Page 99 of Home for the Holidays

“Doing what?” Heidi’s eyes had filled with tears. She wasn’t holding them back, though. Not this time.

Iris shrugged. “This.Life.”

“I love you.” Heidi pulled Iris into her with her free hand and kissed her deeply. “I can’t imagine doing this life without you either.”

She really and truly couldn’t. For the first time in a very long time, she was excited about the future. As long as Iris was near her, she knew she’d be able to handle whatever came her way.

EPILOGUE

Ayear had passed. An entire year. Iris had moved to Vale Park in the beginning of February. She rented a place above The Tattered Cover, a secondhand bookstore Iris had fallen in love with. The apartment was cute; small but cute. Heidi had told her a few times she didn’t need to spend the money, but Iris insisted. Deep down, they both knew Iris was just worried. What if their relationship didn’t work? Then what?

Heidi wasn’t worried, but their numerous conversations about commitment issues and the foolishness of falling too hard, too fast was a clear indication that Iris had their romantic demise in the back of her mind.

“How is this real? How areyoureal?” she’d asked more than a few times.

“It’s real because we’ve made it real, Iris. And I’m real because you believe in me, because you love me,” was the only answer Heidi ever gave. Iris’s inability to trust happiness was heartbreaking. It wasn’t that Heidi wasn’t also shocked by her love for Iris. It was that she knew without a doubt that what she had with Iris was all she ever wanted.

In September, after the annual Popcorn Festival, Iris came over and never left. It was exactly how Heidi pictured it happening. Slowly Iris’s clothes started to appear in Heidi’s closet, and before she knew it, Iris was subletting her now-furnished apartment.

In November, they went to Zac and Evan’s in Chicago for Thanksgiving dinner. Their brownstone was immaculate, more than big enough to house the entire family for the festivities, which they did. This included Evan’s parents, who were just as over the moon for Zac as Heidi and Stanley were for Evan.

And then it was December. The entire family arrived on the twenty-second, just like the year before. Unlike the year before, though, everyone came exactly as who they were. There was no hiding and no secrets, and Christmas amazingly went off without a hitch. No drama; all love. And when Heidi opened her gift from Iris—two first-class tickets to Rome—she knew the holiday couldn’t get much better.

Everyone had arrived right on time for the New Year’s Eve celebration. Stacey arrived first, followed by Mary and Skip, Evan and Zac, Sandy, Stanley and Kevin, Adrien and Shaun, and Oscar, Karen, and Nora. Even Donna, Margaret, and Charity showed up. Heidi was so filled with love, being surrounded by all the people who mattered to her. Things were infinitely better when everyone was getting along, and Heidi was thrilled about it.

“Evan, Zac, how’s Chicago treating you?” Stacey asked as she sipped an espresso martini made by none other than Sandy, who was dating someone. Finally. What a load off Heidi’s mind that was.

“It’s so great,” Zac answered, his arm looped through the crook of Evan’s as they sat next to each other on the living room couch. “We’re going to head to Italy again in a few months. We actually purchased an old, dilapidated villa and are going to take a few months off and go fix it up.”

“Shut up!” Stacey gasped. “I want to come visit. Can I? Please?”

“Of course you can.” Evan’s answer was filled with genuine excitement. “I have a feeling you and I will get along swimmingly.”

“Oh, we will.” Stacey raised her glass. “To new friends. Who own villas.”

Their laughter filled the living room, and the sound made Heidi feel like she had finally done something right with her life. It’d only taken fifty-four years.

“Hello there, beautiful.” Iris slid her arms around Heidi from behind. “You okay?”

“Oh, babe, I’m better than okay.” Heidi turned so she could see Iris’s face. “I’m so happy. This is what I’ve always wanted. A big family celebration for New Year’s. It’s perfect.”

“I’m so glad I could help out with that,” Iris said with a chuckle.

“You changed my entire life, Iris.” Heidi blinked away the emotion stinging her eyes. “I just love you so much.”

“Okay, everyone, take a flute of champagne from the tray Kevin is coming around with. It’s almost time for the ball to drop!” Stanley called, then waved Zac over. “Son, can you please help me with this surround sound system? It’s too new-fangled for me.”

“Sure thing, Dad,” Zac said with a laugh as he left Evan on the couch.

“Honey,” Mary said, waving at Iris from her seat on the couch. “Come here, please.”

Iris sighed. “I’ll be right back.”

Heidi watched Iris’s interaction with her mom. They were smiling as Mary handed something over to her. The emotion on Iris’s face was hard to miss. What was going on? She wished she could read lips.

“One minute till midnight!” Kevin shouted. “Everyone up on your feet for the countdown!”

Donna rushed over to Heidi and pulled her into a hug. “I love you, Heidi. Thank you for having us here tonight. You know these two girls just love being part of the inner circle.”

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