Page 103 of Charlie and Her Sweet Escape
Mom nodded, too emotional to speak.
“Your mom’s coming to visit me in Arizona first.” Grandma hooked a thumb behind her, to where Bennett was surrounded by his brothers, who were giving hugs that were half loving, half aggressive. “Charlie’s going to be busy with that one for a while.”
“Grandma!”
“What? Beds are way better than the ground. That’s wisdom you can take to the bank.”
“Okay, Mom.” My mom took Grandma by the shoulders and steered her toward a table.
“You should’ve won,” Grandpa said as I dropped into the seat across from him. “That other couple cheated.”
“Bennett and I had no way of knowing that if we’d agreed to leave the show separately, we’d actually win,” I said. The internet was in an uproar about the twist—especially since it meant we lost. TheWildproducers had split up the other couple as well and given them the option to abandon each other. They’d chosen to do so, and the big twist was that they’d won the game.
Unfortunately, they’d fought the entire time we were at base camp. Both of them had felt betrayed by the other.
“Yeah, we saw that,” Grandpa grumbled. “I’d like a word with thatWildshow.”
While my family complained about some of the twists the show had taken, I looked around the room and caught Bennett’s eye. He was surrounded by half his softball team, and he gave me a wink when he saw me. He said something else and started to head in my direction, my heart flipping in my chest at his determined stride.
He kissed my cheek, then rested his hands on my shoulders. “Are you hungry for some pizza?” he asked. “I ordered ours, and Rosie bullied them into putting it in front of everyone else’s orders, so it should be out soon.”
My stomach grumbled in response. Even after two weeks, I felt like I couldn’t get enough calories to make up for so many weeks being hungry. “What did you get?”
“Pepperoni with mushroom and artichokes.”
I blinked at him in surprise. “That’s my favorite.”
“I know. You waxed poetically about it on more than one occasion.”
I’d made up an entire song about it, rhyming bloke, smoke, and yolk with artichoke. “Thank you,” I said, touched that he not only remembered, but cared enough for me to order it.
He pressed his lips to my temple and murmured, “Someday you won’t be so surprised when I do something nice for you, Charlie. This is how you should have been treated all along.”
I tipped my head back so he could drop a kiss on my smiling lips.
“Oh, get a room,” my grandma said teasingly.
“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Bennett replied with a wink, taking my hand. “Excuse me while I borrow my wife for a moment.”
Grandma made a suggestive comment under her breath that had my grandpa laughing and my mom scolding her. I pretended not to hear as I followed Bennett toward the exit. After being alone for so many weeks, it was overwhelming to be in such a noisy crowd, even if it was filled with people I loved.
The door closed behind us, and he took me around a corner. He leaned me against the wall and pressed close. “Now that I have you alone?—”
“There they are!”
Bennett dropped his forehead to mine with a huff as all three of his siblings surrounded us.
48
BENNETT
It wasn’t that I wanted to be back in the Canada wilderness with no food, terrible shelter, and constant, never-ending rain. But was it too much to ask for a single minute alone with my wife?
Apparently so.
“If I close my eyes, do you think they’ll go away?” I whispered to Charlie. She giggled nervously, shooting glances at where they stood behind me.
“No,” Jules said, in his deadpan tone of voice. “And we have too much dirt on you to be bought.”
