Her Sexiest Mistake

'Kiss,' Tess demanded.

'Can't,' Hope said. 'She's not big on PDA.'

'That's true.' Kevin cracked an egg with more force than necessary, and shame filled Mia. And sadness.

And more regret than she could have put words to.

Hope was looking at her with a daring expression, and that was it. Mia grabbed the little monster and kissed her noisily first on one cheek, then the other, then ruffled her hair with her flour-covered hands. 'There. I've covered some of the black.'

'When I leave, you'll not have to ever see black again.'

'Thank God,' Mia said with a fervor she didn't come close to feeling.

'Yeah, no kidding,' Hope seconded toughly. 'I can't wait to get out of here. No one complaining about my music or my favorite color.'

'No one leaving entire boxes of donuts in the house.'

'No one harping on my curfew.'

'No one cramping my style.'

Mia looked at her.

Hope looked back.

Mia thought if she had to come up with one more thing, she was going to burst into tears right there. 'Actually, I take back the donuts part.'

'I knew it. You did eat them.'

'Every last one,' Mia said and heard the catch in her own voice. Ah, hell. 'And I guess I should tell you… rap is growing on me.'

'No.'

'I think 50 Cent is a hottie.'

Hope clapped a hand over her mouth, but the giggle escaped anyway, along with a tear. 'I like it when you harp on my curfew. It means you care.'

'Well, then I must care a helluva lot. I know you have to go, but I was hoping next summer-'

'Yes! And Christmas?'

'And Thanksgiving. I'll send plane tickets for every holiday.'

Hope let out another laughing sob. 'My mom-'

'I'll handle Sugar. I'll do whatever it takes.'

Hope nodded and hugged Mia hard, streaking her black mascara and eyeliner mixed with the flour on her Dolce & Gabbana, and Mia didn't even care.

'I'm sorry,' Tess said softly, hugging them both. 'This is good. But we have to finish. I have to deliver.'

Kevin's gaze touched over Mia's features, soft and warm for that one moment, as if he was happy for her. And proud of her for sharing her feelings.

Her throat burned, her heart ached. She wanted to tell him to sit down for this one, because there was more, much more that she wanted to share, but Tess the drill sergeant was standing over her.

'Resume duties!'

Grinding her teeth, Mia took a bowl from Tess and began mixing.

'Yikes.' Tess looked into the bowl. 'Honey, you have to commit to mixing-you can't just go halfway.'

'She's not that great at committing,' Hope said, smiling at her own quip. 'It takes her a while.'

Kevin shot Mia a look that said he most definitely agreed.

Tess worked on fixing the mixture. 'You should have just told me you were bad at this and just walked away.'

'Yeah, now that she is good at.' This from Kevin's corner.

Tess went still. Everyone went still.

Hope glanced at Mia, waiting for her reaction.

Her reaction? That she couldn't do this. She couldn't even joke about what had been the best thing to ever happen to her, before she'd walked away, as Kevin so helpfully pointed out. She reached for her keys.

'Oh, no,' Tess said. 'You're not going anywhere.'

'I've got to-' Fall apart. Cry. Kick my tires…

'I'll go.' Kevin shouldered his way to the door, but Mike slapped a hand on it, keeping it closed, pointing to Tess.

'Oh, my God, oh, my God!' she cried.

'What?' Mia demanded, whipping back around. 'Honey, what is it?'

Tess had been holding a bowl in the crook of her arm, whipping the contents with a whisk, which she'd lifted above the bowl and was peering at intensely. Specifically, between the steel twines, all covered in cookie dough, something sparkled.

Mike, watching Tess very carefully, set down his own bowl and dropped to his knees. Reaching up, he took the bowl from her hands.

Tess stared down at him as she reached into the whisk and pulled out the diamond ring.

A drop of cookie dough landed on Mike's nose.

'A ring,' Hope whispered, stating the obvious. 'A diamond ring!'

Tess dropped the whisk and brought the ring up to her mouth, sucking off the cookie dough. Then she looked down at Mike, letting out a laughing sob, and dropped to her knees too, leaning in to kiss the drop of cookie dough off his nose.

Mike signed something with his hands.

'Will you marry me,' Hope whispered.

'How do you know what he's saying?' Mia whispered, her heart in her throat.

Hope beamed. 'He's been teaching me.'

Tess signed something back, and with his eyes suspiciously bright, Mike slid the ring on her finger.

They signed back and forth to each other.

'I didn't know-' Hope translated. 'I thought we were going to wait- No, I don't want to wait, I don't want to ever wait. You're the love of my life. There's no one else, there will never be anyone else. I love you-' Hope broke off as they kissed. 'That part is sort of self-explanatory.'

Mia stared at Hope. 'She said yes.'

'Actually, I think she said, 'Oh, hell yes, yes, yes.' '

Tess laughed as she rose to her feet, swiping at her tears. 'No more distractions! We have to get this done! You'-she pointed to Hope-'measure. You'-she pointed to Kevin-'mix! And you-' This was for Mia.

Mia lifted her hands and backed to the sink. 'I'm on it. But, God, Tess.'

Tess welled up again. 'I know.' She wrapped her arms around Mike, kissed him once and then shoved him away. 'Later. We all celebrate later.'

***

It was hours and hours before they finished, and in the end they all sat on the kitchen floor, covered in various ingredients, exhausted.

Except Hope. She looked at her watch. 'I'm going to go meet Cole. 'Kay?' she asked Mia.

' 'Kay,' Mia said. She had her eyes closed, head back against the cupboard. 'Where at?'

'Dairy Queen. He's working there.'