Just Pretend (Just… #1)

Epilogue

HALLIE

I’ve never been able to fully participate in the lead up to the opening day of camp before, because I’ve always been stuck at work during what’s usually the start of our busy tourist season at the vineyard. This year, however, the Winters insisted that I take the full week off so I can be up at the lake helping my family prepare for the arrival of the summer campers.

It's fitting that I’m here this year especially, the first year since my family has owned the property outright, and the first year we’ve had so many big, exciting changes. Since the moment I got out of bed this morning, I’ve been racing around, wanting to make sure everything is ready when the buses of anxious and excited campers come down the gravel driveway.

With an armful of freshly laundered table linens, I hurry to the dining hall, wanting it to be perfect for lunch—the campers’ first meal together. Instead of the same big, folding round tables that have been used for years, we have new, beautiful tables that James custom made. It makes the dining hall look like Hogwarts or some beautiful New England boarding school rather than a loud, messy summer camp.

I’m sure by the end of the first week, things will be as loud and messy as ever, but when the campers first walk in and see the new tables, I want them to feel like they’re part of something special.

After laying out the last napkin, I turn and look up at the head table—the one that Rupert made years ago and that he and James fixed together. That table is my favorite of all, because it’s a reminder of how much closer James and his father have grown since last fall. It hasn’t been easy by any means, but they are getting there. They’ve made a lot of progress already, including Rupert accepting that James’s passion is in woodworking, not real estate.

“Wow, look at this!”

I spin at the familiar voice and find Chase and Annette, along with their two children coming in through the front entrance. With a grin, I hurry over to give them all hugs, even the kids who I’ve gotten to know much better ever since Chase and I have become friends.

“I’m so glad you could make it,” I tell them, leaning in to kiss Annette on the cheek.

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she replies.

“It means so much to have you here,” I say to Chase. “You helped us to reach so many more kids this summer.”

“It was the least I could do,” Chase shrugs modestly.

When Rupert agreed to sign the land over to my father for free, I told Chase I no longer needed his half of our bonus to save the camp, but he insisted that I find a use for it anyway. He wouldn’t be dissuaded, so I decided the perfect way to spend his generous donation would be to provide scholarships for kids who might not be able to attend otherwise.

“Look, that’s for you,” I say, pointing to the wall next to the entrance.

Chase and Annette turn around to see the plaque I had made honoring their family for their generosity. When Chase reads it, I see his eyes pool with tears, though he quickly blinks them away.

“I think we need to make a plaque for you,” Annette says to me with a wink. “For saving our marriage. We can hang it by the front door in the house. I can’t thank you enough for bringing Chase back to our family.”

“I’ll take the credit, but I know he would have gotten there without my help,” I tell her. “Family is the most important thing to Chase; he just wasn’t showing it the way you needed him to.”

“And I’ll never take that for granted again,” Chase says, pulling Annette into a kiss.

“Gross,” Jackson murmurs, rolling his eyes at his parents.

“Hey, where’s my plaque?” Jasmine says, coming up behind us with Ricardo by her side.

“No plaque for you, but I’d be happy to buy you both His and Hers matching cowboy hats,” I laugh.

“Ooh, even better,” Jasmine replies. “I found out Weston Blake was going to be at the Salinas rodeo, so Ricardo got us tickets.”

“Oh really?” I say, raising my eyebrows at Ricardo, who winks back at me.

“I’m no dummy,” he says.

As we’re all laughing, James walks in from the back door wearing jeans and a tight t-shirt that’s clinging to his sweaty skin after he spent the morning tuning up the generator with my father. I feel my gaze slowly move his body as my heart speeds up—nine months together and I still get a big reaction to how sexy he is. With a grin, I leave the group and hurry across the room, not minding the sweat on James’s shirt as he sweeps me up into his arms, hugging and kissing me.

“I hope you two will ease up on the PDA when the kids get here,” my father sighs, following James into the dining hall, his hands covered in grease.

“They’re not here yet,” James teases, leaning down for another kiss.

As the first bus comes into view in the distance, we all hurry to assemble on the front porch. Normally, it’s just my family waiting to greet the kids as they file off the bus, but this year we’re also joined by the whole Sinclair clan, including James’s mother and Trey’s wife and kids, as well as Chase and Annette and their kids, and Jas and Ricardo. We all crowd onto the porch steps, smiling and waving as the first girl, a veteran camper returning for her third summer, bounds off the bus and rushes to throw her arms around Sadie. My sister was never one for hugs or prolonged touching growing up, but she’s been able to lower her boundaries over the years when it comes to her campers.

The counselors hurry over to collect the kids as they get off the buses, giving them their cabin assignments and sorting out the giant duffle bags and trunks. Most of the teens my family hires are past campers as well, a true testament to how life-changing the camp can be. People who couldn’t make eye contact when they first arrived at camp as a child are now soothing home sickness and giving directions with authority.

“I have to hand it to you,” I hear Rupert say to my father. “You’re doing something really great here.”

I glance over to see my father pat Rupert on the back.

“ We are,” he replies. “You’re a huge part of this now. We wouldn’t be here without you.”

Slipping my arm through James’s as we wander down the steps together, I give one last look behind us to our fathers, laughing on the porch, standing together, shoulder to shoulder.

“I still can’t get over how our dads have re-bonded,” I say quietly. “It’s so nice to see that such a close friendship was able to be put back together.”

“All thanks to you,” James says, leaning in to kiss the side of my head. “You’re amazing.”

“It was a group effort,” I laugh, turning my head for a real kiss, though I keep it to a peck before my dad sees us.

“You know, ever since you came into my life, things have gotten better than I ever thought they could,” James tells me.

Grinning up at him, my stomach flips.

“I feel the same way.”

Despite the campers now running all around us, catching up with old friends and getting to know new ones, it feels like James and I are the only ones around with the sun streaming through the evergreen trees, sparkling on the surface of the lake. I lift up onto my toes as James draws me closer, but as I start to close my eyes, I feel a heavy hand on my shoulder.

“Man, you two,” Chase laughs, coming up behind us. “You’re like a couple of horny teenagers. I bet you’re worse than the campers!”

James and I both laugh, caught in the act once again.

“I’m just happy that you’re so happy together,” Chase adds.

“You know, we kind of owe our whole relationship to you,” James says cryptically.

Chase looks back and forth between us, utterly confused.

“I guess it’s time I finally confess,” I tell Chase with a grin. “If you hadn’t goaded me into thinking I needed to be in a relationship to get the promotion, James and I probably never would have gotten together.”

“What are you talking about?” Chase asks.

“We weren’t really dating when I asked James to come with me on the retreat last fall,” I explain. “We were only pretending so the Winters would think I was in a long-term relationship.”

Chase’s eyes grow wide as this information sinks into his brain. His mouth drops open, and he points an accusatory finger at me.

“I knew it!” he exclaims.

“Yup, you were onto us from the get-go,” James nods.

“But we were only pretending for a few days,” I clarify. “Maybe less. It didn’t take long for our ruse to turn real.”

“Wow, I can’t believe I was right,” Chase says, smiling as he shakes his head.

“Don’t let it go to your head,” I tell him. “But yeah, you’re the reason we’re all standing here now.”

“I’d like to take the credit, but I can’t,” Chase says. “It’s obvious the two of you belong together. I think you would have gotten together eventually with or without my interference.”

Chase glances up at Annette, talking to Jasmine on the porch.

“Nothing stands in the way of true love,” he adds.

I look into James’s eyes, wondering if Chase is right. If I hadn’t asked James to come on the retreat with me, if we had just continued to be neighbors, would we eventually have ended up right where we are anyway? Would we have been able to tear down the wall between us and realize that true love was only an apartment away?

James nods as if reading my mind.

“I think he’s right,” he says, putting his hands on my hips. “We were always meant to be.”

I smile back at him, looping my arms around his neck.

“And nothing could ever keep us apart,” I agree, pulling him down into a kiss as the crowd around us, campers and counselors, friends and family, all whistle and cheer.