Page 157 of Until Joy

“Hey buddy, if you keep complaining about my cooking, I’m never baking for you again.”

He held up his hands, laughing. “I’ll stop. I’ll stop. What about you? What do you want our life to look like?”

I thought about it, picturing all the possibilities that stretched out before us. “I want traditions. Like Friday night movie marathons and Saturday morning waffles. I want a garden in the backyard where we can grow tomatoes and herbs.”

“You want to garden?”

“I want to try everything with you. Gardening, traveling, maybe taking cooking classes so I stop burning dinner.”

“What else?”

I paused and looked up at him through my lashes. “I want kids, Graham. I want to see them running through this house someday, driving us crazy and filling it with laughter.” I paused. “Is that something you want, too?”

Graham's hands framed my face, his thumbs stroking over my cheekbones. “I want everything with you, Joy. Kids, chaos, the whole beautiful mess of it.”

“Really?”

“Really.” He kissed me softly. “I want little girls with your eyes and your baking skills.”

“What if they want to ride Harleys and go into the Navy?”

“Then I’ll support them all the way.”

With those words I fell in love with him a little more. “I love you so much, Graham Wallace.”

“I love you too, Joy Magill.” His expression went serious. “Enough to brave a hundred furniture stores if it makes you happy.”

“Just a hundred?”

“Okay, two hundred. But that's my final offer.”

“I'll take it.” I leaned up to kiss him again, tasting forever on his lips.

When I pulled back, Graham was studying my face with an expression I couldn't quite read.

“What?” I asked.

“Just thinking about how perfect this is.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Coming home to you, to this. I never imagined I could be this happy.”

“You know what?” I said finally.

“What?”

“I think we should order pizza and then break in one of those arm chairs.”

Graham's grin was pure mischief. “Done.”

And as Graham called for food delivery, I curled up against him and thought about how perfect this moment was. We'd survived everything life had thrown at us, and now we were here, building something beautiful together.

The future stretched out before us, bright and full of possibility, and I couldn't wait to live every moment of it with Graham by my side. Whatever came next, we'd face it together, one piece of furniture at a time.

Epilogue

Three Months Later

Joy

Graham stopped the truck and turned to me. His hazel eyes went wide and heated as they traveled from my face down to my boots and back up again.