Chapter 41
Bailey
We’re just about to leave the lodge. Axel, Hollis, and Savannah have just joined Rhett and I for a gorgeous dinner, followed by another warm apple pie with homemade ice cream courtesy of Savannah’s mom.
I made sure to compliment her on the fresh eggs she used in the ice cream when she came out of the kitchen to say hi. Mrs. Price even ushered me outside after dessert was done to see her new chicken coop hidden in a grove of trees behind the lodge.
I’m back at the table now, and we’re all getting ready to go when Savannah gasps and stands abruptly.
“I almost forgot!” she announces before racing out of the big dining room.
“Not sure what she’s forgotten, but it better not be more food. I can’t fit one more course into these jeans,” Hollis says, rising from the table but stuck in the booth.
“Sit down,” Axel tells her, not budging an inch to let her out.
She’s clearly joking, but she taps Axel on the shoulder to get him to move so that she can get out from behind the table.
He returns the tap, but stays seated.
Hollis looks to me for help getting out, but I can’t do anything to move my brother.
“It’s amazing how much you two have reverted to your younger selves in each other’s presence,” Rhett says, glancing between them.
“She started it,” Axel says, tapping her arm, but the edges of his lips curl up.
Hollis can’t see his smile forming from her angle, so she just smacks him gently on the arm, then sits back down in defeat.
Savannah comes running back in with a camera.
“Your picture!” she exclaims. “I almost forgot! For the celebrity wall.”
“I am not a celebrity,” I insist, rolling my eyes.
“But you’re a well-known author,” she tells me. “We’ll call it an Honored Guest wall then. I went to a lodge once that had photos of Ernest Hemingway on their wall of celebrities.”
I laugh. “I am not Ernest Hemingway.”
“Yet,” Hollis says, hopping into publicity mode. “Stand up, Bay. Get your picture taken. You belong up there.”
She points at the wall of photos we all admired when we came in earlier.
The lodge has been a luxe tourist getaway from nearby cities for years, and since it’s been in Savannah’s family for multiple generations, they’ve entertained everyone from Kenny Rogers to Selma Hatfield, and more.
Everyone comes looking for a slice of that peace we always love here.
“Fine,” I relent, even though I don’t feel like my face belongs anywhere near that wall. Then I turn to Hollis who begins patting down my hair.
“Teeth check.”
I widen my lips, and she leans in.
“You’re good,” she says. “But your hair needs a little — hang on.” She turns to grab some type of spray from her bag, then spends a few more moments fluffing it up in various places while the guys watch from the table.
“You couldn’t look more perfect,” Rhett says, grinning.
Axel must kick him under the table because Rhett flinches and then turns to Axel to knock his elbow off the table.
“Could you just cool it with the lovey-dovey talk?” Axel asks, turning to Rhett. “At least until I’m a little more used to this whole idea of you—” he pauses to find a non-offensive word — “hanging out with my sister?”
“I think the term you’re looking for there is ‘fucking my sister’, right, Bay?” Hollis winks at me while she finishes up my hair. “Which, trust me, I’m not used to yet either, but it’s kind of just fun to make you squirm, Ax.”
She smiles wider when she glances at my brother, a wicked look in her eye.
Axel pushes his eyes into the heels of his hands.
I try not to laugh.
“Actually, he’s in love with your sister,” Savannah announces happily with the camera perched up between her hands. She leans in, adding, “I have a sixth sense about these things.”
Hollis’ eyes widen as she stares back at her.
“Oh, and you’re next,” Savannah adds, pointing at Axel, but she leaves it at that.
“Christ,” he groans. “Highly doubt that.”
“Okay, where do you want us?” I ask Savannah, looking around.
“Whatever feels the most natural,” she answers. “Sitting at the table, standing in the lobby, or, oh! How about over in front of the water? That sun is giving perfect golden hour right now.” She gazes outside. “Would you mind?”
“No, that sounds perfect,” I tell her.
We get up and make our way outside to stand by the lake. I walk right up to the water’s edge, but no one else follows me there.
“Can I have them all in this?” I ask, smiling at my friends standing behind the camera instead of in front of it, right beside me, like they should.
They look taken aback, except Savannah, who’s nodding vigorously.
“Of course! This is your photo! You can have whoever you want in it,” she tells me, adding, “Except me. The owner of the lodge should keep it professional.” She winks.
I beckon the three of them over multiple times until they’re each standing at the edge of the water with me. Then I begin arranging them in the right order.
Axel, Hollis, me, then Rhett.
Just like in my favorite photo back home.
I stop and step away to watch for a moment as they all get themselves ready.
Hollis turns to check each of their teeth and pats down their hair, then she brushes some crumbs or something off the front of Axel’s shirt before straightening Rhett’s mussed-up hair.
Axel immediately throws an arm back behind her to mess Rhett’s hair up again when she isn’t looking.
I smile.
Then they all turn to me, ready to go at the exact same time, and I can’t help but catch a little gasp sob thing twisting out the back of my throat before swallowing it away.
Savannah was right, the sun is casting the most perfect golden hour light over all three of them from this angle. I look at the three faces I thought I might never see back here together again, taking my own mental snapshot of it to save for later.
“Stop being sappy and get over here,” Axel says, gruffly, but there’s a distinct gleam in his eye. And it’s not the reflection of the sun. “Love you, sis,” he adds, softening, before I slip in between them all.
“Love you, too,” I say, forcing away a huge wave of nostalgia lodged in the back of my throat. “I love all of you.”
Rhett slides his hand around my waist, squeezing me in closer while kissing the back of my head, then we all turn to smile at the camera.
We squeeze in tighter when Savannah holds up the lens.
“Now, say, ‘We’re baaack!’” she sings.
We all burst into laughter, and she snaps the photo on cue, captured forever, exactly like we were years before, except this time, with not one single heartbreak in sight.