Pushing it to the side, Mrs. McCann wraps her arms around me, squeezing me tightly. “It really is you,” she says as she pulls away. “When Gracie told me she was seeing you, part of me just didn’t believe it. But here you are. And please, call me Meredith. None of this Mrs. McCann stuff. Isn’t that right, Walt?” Turning to her husband, she’s met with a warm smile.

“I didn’t believe it either,” he says as he pumps my hand. “I mean what are the chances?”

“Some things are just meant to work out how they work out,” Grace chimes in.

“Exactly,” Meredith responds. “Now, let’s get a move on. We have an apartment to hunt for.”

Three hours later, we’re at our final stop of the day. Wanting to live close to her new school district, but not within it, Grace kept her list of potential apartments to the towns surrounding Commack. The first two we see are absolute dumps, and Walter and I bond over making a laundry list of damages that would need to be repaired before she even stepped foot into the place.

As we pull into the lot of the final stop, it’s clear to see this complex is well-maintained. The grounds are freshly mowed and actually green—not the mix of browns and beiges like the last place. There are brightly colored flowers planted all over. I can see it in Grace’s eyes—she’s already in love with it.

The complex manager, Danny, greets us outside his office and guides us through the rental. “This is an end unit, so there’s a bit more room in this one than the others,” he explains as he opens the door.

“Holy closets!” Grace calls out as she steps in the entryway. “This is huge!”

“And it’s only the coat closet. Wait till you see the ones in the bedrooms.” Stepping through the entryway, Danny explains how each unit comes equipped with its own alarm.

“That’s connected to the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, right?” I ask, wanting to make sure all of the bases are covered.

“Yes, sir,” he answers, giving us a few more details about the system. Walter listens on with me, seemingly proud that I’ve been on top of all the safety features of the apartments we’ve seen so far. I’m not doing it to impress him—well, not entirely. It’s just part of who I am. Besides, I’d do pretty much anything to keep Grace out of harm’s way. This is just one small thing I can do to make sure that she’s as safe as possible when I’m not around.

“Wait a second, did you say bedrooms? As in plural?” Grace asks, excitement vibrating around her. “And the price is what we discussed on the phone?” she clarifies.

“Yes, ma’am,” Danny declares. “I must have left that out when we spoke. Is that a problem?”

“A two bedroom, with closets likes these, in this location, in my budget?” she asks, sarcasm hanging on every word. “Are you kidding? It’s perfect! Where do I sign?”

“But you haven’t seen the rest of the place, sweetie,” Meredith chimes in.

“Did you hear what he said? Two.” Grace holds up two fingers wiggling them back and forth. “There are two bedrooms. I’m sold.”

“There’s no stopping her now,” Walter explains to me as Grace hugs Meredith. “Once she sets her mind on something, she wants it yesterday.”

“As long as she’s happy,” I add, watching her bounce up and down excitedly.

“Okay, then,” Danny says. “Let’s get back to the office and sign some papers. The place can be yours on the fifteenth.”

With her parents walking in front of us, Grace stretches up and whispers in my ear, “I can’t wait to christen every single room in my new apartment with you.”

Stopping outside the office door, I tell her, “Yeah, I think I’ll wait over here for a minute and get this hard-on under control. Thanks for that.”

“No problem. What’s a girlfriend good for if she can’t get her man all hot and bothered?”

There’s a bench situated next to the office which is in the middle of the small courtyard. It doesn’t take too long for my, um, excitement to go away. But sitting here, I can’t help but think about how crazy this all is. Some people might say six weeks is too soon to know how you feel about another person. I mean how much can you really get to know someone in such a short period of time? But with Grace, it’s different somehow. Maybe it takes other people so much longer because they’re too busy hiding behind layers of the person they think they want you to be. I can’t speak for her, but I know for me I’ve felt a connection to her through the years. Never real or tangible, but always present and alive, there was some force bringing us to this point.

“All set, Mr. Sexy Fireman.” She struts over to me with a huge-ass smile on her face, explaining that pending the background check and some other paperwork, she should be able to move in on the fifteenth. Her parents follow behind, similar huge smiles on their faces as well.

“We’re very proud of you, Gracie Girl.” Walter squeezes Grace’s shoulder, giving her a huge hug. “The perfect job. A great first apartment. A good guy. You’ve done mighty fine for yourself.”

“Thanks, Dad. That means a lot coming from you.” Grace beams with pride.

“And to show you how proud we are, your mother and I have a little surprise for you.” Walter angles his head to Meredith and she begins fishing through her bag.

Eerily similar to the way her daughter just did, Meredith dangles a pair of keys from her fingers. “And now that you have an address, we know where we can have your new car delivered. We love you.”

“Oh, my God! You guys, this is too much. I can’t.” Grace’s attempt to refuse the gift is quickly shot down as her mom shoves the keys into her hand.

They hug some more. Grace and her mom cry. And despite feeling like I’m intruding on a family moment, I can’t help but feel proud of Grace as well.

A few hours later, after dinner and more hugs and tears at the train station, we say goodbye to Grace’s parents. As we walk back to my car, Grace has a satisfied look on her face.

“What’s up with you?” I ask, bumping my shoulder into hers.

“Just happy I guess. Weird how everything is falling into place, you know.” We walk to her door, and I open it for her. “Like this.” She pauses, looking down at my hand on the open door. “I have a man opening car doors for me,” she gushes. “It’s just I never thought my life would fall into place so easily and it’s kind of overwhelming.”

“In a good way, right?”

“In the best way possible,” she assures me, popping a kiss to my cheek. “It’s every happily ever after I ever could have imagined all rolled into one.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” I challenge and she looks up at me confused. Wrapping her in my arms, I explain, “This is only just the beginning.”

“How many boxes of books does this chick—I mean, Grace. How many boxes of books does Grace have?” Ian grunts, hauling what should be the last of the boxes from the U-Haul truck and into Grace’s new apartment.

“Quit your bitchin’ or else no beer and pizza for you.” Pushing the door open, the cold air from the apartment blasts in my face. “Damn that feels good. It’s a fuckin’ heatwave out there.”

“What was that about bitchin’?” Ian jokes, dropping his box to the living room floor.

As I’m wiping the sweat from my face with my shirt, a loud whistle fills the room. “Well hot damn!” Jade calls out. “Gracie my girl, you hit the lottery with this one!”

“Don’t you have a boyfriend?” Ian jokes, taking one of the beers from her hands.

Jade shrugs, seemingly unaffected by her recent break up. Grace told me about it the other day. Apparently Bryce, this guy she’s been after for months, ended up being a self-involved douche bag. Apparently for some people, having a shit ton of money means you can treat other people like they’re not important. In the short time I’ve known her, Jade is not the type of woman to put up with a guy like that. So she dumped him.