Epilogue
Charlie
A nother summer was over. Rhett and Charlie had been working almost non-stop for the past few months, sorting out the finishing touches on the last cabins to be renovated. The eco-lodge had just been approved for development and Charlie’s trust fund had come in handy to make some improvements to the business. Their original idea had expanded to include an education center, and Rhett’s cousin, Mason, had shown an interest in getting involved.
Rhett had gone into equal partnership with Charlie in Wilde Outdoor Adventures, who in turn was incredibly busy with the office-based tasks and the eco-lodge project. Meanwhile, Rhett had taken on a local high-school student to help him with the rental gear and answering the influx of inquiries they’d gotten since a TikTok of Rhett chopping wood had gone viral.
Much to his horror, and Charlie’s amusement, Cassie had bought a life-sized cutout of Rhett holding an axe and put it in the front office of Wilde Outdoor Adventures. Cassie and Charlie had even jokingly made shirts that had ‘Ask Me How To Get Wilde Outdoors’ printed on them, and Charlie had put them up for sale on their new website.
They sold out within 24 hours.
Charlie couldn’t remember laughing so much as when she’d had to explain to Rhett that he was considered a thirst trap. He’d gone bright red and refused to answer the phone for a week. But the tee shirts continued to sell out every time they were re-stocked, along with postcards of the West men hiking in some of the more picturesque locations with captions like ‘Putting the wild in Cape Wilde’. That one was on a particularly arty shot of Logan emerging from a lake without a shirt on.
But now they could finally take a day off together and headed to Cassie’s house for dinner.
“Did you get back to your dad?” Rhett pulled up outside Cassie’s house.
“Not yet,” Charlie replied as Rhett tuned the truck’s engine off. “I’m not sure what to say.”
“He apologized.”
Charlie snorted. “Yeah, after almost a year of trying to guilt me into going back to New York. I’m not sure I can forgive him.” She’d told Rhett what she’d overheard that day when she’d listened at her father’s office door. Rhett had understood why she didn’t want to see her father, let alone spend Christmas with him like he’d asked.
Rhett nodded. “I’ll support whatever decision you make.”
“I know.” She smiled and leaned over to kiss him, balancing the salad bowl she was holding on her lap.
Cassie’s house was a cute, white-painted cottage that sat overlooking the ocean at the same end of town where Rhett and Charlie lived. Rhett climbed the stairs to the front porch carrying a cooler, Charlie following.
“Cassie?” He called out as he opened the unlocked front door.
“Out the back!”
They made their way through the house and out onto the deck. Charlie smiled at the scene that was so different from her family.
Mason had commandeered the BBQ, turning steaks with one hand while holding a beer in the other. He’d forgone his prosthetic leg for the evening and was leaning against the railing on the deck while he worked, crutches propped up within easy reach.
Logan and Rowan were looking at the steps leading down to the garden, arguing over some maintenance work Logan thought was necessary before winter, and Rowan was trying to convince him it wasn’t.
Amy, the family matriarch, was trying to help, but Cassie kept gesturing for her mother to sit down and relax.
Rhett put down the cooler. “Hey everyone.”
Mason lifted a hand, the brief tilt to his lips the closest thing to a smile Charlie had ever seen on his face. Logan nodded and turned to Rowan, who dashed up the stairs to throw his arms around Charlie and Rhett both.
“Cousins!” Rowan cried with his usual bouncy enthusiasm before squeezing them hard enough that Rhett groaned. Laughing, Rowan bounded away to grab a beer.
Charlie coughed. “We’re not cousins.”
“Close enough,” Rowan said, shaking Rhett’s hand and patting him on the back before turning to kiss Charlie on the cheek.
Cassie brought Charlie a glass of white wine that she swapped for the salad bowl before claiming a seat at the table.
A gentle breeze blew, the last of the summer warmth dropping with the sun. The long, gauzy curtains that flank the French doors stirred gently.
“It feels like years since I just sat and relaxed,” Rhett groaned as he sat next to Charlie and draped an arm over the back of the seat behind her.
“I know, right?” she laughed.
The sound of the water lapping against the rocks and the surrounding conversation soothed. She took a deep breath of the sea air and smiled, closing her eyes as she exhaled. She didn’t miss New York one bit.
“That good, huh?” Rhett’s deep rumble made her smile even wider.
“Yeah,” she said simply.
“Love you, beautiful,” he said, dropping a kiss to her temple.
“Love you too, big guy.”
Thank you for reading Wilde Sanctuary by Melanie Hepburn!
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