Epilogue
Swayze
September brought crisp air and the promise of autumn colors creeping into the mountains. I stood near the front of the crowd gathered outside the new library complex, phone in hand, ready to capture the ribbon cutting for the town’s social media accounts.
The building was gorgeous—all warm wood and wide windows that let in natural light.
Behind it, the tech center and new classroom wing extended like open arms. Bristol had been gushing for weeks about the programming they had lined up for fall.
Story times and maker spaces and coding classes and a teen advisory board.
“I can’t believe they actually got the graphic novel section I requested.” Oakleigh bounced on her toes beside me, barely containing her excitement.
I looked up at her—up being the operative word. The kid had shot up like a weed over the summer. Another few months and she’d be taller than me.
“Bristol showed me the list. It’s impressive.”
“Dad says I can volunteer to help shelve books once a week after school.”
“That’s great.” I squeezed her shoulder, warmth spreading through my chest at how easily she’d folded me into her world. How easily all the Gibsons had.
Emmaline and Bodie stood a few feet away, each wearing a baby carrier with a sleeping twin tucked against their chests. Evie Rose and Henry, barely two months old and already stealing everyone’s hearts. Alia hovered nearby, clearly angling for her turn to hold one of them.
Colter caught my eye across the crowd and smiled. That private, knowing smile that still made my stomach flip even after nine months together.
These were my people now. My family. And this last year had been one of the best of my life.
Emmett Gibson stepped up to the podium, all mayoral dignity and Gibson charm. The crowd quieted.
“Thank you all for being here today as we celebrate this incredible achievement for our community.” He gestured to the building behind him. “This library represents not only books and technology, but hope. Resilience. Our commitment to building a better future for Gibson Hollow.”
Applause rippled through the crowd. I lifted my phone, angling for a good shot as Emmett picked up the comically oversized scissors.
“And now, without further ado—”
The ribbon fell away in two neat pieces. More applause. Cheers. A few whistles from the back.
I expected people to start migrating toward the doors. Instead, Emmett cleared his throat.
“Before we head inside, we have one more order of business.” His gaze found mine across the crowd. “Swayze Parish, would you join me up here?”
My heart stuttered. “What?”
Oakleigh gave me a little push. “Go on.”
I glanced at Colter, who grinned and nodded. Traitor.
The crowd parted as I made my way to the podium on shaky legs. Emmett’s smile was warm, paternal.
“Swayze came to Gibson Hollow by accident,” he began.
“But her impact has been anything but accidental. When we lost our library funding last winter, it felt like a devastating blow. But this young woman stepped up. Not merely with her incredible performance in our fundraiser show, but by using her platform and her talents to push that show out to the world.”
Oh God. Heat crawled up my neck. I wanted to sink into the ground.
“The funds raised from those digital ticket sales made all of this possible.” Emmett swept his arm toward the building. “And we’d like to honor that contribution.”
My throat tightened. I caught Blair in the crowd, phone up and filming, her expression misty.
“I—” My voice came out rough. I cleared it and tried again. “I didn’t do it alone. This whole town showed up. The cast, the crew, everyone who volunteered their time and energy. I just… helped shine a light on it.”
“And we’re grateful you did.” Emmett’s eyes crinkled. “Thank you, Swayze. For everything.”
The applause was thunderous. Overwhelming. I managed something that might have passed for a gracious smile, blinking hard against the sudden sting in my eyes.
This town had given me so much more than I’d given it.
A home. A family. A future I hadn’t known I was looking for.
When someone started wrestling the podium away, I assumed they were clearing space for the crowd to head inside. That made sense. Everyone was eager to see the new building and explore all those gleaming shelves and cozy reading nooks.
But nobody moved.
They simply stood there, watching me with knowing smiles. Even Emmett had stepped away, leaving me alone in the middle of the wide open courtyard.
“Um.” I glanced around, heat prickling across my skin. “Should I—”
Then I felt him. That familiar warmth, the solid presence that had become as necessary to me as breathing. Colter’s hand settled at my waist, and the opening bars of “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” rolled through speakers I hadn’t even noticed were set up.
My breath caught. I turned, finding those blue eyes dancing with mischief. “You planned this.”
“Maybe.” His grin was unrepentant.
The music swelled, and I understood my role in whatever this was, so I gave myself over to it, to him, letting him lead me into the dance. The one we’d executed on our first date.
We moved together as if we had a hundred times before.
Easy. Natural. His hands sure on my waist as we swayed and turned.
I caught glimpses of the crowd—Oakleigh bouncing on her toes, Blair was still filming and now had what looked like actual tears streaming down her face, the Sasspatch Society clutching each other in barely contained excitement.
What was happening?
Colter danced away, turning back to me and planting his feet in The Position. Blue eyes sparkling, he made a come ahead gesture with his hands.
My heart stopped. Actually stopped mid-beat before it slammed into overdrive, thundering so hard I could barely hear the music.
If you find a guy who can do the lift, you should marry him.
The words I’d said almost a year ago, jet-lagged and exhausted and trying to make conversation with a hot firefighter. The ones Mama had told me when I was eight years old and obsessed with Dirty Dancing.
I didn’t let myself think. Didn’t let myself hesitate.
I ran.
Three steps, four, building momentum. The world narrowed to nothing but this—the beat of the music, the warmth of Colter’s gaze, the absolute certainty flooding through me. Trusting him completely, trusting us, I leaped.
His hands caught my waist exactly right, strong and sure, and then I was flying. Soaring above him with my arms stretched wide like wings, my hair streaming behind me, my heart so full it might actually burst right out of my chest.
The crowd erupted. Cheers and applause and what sounded like someone sobbing—probably Uncle Dee, definitely Uncle Dee—but I barely heard it over the rushing in my ears, and the pure, incandescent joy flooding every single cell in my body.
Colter eased me down slowly, carefully, his grin matching mine watt for watt. We were both breathing hard, both glowing with the magic of the moment, with what we’d just done. What it meant.
“Does this mean what I think it means?” My voice came out shaky, breathless.
“Depends.” His hands stayed at my waist, anchoring me to earth when I felt like I might float away. “What’s your answer?”
“I already gave it back in the spring.” I cupped his face, feeling the scratch of stubble against my palms, the heat of his skin. “I do.”
“Then, yeah.” His voice went rough. “It’s exactly what you think.”
He dropped to one knee right there in front of the library we’d helped bring back together.
The world tilted sideways. Narrowed to just him, just this, just us and this perfect, impossible moment.
He pulled a small velvet box from his pocket—had he been carrying it this whole time?
—flipping it open with slightly trembling fingers to reveal a ring that caught the September sunlight and scattered it into rainbows.
Simple. Elegant. A single stone set in a delicate gold band that somehow looked exactly right.
“Swayze Parish.” He looked up at me with everything written plainly across his face—love, hope, forever, all the promises I’d been too scared to believe in for so long. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes.” The word came out on a breath, barely audible. I nodded harder, more emphatically. “Yes, absolutely yes.”
He slid the ring onto my finger—a perfect fit, of course it was a perfect fit—and then I hauled him up, throwing my arms around his neck, kissing him like we weren’t standing in front of half the town and at least three people with cameras.
He kissed me back just as thoroughly, lifting me clean off my feet and spinning us both in a dizzy, joyful circle.
The crowd had lost its collective mind. Applause thundered around us. Someone was definitely crying. Multiple someones.
“—autumn colors would be absolutely gorgeous—”
“—we could do the reception at the theater—”
“—or the farm! Think of the photos—”
“—glitter. So much glitter—”
I pulled back from Colter enough to see the Sasspatch Society in full planning mode, talking over each other in a cascade of enthusiasm that would’ve been overwhelming if it wasn’t so perfectly them.
Uncle Dee was fanning himself with one hand. “A fall wedding! Oh, the drama, the romance—”
“Or winter,” Miss Glory countered. “Imagine the town all lit up for Christmas—”
“Spring,” Miss Bea suggested. “New beginnings, fresh flowers—”
“Or we could elope,” I murmured against Colter’s mouth.
He laughed, the sound vibrating between us. “Not a chance. You think they’d ever forgive us?”
“Fair point.”
Oakleigh crashed into us, wrapping her long arms around both of us. “I’m getting a stepmom!”
My throat tightened. “Yeah, kid. You are.”
“Can I help plan the wedding? And be a bridesmaid? Or whatever you want to call it?”
“Absolutely.” I pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’m counting on it.”
More bodies crowded in. Lisa and Faith, offering hugs and congratulations.
Emmett and Elsie, both misty-eyed. Bodie with one of the twins, grinning.
Alia looking genuinely thrilled. Gunner and Fletcher were already making noises about the bachelor party.
Dean slapped Colter on the back and pulled me in for a quick squeeze.
“Welcome to the family.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Elsie insisted. “She’s already been part of the family.”
“Yeah, but now it’s absolutely official,” Colter insisted.
Blair shoved through the crowd to grab me in a fierce hug. “Don’t worry. I got the whole thing on video. I’ve already put together two different cuts. One for posterity, one for socials if you’re so inclined. Your followers will go insane for this.”
I didn’t post the way I used to. It wasn’t the center of my world. But I kept my followers up to date on what was going on in Gibson Hollow. Given how many of them had been invested in Colter and me, once they’d found out about our off-stage romance, they’d absolutely want to know about this.
“Later,” I insisted. “I need to process the ambush first.”
Blair nodded. “Fair.”
I looked around at all of them. “Did everyone know?”
“Damn straight.” Colter’s arm stayed solid around my waist, keeping me anchored against his side. “Best kept secret in town. The Sasspatch Society threatened to pull out the guilt casseroles for anyone who spoiled the surprise.”
“The lift, though.” I looked up at him, shaking my head. “That was—”
“Exactly what you deserved.” He kissed my forehead. “Everything you deserve.”
My heart was so full it ached. In the best possible way. “You’re everything I deserve and more.”
He pulled me close. “And I’ll keep proving it for the rest of our lives.”