Epilogue
“Bad news,” Jett says, hanging up his phone and turning to the group of us waiting in his living room. Wren places a comforting hand on my back. “A storm is rolling in and it’s not safe to go out today.”
My heart drops. We had a feeling it would end up this way, but it doesn’t make it any easier to accept.
The clouds rolled in last night as the wind picked up, and now it’s howling outside, the trees in the backyard bowing from the gusts.
It’s just started snowing, almost a white-out.
I was holding onto any shred of hope that we’d be able to go through with our plans.
“Shit.” Grady mutters. “Are you sure there’s no way to go up today?”
Jett shakes his head, his mouth forming a tight line.
“Nope. The wind gusts are too strong for a helicopter to fly safely. Down here isn’t the issue, it’s at the summit where we could run into real problems.”
A knot forms in my gut. I’ve been dreaming of the day Jett and I would get to renew our vows for almost a year now, and with today being our anniversary, it was going to be perfect. My every dream come true. But the last thing I’d ever want is to endanger anyone.
“We have to cancel?” I ask, trying to stop my voice from quaking. Jett had talked to Beck’s brother, Dom, who agreed to take us up to the top of Mount Engadine in the helicopter. It was put in place months ago.
I’m all ready in my wedding dress, and my soft grey faux fur shawl to keep me warm. All the girls are wearing matching ones. And now their disappointed expressions match my own.
“I think so,” Jett says, and the air in the room suddenly feels heavy. “Dom said we can wait a few hours to see if the storm passes. We still have enough daylight that all might not be lost.”
I refuse to acknowledge the spark of hope that flickers in my chest, because I know how that hope can easily be dashed.
“We can still celebrate. No point in the whole day going to waste,” Hudson suggests. “You’re technically already married anyway.”
I glance around at everyone trying to put on a brave face, remain optimistic.
I bob my head in a solemn nod, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. All I’ve wanted is my fairytale wedding. Our first wedding was picture perfect. It was lavish, expensive, and curated.
But it wasn’t the wedding I’ve always envisioned for myself. Which is why this day has felt so monumental. Our first wedding was about everyone else, what they thought, how the media would portray us.
All I’ve wanted since that day, was to have only our closest family and friends around, in a place that represents the hurdles Jett and I have climbed to get here. I just want to exchange our vows on a mountain top.
This day was supposed to be about us.
Wren appears at the end of the hallway, having returned from wherever she was. I never even realized she stepped away.
“The storm is supposed to be making its way down the valley. Maybe we should put a pin in the celebrations and head home before we’re all stuck here,” she says.
Everyone turns to look at me, to gauge whether leaving will be a betrayal. They all know how important today was to both of us.
My shoulders sag with grim acceptance that my dream wedding is gone. Ruined.
“That’s probably for the best.”
Jett places an arm around my shoulders, planting a kiss on my temple. I soak it in for a moment, letting my eyes flutter closed. It’ll be alright, we’ll plan for another day, and it will be just as special, because we’re together, and that’s all that matters.
As the group disperses, grabbing their coats and shoes by the door, my phone vibrates on the coffee table with an incoming call. It’s Ethan, and I wonder if the day could get any worse.
Ethan has had the café running like clockwork since I promoted him to manager. In his new role—and with the second barista we hired—I’ve been able to take more time off, only going into the café to work when I’m feeling well.
The change has been welcome, and in between my adventures with Jett, I’ve been able to focus on the big picture operations, turning the café into something my aunt would have been so proud of. Not fighting to make ends meet, hosting events that bring a bit of lively fun to our sleepy little town.
So Ethan calling can only mean that something is going awry.
“Hey Ethan,” I answer, hesitance obvious in my voice.
“Poppy, I’m so sorry to interrupt your day, but the power has gone out at the café, and we aren’t sure what to do to keep all the milk from spoiling.”
Panic rises in my throat. “I didn’t think the storm was going to hit Heartwood until later.”
“It isn’t, a breaker has blown or something, and I don’t know how to fix it. I was hoping maybe we could move some things to your fridge upstairs.”
I consider the dilemma for a moment, trying to come up with a solution. My apartment is locked, and I don’t keep a spare key handy.
My wedding day has been ruined anyway. There’s no saving it now.
“I’m coming,” I answer, and I hear the flood of relief in his voice when he answers with an “okay.”
The café is pitch dark when we arrive, the sign flipped to closed on a Saturday afternoon that would normally be our busiest day of the week next to Sundays.
Dread fills my gut as Jett and I park the car and approach the door. The knot in my stomach has been getting tighter with every excruciating minute of the long drive down, and my mind has been spinning with possibilities for what could have gone wrong.
A breaker? Faulty wiring? The building is almost a hundred years old, so really anything is possible. For all I know it could be the ghost playing tricks on everyone, just trying to add another layer of difficulty onto my day.
I spot Ethan behind the counter, just a shadow in the store, and there’s someone else in there with him. Sophie, our new barista. She disappears into the back room as Ethan comes to open the door for us.
“I came as quickly as I could,” I explain, gesturing at my wedding dress under my navy wool coat. “We can start moving milk jugs if they’re still cold.”
“I think we have everything under control,” Ethan answers, and my eyebrows twitch in question. I glance toward Jett, who has a soft smile on his face, as if he’s in on some joke that I’m not a part of.
Suddenly, a soft, golden light illuminates the café, and it takes me a second to realize that the power was never out. Because it’s lighting up hundreds of fairy lights strung from the ceiling of my little café.
My breath catches in my throat, and since my eyes were immediately drawn overhead, I haven’t stopped to look around at the rest of it. At the twenty or so people seated on the café chairs, all arranged around an aisle, leading to the fireplace in the far corner.
I blink slowly and look towards Jett again, realization dawning on me that he was in on this plan all along.
“I wanted so badly to shout my vows from a mountain top, Poppy. But the more I thought about it, the more I knew we needed to celebrate our marriage for all the things that make it truly special. The love that we share in the everyday, the little things. We’ve had a year of incredible experiences and adventures, you and I.
But the Poppy I fell in love with is a soft, tender-hearted homebody.
Who lives to serve others, even when she isn’t feeling her best. You’ve brought out the best in me.
So now, I want to give everything I have back to you. ”
I blink rapidly to quell the stinging behind my eyes, but I fail miserably. Tears collect on my lower lashes and stay there until Jett has taken his position at the end of the aisle, and I’ve walked down to meet him.
Hudson is waiting there with him, ready to lead us through our vow renewal.
I read my vows first, struggling to speak past the lump in my throat, and only just managing to contain my emotions enough to get through it. But the tears spill down my cheeks as Jett starts to speak.
“I thought about writing new vows, and every time I did, they felt off. I spent hours writing and rewriting and nothing felt like it was good enough. And I realized it’s because the only words that ring true in my heart to this day, are the ones I originally spoke to you at our wedding.
Even then, they carried truth behind them.
And so, a year later, I want to read those vows to you again.
Because I think deep down, I always knew they were real, even if the wedding was not.
” Jett takes a steadying breath before he continues.
I smile through my tears because I know what he’s about to say. Those words have been etched onto my heart since he first said them.
“I haven’t always thought of myself as husband material, but falling in love with you has fundamentally altered my DNA.
I may be a bit reckless, a bit unhinged, energetic, as you so lovingly put it.
The way you manage to balance me out and bring me down to earth is nothing short of miraculous.
You show me what love looks like in the quiet moments.
The everyday things that are more spectacular when you get to share them with someone you love.
Now I know how special it is to have a partner, someone to do life with.
All the little moments of magic that can happen when you let yourself love and be loved.
I love you, Poppy. More than words will ever do justice. ”