Bonus Epilogue
SADIE
“I like it here.” I spin around the cozy living room of the Chicago brownstone that was once our home.
Instead of flying from Switzerland to Syracuse, we decided to go to Chicago and spend New Year’s here. It was hard convincing my parents, especially since they still don’t know about Nash, but I just told them I extended my trip for a few more days. A white lie I know they won’t be mad about when they find out.
Nash shoots me a smile over his shoulder. “You didn’t like this place when you came home from the hospital last year.”
“I had a traumatic brain injury. You can’t take anything I said or did seriously during that time.” I wrap my arms around his back, hugging him as he fiddles with DVDs on the shelf by the television.
“Including divorcing me?”
“Especially divorcing you.” I go to my tiptoes, trying to see over his shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“Here it is!” He holds up a DVD with a picture of us on our wedding day in Tahiti. “Do you want to watch this? Or will it make you feel sad?”
“Yes, I want to watch it.” My lips grow as I grab the case from him. “I need to see what our first wedding looked like so I can do something completely different for our second wedding.”
Nash laughs as I try and figure out the DVD player and television, but he doesn’t butt in—he just waits patiently on the couch. Once I get everything working, I join him, snuggling in close.
The video starts with violin music as it pans the beautiful Moorea coastline. Then, it shows Nash waiting on the beach in a light-colored linen suit. “Well, you look handsome.”
He hugs me closer. “Just wait until you come out.”
The camera pans to Autumn and Lindy waiting on the beach with Nash.
“I need to meet Lindy!” I sit up straight, glancing at him. “A couple of months ago, I went through our text messages, and I absolutely love her. She’s so funny.”
Nash’s smile warms my heart. “Lindy will be so happy to hear that. She’s been miserable without your friendship.”
“Let’s go see her tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay.”
The music on the video changes as I walk down the beach toward them. “Aw, I look so pretty!”
“Prettiest bride I’ve ever seen.”
“I love my dress.”
“You picked it out.”
I turn my head to him. “Nash, I can’t wait to marry you again.”
“I can’t wait either.”
I lift my chin, kissing him.
We abandon the wedding video.
I’ll have to come back and watch it when I’m not so distracted.
NASH
“I’ve been keeping a list of all the things I wanted to talk to you about just in case your memory came back or if you reached out and wanted to be friends again.” Lindy opens a notebook with a page full of written notes.
Sadie’s eyes widen, and she looks at me to see if Lindy is being serious.
She definitely is.
“First of all, I compiled a list of all the Netflix romance movies you need to watch. We’ve already talked about most of them, but they’re in the lost years. We’re going to have to have every conversation again.”
Sadie’s lips twitch in amusement. “Okay.”
“And before I forget. Remember how I said I didn’t like the movie Far From the Madding Crowd?” Lindy shakes her head as if Sadie’s amnesia just dawned on her for the first time. “Never mind, how could you remember that? Anyway, I used to not like that movie?—”
“It’s a favorite of mine.”
“I know! So this past year, when I was feeling sad about how you forgot me, I decided to rewatch that movie. It had been years, and oh my gosh, I loved it!” Lindy’s voice turns British as she quotes the movie. “Ask me. Ask me, Gabriel.”
Sadie laughs. “The ending is my favorite part of the movie.”
“I know! I just had to get that out of the way before we talk about anything else.” Lindy blows out a heavy breath as she looks down at her notes. “Okay, from the beginning.”
I cover my smile with my hand as Lindy launches into three years worth of topics.
I’m happy for my cousin.
I’m happy for Sadie.
Every heartache from this accident is finally getting healed.
SADIE
I stare at the tearful faces looking back at me and feel a little overwhelmed but also grateful. I can’t believe Nash and I have so many friends at Superior Health who are happy to see us together again and cheering on our future.
Last year, meeting all these people would’ve been too much for me. I needed time to heal and be okay with everything I’ve lost.
But I’m glad I can finally meet them now.
“And this is Reggie.” Nash gestures to the man in front of me. “He’s the one that was with me at the Cubs game when we first met.”
I shake Reggie’s hand. “Couldn’t you have talked some sense into Nash and convinced him not to hit on me?”
“Not a chance.” Reggie’s smile is huge. “The second Nash saw you, he was convinced you were the one.” Tears fill his eyes. “I’m just so happy you found each other again.”
“We all are!” A woman about my age says as tears stream down her face.
It’s actually really touching how emotionally invested everyone is.
Nash points to her. “And this is Harper.”
“Harper.” My mind drifts back to a cute text I received from her. Well, the picture of a cute text. I found it in the box of stuff Nash packed for me the day I saw my Forty Under Forty award. “It’s so nice to meet you…again.”
Harper dives into my arms, hugging me tight. “We’ve missed you so much!”
“I feel like we were close?” My eyes dart to Nash for confirmation.
“Yes, we were close.”
“Okay, okay.” Nash pulls Harper back from her death-grip hug. “Let’s give Sadie some room to breathe.”
Harper wipes at her tears. “I’m sorry. I’m just thrilled that you two are back together again. Happy endings really do exist.”
Nash wraps his arm around me, pulling my body into his side. “Well, there is one thing Sadie and I need to settle before we know for sure if we’re back together again.”
“What’s that?” I can’t help my lowered brows.
“We need to have a Wiggle Car race.”
Everyone in the office cheers, and Nash’s smile tells me I’m going to enjoy this.
“A Wiggle Car race?”
“That’s right.” He points across the office. “The first person who can make it to the water cooler without getting caught wins. It’s like tag between the cubicles, but on a Wiggle Car.”
“And do you have Wiggle Cars?”
“Of course we do!” The old lady secretary I haven’t formally met yet swings open a storage closet, showcasing more than a dozen kid’s Wiggle Cars.
I have no clue why a healthcare staffing office would need that many Wiggle Cars, but I’m all for it.
I smile at Nash. “You’re going down.”
“Trust me, honey,” Nash’s cocky expression sends my heart into a frenzy, “I’m taking you down first.”
NASH
“Why am I so nervous to see your family again? I feel like I’m meeting them for the first time.”
Sadie flips me an adorable smile as she walks up the front steps of her parents’ house. “Relax, they’re going to be so happy to see you. Deep down in their hearts, they were rooting for you the whole time.”
“You’re right. Maybe I’m not actually nervous. Just really excited to finally tell them about us.”
Sadie stops on the step above mine and turns to me. “I’m excited, too.” She plants a hard and fast kiss on my lips and then spins back to the door. “Okay, I’ll go in first and you hang back until I introduce you.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I set the luggage down on the porch and pull back my shoulders.
Yeah, I’m nervous.
“Guess who’s home!” Sadie calls as she enters the house.
I can’t see the reunion, but I can hear it. Lots of hugs from her parents and Annie and questions about how she got to Skaneateles without them knowing she was coming.
“Shut the door,” Jay says. “What were you raised in a barn?”
“Actually, there’s someone I want you all to meet.”
Is that my cue? Am I supposed to pop in now or wait for her to say more? The stress is killing me.
“Meet?” I hear the confusion in her mom’s voice.
“Yeah, I met a guy in Switzerland on the Glacier Express train and we started hanging out and have been inseparable since. I love him, and we’re getting married!” The excitement in Sadie’s voice makes me smile and I forget that I’m supposed to magically appear.
“Married!” Jay doesn’t seem pleased. “Isn’t that a little soon?”
“Definitely not too soon. You’re going to love him.” Sadie’s head pops outside with an expectant expression. “Babe, you coming in to meet my family?”
I take her hand and come around the corner. “Surprise!”
At first, her parents look distressed, but the second they register that it’s me, they freak out.
Lynette covers her mouth in shock.
Jay’s eyes fill with happy tears.
And Annie jumps into her sister’s arms excitedly bouncing up and down.
“You were in Switzerland?” Lynette asks while on her way to hug me.
I relish in her loving embrace. I didn’t know how much I missed and wanted it.
“I saw Nash on the train,” Sadie says beside us. “It was a complete surprise.”
Jay joins in on the hug between me and his wife. “I knew you two would find a way back to each other.”
“It’s meant to be!” Annie gushes.
Lynette pulls back from the hug. She places both hands on my cheeks and smiles. “We’re so glad you’re home.”
I’ve finally found everything I’ve wanted here in Skaneateles with Sadie.
A family.
And a love that can’t be broken.
SADIE
“Thank you for giving me this moment.” My dad’s eyes go misty.
I lean my head against his arm, careful not to mess up my hair. “Oh, don’t cry.”
“I know. I know.” He laughs in an effort to gain control of his emotions. “I’m just so happy to be able to walk you down the aisle.”
“You always said a lakeside wedding at home would be beautiful, and you were right.” The music changes, and I squeeze my dad’s hand. “You ready?”
“Let’s go get you married to Nash…again.”
I loop my hand through my dad’s arm and let him lead me out of the house to the side yard. Rows of white chairs face the lake and the setting sun. Everyone important to me and Nash fills the seats. With the crowd standing, I can’t see Nash yet. It’s not until I’m at the top of the aisle that I see his handsome face.
We smile at each other through glossy eyes, and like my dad, I’m so grateful for this moment.
I’m grateful for the chance to have a memory like this.
With everything that I lost, these are the moments that mean the most.
Nash Carter has my heart.
Nothing that life throws at us can change that.
Ours is an everlasting love.