I Love How You Love Me (The Sullivans #13)(57)

The women all nodded, with Sophie saying, “The best.”

“I know there’s no rush,” Nicola said, “but I don’t know if there’s any reason to wait, either.”

“You’ve got great instincts. You’ll know when it’s right for you,” Megan said.

“Or maybe one day you’ll just wake up pregnant like I did,” Sophie said with a laugh.

A woman who was nearly a carbon copy of Sophie walked up just then and said, “You didn’t exactly just wake up pregnant. I believe there was some wild sex during a one-night stand with a really hot guy first.”

“Meet my twin, Lori,” Sophie said to Grace. And then to her sister, “This is Grace.”

“Ohh, you’re gorgeous,” Lori said. “No wonder Dylan is gaga over you.”

“Lori and Summer share a lot of the same qualities,” Megan said with a grin.

Grace knew she had two choices: Either feel overwhelmed by Dylan’s family and bolt…or roll with it and just have fun. After little more than a week with Dylan, she knew exactly what the right answer was.

Fun.

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Lori.” Grace nodded toward the group of kids. “The toddler whaling on the drums over there is my son, Mason.”

“Seriously, the two of you are perfect. Double-no-wonder my cousin is head over heels. Dylan is great with kids, isn’t he?”

“He’s certainly amazing with Mason.”

“Dylan is only five years older than me and Soph, but when we were kids, he would come up with the most fun games. And,” Lori added with a nod toward her twin sister, “he was usually the only one who could get her to stop crying.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “I was only crying because you were so loud all the time that you made my head hurt. Still are,” she added with a smile. “Dylan’s awesome with Smith and Jackie, too. Definitely right up there on their favorite-uncle list.”

Just then, the lights started flashing. “Mia must be here!” Lori declared in a loud stage whisper, even though there was no point in trying to conceal themselves with the kids making so much noise.

“I’m so glad you could drop by the set today, Mia,” they heard Tatiana say in a voice made deliberately loud enough to carry to everyone. “How was your honeymoon?”

“It was a week of sex and sleep on repeat with great food and plenty of tequila mixed in. What could be better? I feel like I could tackle pretty much anything now.”

Grace’s parents weren’t prudes by any means, but she hadn’t grown up with the subject of sexuality spoken about so freely, nor had a group of girlfriends who shared details. The thing was, instead of feeling uncomfortable about it, she found that she really liked it.

Why shouldn’t sexuality be something to celebrate?

Lord knew she and Dylan had celebrated it last night over the phone...

“Oh good,” Tatiana’s voice carried over, “I’m glad you’re not too tired, because…SURPRISE!”

They all called out the word a beat after Tatiana, and Mia looked truly stunned. “Oh my God, how did you pull this together without me finding out? I can’t believe it. You guys have just made my amazing week even better!” She hugged one person after another as tears spilled down her cheeks. “I’m so glad all of you are here. Ford and I really wanted everyone at the wedding, but—”

“Ford is so famous and such a magnet for paparazzi and fans that you did exactly what you needed to do,” Nicola said before Mia could apologize for anything. “And I, for one, think your surprise wedding at your parents’ house sounds like the most romantic thing ever.”

“Me, too,” said a woman with a long dark braid over her shoulder whom Grace hadn’t yet met. “In fact, Zach and I are thinking of stealing the idea from you two.”

“Ryan said the same thing,” a blond woman said with a smile.

“But I love big splashy weddings,” Mia exclaimed. “And I really want to go to both of yours.”

Laughing along with everyone else, a woman whom Grace instantly recognized from her shopping trip earlier in the week as the owner of Indulgence said, “That’s why we’re having a big splashy reverse bachelorette party for you today.”

Seattle had seemed so big, and she’d been so busy holed up with her computer and baby, that Grace hadn’t been sure she’d ever really meet any women with whom she could connect. But now, all because of Dylan, she finally felt like all the pieces of her life that had been ripped apart were coming back together. Not only because she was finally letting herself relearn the pleasure of being part of a couple, but because these women were rounding out the other part of her life that had been so lacking since she’d left her friends behind a year and a half ago.

Grace had often wondered if starting over had been the right choice. Now, it looked like it was. Like she could leave her past behind and finally move on…into a new life that was so far beyond her wildest dreams that she knew she’d be pinching herself for a really long time, just to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

* * *

A little while later, Mason half-walked, half-crawled over from the group of children and reached for her. “Are you tired from all the playing, sweetie?” she asked as she lifted him into her arms. Compared to Megan’s new baby, who had felt so small and light, Mason was an armful. One she never got tired of holding.