Epilogue
ONE YEAR LATER
Taylor
I stand before a full-length mirror in the largest suite of the Sweetwater Inn, studying my reflection. I’m wearing my wedding gown. And there’s no icing or flour in my hair today.
Caroline and Mom helped me into my dress a little while ago, and now they’re in the next room getting ready themselves, and putting Maggie in the most adorable little red heart-laden doggie dress ever. I asked to have a few minutes alone, just to soak in the moment.
It’s amazing how much has happened since Luke and I finally got to share that dance.
Last August, the Sweetheart Horse Park and Sanctuary opened for business. We now have seventeen horses on-site, and even in winter, business has stayed brisk.
Luke’s mom moved into the guesthouse, insisting she wanted a smaller place, and she’s thrown herself into admin work for the sanctuary, managing the gift shop as well.
In June, Sweetwater will host the First Annual Hearts and Horses Festival, with a parade and events all over town, capped at the end with the dedication of a plaque and memorial garden honoring Dr. Montgomery.
As hoped, Sweetwater’s Main Street is suddenly showing new signs of life. In addition to business picking up for Sweet Caroline’s and the drugstore, a pizza place is set to open soon and there’s talk of an antique shop moving in.
Meanwhile, Jasmine seems to be rebounding wildly in Manhattan, and if not enough miracles have occurred already, a few months ago when she was home for Thanksgiving, she posted a picture of one of my heart-shaped drizzle cakes to her now-back-up-to-four-million-plus followers, linking to the shop with the caption : A whole shop full of sweet hearts. Long story short, after some hectic days during December, I’ve now hired two new full-time employees.
When I hear my phone buzz across the room, I leave the mirror and take a seat in a chair next to a big picture window looking out on the gently flowing Ohio River in the wintry dusk. I snatch it up to see a text from my man.
Hi, keeper of my heart. He used to call me the “keeper of the heart wishes,” but it’s evolved.
I type back, See you at the altar, cowboy? Truly, the hat has grown on me.
He answers with: Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.
A rocky start in life doesn’t mean it always has to stay that way, and my heart is fuller than it’s ever been as I pick up one of our heart-shaped wedding invitations from the table next to me.
Taylor and Luke invite you share in their joy as they exchange vows on
February 14, 7:00 PM
at the
Sweetwater Inn
873 Main Street
Sweetwater, KY
Wear pink or red, and come ready to slow dance to romantic songs, eat heart-shaped wedding cake from the Sweetheart Bake Shop, and drop your Valentine’s Day wishes for the happy couple in the heart-shaped box that brought them together over and over—until they realized it was meant to be, forever.