Epilogue
Poppy
One and a half years later
“ H appy Valentine’s Day, my love.”
Hayden curls the blanket around my shoulder, pulling me in tighter as he murmurs the words softly in my ear. Despite the chill coming off the waves before us, every inch of me feels warmed from the inside out. He has that effect on me.
“How are we going to top last year?” I ask with a smile. Our first Valentine’s Day, we had taken the yacht he inherited down the coast and spent days wrapped up with one another on the sea. It had been an absolute dream, which was no surprise considering he is an absolute dream.
“I had an idea,” he replies, taking his arms from around me and reaching into a pocket.
“Hayden.” His name is barely more than a breath on my lips as he withdraws a ring box and cracks it open. Inside sits a stunning, oversized sapphire, encircled by tiny diamonds on a gold band. “Marry me, Poppy Seed?”
The gemstone is the same light blue as his eyes. My favorite color. And it glistens in the morning sun.
I nod enthusiastically as my smile threatens to overtake my face. “Yes, of course yes,” I exclaim, pulling him into a kiss. With his lips on mine, Hayden reaches out and slides the ring onto my finger. I pull back to examine it on its new home. “Perfect,” I whisper.
“We can have any wedding you want, baby. Whatever you dream up.”
“All I care about is marrying you. You’re still all I need; you always will be. So, tell me what you want for the wedding.”
A soft chuckle escapes him. “I just really want to be married to you. I’d marry you today, Poppy.”
I raise an eyebrow at him, and I’m certain that the spark I see in his eyes matches my own. “I would do that.”
“Do what? Marry me today?”
“Yeah,” I whisper. “I’d marry you today.”
“Let’s do it,” he replies quickly. “Let’s get married today.”
“Okay!” My heart beats wildly from excitement. I don’t want a plan for once. I just want him.
“What do we need to do to make this happen?”
“We could do it at town hall with Fitzy as the officiant. Then we can have our friends meet us there for our witnesses. Oh, we could surprise them! Let’s not tell them why they are coming.”
He grins at me and nods. “Yes, absolutely. What else do you want to make it feel special? Food? Dress? I can call Stevie and tell her I want to get you flowers for Valentine’s Day.”
“Perfect. Oh, I love this. And we should make the cake.” I jump up and clap my hands together, pausing for a moment to admire my engagement ring once again.
He rises as well, taking my hand in his and kissing the ring on my finger. “We’re getting married today?” he asks.
“We’re getting married today.”
He laces our fingers together and pulls me across the private beach to the stone stairway. We climb upward to our home, excitement buzzing in the air between us. “What kind of cake are we making? Should we go to the bakehouse to make it?” he asks as we crest the steps.
“Something classic. An almond cake? With a whipped buttercream. But let’s do it here. Elle would have already opened for the day; we might look suspicious going in to make a wedding cake.”
After paying off the renovation debts, Hayden insisted the first order of business was hiring me a second set of hands at the bakery. For once, I had no argument, and we found Elle. Fresh out of culinary school, she has quickly become invaluable.
“Home kitchen it is,” he agrees. We make our way inside, wasting no time pulling out all the necessary ingredients. He may not come bake at work with me too much anymore, but we have found quite the rhythm at home. Together in the kitchen, it’s like we still have our own little bubble.
We move together, whipping up our cake and sliding it into the oven in no time. As soon as I close the oven door, I feel an arm snake across my middle and pull me back against a sturdy chest. “What about vows?” Hayden asks, his lips in my hair.
“Write them while the cake bakes? Then after we ice it, we can split up for me to find a dress and you to find Fitzy and flowers. We can meet back here to get dressed and go to town hall together?”
“Deal.” He kisses my head before disappearing down the hall. “And don’t try to come in and sneak a peek at my vows,” he calls over his shoulder. Rolling my eyes, I set the timer and tiptoe off to my own corner of Cliff House to write.
I run my hands down the ivory satin that clings gracefully to my body.
When it came time to get a dress, I knew immediately where I was going to find the one —a boutique in Fenbury that sold me the last dress to steal Hayden’s breath away.
And when I walked in, it was right there, on display in the center of the store.
With short sleeves, the satin dress hugs my body like an elegant slip and floats out around my legs courtesy of the split cut front.
With the perfect dress, I rushed home to start getting ready.
Nails painted, makeup and dress on, and hair loosely curled, I slip my grandmother’s pearl earrings in and adjust my breathtaking engagement ring.
The light sapphire shines against the diamonds and gold, it’s like the soft blue of a cloudless sky where it meets the sea.
I think I could stare at this ring all day, imagining what wedding band I’d like to go with it.
Wedding bands . How did we forget those?
I slide into my ivory pointed-toe mule pumps and rush down to the den where Hayden is getting ready. As I throw open the door, he turns and drops the tie in his hand, gaping at me.
“You are gorgeous, my love. Just stunning,” he murmurs, bringing his hand over his heart.
“And you are incredibly sexy,” I reply, crossing the room and bending over to pick up his slate blue tie. Hayden’s eyes follow the lines of my body as I do so, mesmerized. Clearly, I picked the right dress.
Tie in hand, I loop it around his neck and fasten it in a knot. Tightening it, I adjust his collar and rest my palms on his chest. “Incredibly sexy,” I repeat, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of his smile.
“I can’t believe I get to marry you today.” Hayden runs his hands down my sides, coming to rest on my hips. “I love you, Poppy Seed.”
“I love you, Baywatch. But we just have one little problem, we forgot wedding bands.”
Reaching into his pocket, Hayden withdraws two gold bands. “Will these work?”
“They are perfect, how did you?—”
“Mrs. Silberman.” He grins. “But our secret is safe with her.”
“Then let’s go get married.”
Hand in hand, we rush down to the car. He opens my door for me revealing a lavish bouquet of mixed white blooms waiting on my seat. Again, it’s perfect. I couldn’t have planned a day better than this.
“How do we get our friends to go to town hall?” I ask, climbing inside and sliding the flowers onto my lap.
Hayden crosses around to the other side and removes his charcoal suit jacket before taking a seat. He turns and lays it in the back, dropping a kiss to my shoulder as he faces forward once more. “I already did that.”
“How?” I gape.
Chuckling, he turns the key for the engine and starts us towards town. “I just texted them all and said I needed help setting up a proposal.”
“That’s brilliant.”
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear the surprise in that,” Hayden says with a grin. Reaching over, I loop my hand in his and rest my head on his shoulder. An hour from now, this smart, caring, strong man is going to be my husband.
We remain like this for the whole drive, weaving through the streets decorated with pink and red banners until he parks around the back of town hall.
Hand in hand, we sneak into the building, hearing the echo of our friends’ voices down the hall.
I already can’t stop smiling, and the ceremony hasn’t even happened yet.
“Why do you think Hayden is proposing here?” Wren asks, her voice carrying out from the meeting hall.
“Maybe because town hall is where they fought over the bakery building?” Ivy guesses.
I stifle a giggle as Fitzy ushers us into the mayor chambers that connect to the meeting hall. “Everyone’s here,” he whispers before pulling us into a hug. With an arm around Hayden and the other around me, the mayor squeezes us tight before taking a step back and grinning ear to ear. “Ready?”
Hayden looks over at me as he responds, “I just want to be married to this woman.” Tears prick my eyes as I nod in return. I’ve never been more ready for anything.
Fitzy opens the door to the annex and announces, “Slight change of plans, all. You aren’t here for a proposal.”
We step out behind him, my bouquet poised in front of me, and our arms linked together. “You’re here for a wedding,” Hayden finishes.
A collection of gasps and cheers rise from our closest friends, and I take a moment to scan the room.
There’s Ivy and Tripp, and Stevie and Beckett.
Wren stands beside them, flanked by Wes, Jamie, and Nash.
It seems like a lifetime ago that I was blaming this group for forcing me to be around Hayden, too stubborn to admit what was always there between us.
“If everyone will take their seats, we can get started,” Fitzy instructs, motioning for Hayden and me to join him up front.
Passing my flowers to Stevie, I step across from the man of my dreams and allow him to take both my hands in his own.
“These two are some of the most determined people I have ever met. And they are determined to be married as soon as possible. So, I won’t make them wait any longer with a big speech.
Poppy, Hayden, anything you’d like to say to one another? ”
I nod, releasing a hand from Hayden’s grasp to swipe away a tear.
“I sat down to write my vows this morning, but realized I didn’t actually need to write them.
Because what I have to vow is already ingrained in my heart.
Hayden, you are the love I sat under a peach tree and dreamt about my whole life.
Those hopes I cast out into my orchard were already in motion, long before I was ready to realize it.
You’re my best friend, and my most formidable challenger.
And I vow to be all in as a partner and lover for life. ”
Hayden gives my hands a squeeze as he begins next, already causing the tears to fill my eyes at the mere fact that he’s about to recite his vows to me.
Because really, he’s been vowing himself to me all along.
“Poppy, you are my siren song, and I am so happy to finally be forever at your mercy. I vow to love you as steadily as an endless summer. I vow to love you for your stubborn heart, to love you through every disagreement, always.”
My mouth falls open, that final sentence is nearly word for word what my nana used to say my grandfather did for her. Something I had told him only once. Hayden smiles knowingly, clearly pleased that I understand what he’s referencing.
“I vow to do everything in my power to make all your dreams come true,” he finishes. He was making a promise in my kitchen that day after all.
“Then without further ado, by the power vested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride!”
Sweeping me off my feet, literally, Hayden dips me and brings his mouth to mine.
I open to him, savoring my first kiss as his wife.
Bringing one hand up around his neck, I press the other against his heart.
As we straighten, Fitzy holds his hands out wide and announces, “May I present to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Hayden and Poppy Thompson!”
And oh my, does my stubborn heart flutter happily at the sound of that. It turns out that this heart of mine was going to be the key to all my dreams like Nana said. It just had to find its twin flame.