Chapter 26
December arrived with the first real snow of the season.
The house renovations were finally complete. Three months of construction, dust, and contractor meetings had transformed Uncle Walter's family home into Jake and Lucy's home.
The kitchen was updated—new appliances, refinished cabinets, a huge island where Lucy could prep on her days off. The master bedroom had new floors and paint. The fourth bedroom had become Jake's home office, filled with coaching books and hockey memorabilia.
"It's perfect," Lucy said, standing in the living room on moving day. "It actually feels like ours."
They'd moved in over Thanksgiving weekend, with help from Uncle Walter, Rei, Marcus, and half the town. Giuseppe had provided food. Mae had organized everything. Emma had "helped" by mostly getting in the way but being adorable about it.
Now, two weeks later, Jake was planning something.
He'd bought a ring in October—right after their fight about franchising. After Lucy had chosen their relationship over expansion. After she'd proven, once and for all, that she was staying.
The ring was simple—a solitaire diamond on a white gold band. Nothing flashy, nothing huge. Just elegant and timeless, like Lucy herself.
Jake had been carrying it around for two months, waiting for the perfect moment.
"You're overthinking this," Marcus said one afternoon at practice. "Just propose. She'll say yes."
"How do you know?"
"Because she bought a house with you. Because she turned down a massive career opportunity to stay here. Because she looks at you like you hung the moon. Jake, she's ready."
"What if I do it wrong? What if it's not romantic enough?"
"It's not about being romantic. It's about being real. Lucy doesn't want some grand gesture. She wants you."
That evening, Jake came home to find Lucy cooking dinner—a rare occurrence on a weeknight.
"What's the occasion?" he asked.
"No occasion. Just wanted to cook something for fun. Not for the restaurant, not for customers. Just for us."
She'd made pot roast with root vegetables—comfort food, the kind of meal that felt like home.
They ate at their new dining table, talking about their days. Lucy's restaurant had finally settled into a sustainable rhythm. She'd hired a manager, was actually taking Sundays off, had stopped working sixteen-hour days.
"Daniel told me today that he's never seen me this balanced," Lucy said. "Apparently I'm almost pleasant to work with now."
"Almost?"
"I'm still a perfectionist. But I'm a pleasant perfectionist."
"That's growth."
After dinner, they walked through their neighborhood. Snow falling softly, Christmas lights twinkling on houses, Timber Falls in all its small-town glory.
"I love it here," Lucy said. "Our house, this town, this life. I can't believe I almost gave it up for Paris."
"You needed Paris to know what you wanted."
"I guess. But Jake—I'm glad I came back. Glad I chose this. Chose you."
"Me too."
They walked in comfortable silence, and Jake thought about the ring in his pocket.
Not yet. Not tonight. Soon, but not yet.
Christmas came with a party at Jake and Lucy's new house.
Their first real party as homeowners. The house was decorated—Lucy had gone overboard with lights and garland and a huge tree in the living room. Jake had complained about the excess but secretly loved it.
Everyone came. Uncle Walter, Rei, Marcus, Mae, Daniel, Tommy and Patricia, Emma and her parents, even Mrs. Henderson and the Knitting Circle.
Giuseppe brought enough food to feed an army. Sarah from The Bread Basket brought pastries. Someone had set up a karaoke machine, and Marcus was drunkenly singing Christmas carols.
"This is perfect," Rei said, finding Lucy in the kitchen. "Your house, your life, everything."
"It is pretty perfect, isn't it?"
"Are you happy? Really happy?"
"I am. More than I've been in years. Maybe ever."
Lucy looked out at the party—all the people who mattered, all the people who'd supported them through everything. This was community. This was home.
Jake appeared at her side. "Can I steal you for a minute?"
"Everything okay?"
"Everything's perfect. Just want to show you something."
He led her outside to the backyard. The party noise faded behind them, replaced by peaceful winter quiet.
"What did you want to show me?" Lucy asked.
Jake took both her hands. "Lucy Chen, we've known each other for four years. We've been through Paris, through distance, through doubt, through learning to trust each other again. We've built careers we love in a town we love. We bought a house together. Built a life together."
Lucy's heart started pounding. "Jake—"
"Let me finish. You're my best friend. You're my partner.
You're the person I want to come home to every day for the rest of my life.
You're brave and talented and occasionally infuriating in the best way.
And I love you. I've loved you since the first Wednesday morning pork bun.
I'll love you for every Wednesday morning pork bun for the rest of our lives. "
Jake dropped to one knee, pulling out a ring box.
"Lucy Chen, will you marry me?"
Lucy felt tears streaming down her face. "Yes. Yes, of course yes!"
Jake stood and slipped the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly—simple and elegant and exactly right.
"I love you," Lucy said, kissing him. "I love you so much."
"I love you too. Lucy Morrison has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"
"Lucy Morrison. Lucy Chen-Morrison. Mrs. Jake Morrison." Lucy laughed. "I'll figure out the name situation later. Right now I'm just—I'm engaged!"
They went back inside, and the moment everyone saw Lucy's ring, the house erupted in celebration.
"I knew it!" Emma shouted. "I knew Coach Jake would propose!"
"To Jake and Lucy!" Giuseppe declared, somehow producing champagne from nowhere. "To love! To forever! To amore!"
Everyone toasted, and Lucy felt overwhelmed with happiness. This was her life. These were her people. This was home.
Later that night, after everyone had left and they were cleaning up, Jake pulled Lucy close.
"No regrets?" he asked. "No second thoughts?"
"Not a single one. Jake Morrison, you're stuck with me."
"Best kind of stuck."
The wedding was planned for June.
Not a huge wedding—just family and close friends, in Timber Falls, at the small church where Lucy's grandmother had gone. A reception at Giuseppe's because where else would they have it?
Lucy was surprisingly un-stressed about planning.
"I planned a restaurant opening," she said when Rei expressed surprise. "A wedding is nothing compared to that."
March brought spring and the one-year anniversary of Margaret's opening.
The restaurant had been featured in three major publications. Reservations were booked two months out. Lucy had trained her staff so well that she only worked dinner service three nights a week.
"Look at you," Daniel said. "Actual work-life balance. I'm proud."
"Don't get used to it. Wedding planning is temporary."
"You're getting married in three months. I think it's permanent."
Jake's coaching academy had grown too. They'd run four clinics since August, with another scheduled for May. Coaches were coming from as far as Canada to train with Tommy and Jake.
"We should write a book," Tommy suggested one afternoon. "Coaching philosophy, strategy, all of it. Share what we've learned."
"A book? That's—that's huge."
"So? You're ready for huge. We both are."
On a Wednesday morning in late March, Jake and Lucy maintained their tradition.
8:17 AM at The Bread Basket. Six pork buns, two coffees, their corner table.
"Four years," Lucy said. "We've been doing this for four years."
"Best tradition we have."
"Remember when we barely talked? You'd just order and leave?"
"I was working up the courage to actually have a conversation."
"It took you three years."
"I'm a slow mover."
"And now we're getting married."
"Now we're getting married."
They sat in comfortable silence, watching Timber Falls wake up around them. Mr. Peterson came in for his bran muffin. Mrs. Henderson arrived with the Knitting Circle. Sarah waved from behind the counter.
This was home. These people, this town, this quiet Wednesday morning routine.
"Jake?" Lucy said.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you. For waiting for me. For being patient while I figured out what I wanted."
"Thank you for coming back. For choosing this life."
"I'll choose it every day for the rest of our lives."
"That's all I need."
June twenty-first arrived with perfect weather.
Sunny, seventy-five degrees, not a cloud in the sky. Lucy took it as a good omen.
The morning was chaos—Rei doing her makeup, Mae organizing the dress, Uncle Walter crying in the corner.
"Pull it together, Walter," Rei said. "You can't walk her down the aisle if you're sobbing."
"I'm not sobbing. I'm just—emotional. My Lulu is getting married."
Lucy looked at herself in the mirror. The dress was simple—lace and silk, fitted but not tight, elegant without being fussy. Her grandmother's jade bracelet on one wrist, Jake's whisk-and-hockey-stick necklace on the other.
"You look beautiful," Uncle Walter said. "Your grandmother would be so proud."
"I wish she was here."
"She is here. In this bracelet, in your strength, in everything you've become. Lulu, you honored her legacy by living your own life. That's what she wanted."
The ceremony was small and perfect.
Emma was the flower girl, taking her job very seriously. Marcus was Jake's best man, crying through his entire speech. Rei was Lucy's maid of honor, crying through hers.
When Lucy walked down the aisle, she saw Jake waiting—looking nervous and happy and exactly right in his suit.
"Hi," she whispered when she reached him.
"Hi. You look incredible."
The ceremony was short. Traditional vows, simple promises, two people choosing each other in front of the people who mattered most.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Jake kissed her, and the church erupted in applause.
They were married. Really, officially married.
Lucy Chen-Morrison. (She'd decided to hyphenate. Honoring both her grandmother's name and her new life.)
The reception at Giuseppe's was exactly what they'd wanted—good food, good wine, good people. Dancing and laughter and celebration.
"Speech!" someone called during dinner.
Jake stood, looking nervous. "I'm not good at speeches.
But I'll say this—four years ago, I walked into a bakery for pork buns.
I left with the best thing that ever happened to me.
Lucy, you've made me braver, happier, more myself.
Thank you for choosing me. Thank you for coming home.
Thank you for being exactly who you are. "
Lucy stood and kissed him, not caring that everyone was watching.
"My turn," Lucy said. "Jake Morrison, you taught me what commitment looks like.
What partnership looks like. What love looks like.
You were patient when I was scared. You believed in me when I doubted myself.
You supported every dream while helping me stay grounded.
I promise to choose you every day. I promise to show up.
I promise to never run away again. Because home isn't a place—it's you. "
More applause, more tears, more celebration.
Around midnight, after the party was winding down, Jake and Lucy snuck outside.
"We did it," Lucy said. "We're actually married."
"We're actually married."
They stood in the parking lot of Giuseppe's, holding each other, watching Timber Falls sleep around them.
"No regrets?" Jake asked.
"Not one. You?"
"Not a single one. Lucy Morrison—"
"Chen-Morrison."
"Lucy Chen-Morrison, you're stuck with me forever."
"Best kind of stuck."