Epilogue
About a year later…
Stormi
The sun warms my face as I stand on the balcony of the fire watch tower, admiring the mountain view I now call home. Blaze sits at my side, happy for the gentle head scratches as he watches the first chopper touch down.
This day couldn’t be any more perfect.
Today, I marry the man who swept me off my feet a year ago—literally.
We don’t come out to the tower as often since Dash took over as the local fire chief and I opened my crystal shop in town.
But he has an arrangement with his buddy who took over the seasonal job—we can boot him out and stay whenever we like.
Which we’ve done for the next few days so we can enjoy our honeymoon without interruption.
As long as Brutus accepts my cupcake offering and leaves us alone, that is. It’s worked so far, so maybe Winnie is onto something after all.
“You look so beautiful,” Erin says, combing a stray hair behind my ear. Because of the wind this high up, I opted to wear it in a long braid over my shoulder—a gold streak woven in.
“You think?” I say, glancing down at my yellow dress. “It’s not traditional—”
“You’re not traditional,” Erin insists, squeezing my hand. “And that’s what I love most about you. Plus, Dash is going to lose his mind when he sees you in that dress. Guaranteed.”
A year ago, I made the decision to stay in Cinnamon Creek.
To move in with a man I’d met exactly two days prior.
My parents both lost their minds when they heard I quit my stable day job to move to the middle of nowhere in Montana.
Neither cared to hear why I quit that toxic job.
Dad lost his shit, but that was in part because our stepmom had a fit about the whole Gwen situation.
I’ve gone no contact since, which though hard, has been incredible for my sense of peace.
Zero regrets.
“I’m so proud of you, Stormi,” Mom says, joining us.
“Proud of your whimsical, witchy daughter?”
“Of course I am. And I’m sorry if I ever made you feel any other way.
” Over time, Mom came around. She admitted she’d only been worried about me having a roof over my head.
This was in part because Dad left her penniless after the divorce.
Erin and I were both out of the house when the divorce happened, so we’d never known the full extent of what Mom had gone through in the aftermath.
But now, she has the cutest cabin two blocks from downtown Cinnamon Creek. She’s best friends with Dash’s Mom, Martha. She helps me run my crystal shop, and she loves any excuse to steal Blaze for an overnight with Nana spoiling.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” I say, giving her a hug.
“Don’t you dare cry,” Alanna scolds, approaching us on the balcony. Though she’s Erin’s best friend, we’ve grown closer in the past year. I couldn’t imagine getting married today without the four women I first came here with. They are my tribe, through and through.
“Your makeup job is intact,” I tell her. “I swear it.”
“Good. But I’m on standby, just in case.”
“You ready to marry the love of your life?” she asks, leaning on the balcony railing beside me.
“Yeah, I am.” I glance at her, noting the permanent glow of happiness she wears. She and Hudson tied the knot last week. “Any advice?”
“Don’t throw your phone off a mountain.”
“If I did, Brutus would probably step on it.”
We share a laugh as my future husband steps out of the helicopter with his groomsmen, his mom, and Winnie.
She’s officiating the wedding today, and I couldn’t be happier about that. She’s the reason Dash and I met. I haven’t gotten her to confess to cancelling the other bookings that first day I went to the fire watch tower, but I strongly suspect she was behind the trip for one that changed my life.
“Let’s go,” Gabby announces, looping arms with Devin and Alanna. “Time to get this show on the road.”
Blaze trots beside me as I head to the start of the trail leading to the landing pad.
I squeeze the amethyst in my pocket as we walk—because I had to have a wedding dress with pockets for my crystals.
My tribe of besties walks in front of me, creating a wall so Dash can’t see me until I’m just feet away.
When they part, his expression is everything.
It’s filled with love, longing, and so much adoration.
If I ever doubted my rash decision to uproot my old life for the one I’m building now with Dash, I no longer do. Any tiny bubbles of leftover doubt float up into the sky and disappear. I love my life with him. I love it so damn much.
“You look beautiful,” Dash says, taking my hands into his.
“You like it?”
He looks me up and down, the desire not even a little bit hidden. “I love it,” he says, his words a low growl. He leans closer, until his lips are against the shell of my ear. “I love getting you out of it even more.”
A zing of desire zips through my body.
God I love this man.
I love the way he desires me. The way he supports me. And most of all, I love the way he loves me for exactly who I am.
“Do you have it?” I ask him, nodding at his pocket.
“Of course I do, baby girl.” He reaches into his pocket to reveal the sunstone I gave him a year ago. “I never go anywhere without it.”
“Really?” Tears prick the corner of my eyes, because I thought I couldn’t love this man any more than I already do. I was wrong.
“I thought you knew that.”
I shake my head.
“I carry it in my pocket so I’ll always have my piece of sunshine with me, even when we’re apart.”
I throw my arms around his neck, set on kissing him. But Winnie’s too quick. She whips out a folder between us, and my lipstick ends up on the words she’s prepared for us today.
Oops.
“How about we get you kids hitched so you can get on to the kissing part?” she asks.
“Sounds like a great idea, Winnie,” Dash says, his gaze pinning me in place. Making me feel as though I’m the only one on this mountain with him. “I’m ready for this woman to be my wife.”