EPILOGUE 2
Five Years Later…
GHOST
“ I ’m dirty, I’m tired, I’m completely disgusting,” Emily told me as she leaned her head against my shoulder. “But also?”
I looked down at her, a fleeting thought skittering through my mind as our eyes met. The longer I’d known her, the more beautiful she’d become. “Also what?”
“I’m so happy.” She lifted her hand, and together we admired the sparkling band I’d slid onto it the night before as lions roared in the dark nearby.
The truck we rode in jostled and jumped, and when I finally stepped away from it following the six-hour ride back to town from the game preserve where we’d spent the last three weeks, my body took a few minutes to adjust to solid ground.
“You’ll need to hurry,” the driver told us, unloading our backpacks from the bed of the truck. “Flight in twenty minutes.”
We pulled on the packs and followed our driver to the low squat building that served as an airport. There were no planes to be seen, but our guide had assured us that all was arranged. We’d take a tiny plane to Nairobi where we’d transfer to a passenger jet back to Atlanta and finally to Denver. From there, we’d be in the car another three hours, but it would all be worth it to see Kasper Ridge again.
The green mountains of my home and jagged stone peaks would be a jarring counterpoint to the African continent, where we’d spent the last eight months. Emily had more assignments than she could take at this point, so she’d gotten in the habit of planning trips and selling pieces based on her plans, rather than the other way around. My own life had molded to hers, and in Africa, I’d focused on consulting for an organization working to restrict the access poachers had to the game preserves that were home to some of the most endangered species on earth. I’d helped the non-profit understand how drone technology could assist with identifying heat signatures in far flung areas of the preserves and used my military experience to help them develop mobilization plans to counter those threats. There was a long way to go, but it was work I loved, and it allowed me to travel with Emily.
Now, however, we were heading home for a while. To Kasper Ridge. To spend some time with family.
We’d managed to shower in Atlanta during the layover, and we each scored a power nap on the way to Denver. By the time we were pulling up in a taxi to the roundabout in front of the resort, I felt almost alive again. The fresh mineral and greenery scent the mountains always carried helped too.
I stood in front of the resort and found myself grinning up at it and just breathing.
“Happy to be home?” Emily asked, coming to stand at my side.
“Happy about so much,” I told her, wrapping an arm around her and squeezing her tight.
Just then, Antonio came bustling out the front door. “I thought that was you guys,” he said, a smile splitting his face from ear to ear. “Aubrey’s gonna go nuts. Wait, did she know you were coming home?”
I gave Antonio a hug. “Nope. It’s a surprise.”
“It sure is,” he agreed, moving to hug Emily. “It’s so great to see you guys. Your timing is perfect too, we just had a wedding clear out, so things are pretty calm.”
I took one more deep breath of the late summer mountain air and followed Antonio into the lobby.
“Am I seeing a Ghost?” Wiley called from the bar as we moved inside.
“Sure are,” I told him. “And an Emily.”
“Wow. Welcome back, you guys! It’s so great to see you.” Wiley greeted us much as Antonio had, and my heart settled inside my chest. It was good to be home. To be loved. To be at peace.
“You think we might be able to get most of the family together for dinner tonight?” I asked Antonio and Wiley hopefully. Being on the outside of resort operations felt a little strange, but also liberating. Still, I knew they might have other obligations.
“I bet we can,” Antonio said. “If we do it in the restaurant, just in case anyone needs to attend to anything.”
“Jensen’s in the bar tonight,” Wiley said.
“CeeCee’s brother? The one with the taxidermy?” Emily asked, her eyes wide. I’d told her about Jensen’s previous job as a ride-share driver, and his habit of stuffing roadkill.
“Yep,” Wiley said. “See? Rufus has a friend.”
We followed Wiley’s extended arm to see a mottled and misshapen animal standing next to Rufus the stuffed bear, wearing a fishing vest and holding a pole.
“What is that?” Emily asked. “A beaver?”
“A groundhog?” I suggested.
“Dunno,” Wiley stared up at the odd beast and scratched his head. “Even Jensen’s not sure. We just call him Kevin.”
“Kevin,” I said. “Okay.”
“So... dinner at six?” Antonio asked. “I can let the chef know.”
“That sounds perfect,” I said. I turned to Wiley. “Think Aubrey will be mad if I don’t tell her I’m here until then? I want it to be a surprise.”
“Of course she will be,” he said, grinning. “But that’s okay.”
“Can Finn come up at six too?” I asked.
“I heard my name!” A boy stepped out of the bar, a shock of dark hair in a scramble on his head and my sister’s wide dark eyes making it perfectly clear who he was. “Uncle Archie! Emily!” Finn ran at me full speed, and I dropped my pack to catch him.
“Hey, buddy!” I’d last seen Finn almost a year ago, the last time we’d stopped through between trips. He’d put on size since then. “How are things?”
He wrinkled his nose. “Everything in my old room is pink.”
The nursery was now home to Finn’s sister Lola, and while he was tremendously protective of her, he pretended to hate girl stuff. “Pink can be nice,” I told him.
He blew a raspberry to demonstrate his lack of agreement with that idea. “Hey, I gotta go, Uncle Archie. I’m meeting Mags and Teague. We’re hunting treasure out back.”
I suppressed a laugh. “Oh yeah?”
“Treasure, huh?” Emily smiled.
Finn bolted out the back doors of the resort, and we all watched him go for a moment.
“This place is nuts now, even when we don’t have guests,” Wiley said. “Between that one, the big kids, and all the babies, it’s like summer camp all year long.”
Mateo’s daughter Lily was nearly ready to graduate high school now, and her brothers Alex and Scott were a handful, according to Monroe, who swore she was never having kids. In typical Monroe fashion, she figured she’d go big or go home and had twins. Lucy and Will had welcomed a daughter, Piper, soon after Finn had arrived. Sasquatch and CeeCee had a tiny baby girl, who they’d named Rose, who I was looking forward to meeting. Brainiac and Penny had their hands full with Maggie, who was seven, and their son Michael, who was three.
Antonio was right. Kasper Ridge was crawling with kids, and honestly? Nothing could make me happier.
Emily and I spent our afternoon on the patio, enjoying the mild summer air and the view, and the surprise of our friends who wandered past now and then in the course of their daily activities. By the time we sat down at dinner in the restaurant, we figured everyone knew we were back, but Aubrey proved me wrong.
“How could you?” she cried, storming into the restaurant with Lola in her arms. “How could you not even tell me you were coming home?” Her tone was... well, loud, because she was Aubrey, but she wasn’t angry. Instead, she was smiling brightly and just about matched Finn for speed as she ran into my arms. Lola smiled up at me with wide blue eyes.
“Hey, sis,” I said, hugging my sister tight. “Hi little Lola.”
Lola was just a year old, and possibly the cutest human being I’d ever seen. She had Wiley’s dark hair and giant wide eyes, and I’d honestly never seen her cry, though that could have been because I traveled so much. We’d been here just after she’d been born, but I’d had to keep up with her growth by video call since then.
For several minutes, no one sat. The restaurant’s back room echoed with our voices, all raised in happy tones. It felt like a reunion. Hell, it was a reunion.
The kids—those old enough to feed themselves—sat at the end of the table, while Lily purposely claimed a spot with the adults.
Once we’d all managed to order and everyone had a drink in front of them, I stood.
“Thanks, guys, for letting us crash in here unannounced.”
“Again,” Aubrey called out, earning a laugh.
“We’ve been wanting to come home for a while,” I told them, reaching for Emily’s hand and pulling her to stand at my side. “And this seemed like the perfect time because we have a bit of news.”
Sasquatch let out an inappropriately timed hoot, demonstrating that fatherhood hadn’t changed him at all. It made me happy.
“Emily’s agreed to marry me!” I announced, turning to kiss Emily quickly on the cheek.
“Only took you five years to convince her,” Aubrey pointed out.
“Funny,” I said.
“We were busy,” Emily told the table. “Running around the world, having adventures.”
We’d had many. And we’d gone a long way toward filling up our map. But it was time for a break.
“The thing is, we wondered if there might still be a place for us here, if we came back for a bit,” I said, gazing into the faces of the people I loved most in the world.
“We might even want to build one of those fancy houses down there where you all live,” Emily said.
I nodded. “We’ll need a little more room than we have in the suite upstairs...”
My sister’s eyes rounded as her mouth dropped open. “You’re preggo!”
Emily nodded and the table erupted into happy sounds of congratulation. “We are, and we want to raise him or her up here, with family.” We’d called Emily’s parents from Atlanta to tell them the news, and it turned out they had news of their own. They’d visited Kasper Ridge once before, and thought they might like to look at moving to Colorado. They weren’t all in for the elevation of the resort, but told us they’d been looking for a place near the Springs. It was perfect. Everything was.
I sat back down, jet lag and the endorphins of all the happy reunions finally wearing me down. Looking around, I let the fulfillment and gratitude I felt sink in. I was home, and I had everything I’d ever wanted. When Emily retook her seat at my side, I sighed with happiness as she leaned into me and whispered, “I love you so much, Archie Kasper.”
The world brightened and shone, and so did my heart. I knew that no matter where we roamed, Kasper Ridge would always be our home.
THE END