Chapter 47 Charlie
CHARLIE
A lot has happened since I last wrote in this journal.
Almost too much to write down, but I don’t want to lose a moment of it either.
Maybe it’s enough to say this: I didn’t get what I thought I wanted, but I got something even better than I could have imagined.
How did I get so lucky? How is this my life?
—from the journal of Charlie Forrester
Everyone erupted into cheers when Bennett and I walked into Icy Asps for our return party after arriving home from being at base camp for two weeks. Rosie immediately bowled into us, arms around our necks in a tight hug that made me and Bennett smile over her head.
“I knew you’d fall in love.” She pulled back with tears in her eyes.
My eyes watered too. I was so grateful for my friend. So amazed that I was here, in this moment.
“You’re welcome,” she continued. “I’ll accept your firstborn being named after me as thanks.”
Bennett pulled his sister into a full bear hug. “Love you, sis.”
Watching him with his sister made my heart feel gooey.
He’d been worried about coming home and seeing his siblings after what the show had aired with his dad.
They’d turned Orin Forrester into a hero, and fans were calling for him to be cast in the next season of In the Wild.
A lot of their conversation had been edited out to look like Bennett and his dad had a really great relationship.
He’d spent several restless nights stressed that his siblings would think he’d betrayed them.
Greg and Orin had still been at base camp when we’d arrived, but Bennett and I had no problem spending as much time in our tent as humanly possible. We left it to eat and watch the aired episodes, all parties mutually avoiding each other.
Soft arms wrapped around me from behind, and I inhaled my mom’s familiar scent. I turned around, and she rocked us back and forth in a tight hug. “I missed you so much,” I said to her.
“I missed you too.” She held my cheeks and stared at me like she was marveling at me.
“You were amazing out there. And surviving in that cave all by yourself. I was so proud.” She hugged me again.
“But I didn’t know you went on the show for me.
Honey, you have to live your own life and not worry about mine.
It’s the parent’s job to worry about the kid, not the other way around. ”
“You’ve just done so much for me.”
As worried as Bennett had been about his siblings, I’d been worried about what my mom would say when she discovered my motivation for going on the show.
Nothing had remained a secret—not the little songs Bennett and I had made up, not the ways I’d fled from his kiss time and again, and definitely not our heated make-out session that ended with us leaving the cameras outside the tent.
My cheeks flamed hot just thinking about it.
Watching that episode with Greg and Bennett’s dad on the other side of the outdoor covered watching area, knowing that everyone could guess what was going on inside our tent, was both mortifying… and satisfying.
I didn’t need Greg to know that someone else loved and accepted me for who I was. But I didn’t hate having it thrown in his face, either.
“Don’t listen to her.” Grandma edged Bennett away to stand next to me. “I need your mom to take care of me, and she’s trying to get out of it with this kids not taking care of parents propaganda.”
“Mom!” My mom rolled her eyes. “You do not need me to take care of you. And when you do get to that point, it’s different.”
“We’re family, and we take care of each other,” Grandma said, as if it was the final statement. “Now you can quit one of your jobs and come visit me more.”
Ben and I had been featured quite a bit, earning us exactly what I needed to pay off Mom’s bills.
“Yes.” Mom closed her eyes as if overwhelmed by it all. “You should have kept the money for yourself. Gone on an amazing trip, or … I don’t know. Bought a new car.”
“I just got home from an amazing trip. And I don’t need a new car. I need more time with my mom.”
Mom nodded, too emotional to speak.
“Your mom’s coming to visit me in Arizona first.” Grandma hooked a thumb behind her, to where Bennett was surrounded by his brothers, who were giving hugs that were half loving, half aggressive. “Charlie’s going to be busy with that one for a while.”
“Grandma!”
“What? Beds are way better than the ground. That’s wisdom you can take to the bank.”
“Okay, Mom.” My mom took Grandma by the shoulders and steered her toward a table.
“You should’ve won,” Grandpa said as I dropped into the seat across from him. “That other couple cheated.”
“Bennett and I had no way of knowing that if we’d agreed to leave the show separately, we’d actually win,” I said.
The internet was in an uproar about the twist—especially since it meant we lost. The Wild producers had split up the other couple as well and given them the option to abandon each other.
They’d chosen to do so, and the big twist was that they’d won the game.
Unfortunately, they’d fought the entire time we were at base camp. Both of them had felt betrayed by the other.
“Yeah, we saw that,” Grandpa grumbled. “I’d like a word with that Wild show.”
While my family complained about some of the twists the show had taken, I looked around the room and caught Bennett’s eye.
He was surrounded by half his softball team, and he gave me a wink when he saw me.
He said something else and started to head in my direction, my heart flipping in my chest at his determined stride.
He kissed my cheek, then rested his hands on my shoulders. “Are you hungry for some pizza?” he asked. “I ordered ours, and Rosie bullied them into putting it in front of everyone else’s orders, so it should be out soon.”
My stomach grumbled in response. Even after two weeks, I felt like I couldn’t get enough calories to make up for so many weeks being hungry. “What did you get?”
“Pepperoni with mushroom and artichokes.”
I blinked at him in surprise. “That’s my favorite.”
“I know. You waxed poetically about it on more than one occasion.”
I’d made up an entire song about it, rhyming bloke, smoke, and yolk with artichoke. “Thank you,” I said, touched that he not only remembered, but cared enough for me to order it.
He pressed his lips to my temple and murmured, “Someday you won’t be so surprised when I do something nice for you, Charlie. This is how you should have been treated all along.”
I tipped my head back so he could drop a kiss on my smiling lips.
“Oh, get a room,” my grandma said teasingly.
“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Bennett replied with a wink, taking my hand. “Excuse me while I borrow my wife for a moment.”
Grandma made a suggestive comment under her breath that had my grandpa laughing and my mom scolding her. I pretended not to hear as I followed Bennett toward the exit. After being alone for so many weeks, it was overwhelming to be in such a noisy crowd, even if it was filled with people I loved.
The door closed behind us, and he took me around a corner. He leaned me against the wall and pressed close. “Now that I have you alone—”
“There they are!”
Bennett dropped his forehead to mine with a huff as all three of his siblings surrounded us.