can we just talk for a minute first?”

He pulls me toward the bed. “We can talk all night, Grace. We don't have to do anything.”

He kicks off his shoes and I remove my heels. I lie down beside him, and his gaze in the moonlight is luminous. I love him, so much, and even if he's never said the words, I know he loves me too.

He runs his hand over my hip. “This dress nearly killed me tonight. And since you don't have your phone...I couldn't message you even once to say it.”

“How was Amanda?”

“Grateful.” He presses his lips to my head. “She said to tell you thanks.”

“She knows about us?”