Epilogue
JACK
One week later
I’d woken Nat up with hot chocolate every morning this week.
We still had a little over two months of the camp season left, and it’d been a little strange at first, with the competition being over, but we hadn’t fully let go of our tenacious natures.
We’d do dumb shit like race to see who could get the mail from Hazel first. Or we’d casually practice archery together, and even though she always kicked my ass, I still believed I’d get her one of these days.
And there was the ongoing swimming rematch we’d never let go.
Autumn was getting fed up with us taking her lake and growing tired of judging our dumb swimming competitions.
Our races were always closer than I’d like to admit.
Every day with Nat was simply fun. She lit up my world with her presence. She sang in the shower and danced when we made dinner together. Some days she’d even wake up to go bird-watching with me.
She knew that it would take work to help her through her baggage.
She’d had a virtual therapy appointment yesterday and planned to keep up with it because, as she put it, she’d been slacking.
After seeing Nat taking steps to get back into therapy, I decided to start going as well.
So just last night, I’d researched local Wildwood doctors since I preferred to meet face to face.
Every night this week, I’d held her at the campfire. Sometimes Autumn and Jamie would hang out with us, but Hazel and Leo were the ones who put up with our antics the most.
Today, however, I was owning up to my defeat.
“Are you ready for this?” Nat asked sweetly as she squeezed my palm. I handed her my folded boxers and T-shirt, staring off the platform as if I were being led to my doom. But a glance at her had me rethinking my negativity. Seeing her look at me like this, I knew I’d be fine.
“Yeah, but you’re feeding me after this.” I hadn’t been able to eat beforehand. Maybe I was more nervous than I wanted to let on.
The small crowd of counselors gathering on our day off had been hooting and hollering since Nat and I had climbed up the ladder. I’d hoped we could avoid the audience, but of course, they knew what today was. Nat squeezed my hand encouragingly, and I did what I promised I would do.
I had to admit, the breeze felt refreshing as I stood next to my girlfriend, whose pink cheeks over my nudity made all of this worthwhile.
She made life worthwhile.
“I like the suit,” Emerson shouted from below, cackling as I struck a confident pose, grateful for the platform we were on. They could probably only see me from the waist up. Nat shoved a harness at me, shaking her head.
“What? I look good naked in the daylight.”
“Yeah, but you look better spread out on my bed at night.” She winked.
Our friends laughed and cheered me on as I stepped into the safety harness on the zipline platform.
Nat made sure I was secured to the cable, her eyes sparkling. “You’re all set, loser.”
“I wouldn’t say I lost.”
She gave me a disbelieving laugh. “Oh, you definitely lost.”
“I got you, didn’t I?”
With that, her face softened, and I kissed her cheek.
She slapped my ass before I dove off the platform and into the great unknown, or more aptly, into the life I was more than happy to call mine.
My job, my friends, my girl… I didn’t take any of it for granted.
Every day, I remembered how lucky I was.
As I floated in the breeze, arms outstretched and naked as the day I was born, someone from down below me said, “I’d hate to be the guy that has to wash that harness.”
Six Months Later
Best friends weren’t supposed to have this many opinions about couches.
“What about this one?” I sat on a perfectly fine leather couch, just like the last few we’d sat on, but Autumn had a checklist.
At first, it was kind of funny, but we’d been shopping here for hours, and I had my own checklist to finish.
Although I had to admit, she was right that it was a big decision.
She’d declared my job was to picture Nat on the couch with me.
That had me thinking dirty thoughts, which distracted me from the task at hand.
It also garnered a look from Autumn that said Really? each and every time.
“Why not this one?” I asked.
“It doesn’t meet the criteria. Leather is a pain in the heat. Imagine getting your ass stuck to that thing in cutoffs. Nat will thank you.”
“That’s a good point. I don’t want her wearing clothes on this thing very much anyway.”
She mock-gagged before transitioning into snarky Autumn again. “Look, I know the couch you’re buying has to last the next fifty years, so it needs to pass the checklist.”
She had a point. I did tend to use things until there was no use left in them.
I moved to the next couch, which wasn’t leather, and it was one of the approved colors on my color palette, so it had that going for it.
“This one’s good,” I said, trying to make it seem like I’d put just as much energy into deciding on it as my best friend had required, but truly, any of these couches would be a significant upgrade to what I’ve been subjecting Nat to since last summer.
We’d usually watch movies at her place, on her normal couch.
I smiled, remembering the one time we hung out at my place for movie night when, in the middle of Crazy, Stupid, Love, she’d gotten up and moved to sit on the floor, telling me without preamble that we weren’t having sex that night.
I took a breath and reminded myself I had eight days to complete the final changes before Nat got back from her solo trip to the Philippines. She’d been most excited to visit Palawan Island to take in the limestone and lagoons.
“Does it have USB ports?” Autumn asked, hunting for said feature. I nodded. She was acting as if I didn’t have these questions memorized by now.
“It does.” I’d been the one to add the USB option to Autumn’s list. I hoped Nat would probably work on the new couch, and her phone was always dying. She made do on the kitchen table, but it couldn’t have been comfortable for more than an hour or so.
Autumn hummed around me. “How about a built-in recliner?”
“Check.”
“And it’s comfortable enough to sleep on—”
“We don’t have to test that.” I scoffed, exasperated. “This is the one.”
Autumn laughed and sprawled out on the couch, pretending to sleep anyway. She kept her shoes off it at least.
“Fine choice,” she said to me with a smile. Then she turned to the couch, bouncing on its luxurious cushions before patting it. “You passed the test. Come on, let’s get you to your new home.”
I grinned at her silliness.
We were both covered in a sheen of sweat as we pulled out of the furniture store. My new couch tested my truck’s shocks as we headed from the city back to camp.
Leo and Hazel met us in the parking lot, and the four of us hauled the partially assembled gray sectional couch the rest of the way into my cabin.
There was a minor snag when I had to detach the door to get it to fit, but eventually, we got it settled inside.
Autumn had been right, the couch did set the tone for the space.
I took in the living room, with its fresh coat of paint I’d finished last night and now with the new couch. It was warm in a way it had never been before Nat’s influence. Now, the room was inviting.
My friends all collapsed onto the new couch. Leo, of course, sat on top of Hazel, which turned into wrestling together until I cuffed him on the ear, and Autumn popped the first of a few beer tabs, which got them to settle down.
When we were finished, I walked them through my cabin.
It was so different from when the four of us had slept in the same space because we were paranoid that it was haunted, thanks to the scratching in the walls.
It’d turned out to be squirrels making a nest, but it’d been freaky for those of us who didn’t read horror books at night.
Leo looked at the new office, approval written on his face.
Only a couple of months ago, it had been full of accumulated junk and tools, half-finished projects, and half-used paint cans.
The mess had taken long nights and some strategic organization of a storage shed to get under control.
I’d kept the door closed, and Nat hadn’t asked me about it.
She knew I was organizing it, but now it was a real room.
There was new hardwood flooring and light fixtures, as well as a large desk underneath the window.
I still had some corner bookshelves to put together, so she’d have a place to store all her books.
She’d recently joined a book club Dr. Alyse hosted in Wildwood.
I wanted Nat to see herself in this room and know that she had a place to call home.
Hazel held up a can of paint. “Ooh, you picked my favorite color. It looks just like your eyes, Leo.”
I caught Autumn looking at me from the corner of my eye, but I didn’t want it to be obvious that we’d caught Hazel’s slipup.
I did notice Leo tilt his head in her direction as if he were intrigued.
We tried not to bother the two of them about their chemistry anymore.
The same couldn’t be said for the people of Wildwood, but what else were small towns for?
“That’s why I picked it,” I joked.
Leo patted me on the shoulder. “It’s okay that you’re obsessed with me, Jack. I won’t tell your girlfriend.”
I shook my head. “She’ll understand. We’re all a little obsessed with you, Leo.”
Autumn turned to me with soft eyes. “Nat’s going to love what you did. You turned out to be boyfriend material after all,” she affirmed, pulling a laugh out of me as the four of us moved over to the primary room.