Sabrina looked around at the vases, the little handwritten labels identifying each variety, the buckets of greenery waiting to become part of something beautiful.She looked at the bouquet still clutched in her hand, at the way the coral petals caught the light.
"No," she said."I'd like to finish."
"You don't have to be strong right now," Bree said softly, touching her arm."We can go sit in the car and scream for a while.Or call Colby.Or both.Probably both."
"I know," Sabrina said."But I don't feel like running.Not anymore.Not from this."
She lifted the bouquet again, this time because she wanted to see it, not because it was something to anchor herself to in a storm.The soft coral and white blooms bounced gently with the movement, their petals catching the light, their stems solid in her grip.
"This one," she told the florist, her voice sure and clear."For the ceremony.It feels like a beginning."
The florist's eyes shone, suspiciously bright."You got it.I'll make sure it's absolutely perfect."
Sabrina nodded once."Thank you.For calling Diaz.For everything."
Bree leaned in close, her voice dropping to a whisper."So.Champagne tonight?"
"Absolutely," Sabrina said.She dug her phone out of her pocket, her thumb finding Colby's name in her contacts with the ease of long practice.
She typed, her fingers moving sure and quick across the screen.
Bring home champagne.I have news.
The reply came almost immediately, those three little dots appearing and then resolving into words.
Good kind or bad kind?
She smiled, the answer rising from somewhere very deep and very steady, from the place inside her that had survived fire and fear and the particular cruelty of someone who should have cared for her.
The kind where we win.
She hit send, then slid the phone back into her pocket.The ring on her left hand caught the light as she moved, a small, solid weight that had come to feel like part of her.
"Okay," she said, looking up at Bree and the florist, at the shop full of flowers and possibilities."Where were we?"
"Peonies and centerpieces," Bree said, her smile wide and warm."And the part where my friend gets everything she deserves."
Sabrina looked at the flowers again, at the soft coral and white blooms that would accompany her down the aisle, at the future she could suddenly see so clearly it almost hurt.
Colby waiting at the end of a path lined with people who loved them both.The cabins glinting in the background, solid and real.The land spreading out behind them like a promise kept, like proof that some things could be rebuilt better than before.
"Yeah," she said, her voice thick with emotion she didn't try to hide."Let's do that.Colby's bringing champagne home.You bring Hank and Brian, and we'll make a night of it."
Bree giggled, the sound bright and uncomplicated, pure joy."Deal."
Outside the flower shop window, Copper Moon went about its morning.People walked past on the sidewalk, going about their ordinary lives.The sun climbed higher, warming the cobblestones.Somewhere down the street, a door opened, and music spilled out, cheerful and familiar.
Inside, surrounded by roses and peonies and the sweet green scent of new beginnings, Sabrina held her future in her hands and finally, completely, let herself believe in it.
Epilogue - Colby
Colby tried to knot his tie without looking like a kid fumbling through his first school dance.
His fingers, usually so sure when they wrapped around a wrench or steadied a beam, kept slipping on the silk.The fabric was slick and unforgiving, nothing like the rough textures he had grown accustomed to over months of construction.He could feel the slight tremor in his hands, a vibration that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with the weight of what was about to happen.
The cabin's tiny bedroom smelled of fresh paint and new linens, overlaid with the faint green scent of the pine boughs someone had hung near the window.Late afternoon light slanted through the glass, catching dust motes that drifted lazily in the still air, turning them to gold.
Hank watched from the edge of the doorway, leaning against the jamb with his arms folded across his chest, the posture of a man who had seen his share of nervous grooms and knew better than to make a fuss about it."You know you could've gone with no tie," he said, his voice carrying that easy drawl that meant he was trying to help without making it obvious."Open collar.Very rustic.Very, 'I own land and have achieved emotional growth.'"
