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“Right. We’re all gathering about Dale’s rudeness.”

“Perfect.” I smiled. “I’ve trained you so well.”

“Woof,” he said.

I grinned like an idiot.

Today was a serious day, but I’d been on cloud nine ever since Gabe told the girls we were staying. The rest of the town didn’t know yet, but the four of us were making plans.

Agnes and Beatrice immediately started asking when I was moving in, and Gabe, in true idiot fashion, suggested breaking down the wall between our apartments a week after we officially started dating. I had to remind him about the absolute mess that would make, especially with the girls eager to get into everything, so we agreed to move in together first.

For now, we were outside of town hall. Everyone had agreed that we all needed to meet up to discuss strategy for making sure Kevin didn’t get away with anything else.

This was the first time Gabe was joining.

I was content to stay on cloud nine until I saw a shadow behind me. I turned to see my four friends staring at us with slack jaws.

“You need to meet my friends.”

“Right.” He said it quietly. “How much do they hate me?”

“Only a little bit. They do know that you paid for everything in the town, though, so that’s earned you massive value points.”

Gabe’s hand grew tighter in mine. “That’s almost worse.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want them to like me just for what I did as the person running the STM grant. I want them to like me for me.”

“Have a little faith. Come say hello and we’ll see where it goes.”

He took a deep breath before nodding and letting me lead him over.

“Hey, guys,” I said. “So, I have an update for you.”

“Did you get your head out of your ass?” Grace asked as she crossed her arms.

Wren winced. It was obvious that knowing who he was had affected her opinion of him.

“I did,” Gabe said. “It took way more convincing than it should have, but I’m staying. Which means I need to officially meet all of you. Again. I hear you know about my alter ego.”

“Yeah, I’m still coming to terms with that one,” Wren muttered. “You left my friend, which makes me want to hate you, but you also paid for me to renovate the library, so I can’t fully hate you. Could you just be a little bit mean? Then I can pick a side.”

“Wren,” I said with a laugh. “He’s not a mean person. He’s just a little dumb sometimes.”

“I am,” Gabe replied. “But you should judge me on what you see. Don’t worry about the STM grant stuff. Judge me for me.”

“Damn, that was actually kind of good.”

“She’ll be conflicted for a while,” Mollie said. “I, for one, am happy for Jade.”

“Me too!” Piper said. “I love a good romantic ending.”

“It’s rare that they happen in real life. I’ve read all your books, by the way,” Gabe said.

Piper blinked. “You have?”

“Once I knew you’d joined the town, I wanted to support you. I’ve also seen the show Wren was on, even if you hated that. And I have Atticus buy all kinds of things from your farm, Mollie.”