Epilogue
SIX MONTHS LATER
Trace
I woke up like I usually did, to the smell of coffee and cinnamon rolls drifting in from the kitchen. Sabrina had been up for an hour already. I could hear her humming downstairs along with the familiar sounds of the espresso machine she’d bought so we could have one at home.
I pulled on jeans and a t-shirt, pausing to look at the framed photo on our dresser.
It was from our wedding day. Not the posed shots the professional photographer had taken, but a candid one Gillian had snapped of us laughing during the reception.
Sabrina's hair was coming loose, my tie was crooked, and we both looked slightly stunned by what we'd just done. It was perfect.
Hard Timber had never quite recovered from what the media dubbed "The Montana Wedding That Broke the Internet.
" The photographer had sold the shots to three different magazines, and we made him donate half the proceeds to the town.
Nico had done a follow-up episode called "From Ex-List to Wedding Bliss" that had somehow made us sound like romantic heroes instead of small-town disasters.
Sometimes I still heard people whisper about the list. But now, when they did, it wasn’t with bitterness. It was with a kind of wistful affection. Like the town had finally learned that hearts can heal, reputations can mend, and even Hard Timber can let go of old mistakes.
The result was that Morning Wood Coffee had become a legitimate tourist destination.
People drove hours just to get coffee from "the place where love went viral.
" Sabrina had handled the attention with her usual grace, hiring two more employees and expanding the menu to include what she called "celebrity wedding cake" which was really just her grandmother's pound cake recipe with fancy icing.
Downstairs, I found her leaning up against the counter in jeans and one of my flannel shirts, her hair twisted up in that messy bun I loved. She had her phone pressed to her ear and a smile on her face. When she saw me coming down the stairs, she set the phone on the counter and put it on speaker.
“Trace just walked in. Tell him what you just told me,” she said.
Paige laughed and I could practically hear her eyes roll. “Good morning, Trace. I was just telling Sabrina a couple from Calgary just came in. They drove all the way down here because they heard your story online. This place is turning into some kind of love cult attraction.”
I stepped up behind Sabrina, wrapping my arms around her waist. She leaned back against me automatically, fitting perfectly like we’d been made for each other because we had.
“Nothing wrong with that. Sounds to me like you’re serving coffee with a side of hope,” I teased.
“And love makes the world go round,” Sabrina added. “Make sure you have them put a pin on the map before they leave. I love knowing where people are coming from.”
“You got it, boss. Enjoy the day off.” The phone clicked as Paige hung up.
Sabrina turned in my arms to face me. "Good morning, husband."
"Good morning, wife." I still got a kick out of that word. Wife. It meant we were permanent. It meant she was mine.
"I have news," she said, pulling her laptop across the counter. "I just posted a final update about the Ex-List."
I raised an eyebrow. Posts about the Ex-List had died off since our wedding, but occasionally Sabrina would get requests from people asking for updates on the men who'd been featured.
"What did you write?"
She turned the screen so I could read:
Final Update: Not all exes stay exes. Some become husbands.
When I helped write this list a few years ago (yes, I'm finally admitting it was me), I thought I was turning the tables on Hard Timber’s most difficult men. Turns out I was just making a list of guys who hadn't found the right woman yet.
All of the men on the Ex-List have found their own versions of happiness, whether that's marriage, meaningful relationships, or just figuring out what they actually want.
As for The Heartbreaker? He married the girl who wrote his name on the list in the first place. And if that's not proof that love is messier and more complicated and more forgiving than any of us deserve, I don't know what is.
Thanks for following our story. May you all find your own version of messily ever after.
—Sabrina Quade (formerly Meyer) Morning Wood Coffee, Hard Timber, Montana
I pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Think that'll put an end to the curiosity?"
"Probably not. But at least now when people ask, I can point them to the post instead of having to explain why I married someone I once publicly called a heartbreaker."
"To be fair, I was a heartbreaker. Just not in the way you meant."
She looked up at me, her hazel eyes soft. "And how's that?"
"I kept breaking my own heart by being too stupid to fight for what I wanted." I cupped her face in my hands. "Never again."
“Prove it, husband.”
So I did. Twice after breakfast and again right after lunch.
Around four, my phone rang while I was reconciling month-end numbers for both the hardware store and the coffee shop.
My brother's name flashed on the screen, and I felt a familiar mix of affection and concern.
Alex only called when he was in trouble or needed something, and since he was currently in the middle of his hockey season, it was probably the former.
"Hey, big brother," I answered. "Please tell me you didn't get traded again."
"Worse," Alex's voice was tight. "I got suspended. Three games, pending a 'behavioral review.' Whatever the fuck that means."
I pushed my chair back from the desk and looked out the window. Alex was four years older than me and had always been the one who attracted drama. Talented as hell on the ice, but he had a temper that got him in trouble more often than it should.
"What did you do?"
"Got in a fight during practice. Coach said I was being 'disruptive to team chemistry' and needed some time to 'reassess my priorities.'" He was quiet for a moment. "I was thinking maybe I could come up to Montana for a few days. Clear my head."
"Of course. You know you're always welcome here."
"Thanks, man. I just need to get away from the city for a while. Remember what normal feels like."
After I hung up, I found Sabrina in the kitchen trying out a new scone recipe. "Alex is coming for a visit," I told her. "He got suspended from the team."
She looked up, concerned. "Is he okay?"
"He will be. He just needs some mountain air and probably some of your cooking." I wrapped my arms around her again, still amazed that I could do that whenever I wanted. "Think Hard Timber can handle another Quade brother?"
"I think Hard Timber can handle anything at this point," she said with a laugh. "Besides, maybe we can find him a nice local girl to settle him down."
"Sabrina Quade," I said sternly, "you are not allowed to become a matchmaker. We've caused enough romantic chaos in this town."
"Says the man who proposed in the middle of a celebrity wedding crisis."
"That was different. That was destiny."
She stood on her tiptoes to kiss me, tasting like coffee and cinnamon and home. "I love you, Trace Quade."
"I love you too, Sabrina Quade."
Outside the window, the mountains stood guard over our little valley, unchanged and unchanging, while below them a town full of people went about the business of living and loving and making mistakes they'd hopefully learn from.
I thought about the Ex-List that had started all this—a collection of hurt feelings and misunderstandings that had somehow led to the best thing that ever happened to me. Maybe that was the real lesson in all of this: sometimes the biggest disasters turn out to be the best beginnings.
Sometimes getting your heart broken is just the first step toward getting it put back together better than before.
And sometimes the girl who breaks it is the same one who spends the rest of her life making sure it stays whole.