Page 101 of Charlie and Her Sweet Escape
“Done.” We linked fingers and clicked the button. A loud beep sounded, and then static.
“Base camp? This is Team Forrester,” I said, staring Bennett in the eyes.
Bennett kissed me quickly. “We’re ready to come home.”
46
BENNETT
Charlie and I sat on the boat, holding hands, a huge wool blanket wrapped around both our shoulders, as we watched the trees get smaller in the distance. I expected to feel nothing but joy at leaving such a difficult experience behind, but instead bittersweet emotions tugged at me.
“I can’t believe it’s over,” Charlie said, her mouth close to my ear so I could hear her over the sound of the boat’s engine.
“It doesn’t feel real yet.”
The fresh lake spray hitting our faces made me homesick for Winterhaven. I couldn’t wait to get back on my boat and lead another fishing excursion. To sit down at Icy Asps with a large supreme pizza with extra cheese and eat the entire thing all by myself. To tug Charlie onto my lap and do movie night with my siblings, while Hansel snuggled in next to us.
“I don’t know if I’m actually ready.” Charlie looked at me, concern in her eyes. “Out here we were in a bubble, but back home …”
I kissed her cheek to reassure her. “We’ll just be in a bigger bubble.”
She laughed, a sound that would never cease to make me feel light inside. “Are our families going to freak out that we’retogether, together?”
“Maybe? But in a good way.”
She muffled her laugh in my shoulder. “Your sister is going to die.”
“And take credit for this. She’ll lord it over us forever.”
“You know what? I’m okay with that.”
I kissed the top of her head. I couldn’t get enough of her. “Me too.”
We’d had a lot of time to talk while we were waiting for the team to retrieve us from the cave. Charlie told me about how they’d essentially kidnapped her and dropped her at the cave. I’d told her about my dad arriving, and the difficult conversation we’d had. Even now, when I thought about how I’d sent my dad away, I felt a pang of guilt.
Being out here, with so much quiet and solitude, changed me. I felt at peace with my decisions. I’d always known I couldn’t change the past, but for the first time, I didn’t want to. All those experiences led me to being the person I was. And I liked that person. I cared about people. I wanted to make sure they knew they were loved. I valued hugs and time spent together. My family was always going to be number one in my book, and I’d do anything for them. Including Charlie.EspeciallyCharlie.
I came out here, expecting to make a ton of money and have an adventure. Instead, I came out of our time in the wild feeling healed. It was wildly cheesy, and I was sure Jules would roll his eyes when I suggested he escape into nature for a time so he could heal too, but it was just as real as the irresistible woman lifting our clasped hands to her lips and dropping a tender kiss on my knuckles.
“What’s this?” She looked at where our fingers blended together seamlessly. At my questioning glance, she ran a fingerover the two pieces of tied rope around my ring finger and pinkie.
In all the excitement and relief in finding her, I’d completely forgotten about the rings I’d made for us.
My cheeks grew hot. I wished we weren’t here, in front of an audience—a whole world of audience, since the cameras were rolling—but if there was something I’d learned out here, you never knew what the future might hold. We only had the present, and I wanted to make the most of it. “We didn’t exchange rings at our wedding, so I made this for you.” I slid the smaller one off my pinkie.
Her eyes widened as I took her left hand and slipped it onto her ring finger.
“Obviously I’ll buy you a nicer one when?—”
“No. I love it.” She stared at the tied rope and then smiled up at me with more love than I could have dreamed of shining from her eyes. “When did you make this?”
“Our last morning. Before I realized you’d gone missing.”
She brought her hand to her chest and held it there, like she wanted the ring close to her heart. “I’m so lucky to have you, Bennett.”
I pressed my forehead to hers. “I’m the lucky one.” How had I not seen her,reallyseen her, all these years? “I was an idiot for not falling head over heels in love with you the first second we met.”
“Your face was being clawed by a cat, to be fair.”
