Epilogue
T he boathouse had been transformed for the last night of the last camp session of the summer for the sock hop. As they’d prepped, the guys had all bitched that there were too many strings of twinkle lights, but Sarah thought there was no such thing. It was cozy and romantic. All those tiny lights reminded her of private nights at Firefly Falls. She was grateful for the mood lighting that hid the burn of her cheeks at those memories.
All around the room, guests and staff were beginning to take their seats at the round tables lining the perimeter. From her position on the dais, she plugged her laptop up to the waiting projector and pulled up the slide show presentation she’d prepped for the night. Shortly after her return to Camp Firefly Falls, she’d begun taking pictures of the guests and goings on around the facility. It had started out as practice, but when Heather and Michael found out, they’d had her start formally documenting each session, creating a photo slide show of the week that guests could download after their stay.
Beckett stepped up behind her, dropping a kiss to the shoulder bared by her tank top. “Nearly done with set up?”
“Almost.” She connected the audio to the waiting speakers and set the presentation to play. It would be background to the rest of the guests arriving, keeping everyone entertained until Heather made her closing night remarks.
Sarah hit play. Once assured the presentation was functioning as intended, she followed Beckett back to the row of staff tables at the far side of the room.
“Glory hallelujah, we’re almost through!” Laura did a little shimmy that made her poodle skirt swing. “The Grease theme was fun, but I’m ready to get fully back to the twenty-first century.”
Beckett rolled his shoulders, which only served to highlight the muscles in his arms beneath the tight black t-shirt. “Tomorrow cannot come soon enough.”
Sarah’s lips twitched as she tweaked the single gelled curl on his forehead. “Oh, I don’t know. Seeing you as a T-Bird has been kind of awesome.”
He pulled her in, sliding a hand beneath her pink satin jacket. “That’s doing it for you, huh?”
She just grinned and brushed her lips to his.
They took their seats as Heather took her place at the mic. The music faded and the presentation ended on a gorgeous sunset shot Sarah had captured of Lake Waawaatesi.
“Good evening everyone! Let’s give a round of applause to our camp photographer, Sarah Meadows.” ” Heather beamed a smile as everyone clapped.
Sarah offered a little wave.
“If you’d like a copy of these shots, they’ll be available for download from the Camp Firefly Falls website. Details will be provided on checkout tomorrow morning. Now, I know you’re all eager to get to the dinner and dancing part of this party, so I’ll keep this short. This has been an absolutely incredible summer.”
It had been an amazing summer. Guests would be departing over the course of tomorrow morning, leaving camp purely to the staff for one last week of fun just for them before everything shut down until next season. Sarah found herself a little sad about that. She’d found herself here, and actually learned to relax. Mostly. A whole three months had passed, and the world hadn’t collapsed just because she didn’t know precisely where she was going next. A fact that her twin took great joy in crowing over.
Taryn herself had taken a job with the eccentric Hollywood exec who’d been the cause of all this in the first place as his combination private adventure coordinator and scene scout. She absolutely loved the variability of her job and had been paid so well to do it, she was finally able to divest herself of the last of the stupid debt. The memory of Jax Howarth and all his bullshit could finally be buried for both of them.
Sarah felt really, truly mentally free for the first time in her life. She was head over heels in love with an amazing guy who not only truly understood her, but he’d gone out of his way to save her from herself. Now that she’d had longer than two weeks off from school, she recognized exactly how burnt out she’d been and how desperately she’d needed to get away from academia. This summer had gone a long way toward helping her recover from all that
Courtesy of lodging being included as part of the summer’s salary, she’d managed to squirrel away a decent amount of savings. Her apartment had been sublet before she left New York, and all her stuff put into storage. A decision would have to be made about all of that at some point. But right now she was enjoying existing in the present moment.
“It’s been an absolute privilege for Michael and me to be a part of your vacation experience. We love this place, and we’re blessed to be able to share that love with all of you. We hope you’ll come back to see us for another session next year to continue the new legacy of Camp Firefly Falls. Now, please, enjoy the party.”
As “Rock Around The Clock” began to pour out of the speakers, staff and guests alike rose and made a beeline for both the dance floor and the buffet set up at the end of the building. Sarah and Beckett stayed put to let the chaos settle.
“I can’t believe it’s nearly over,” she murmured.
He brushed a kiss to her temple. “Just making room for the next thing.”
Sarah would’ve felt better if she knew what that was.
“Beckett? Sarah?”
They looked up to find an older gentleman in his early fifties standing with his silver shot hair greased back in much the same style as Beckett’s.
Sarah smiled. “Hey Trent. How was the hike today?”
“A welcome relief from all the fifties-themed everything. I love my wife, but dear God, a man can only take so much.”
Sarah’s lips twitched. Trent Cunningham had given his wife this week at camp for an anniversary present because Grease was her favorite movie. He hadn’t realized exactly how hard-core the theme would be when he agreed to come along. In between all the dance classes, fifties makeovers, and karaoke, he’d ended up spending every day in their neck of the woods, climbing, ziplining, and hiking in the nearby state park. Sarah liked the guy.
“Looking forward to getting home?” Beckett asked.
“Yes and no. Actually, I wanted to talk to you both about something.”
Sarah exchanged a look with Beckett. “Have a seat.”
Trent made himself at home, sitting across the table. “I had a chat about you with Michael Tully today.”
Beckett frowned. “Both of us? Why?”
“Because I wanted to see if his impression of you matched mine. And it does. He gave you both a glowing recommendation.”
“Recommendations for what, exactly?” Sarah asked.
Trent smiled. “I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m CEO of TerraVenture Outdoors.”
Sarah blinked. “The outdoorwear company?” She owned a pair of their hiking boots.
“We started there, but over the past five years, we’ve expanded into being the one stop shop for outdoor adventure. Now we’re expanding again. Our website caters to outdoorspeople who want to plan outdoor treks around the world. It connects map and planning to gear acquisition, helping make sure all our clients are properly outfitted for their chosen sort of expedition.”
“That’s impressive,” Beckett observed.
“Michael told me about your park service experience, and I’ve seen Sarah’s photography first-hand now. I think the two of you would be a perfect fit as some of our new trail ambassadors.”
“What is that, exactly?”
“It would be a sort of travel blogger position. You’d be fully outfitted and sent to effectively review the expeditions we offer, documenting all of it with photo and video and literally showing people what sort of trips they can book through TerraVenture.”
Sarah stared at him. “That’s not a real job.” At his arched eyebrow, she added, “Is it?”
“It’s not conventional, that’s for sure. But it’s a real paying gig. A year-long contract to start, with an option to renew or transition, depending on the growth of that segment of the company.”
“What sort of salary are we talking?” Beckett asked.
Trent named a figure that had Sarah wheezing out a breath.
“I know this is a lot, and you don’t have to make a decision right now. I can email you both with the particulars, so you can talk it over together.”
They gave him their email addresses, then shook his hand.
“Thank you for the opportunity, sir,” Sarah said.
“Thank you for keeping me sane in the midst of this 1950s flashback. I look forward to hearing from you.”
Neither of them spoke for several moments after he walked away.
“Did that just happen?” she asked.
“Pretty sure it did. He wants to pay us to travel and talk about it. And for you to take photos of it.”
“Is there some red flag we aren’t seeing? Because this totally sounds too good to be true.”
“I mean, we’d obviously have someone review any contracts he sent over, but… my gut says he’s legit. I think this is the Universe telling us what’s next.” Beckett draped an arm over the back of her chair. “How ’bout it? Are you up for an adventure?”
Sarah sat with the idea, waiting for some sense of panic or anxiety, but all she felt was a deep and steady yes. It might not be their forever, but it could be their next right now. And for once, she was okay with that.
Leaning in close, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather go on an adventure with more than you.”
It was ass o’clock in the morning when they started the drive up to the crest of Mount Wellington. In the passenger seat beside Beckett, Sarah clutched her travel mug of coffee like a lover. More than a year and a half on this adventure and she still wasn’t a morning person. Probably never would be. He was okay with that. Her look of profound gratitude and “You are my superhero” when he greeted her with already made coffee would never get old.
They only had a few more days left in Tasmania, and sunrise shots over Hobart from the summit had been high on Sarah’s list. They’d attempted this yesterday, but the peak had been shrouded in clouds. Hopefully, today would go better. There was little traffic at this hour as they turned onto the winding road that twisted its way up to the top. Only a few other intrepid souls who had the same idea to see the start of the day from what felt like the top of the world.
At the end of the road, they parked in the lot down from the observation decks, beside a handful of other vehicles. The air was a lot colder at this elevation. Beckett’s breath puffed out as he leaned into the backseat to grab a coat. Sarah shrugged into her own, looking a little more alert now that the coffee had been finished.
She snagged her camera bag. “Looks like this morning might go better. I wanna get down to the end of the platform and set up before anybody else shows up to spoil the shot.”
There was still some cloud cover and mist swirling around them as they strode past the observation tower and down to one of the lower decks. She paid little attention to the other people, too focused on her task. But Beckett saw the woman hanging back near the observation tower, her blonde hair pulled into a braid, a baseball cap pulled low enough to hide her face. As she spotted him, her smile flashed bright and she shot him a thumbs up.
Right. All was ready for what he had planned this morning.
Despite the cold, his palms felt damp, and he swiped them on his pants as he trotted down the wooden boardwalk steps after Sarah.
The past eighteen months had been incredible. They’d traveled all over the world, exploring outdoor adventures and documenting them. TerraVenture had been so delighted with their work, they’d been offered permanent positions with the company, continuing to do the work they loved. He’d so enjoyed getting to see Sarah bloom, shaking off all the self-imposed rules and restrictions and sense of responsibility. She’d begun making a name for herself in nature photography circles, and Beckett himself had been able to leverage his new platform to push the conservation message that still mattered so much to him from his National Park Service days. Neither of them could have imagined this life when they’d met at Camp Firefly Falls, but Beckett was absolutely certain he didn’t want to do this with anyone else. He hoped Sarah felt the same, or this was gonna get awkward really fast.
She already had the tripod out and was selecting the lens she wanted. Not wanting to distract her, he hung back looking up at the stars in the gaps between the clouds. The sky seemed a little lighter now, the endless black giving way to a warmer navy that told him sunrise wasn’t too far off. At the camera, Sarah was adjusting settings and muttering to herself. Then she took off the lens cap, stuffing it into the pocket of her puffer jacket.
“Now, we wait.”
“So we do. ” He reached into the pocket of his own jacket, fingers closing around the small box there.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence. It was such an incredible gift to be with a woman he could be silent with as easily as carrying on a conversation. They simply got each other. They were happy. There was absolutely no reason to expect this to go badly. Still, Beckett was nervous. Asking the woman you loved to spend the rest of her life with you was scary business, even if you were 99.999% positive she was going to say yes.
Shoulder to shoulder they watched the sky continue to lighten, the blues giving way to stunning pinks and oranges. The moment the first rays of the sun burst free of the distant horizon felt spiritual, perfect, broken only by the occasional click of the shutter.
Beckett could feel Sarah’s excitement, though she said nothing to break the relative quiet. This was what she’d wanted from this place. These were the money shots.
As the golden orb fully cleared the horizon, he heard the shutter click once. Twice. Three times before she muttered, “Absolutely beautiful.”
Knowing this was the moment, Beckett dropped to one knee behind her. “Absolutely.”
She straightened and turned, her mouth falling open at the sight of him kneeling on the boards. He was glad he’d waited for her to get the shot he knew she wanted, because in the moment, he wasn’t sure she remembered her camera even existed.
“Beckett,” she breathed.
“We’ve been on a hell of an adventure, you and I. At this point I’ve loved you across most of the continents on this planet. I’m hoping you’ll marry me while we knock out the rest and keep building the life we want together. How ’bout it, Sarah? Be my wife?”
The rising sun glinted off the tears in those big Bambi eyes. “Of course it’s yes. I wouldn’t want to go on any adventure without you.”
Grinning, he surged to his feet, arms going around her as his mouth found hers.
Another shutter clicked from somewhere behind them. “Oh, yeah. That’s the shot.”
Sarah’s head jerked up, and she gaped. “Taryn?”
Her sister beamed, lowering the camera in her hands. “Hey, sis. Congratulations.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Beckett brought me in to document, what with you being busy saying yes and all.”
He pulled her even closer. “I thought it was fitting she be a part of this since we would never have even met without her.”
She draped her arms around his neck. “That right there is proof that you are absolutely perfect.”
“Well, perfect for you, anyway.”
“Damn, you two are cute. Does this mean you’re going to do a segment on best foreign places to elope?”
But Sarah just waved her sister away and kissed him. Beckett wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Choose Your Next Romance
I hope you enjoyed this trip back to Camp Firefly Falls! I never get tired of grown up summer camp.
If you’re looking for more trips away from normal life, check out my Kilted Hearts series about a small Highland village. It begins with Cowboy in a Kilt , a true fish out of water tale about a cowboy screwed out of his family inheritance who ends up winning a Scottish barony in a high stakes poker game and ends up having to fulfill a 300 year old marriage pact to keep it! It is, as you might imagine, complicated.
Or maybe you’d like a longer series to sink your teeth into? My Wishful Romance series has twelve books, plus spinoffs! It begins with To Get Me To You .