Apple Pie Promises (The Alphabet Sweethearts #1)

Epilogue

Tessa

J uniper Falls, six months later...

Spring sunlight dances through the cherry blossoms lining Main Street as Hale and I walk hand in hand toward the center of town. The morning air carries the scent of fresh paint and new beginnings. Several storefronts are getting makeovers for the upcoming Spring Blossom Festival.

"Your poster designs are everywhere," Hale says, nodding toward the lampposts where my artwork blooms in shades of pink and gold.

I squeeze his hand. "Not bad for the new girl in town, right?"

"You haven't been the new girl for months." He pulls me closer, pressing a kiss to my temple. "Though you still put too much cinnamon in everything."

"Says the man who sold out of my apple-cinnamon muffins before noon yesterday,” I shoot back. “Unless you hate them all.”

He tries to hide his smile, but I catch it anyway. It still amazes me sometimes, how freely those smiles come now. Like winter thawing into spring.

We pause outside Petals & Posies, where an explosion of color draws my eye. The window display of the flower shop is a masterpiece of tulips and daffodils, arranged with an artist's eye for composition.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" A warm voice says behind us. I turn to find a woman in her late forties, her dark hair streaked with a few threads of silver pulled back in a loose braid. She wears a canvas apron covered in flower petals, and there's a grace about her that speaks of years of handling delicate blooms.

"Lila," Hale greets her with obvious affection. "The display looks great."

"Thanks." She turns to me with a kind smile that reminds me of my aunt. "You must be Tessa. I've heard so much about you."

"All lies," I joke. "Especially the parts about the smoke detector incidents."

Her laugh is warm and knowing. "Oh, honey, we all have those stories. I once flooded half the shop when I first started out. Forgot to turn off the flower cooler's water supply before a long weekend."

"Speaking of long-lost disasters," Hale says, "have you seen Graham around yet? Heard he's back in town."

Something flickers across Lila's face. It seems like the shadow of something deeper than mere memory. "No, not yet." She busies herself adjusting an already perfect bunch of tulips. "Though I suppose I will. Small town and all."

I catch the careful neutrality in her tone, the way her fingers tremble slightly against the flowers. There's decades of history there, written in the things she's not saying.

"His dad's recovery is going well," Hale continues, either missing or choosing to ignore the tension. "Mom always said Old Joe Hart was too stubborn to let a heart attack slow him down."

"That's good to hear." Lila's smile doesn't quite reach her eyes. "If you'll excuse me, I have a wedding consultation waiting. The mother of the bride is particular about her peonies."

We say our goodbyes and continue down the street. When we're out of earshot, I ask, "So what's the story there?"

"Graham?" Hale considers for a moment. "They were high school sweethearts. He left town right after graduation—full baseball scholarship to some fancy university out west. Everyone thought they'd end up together, but..."

"But?"

"But sometimes timing is everything." He looks down at me, his blue eyes soft. "Sometimes you have to wait for the right season."

I think about last autumn, about pie crust and promises and learning to trust. About how love grows in its own time, like flowers pushing through frost.

"That sounds like a story worth hearing," I muse, watching a cherry blossom drift past on the breeze. "Thirty years is a long time to carry a what-if."

Hale just smiles, pulling me close as we walk toward the store, where his mother's recipes and my artistic touch have created something new and wonderful.

And somewhere behind us, in a shop full of flowers, another story is waiting to bloom. One that's been growing roots for three decades, just waiting for the right moment to blossom.

Thanks for reading Apple Pie Promises. Don’t miss the other books in the series. Next up is Blossoms & New Beginnings, Lila and Graham’s story.