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Marcia comes out of the laundry room. “The towels and the last of the tablecloths are in the wash and dry.”

“You can go. Thank you, Marcia,” Cass says.

“My pleasure, Miss Cass.”

“Just Cass,” Cass says.

Marcia smiles, grabs her purse and heads out the side door, leaving me alone with Cass.

“Remember at Declan and Winona’s wedding?” I ask her.

“When you asked me to date?”

“Before that,” I say.

“When you found me in the alcove?”

“Yeah,” I say, walking up behind her and rubbing her shoulders.

She lets out a soft moan. “How do you always know where I’m holding stress?”

“I’m a savant,” I say.

“So humble too,” she says with a soft laugh.

“Can I show you something?” I ask.

“As long as you don’t stop rubbing my shoulders.”

“I’ll do more of that when we get to where I want to show you this thing.”

She turns and squints at me. “What are you up to, QB?”

“Nothing. Just come with me.”

“Okay,” she says, placing her hand in my outstretched palm and allowing me to lead her upstairs.

“Do you remember when we toured this house for the first time with Coleman?” I ask on our way up.

“I do,” she says. “I couldn’t believe you were going to get to live here. I was torn between falling even more in love with this house and even more angry at you for being the man who constantly got in the way of what I wanted.”

She shakes her head. “I couldn’t have been more wrong about you.”

“You were partially right. I am bossy.”

“Insufferably so,” she says, turning toward me and standing on tiptoe to place a kiss on my lips.

As much as I want to take the kiss further, I stop myself. I’ve got a plan and not even Cass’s kisses will thwart it.

We pass one of the spare bedrooms upstairs. Cass has taken over the master, as she should for now.

“That one would make a nice nursery,” I say quietly.

“A nursery?” Cass pauses in her tracks.

“One day,” I say, smiling down at her. “If there’s a married couple living here and they want children.”

“Little Marckies?” she asks.