Epilogue
EMMY
“ Welcome to Seduction Summit Sweets!” Willow called out, her voice far too chirpy.
We’d been open for exactly ten minutes, and it was seven o’clock in the morning. Which meant it was far too early for chirpiness, even if we were loaded down with coffee from the shop across the alley from us.
But the people walking through the door weren’t tourists or friendly locals. Instead, it was my husband and our three-year-old, Riley.
“Someone woke up missing her mommy,” Tobias said.
I found that more than a little touching. But I knew my daughter. She was angling for an apple fritter. It was a rare treat, but it’d been a while since she had one.
“Apple,” Riley said, confirming my suspicions.
Willow gave her a big smile. She was a sucker for little Riley. Her daughter was slightly older than Riley, and she also had a one-year-old. We often let her daughter spend the night with us to let Willow and her husband, Liam, focus on their infant.
“Two of you are working today,” Tobias commented as they approached the counter. “Must be a busy day.”
Usually, Willow handled the opening shift alone, but ski season was gearing up. That meant mornings could be…unpredictable, to say the least.
“A big rush of winter tourists just blew into town,” Willow said. “We’ve already been warned that a bus full is stopping by on the way up the mountain.”
Tobias looked impressed. “A tour bus? Wouldn’t have expected that.”
He was right. When Seduction Summit was just a ski resort town, tour groups had no reason to come here. They still didn’t, really, even though there were plenty of great activities up at the ski lodge.
But more than five years after I stepped on that nail outside what would one day be my shop, the shopping center was thriving. Restaurants were popping up all over town. I had a feeling tour groups would become commonplace soon enough.
“Apple!” Riley insisted.
“That’s not very polite,” Tobias said, lifting her up and settling her on his hip so she could take a look for herself.
“May please, apple?” she said, looking up at me with those sweet eyes I couldn’t resist.
“We’ll split one,” Tobias said, setting his cup of coffee on the counter and reaching back to grab his wallet.
“Your money’s no good here,” Willow said.
Willow knew better than that. Tobias always insisted on paying. He pulled out his credit card and handed it to her while I packaged up the apple fritter.
A lot had happened in the past five years. The four of us—Bronte, Macy, Willow, and me—had started this business. I had actually been the one to track down Macy online. We messaged for a while, then met up for coffee in Adairsville. Together, we crafted a business plan.
When we heard Bronte and Willow were thinking about opening a bakery too, we decided to bring them into the fold. Between the four of us, we were able to get a business loan to supplement the fifty thousand dollars I’d won. And we hadn’t looked back.
The bakery was thriving. We hired local teenagers to help out after school and on weekends. We also had a manager who worked eight to five every day. Willow took the morning shift, and I came in a little later, leaving in the early afternoon when Macy took over. That freed me up to spend afternoons with Riley, who had a babysitter for the period of time in the morning when Tobias and I were both working.
“You know what?” Tobias asked. “Toss in a fritter for Macy and the kids.”
Macy and Beau’s daughter Angel was the same age as Riley, so we often had play dates. This morning, Tobias was heading over to drop off Riley so he and Beau could run a business errand for their boss.
“I’ll throw in an extra one,” I said as I slipped a third apple fritter into the bag. “I have a feeling Macy’s going to want an entire apple fritter to herself.”
“Are you having a play date?” Willow asked Riley.
“Day date!” Riley said with a big smile.
That was what she called a play date. We had a lot of those. Macy and Beau moved in a few cabins down from us, with a couple of Tobias’s friends and their wives in between. We often did group cookouts in the summer and once our kids were older, they’d probably freely run between the houses.
“I’ll walk you to your car,” I said, glancing over at Willow, who gave a nod.
Tobias stopped to hold the door open for a man walking toward our bakery. He’d be our first official customer of the day, but many more would follow.
As we exited the shopping enclave and stopped in front of Tobias’s truck, parked on the street, I saw people already milling about. Not many—a woman, a couple with a dog, a man on his morning run, and a woman in dress pants who probably worked at one of the shops.
Traffic was picking up. Not like it would be later today, when the town woke up and day skiers started pouring in. The steady flow of cars would continue until February, when they’d dwindle for a month before tourists started arriving for spring festivities at the lodge.
“You didn’t have to come out in the cold for us,” Tobias said. “But I’m glad you did.”
He settled Riley into her seat, closed the door, and turned to face me. We both wore thick coats, and as he put his arms around me, I found myself wishing he could keep those arms around me until I got back inside.
Yes, it was definitely cold, but winter had finally arrived, and that was good news for our business. It was our fifth winter. Our first had been the year we broke ground only eight months after I met Tobias. We focused on getting my business going before we got married, and we didn’t even take a honeymoon until the next summer. We had also been later than some of our friends in having our first child, but we were making up for lost time. I was pregnant with twins.
It was still early, so I wasn’t even showing yet, but all three of my business partners knew, and they were already making me sit and rest far more often than I would have otherwise.
“Movie night tonight?” Tobias asked.
“Yes,” I said with a smile. “We’ll fire up the pizza oven.”
He grinned. “I love you.”
The words came so out of the blue they threw me for a second, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. He was always saying that to me. He’d also text me randomly in the middle of the day just to let me know he was thinking of me. This was all stuff I would have assumed would fade over time, but it hadn’t. If anything, our love had only grown stronger.
“I love you too. And you be careful driving up the mountain. These tourists aren’t always the best drivers.”
He laughed. “Don’t I know it? I might even have to stop and rescue someone who gets a nail in their tire.”
It took me a second, but I eventually got the reference to the nail in the bottom of my shoe. A nail that had brought us together. But before my smile could return, he lowered his head and captured my mouth in a kiss.
Finally, he released me, and I immediately missed his arms around me. It wasn’t just the cold either. I always felt safest and most content when I was in his arms.
After opening the back door and giving Riley another kiss goodbye, I headed back to the shop, looking around. It was hard to believe just five and a half years ago, this shopping enclave had been a shell of what it was today. Literally. The buildings had been framed but not even filled in yet. The ground was covered in dust and debris.
I couldn’t visualize it then, but now, it was the most charming place in the world, as far as I was concerned. And I got to spend every day here.
And every night I went home to the cozy four-bedroom cabin that I shared with my husband and daughter. And soon, we’d have two more kids to round out the picture.
As many times as I’d imagined having a family of my own someday, growing up, I never pictured it would be quite this amazing. The reality was much better. In fact, I probably appreciated it more than if I’d had a stable home environment back then.
Today, I was determined to make every day wonderful for my kids and my husband. And in turn, they made every day happier than I could have ever dreamed.
I smiled and gave a nod as I entered the bakery. It was cold out here, but I’d barely noticed. Still, I was more than happy to step back into the heated bakery. The bakery I’d created with three other women who’d come to town, chasing a dream.
And now, all our dreams had come true, and then some.