Never The Best (Savannah's Best #5)

Bonus Chapter The Road Less Travelled

RHETT

The Savannah Lace offices were festive, with fairy lights draped across the exposed brick walls. Tables were pushed to the sides, replaced by a pop-up bar in one corner and a DJ booth in the other. Someone had tied balloons—bright ones, not the polite gold and silver ones Savannah society preferred—to the backs of every chair, and the smell of fried chicken sliders and mini crab cakes filled the room.

It was ridiculous. It was fun. And it was perfect.

Nina stood in the middle of it all, directing people like a general organizing a battle, her pantsuit crisp and her demeanor unapologetically commanding. She'd been the mastermind behind this party from the start, insisting on throwing us a “proper send-off,” even though Pearl and I had tried to downplay the whole thing. But you don't say no to Nina Davenport.

“Don't touch the balloons,” she snapped at one of her staff as he tried to reposition a chair. “They're whimsical on purpose. Leave them.”

Pearl leaned into my side, laughing, as she watched Nina fuss over every detail. Pearl was holding a drink that looked light and sparkly. Her cheeks were flushed from the warmth of the room or maybe the excitement of the night.

“Whimsical on purpose,” she repeated under her breath, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “That's Nina for you.”

“She's thorough,” I said, slipping an arm around her waist. “I'll give her that.”

“She's throwing us a full-blown gala in the middle of her office. I'm half expecting fireworks to go off when we leave.”

“Don't put it past her,” I grinned. “There's still time.”

Pearl smiled as she glanced around the room. People were laughing, clinking glasses, and crowding around the little photo booth Nina had set up in one corner. Alice and Maddie were there, of course, Maddie already wearing one of the ridiculous props from the booth—a sparkly tiara perched crookedly on her head—and Alice laughing as she tried to convince their father, Cash, to pose with them. Even Caroline and Birdie had shown up, standing awkwardly by the drinks table, though Birdie, at least, looked like she was trying to enjoy herself.

Three years ago, we promised to love each other in Patagonia, and now we'd decided that we wanted to travel to other places that we were both aching to see.

“This is more than I expected,” Pearl said quietly, her voice filled with equal parts gratitude and disbelief.

“Everything about you is more than I expected.” I kissed the top of her head.

She rolled her eyes, but her cheeks turned pink. “The way you talk.”

“You like the way I talk,” I teased. “Especially when I talk dirty.”

She gasped and blushed some more. I adored my Pearl.

Nina clapped her hands sharply, cutting through the noise of the room. “Alright, everyone, listen up!” she called, her voice carrying effortlessly over the crowd. “It's time for speeches. And no, you don't have a choice.”

Pearl groaned, burying her face in her hands. “Please tell me I'm not giving a speech.”

“You are giving a speech,” I said, grinning. “You think they'd let you off that easily? But, then again, so am I. Nina insisted.”

Pearl shot me an exasperated look, but before she could argue, Nina gestured for us to come forward. “Pearl, Rhett, get up here!” Nina commanded, pointing to the little makeshift stage she'd set up near the bar.

Pearl sighed, setting her drink down on the nearest table. “If I trip on my way up there, I'm blaming you.”

“You'll be fine.” I took her hand and led her to the stage.

The room erupted into applause as we stepped up, and I held up a hand to quiet them, though the grin on my face probably undermined my attempt to look serious.

“Alright, settle down.” I waved them off. “You're making my girl blush.”

Pearl shook her head, her smile peeking through despite herself.

“First of all,” I began, “thank you to Nina for organizing this…extravaganza. I think we'll be finding confetti in our luggage for months, and I'm sure there's at least one balloon that'll accidentally end up in our four-by-four, but we're grateful. Really.”

The crowd cheered, and Nina gave me a mock salute from her spot by the bar.

“And second,” Pearl spoke into the microphone, “thanks to all of you for being here tonight. For supporting us, for cheering us on, and for understanding that this is the right decision for us.”

She stepped back.

“For those of you who don't know,” I glanced around the room, “we've decided to become digital nomads. We'll work from anywhere and everywhere, explore the world, and build a life that's completely our own.”

“And driving each other crazy,” Pearl added, earning another laugh from the crowd.

I grinned, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Probably. But at least we'll have a great view while we do it.”

Pearl took the mic from me again. Her hand brushed mine.

“I know that many of you have wondered about this.” She held up her ring finger. “And asked when we're getting married, to which we've always answered never. And I know that sounds weird. We're not following a traditional path—we're not getting married, we're not buying a big house, and we're not settling down in one place. But we're happy. And I hope y'all will come to visit us wherever we are.”

“Where are you planning to go?” Luna asked.

“Yeah, tell us,” Aurora demanded.

“Where are we not planning to go,” I told them. “We're starting with Mexico, the Yucatan peninsula, and then heading to Chile. We're thinking of going to New Zealand and Australia, and spending six months there. That's as far as we've planned. But we want to see the world. We want to go to Cairo and Istanbul, Copenhagen and India—you name it, and we want to travel there. We promise to stay in touch and make sure you know where we are.”

“I'll come to New Zealand if you'll take me on the Hobbit tour,” Stella announced.

“It'll be our pleasure,” Pearl remarked.

The room broke into another round of applause, and we handed the microphone back to Nina. The party continued after that, with people coming up to congratulate us, share travel tips, and—of course—suggest where we should go.

“Croatia,” Nova, the Savannah Lace office manager, said. “I've been dying to see Dubrovnik and the islands.”

“And then maybe Thailand,” her husband, Anson, added. “They have great diving spots.”

“You still want to learn how to scuba dive, right?” I grinned at Pearl

Pearl nodded, her smile widening. “Absolutely.”

As the night wound down and the crowd began to thin, I found myself standing by the window, looking out at the city lights while Pearl chatted with Alice and Maddie across the room.

Nina appeared beside me, a glass of champagne in hand. “You two really are unique,” she said, her tone somewhere between admiration and amusement.

“We try.”

“Take care of her.”

“Always,” I promised, my gaze drifting back to Pearl.

She caught me looking and smiled, the kind of smile that made the rest of the world fade away. And in that moment, I knew—Savannah would always be home, but wherever she was, that was home, too.

“Ready to go?” Pearl asked, crossing the room to stand beside me after a while.

“Ready.” I took her hand.

As we stepped out into the warm Savannah night, I felt a sense of anticipation humming in my chest. The world was wide, and we were just getting started.

* * *

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