Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Dreams of Booty
EMILY
I ’d watched only a few of Marvin’s films while I’d been working on my article, but Archie had told me about them too, explaining his Uncle’s role in writing films back in the 1950s and 60s, and about his wife’s star status prior to their marriage.
With that brief history in mind, my expectations were much more silver screen than home movie, but that’s not what this was, at least not at first.
The opening shot was of a building covered in snow, one that vaguely resembled the Kasper Ridge Resort, if the place was much smaller and parts of it looked like they might be crumbling to the ground. But as I watched, that shot began to morph, and it took a few seconds for me to realize it was some kind of time lapse effect, only it was rolling backwards. The weather around the building was the clearest shift—as the seasons rewound, there’d be snow on the ground, snow piled high against the wood face of the resort, then greenery and bright sunshine, followed again by snow.
Years rolled backward, and in those frames, the resort grew taller, prouder, and simpler too. But in the last few shots, the building disappeared almost entirely, as I saw it built in reverse motion, and finally, there was just a clear spot on the forest floor, a young man standing in its center, waving and smiling.
And suddenly, the film was rolling forward as music swelled. The man on the screen was joined by a woman, and I heard Aubrey cry out, “That’s Lola. Annie Lowe. They’re wearing their wedding clothes, Arch—just like in the photo.” A burst of excited sentimentality grew inside me. This was it; this was the thing we’d been searching for.
The couple stood for a moment, staring into the camera, and then they turned to one another and kissed, the man dipping Lola dramatically before they broke apart, laughing. They stared at each other for a long moment, and moved farther away from one another, each of them stepping off screen as a title screen appeared.
Kasper Ridge. The Treasure Hunt.
The words splashed across the screen, and suddenly, the images pulled into a more traditional movie, and the story soon had me following along in a hushed silence. The movie was well done, clearly actors had been hired, sets created.
The story followed one man—Marvin—as he made his way up in Hollywood as a writer. It showed a close friendship with another man named Rudy, and a shared love for the third member of the threesome, a beautiful woman.
Rudy and Marvin discussed the woman when she wasn’t around—Lola was her name—and they formed a pact. Because they both loved her, they agreed that neither of them would act on it. Their own friendship was too important.
But in the next scene, Lola and Marvin become closer and she confided her love for him in a stolen moment after a passionate kiss. He tells her that even though he loves her, he could never marry her because of his admiration for and a promise to his friend.
But in the next scene, Rudy proposes to Lola. When she asks about the pact Marvin hinted at, Rudy pretends not to know anything about it, and tells her perhaps Marvin made it up to protect her feelings because he doesn’t love her. Lola is shattered, but accepts Rudy’s proposal, acknowledging to her mother that she has deep feelings for him, even if they aren’t the passionate ones she feels for Marvin.
I swallowed hard, thinking of my own deception.
“That rat!” Lucy cried out then, sending a wave of laughter through the group.
Marvin, heartbroken, leaves Hollywood feeling betrayed by both of his friends. He goes to the mountains in Colorado, arriving to a low rustic outpost with a sign that reads “Kasper Ridge Hotel.” It becomes clear that the operators of the place are his parents, who discuss their plans to shut the place down to retire. Instead, Marvin agrees to take it over, and during the next year, he buys extensive land around the hotel property and marks out an area where he intends to build a grand resort.
During the initial groundbreaking, he receives a letter, forwarded from his residence in Los Angeles, from Lola. In the letter, she confesses her feelings for him again, her disappointment at his departure, and her hesitation about marrying Rudy. She tells him that he has always been the one she loved and that she is planning to break her engagement.
Marvin goes back to Hollywood but tells no one. He arranges to meet Lola secretly and convinces her to run away with him. She agrees, and the pair head back to Kasper Ridge, leaving no trace of their whereabouts for Rudy to find.
Furious, Rudy erases any trace of Marvin from the work they did together.
“I knew it!” Fake Tom calls out, and there is general agreement around the theater.
Archie’s hand found mine then, and I leaned closer, dropping my head onto his shoulder. Emotions warred inside me. I’d gotten what I needed, but I worried about the cost. The elation of Aubrey’s wedding night had disappeared, and without the benefit of the champagne’s bubbly reassurance, I knew the news I still had to share would not be a small thing. It would ruin everything. I forced the knowledge down and watched the end of the film, gripping Archie’s hand tightly, knowing it might be the last time he let me.
The final scenes unfolded rapidly, as the resort rose from the ground and began to host guests. The old Kasper Ridge Hotel was torn down, and the film showed Marvin attending his parents’ funerals, Lola at his side.
The final shot of the actual movie shows the couple standing under the Kasper Ridge Resort sign in front of the finished building, guests moving in and out of the doors behind them as cars pull in and out.
The screen went dark then, but a second later, more images lit up the theater. These were clearly home movies—Marvin and Lola are recognizable, but there are a couple of other adults who are not. Until Archie takes a quick gasp of air, and then breathes out, “Mom.”
“Arch, it’s Mom and Dad.”
Just then, two toddlers moved across the screen as the adults watched, all of them in a clearing with the resort building towering behind them.
“Is that us?” Archie asked, his voice filled with wonder. “I don’t remember this.”
“Me either,” Aubrey said.
Archie told me he’d never met his aunt, but clearly, he had. He was just too young to recall.
The film rolled on, showing the kids with exuberant smiles as the adults doted on them. The most poignant thing wasn’t the antics of the children, though. It was how the camera captured shots between the kids’ appearances, little stolen moments between the two couples. And the way the adults treated those children made my heart ache—they adored them. It was clear in their eyes, the way they touched them, laughed with them.
Another home movie rolled, this one showing teenagers—clearly Aubrey and Archie—looking less exuberant and gleeful, and Marvin on his own.
“Who took all these?” Aubrey asked.
“I remember him setting up a camera a few times,” Archie said. “This was after Mom and Dad...”
“Yeah.”
The teenagers were both sitting on lounge chairs against the backdrop of the mountain, Aubrey in a bathing suit and Archie in shorts and a T-shirt. Aubrey shaded her eyes and laid in the sun, while Archie read a book. He was lanky and thin, but the red hair was fiery in the sun and I could see the deep intelligence in his dark blue eyes, even then.
The screen flickered and switched again. Now we saw inside the bar at the resort, though it was a faded and run-down version of the bar we knew. Marvin was hunched over a map he was working on, and he turned and winked at the camera. And that was it.
Emotion was heavy in me, and I felt tears running down my cheeks, which I hurried to wipe away.
“Do we clap?” Sasquatch asked. “Weird ending.”
We sat in the dark as the film rolled forward blank, but just as Archie rose to go shut it off, Marvin appeared once more on the screen. Much older now, with white hair and a beard, but the same devilish grin he’d worn his whole life from what I could tell.
“If you’re watching this,” he began, settling into a chair. “Well, you’re probably wondering about all those movies I wrote before and whether I made all that shit up because this one was so amateur.” He laughed to himself, and then turned to the camera again. “I was a writer, not a filmmaker, so forgive the choppy nature of this effort, kids.
“I wanted to put something together to tell the story—in case you didn’t figure it out. But also to show you what this place is. To me, at least. But I hope to you too.
“Kasper Ridge is our namesake. But it’s also the place that saved my life. It’s the place that taught me about hard work, about wanting something so bad you can taste it.
“And it’s the place where I learned about what really makes the world turn. It’s where I discovered the greatest treasure anyone in the world has ever known.
“Kasper Ridge gave me love. Abundant, all-encompassing love. Not just for your aunt, who I loved with all my heart, but for the people and the place I was lucky enough to call my own.
“There are those who wonder why I’d burden my only living relatives with a run-down resort and a huge swath of land they probably couldn’t use...and I’ve questioned myself too. Maybe it is a burden. But what I hope more than anything is that it will be a treasure instead. I hope that you kids will find everything I found up here. And more.
“This place is your heritage, of course. And with your folks gone, I hope you’ll see it as your home too. But even if you never restore the place, I hope you’ll see what a real treasure it is.
“Kasper Ridge is magic, kids. It pulls people to it, and ties them together. It builds families out of friends, and love out of thin air. I’ve seen it time and again, and I hope you’ll stay long enough to give it a chance to work its magic on you.
“I’m sorry if you were hoping for a chest full of gold,” he said, rubbing his head and dropping his gaze for a second. “I hope you’ll see how much better the real treasure of Kasper Ridge can be.”
The screen went dark again then, and Aubrey sniffed loudly beside us. Archie got up and turned up the lights, and I stretched, feeling like I’d been in a deep sleep and had a very odd dream.
“That’s it?” Sasquatch asked. “No booty?” His face broke into a huge smile, and he pulled CeeCee closer to his side.
“Uncle Marvin was a genius,” Aubrey said. “He was right. The second I came back here I found everything I’d ever wanted in life.”
“Aw, hon,” Wiley said, smiling at her fondly.
“I meant the yurts,” she joked, punching him in the arm.
As everyone rose, hugged, and then went their separate ways, I lingered until finally it was just me and Archie standing against the wall of the little theater.
“Are you disappointed?” I asked him. “Was it anticlimactic?”
He frowned, rubbing a hand over his chest and then looking at me. “A little. Is that crappy?”
I took his hand, my heart twisting at the emotion clear on his face. “I don’t think so. He set you up to expect treasure.”
We headed out of the theater, and Archie sighed. “He’s not wrong, though. About this place. The people. The magic.”
I glanced at him, not sure if he meant us, but hoping he did. “Yeah.”
As we headed back through the lobby, the guilt inside me threatened to spew out. I needed to tell Archie everything, but he looked so disappointed, I didn’t think this was the time. Of course, I realized, it was never the time. It would never be the time. I was a coward.
“You okay?” I asked him as we stepped into the elevator. I slid my arms around his waist and gazed up into the eyes I adored. He looked troubled, upset.
“Yeah, I am. I just...I think I need a little time to process.” His warm gaze met mine and he dropped a kiss on my forehead. “Is that okay? Maybe just a little time alone for tonight?”
“I have a piece to finish writing anyway,” I said, slightly relieved. I needed time to formulate my thoughts. Maybe once I finished writing, I’d be able to focus on telling him about Jake in a way that wouldn’t make it seem like I’d been keeping a terrible secret this whole time.
“Okay,” he said, his hands tightening on my waist as he dropped another light kiss on my lips. “Sleep well. See you in the morning?”
“Yeah,” I told him, lingering in the warmth of his embrace. “See you tomorrow.”
I went back to my room and wrote. And when I was finished, I sent the piece to my editor, along with the photos I’d taken during my stay.
It was late when I finally laid down in the soft bed I hadn’t slept in alone since Christine had left. And even though I’d planned to decide what to say to Archie, sleep came first, and when I woke, it was to bright sunshine and the realization that Thanksgiving was only three days away. My parents would be starting to worry, and I was out of excuses as to when to tell Archie the truth.
I needed to honor the message of the movie Marvin had left for his family. I needed to be honest with Archie. And then, regardless of his reaction, I needed to go to my own family for the holiday. Being with them wouldn’t be joyous and magical like being at Kasper Ridge had been, but it was where I belonged.