Chapter One

Amelia Stone closed one eye and surveyed the contents of her U-Haul. Mismatched boxes, a few pieces of furniture, and more duffel bags of clothes than she cared to admit stared back at her. Something about being thirty-five years old and having the entirety of her life fit in a fifteen-foot moving truck was enough to make a girl feel bad about herself.

She straightened her ball cap, adjusted her ponytail, and shook off the malaise. Not anymore.

After a string of false starts and commitmentphobes, she’d finally found a woman who was smart and attractive and wanted the same things she did. Who loved her and couldn’t get enough of her. She wasn’t about to waste any time or take any chances. Not this time.

“Is that everything?” Nana appeared next to her in the driveway, giving her a start.

“I think so.” She’d loaded the meager contents of her apartment before driving over to her grandmother’s house for a few final boxes and the antique desk that had been living in Nana’s garage. Things that hadn’t fit in her share of the eleven hundred square feet she shared with two other people. Things she’d have room for now.

“Are you sure this is what you want to do? It all seems so fast.”

If part of her wanted to dismiss the question as outdated and old-fashioned, she knew better. One, Nana would put her in her place faster than Percy appeared any time a tuna can was opened. Two, it was fast. Even by lesbian standards, she and Veronica had made the decision to move in together pretty quick. Not third-date quick, but not too far from it. “I know what I want, and I’ve finally found someone who wants the same thing. And we’re not getting any younger.”

Nana sniffed. “You’ve never been on vacation together. You’ve never even had a fight. How can you know she’s the one for you?”

“I don’t yet. That’s the point.” She’d practically memorized the speech. “We’re not getting married. I’m moving in with her. We’re fast-tracking the compatibility test.”

Another sniff.

“You only think it’s a bad idea because you don’t like her. But you barely know her.” She’d brought Veronica over exactly once. Nana had spent all day in the kitchen making ravioli from scratch only to have Veronica take one bite and launch into a tirade about how the camera adds ten pounds and women are held to a different standard than men. It might have been a point they could rally around, but Veronica had gotten a call about the chance to cover a fire at a shopping mall and taken off.

“You’re right. I don’t know her well enough to have an opinion and I’m pretty sure you don’t either. That’s my issue.”

They’d had this conversation a dozen times since Amelia announced her plan. It sucked, really, because Nana was both her best friend and a stand-in for her flashy, never-around mother. She’d hoped Nana would start to come around by now, but no such luck. “She’s really busy at work. You’ll have plenty of time to get to know her soon.”

“Tell me again why isn’t she here now, helping you? On what should be such an important day for you both?”

Amelia blew out a breath. Her feelings had been hurt when Veronica announced she needed to be out of town the day they’d picked—together—for Amelia to move. But the truck was scheduled and so were guys to help unload and carry her possessions up the impossibly narrow staircase to Veronica’s gorgeous loft apartment. “Mom got her an invite to this Women in Media event in New York. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime networking opportunity.”

Nana rolled her eyes. Whether it had to do with Veronica’s priorities or mention of her daughter, Amelia couldn’t tell.

The truth of the matter was that Veronica had said all the right things. She loved and appreciated how much Amelia supported her career. She couldn’t wait for Percy to explore the apartment and check out his new cat tree. She couldn’t wait to come home, knowing Amelia would be there waiting. “I’m supporting her. She’d do the same for me. It’s what we do for each other.”

Nana lifted both hands. “I’m not going to argue with you.”

What she meant was she wouldn’t argue right now. Nana wouldn’t hesitate to make her opinions known. Hopefully, things with Veronica would go well, so well that Nana’s opinions would change. And hopefully, that would happen very quickly.

“Good. Okay. I just need to get Percy in his carrier.” She’d brought him over that morning to save him from the stress of being locked in a bathroom while she loaded the truck, but the movers assured her they’d have everything unloaded in an hour.

“You could leave him here until tomorrow, you know.”

She could. She’d need to come back to pick up her car anyway. But she was a little freaked out by the prospect of spending the night in Veronica’s—wait, strike that—their apartment alone. Not that eleven pounds of orange fluff would do much in the way of protecting her from an intruder, but his presence made her feel better. “I want him to acclimate and settle in before Veronica gets home.”

Nana sighed. “All right.”

Amelia hefted herself onto the back bumper and grabbed the handle of the rolling door. She got it closed and latched, then followed Nana into the house. Inside, the aroma of chocolate and sugar and butter surrounded her. “Oh, my God. Did you make brownies?”

“I thought I’d bake them for the two of you. I was trying to be nice.” Her tone made it abundantly clear she considered it a herculean task. Not the baking, of course. Nana could bake circles around people half her age and twice her size. No, it was the being nice about Veronica part.

“She’ll be home Friday. I’ll share.” Even though Veronica shuddered at the thought of carbs. “Maybe.”

“Hmpf.”

“Your brownies are amazing.” She wrapped her arm around Nana’s shoulders and gave them a squeeze. “And so are you.”

“Well, someone has to keep you in line.”

To a casual observer, having her eighty-six-year-old, four-foot-eleven grandmother say such a thing might come across as comical. But Amelia knew better than most that Nana meant every word. Edith Stone was a force to be reckoned with. And Amelia, despite her above-average intelligence and good intentions, didn’t have the best track record when it came to taking chances and going after what she wanted. But like she said, all that was about to change.

She left Nana to wrap up her famous sugar bombs while she hunted for Percy. It didn’t take long to find him. He was curled up on Nana’s bed, making himself right at home. She felt a little bad about coaxing him into the crate with treats and closing the door before he caught on. He was a cute cat, but not the brightest.

He let out a meow of protest. Amelia brought her nose to the door and peered in. “We’re heading to our new place, P. You’re going to love it.”

Back in the kitchen, she accepted the perfectly wrapped foil package and set Percy down long enough to give Nana a real hug. When Nana let go, she grasped Amelia’s arms firmly. “You text me when you get settled.”

She was driving all of twenty minutes away, but her heart softened at the tone. So much more maternal than her own mother had ever been. “I will. And I’ll see you tomorrow. And the day after that.”

Nana frowned. “Are you sure? I could take a taxi, you know.”

“No, you can’t. Because the doctor’s office won’t let you.” It was standard cataract surgery protocol and a far more effective argument than working the sentimental angle.

“Fine.”

“I love you.”

Sniff. “I love you too.”

Amelia took Percy and her brownies out to the truck and realized then she’d checked off her last to-do item. All of her anxiety about logistics gave way to excitement. She was really doing this—really moving in with Veronica.

Percy let out a perturbed meow as she buckled his carrier into the passenger seat. “Not long, buddy. You’ll be in your new digs faster than you can say catnip.”

After a final wave to Nana, she climbed into the driver’s seat and turned the key. The engine rumbled to life, making the whole truck vibrate. Percy was not amused. She attempted to inch the seat forward again, but again, it didn’t budge. Oh, well. She scooted herself forward instead and put the truck into drive.

This was her third time driving a U-Haul and by far the most exciting. She’d gone from college to a brief stint at Nana’s to the apartment she shared with two friends so they could all save for down payments on houses. The three-year plan had stretched to five and now they were going on twelve.

She couldn’t speak for Maya and Sneha but buying a house at thirty—alone—had felt like tempting the fates of spinsterhood. So, she kept renewing her lease, hoping Ms. Right would come into her life. She finally had, and Amelia couldn’t be happier. She and Veronica would live together for six months and, if all went well, they’d spend the spring planning a wedding, looking for a house, and researching potential sperm donors. Who said efficiency couldn’t be romantic?

Just like today. It was the end result, not the process, that mattered. Nana would come to see that eventually.

Amelia turned up the radio and drove west. Veronica’s place was across town in a converted warehouse. Right as she was congratulating herself on being sassy and independent, a dump truck pulled out in front of her. She slammed the brake, but nothing happened. Well, not nothing. The truck probably slowed a bit. But it was too little, too late to do much good.

She’d always thought it cliché when people said things happened in slow motion, but as the inevitability of crashing registered, the whole scene seemed to play out frame by frame in her mind. Each fraction of a second had its own accompanying thought. Would Percy’s seat belt hold? Good thing she’d sprung for the extra insurance at the truck rental place. Did U-Hauls have air bags? How bad was this going to hurt?

She even had time to close her eyes and brace herself.

The sound registered first. The grinding crunch of metal contorting in on itself and the pop of shattering glass. Smell came next. Not quite burning, it reminded her of a firecracker or a lit match. How strange.

Pain followed. A blow to her forehead, a wrenching in her leg. And then the darkness closed in and she felt nothing at all.