Recipe for Love

by Aurora Rey

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Hannah sighed. Best Christmas morning ever. She burrowed deeper under the covers and closer to Drew. “Do we have to?”

  Drew kissed the top of her head. “I think we do.”

  “Yeah.” She gave Drew a squeeze. “I know, but I had to ask. I don’t ever want to leave this bed.”

  “Man, you get lazy in the winter.”

  “Hey.” Hannah poked Drew in the stomach. “Can I help it if you feel like perfection?”

  Drew shifted, pushing Hannah onto her back and rolling on top of her. She used the advantage to tickle Hannah’s ribs. “Perfection, huh?”

  Hannah squealed and squirmed. She’d never considered herself an overly serious person, but Drew brought out a playfulness in her that still caught her by surprise. She pushed at Drew’s hands but without much force. “Okay, okay. You win.”

  Drew wrapped her fingers around Hannah’s wrists and pinned her hands over her head. She leaned in and kissed Hannah firmly. “Oh, I know I win. And to show what a gracious winner I am, I’ll make you a huge breakfast before we have to go to your parents’ house.”

  Hannah winced. This was the first big holiday they’d be doing the family thing. She wasn’t nervous, really, but she wasn’t sure she was looking forward to it. Not because of Drew. She always had mixed feelings about big family gatherings.

  She looked at Drew, felt that familiar swell of love, and pretended to weigh her options. “Deal. I’ll let Daisy out and put on the coffee.”

  Drew kissed her again before getting out of bed. Even with a plan in place, she couldn’t resist the sigh of disappointment at the broken contact. She might argue the label of lazy, but one thing was for certain. She was pretty hooked on waking up with Drew. The fact of it didn’t bother her nearly as much as she thought it might. Which was a good thing considering the gift she’d picked out for Drew. And the ask that went with it.

  She pulled on pajamas and padded downstairs. She opened the back door for Daisy, then headed to the kitchen to start the coffee. Drew was already preheating the oven and pulling things from the fridge. Now that the farm was closed for the season, they had a lot more mornings like this. Every time, it gave Hannah such a feeling of contentment. “Do we get to open presents, too?”

  “Yes. The cinnamon rolls need to bake and cool some before we can eat. Let me get them in the oven and I’m all yours.”

  She so loved the sound of that.

  Twenty minutes later, they sat on the sofa with steaming mugs of coffee and the aroma of cinnamon wafting through the house. Daisy stretched out on the floor next to the wood stove. Drew took a long sip from her mug and looked at Hannah excitedly. “Stockings first?”

  Stockings hadn’t been a big deal in Hannah’s family. Mostly socks and ChapStick and some candy. Drew had schooled her on this and she was proud of her first attempt at stuffing. “Sure.”

  Drew snagged them from their hooks and they dove in. Any illusions Hannah had about winning stockings was quickly dispelled. She’d done decently enough, but Drew had managed to stuff hers with the small, the silly, and the utterly delightful. Socks, yes, but socks with tractors on them. Her favorite fancy hand cream. Salted caramel truffles from a store they visited on their trip to New York City.

  They tore into the gifts under the tree next. Drew was ecstatic for the set of pans Hannah picked out with Nick’s help. Hannah adored the high-end work boots she’d been eying for close to a year. Not that she was looking for a sign, but being able to pick out just the right gifts for each other made Hannah feel like they were on to something. “Your last present from me is upstairs.”

  “Oh, really?” Drew’s tone was beyond suggestive.

  Hannah feigned exasperation. “In the guest room.”

  “Are we role playing? I could be into that.”

  “Stop it.” Hannah swatted at her, but without conviction. Honestly, she was kind of nervous about how Drew might react. Too late to change her mind now. She grabbed Drew’s hand. “Come on.”

  “Coming.” They climbed the stairs and Hannah opened the guest room door. She gestured for Drew to go in first.

  Drew swallowed the bubble of apprehension. She let go of Hannah’s hand and stepped into the room. In the middle, right on top of the rug next to the bed, sat a dresser. Well, technically a chest of drawers. One that looked just like the one in Hannah’s room. Only this one had a big green bow on top. “I love it.”

  Hannah chuckled. “You look so confused right now.”

  “Um, not confused. I mean, I don’t have much furniture up here.” Drew didn’t dislike it. It was just the last thing she’d expect Hannah to give her.

  “So, here’s the thing.”

  Oh, good. There was an explanation. Drew knew she was missing something.

  “It’s just like mine. I got it at the same place.”

  “It’s very nice. And I’m not just saying that because half my clothes live in plastic storage totes.”

  “Well, I was thinking it would be nice to have a set that matches. If you decided you wanted to keep it here.”

  “Here?”

  Hannah offered her shrug and a smile. “Leave it here and fill it with your stuff.”

  Realization dawned. “Hannah, are you asking me to move in with you?”

  Hannah bit her lip, nodded. “I am. It’s okay if you feel like it’s too soon. You could use a decent piece of furniture either way. But you’ve been spending all your time here anyway.” She shrugged again. “And I like that.”

  “Hannah. I…” There weren’t too many things in Drew’s life that had left her speechless.

  “Or you can just leave it here with some stuff in it. That would be okay.”

  Drew shook her head. Her fumbling for words was giving Hannah the absolutely wrong impression. She closed the distance between them, wrapped her arms around Hannah’s waist. “I would love to move in with you. That’s the best present.”

  “Really?”

  Seeing Hannah unsure did funny things to Drew. It made her feel protective and possessive and something else. Something she didn’t have a word for. “I am so crazy in love with you. You know that, right?”

  The uncertainty vanished from Hannah’s eyes. “I do know it. And I feel the same way.”

  Drew took a deep breath. “Can I confess something?”

  Hannah tipped her head to the side. “Of course.”

  “I’ve been thinking about moving in together. I just couldn’t figure out how to broach it.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Since your house is the most logical, it seemed presumptuous of me.”

  Hannah chuckled. “Guess it’s a good thing I’m not afraid to make the first move.”

  Drew nodded, her heart impossibly full. “I guess it is.”

  “You know, we really could just skip my parents’ house.” Hannah gave her a playful look. “Stay in all day, argue over who gets which side of the closet.”

  Drew scratched her temple. “Do you anticipate arguing over the closet?”

  “No.”

  “What if we go to your parents’ house, do the family thing, then swing by my place on the way home for some of my things?”

  Hannah pouted. “All right.”

  Drew pulled Hannah into her arms and kissed her again. “You know it’s going to be okay, right? I promise I’ll be on my best behavior.”

  “It’s not your behavior I’m worried about.” Hannah took a deep breath. “I know it will be fine. If anything, you make more sense to my father than I do.”

  Drew laughed. Hannah’s father did seem to like her. It had surprised her at first. From everything Hannah had told her, she expected him to have a problem with his daughter bringing home not only a woman but a biracial one at that. Yet somehow, they’d clicked. Whether it was her job or how close she was to her family, or the fact that she’d lost her own father—she’d never know. But she wasn’t about to argue with it. “He gets me is all.”

  Hannah�
��s expression softened. “You get him. And you manage to walk the line between respect and deference perfectly. I never quite managed that.”

  “And Clare is bringing Kristen, right? We definitely have to be there in solidarity.” They’d been officially dating for a couple of months, and even though both families were supportive, it was still a big and scary thing for a teenager.

  “I wasn’t seriously suggesting we bail.” Hannah shrugged. “Mostly.”

  “I know. And if you really didn’t want to go, we wouldn’t.”

  “You’re the best, you know that?”

  “I am.” Drew nodded, her tone serious. “And I’m going to drag you to visit my family for the better half of a week, so you’ll have plenty of time to repay me.”

  Hannah grinned. “For the record, I’m really looking forward to that.”

  “Good. My mother and Grann are beside themselves that I’m bringing you home.”

  “I’m excited to see them again.”

  Drew was, too. Like, over-the-moon excited. It was amazing the difference a few months could make. “Good. Now, let’s go gorge ourselves on cinnamon rolls before we have to get ready.”

  “They’re out of the oven, right?”

  “Yes, and ready for icing.”

  “So it wouldn’t be a tragedy for them to sit on the counter just a bit longer.”

  Drew had an inkling where this conversation was going, so she played along. “They should stay warm for quite a bit, actually.”

  “I thought maybe we could make a detour to our room. Specifically our bed.” Hannah put the emphasis on “our” in a way that made Drew’s heart melt.

  “Oh, there’s definitely time for that.”

  Hannah took her hand and led her down the hall. Just as she had in the guest room, Drew paused in the doorway. There was no confusion this time. No hesitation, either. She simply wanted to take a moment to savor the reality of what she and Hannah had just agreed to.

  “You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”

  She was being dragged to bed by the woman she loved and was going to spend the day with that woman and her family. After, they’d come home—to their home—and probably make love again. “Not a single one.”

  Drew stepped the rest of the way into the room. Into Hannah’s arms. And into the life they were going to build together. There wasn’t a place in the world she’d rather be.

  About the Author

  Aurora Rey is a college dean by day and an award-winning lesbian romance author the rest of the time, except when she’s cooking, baking, riding the tractor, or pining for goats. She grew up in a small town in south Louisiana, daydreaming about New England. She keeps a special place in her heart for the South, especially the food and the ways women are raised to be strong, even if they’re taught not to show it. After a brief dalliance with biochemistry, she completed both a B.A. and an M.A. in English.

  She is the author of the Cape End Romance series and several standalone contemporary lesbian romance novels and novellas. She has been a finalist for the Lambda Literary and Golden Crown Literary Society awards, but loves reader feedback the most. She lives in Ithaca, New York, with her dogs and whatever wildlife has taken up residence in the pond.

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