"Where are you going?" he mumbles into the pillow.
"Nowhere," I say. "Just getting coffee."
"Stay," he says, pulling me back down. "Coffee can wait."
I laugh and curl into his side, and he wraps both arms around me like he is trying to memorize the shape of me.
"I love you," he says.
"I love you too."
"I can't believe we are getting married in three months."
"Nervous?" I ask.
"Terrified," he admits. "But in a good way."
"Me too."
We lie there for a while, listening to Maddie singing in her room down the hall, and I think about how much has changed since that first day I walked into Spice Spice Baby.
I came to Valentine for a job.
I stayed for life.
And now I can't imagine being anywhere else.
Later that morning, Linda comes over for brunch. She has become something of a surrogate mother to me, and I love her fierce protectiveness over Dylan and Maddie almost as much as I love them.
We sit around Dylan's kitchen table with pancakes and coffee and Maddie's never-ending chatter about the wedding.
"Can we have a chocolate fountain?" Maddie asks for the third time this week.
"We will see," Dylan says, which is parent code for probably yes.
"Can we invite my whole class?"
"That is a lot of people, bug."
"But they all want to see Piper's dress!"
Linda laughs and pats my hand. "You are going to be a beautiful bride."
"Thank you," I say, feeling my cheeks heat.
"And more importantly," Linda continues, looking at Dylan, "you are going to be happy. Both of you."
Dylan reaches across the table and takes my hand. "We already are."
Linda's eyes get suspiciously bright. "Good. That is all I ever wanted for you."
After brunch, Maddie drags me outside to help her plant flowers in the garden. Dylan watches from the porch with his coffee, and every time I look up, he is smiling.
"What?" I call out.
"Nothing," he says. "Just appreciating the view."
"You say that a lot."
