EPILOGUE

Throughout her fall semester at Smith, Piper went to Kennebunkport every other weekend to see Alex and help her with the new cottage. She'd scheduled classes such that her last class of the week was on Thursday afternoons, so she could make it to Maine by dinnertime.

Alex was too busy to work double-time on her cottage during the month of September as she winterized the homes on Sand Point Road, but she still spent at least eight hours every Sunday, working on her new house. As the sun began to set earlier that Autumn, that time grew shorter.

During the first day of her week-long Thanksgiving break, Piper went home to Connecticut to inform her parents that she was in a relationship with Alex. The conversation was difficult, and Piper shed a few tears at her mother's insensitive comments, but the blonde knew that she needed to fess up if she wasn't going to spend the holidays with her family. (Her plan was to spend the rest of Thanksgiving break and the entire month-long winter break with Alex in Kennebunkport.)

Her biggest concern about telling her parents was Alex's job security. Before Piper even broached the subject, the brunette had confirmed that Harvey Bankston would hire her to take care of his Sand Point Road home as well as two of his other houses in coastal Maine. He'd pay her a decent wage, though it wasn't even half of what she'd been making as the caretaker for all of the houses she currently tended to.

At the end of the conversation with her father, Piper asked him directly about Alex's job. Bill said that he'd have to think about it, but admitted that if he shared the news with other residents, Alex's future didn't look promising. She explained that it didn't matter if their neighbors knew, because Alex had other job prospects and was moving out of Mr. Bankston's guest house in a matter of months. Besides, she'd said, "If you're doing this to hurt me, you'll only be hurting yourself." Piper left Connecticut that night without a hug from her parents, and she didn't know if she'd be welcome back home in the near future.

Three days before Thanksgiving, the walls and roof of Alex's cottage were completely finished (including the limestone exterior, which Piper had spent several weekends laying with her own hands), and the house was truly inhabitable. The brunette had an electrician come out the week prior to install a circuit breaker, outlets and a few lighting fixtures, but the majority of the house was still lit with industrial lamps. Alex's friend, Diego and his brothers came over two days before Thanksgiving to lift the reclaimed wooden beams in the living room—a project that took all day. It didn't help that the heart-of-pine floors were being installed while Diego and his crew worked, and Piper thought for a moment that Alex was going to fire everyone on site. With the help of the electrician, Alex spent the night before Thanksgiving installing the Viking range and oven, and she'd planned to bake a turkey and make all of the trimmings for an authentic Thanksgiving feast the next day.

The reason for Alex's haste was that she hadn't celebrated Thanksgiving since her mom passed away, and she wanted to share the special day with Piper in the new cottage. She'd built a table from the leftover wood from Estes Hill, and Piper had purchased rustic chairs at a flea market in Northampton two weeks before.

The women spent the night at Alex's old cottage the night before, and when they awoke on Thanksgiving morning, they loaded her mattress into the old Chevy. It would be the first time anyone would spent the night at the new place, and Piper couldn't wait to wake up in the new cottage with Alex.

"You're sure you bought everything?" The brunette asked as they drove off of Sand Point Road. "Shaw's is closing at 11 o'clock this morning."

"I got everything on the list." Piper brushed her damp hair from an earlier shower with her fingertips. "It was a big list."

She put her hand on the blonde's thigh. "Thanksgiving dinner requires a lot of shit."

Piper covered Alex's hand with her own. "You really think we can pull this off?"

"I do." She grinned. "If we don't crash before dinnertime."

"I know." Piper rotated her neck to work out the kinks. "Maybe we can get a massage tomorrow."

She wiggled her eyebrows. "I'll give you a rub down, babe."

"I mean a real, professional one."

"I've never had a massage." She turned down the gravel road that led to the new cottage.

"Really?" Piper looked astonished. "I'll book one for both of us."

The women hauled the mattress into the master bedroom, but Piper refused to set it on the dirty floor, which meant that she swept the entire house and its dusty floor. That left Alex to carry in six grocery bags and an ice chest by herself, a feat which came with a few expletives along the way.

"I would've helped you," the blonde offered as she used a wet towel to make the floor in the living room shine. "You aren't very patient."

"What I lack in patience I make up for in stamina." Alex lifted a singular brow. "I didn't hear any complaints from you last night when I gave you your third orgasm."

"You've done better." Piper grinned. "I seem to recall many nights in the recent past when I came seven times. Three is just child's play."

The dark haired woman rolled her eyes. "If I don't get this turkey in the oven within the hour, we're going to be eating raw meat."

The blonde stood and admired the polished floor. "Doesn't that look better?"

"It does." Alex kissed her on the temple. "Now help me chop some vegetables. Where in the hell are the knives?"

Alex had mentioned that she hated that she'd have to pick out furniture and artwork for her new place, so she gave certain parameters to Piper and asked her to do the legwork. The blonde loved the idea of picking out paint and patterns; she even skipped classes one day to look at furniture at an antique market near Smith.

The brunette's iPod and speaker made the trek with them from the old cottage to the new one, and the women spent the better part of the morning, listening to music and preparing food. When most of the food prep was done, Piper flipped open her laptop and showed Alex some of the furniture she'd found online that she thought would be perfect for the new house. It was a combination of leather and creamy textiles, and Alex liked the look. Although the dark haired woman's net worth had exceeded half a million dollars, she gave Piper a healthy budget to stay within; her only demand was an Eames chair and a king sized bed.

Piper had already ordered two ottomans, a large rug and a butcher block and was storing them in one of two sheds Alex had on the property, and she was excited about moving stuff in as soon as possible. There was still detail work that needed to happen both in the interior and on the exterior of the house, but Piper hoped they could get to that in a couple of weeks when she would return to Kennebunkport for winter break.

Alex spent an hour outside that day while the turkey roasted, stringing thick cable through the posts on the porch—a job she'd wanted to accomplish for weeks. "It gives it that finished look," she'd said.

Piper made the cornbread dressing, mashed the sweet potatoes and snapped the ends of the peas—tasks she couldn't have accomplished six months earlier. As she listened to Sara Bareilles and reminisced about playing the piano in the Stein's house earlier that summer, she reflected on all of the things Alex had taught her. Now she knew the basics of cooking, how to change a flood light, how to choose the best produce & meat, how to paint, and how to plant a garden. The blonde smiled as she thought of the first time she'd tried any of those things. Alex never lost patience with her, and she couldn't say the same would've been true if the roles had been reversed.

She glanced outside and watched Alex at work. She was so good with her hands (a trait Piper was grateful for in more ways than one). Just then, the brunette must have stuck herself with the wire and cursed loudly. Piper giggled. She loved everything about being with Alex and wanted it to be permanent, but there was the small matter of her needing to finish one more semester of college before she could even think about the next phase of her life.

Alex breezed in, squeezing her thumb. "It smells good in here."

"Did you cut yourself?" Piper rushed to her side.

"More like stuck myself with the fucking cable." She showed the injured thumb to the blonde. "It's no big deal. I'll just run some water on it."

"I can get the first aid kit out of the truck," Piper offered.

"Seriously, Pipes, it's fine." She ran cold water on it and glanced to her right. "Nice job on the sweet potatoes."

"All I need to do is add the marshmallows and pecans, and then I'll bake it for 10 minutes."

"Looks like the stove and oven are working." She bent down to check on the roasting turkey. "Damn, that's a fine bird."

"How much longer?" Piper put a layer of marshmallows on top of the orange potato mixture.

"I'd say about 30 minutes." She stood. "Want to take a shower?"

The blonde reached up to kiss her.

"I'll take that as a yes." Alex smiled.

After a quick round of shower sex, Alex took the turkey out of the oven while Piper set the table. They'd brought just enough dishes to make the evening go off without a hitch, and neither woman cared that the only furniture they had in the cottage was the table and chairs.

"I bought a special bottle of wine," the blonde announced after their meal was served. "Recognize this?"

"Duckhorn?" Alex took the bottle and grinned. "Of course I do."

"I'm glad we're past that point in our lives," she admitted.

The brunette opened the bottle, and then poured each of them a glass. "You say it like it was years ago."

"It feels like years ago." Piper had already explained the conversation she'd had with her parents, and she didn't care to bring them into her conversation with Alex that day.

Alex raised her glass, and Piper did the same.

"To Sand Point Road and every good thing it has brought us," Alex toasted.

Piper finished the toast, "And for the stuff that wasn't so good, may we learn and be better for it."

"Cheers." They smiled affectionately at each other, and then dove into dinner.

Alex commended Piper on everything she cooked on her own, and Piper couldn't praise the brunette enough for the juicy, flavorful turkey. They ate until the point of stuffing themselves, laughing at memories and talking about plans for the new place. After dinner, the women sat on the porch covered in a thick blanket, listening to the waves crash against the shore.

Alex finished her third glass of wine and took a deep breath. "There's something I want to ask you."

The blonde turned to face her. "Ok."

"I think by now you know how much you mean to me." She rubbed the back of Piper's hand and smiled. "After you graduate from Smith, I want us to live together."

"Really?" Piper's heart soared. "Alex, nothing would make me happier."

The women hugged each other tightly, and then Alex kissed her, hands splayed on either side of Piper's face.

"I love you, Alex," she whispered.

"Love you, too, babe."

They sat huddled together for warmth and affection as the sun set behind them. Piper stole kisses every few minutes until nightfall descended upon them. They walked back into the cottage and drug the mattress into the living room in front of the fireplace. Alex started a fire, and the women laid in each other's arms, smiling and laughing at what would become their new life together.

The End

Author's Note: Thank you for reading this story. It took a different turn than I had expected it to take when I originally planned it, but I am pleased with how it ended. I'm tempted to continue this story, but I probably say that about every story I write, so please don't hold me to it. I will post some photos on my Tumblr page of the inspiration for Alex's new cottage. I appreciate all of the reviews so far.