“I’m just going to call Adrian real quick, but I’ll be right in.”
He nodded, kissing my cheek before dipping back inside. I grabbed my cell phone from the small table I’d placed it on that morning and dialed my best friend.
“About damn time!” he answered. “Where are you? I thought you were coming to my place last night, but then figured maybe you went to your parents or something but surely you’d be at the office today and then you just don’t show and don’t answer any calls or texts. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said, a little too cheerily for someone who was clearly not on his good side at the present moment. “And I’m sorry, I meant to call but... well let’s just say the last twenty-four hours have been kind of crazy.”
“Crazy? Wait... is that the river? Are you still in Gold Bar?”
“I am, and I’ll explain everything on Wednesday when I’m back in the office. But I need you to put time on our calendars for that morning.” I paused, biting my lip as excitement coursed through me again. I picked up the sketch book and flipped through it. “I have something to show you.”
“Wait... are you saying you have a line?”
“I have a line,” I confirmed. “And I think it’s my best one yet.”
Adrian squealed, and I couldn’t help it—I did, too. There was still so much work to do, but I was excited and ready. That zing, that passion I’d been missing was back in full force, and I couldn’t wait to get started.
“8AM your office, and then 10AM we’re telling the team,” he said, and I heard his fingers clicking away on the keyboard already. “They’re going to be so excited, Wren. We all miss you.”
“I miss you, too. Tell them to have coffee ready. We’ve got work to do.”
He sighed. “My best friend is back.”
I smiled, but couldn’t help but think he was both right and wrong at the same time. I was back, but I was different. I’d never again be the Wren who left Seattle, yet she still lived and breathed in me. Only now, she’d been touched by another place, another family, and for the first time in years, she was happy.
Truly happy.
We ended the call just as Anderson poked his head out. “How do you feel about celebrating with a little wine?”
“Sounds perfect.”
The corners of his lips lifted into a soft smile, the one that made my stomach flip. “Ready when you are.”
“I just need to make one more call. Two minutes,” I said, holding up my fingers.
Anderson disappeared inside once more and I turned back to the water, breeze brushing my hair back as my hands found the railing. I couldn’t decide if I was crazy or not and I didn’t give myself time to overthink it before I was holding the phone to my ear again.
“Abdiel? Hey, it’s Wren Ballard. I was just wondering... what was that asking price again?”
THE END
BEATIFIC
bee-uh-TIFF-ik
Adjective
Of, possessing, or imparting a state of utmost bliss
“It’s perfect,” I said to Anderson as he threw his arm around my shoulder, both of our eyes on the gazebo.
It was a beautiful copper red, the wood shaped by Anderson’s hands, the edges of it carved into flowery designs that reached all the way from the bottom baseboards to the roof. Small twinkle lights hung in ribbons from the top, casting a soft glow as dusk began to settle. Even from the distance, I could make out the small script on the rectangle gold plate fastened to the top of the wood.
For Dani.
He’d worked on it all summer, ever since he got back from his survival trip with Greg, and it’d turned out even more beautiful than I could have imagined when he’d told me his idea for it. All the food for the pig roast was situated on tables underneath the gazebo, and Anderson’s fingers traced my shoulders in wide circles as we watched our friends filter in and out of it.
Being in Gold Bar again, tucked under his arms—it felt like coming home.
“She would have loved it,” Anderson whispered, voice thick. He smiled down at me and planted a soft kiss to my forehead. “Want me to make you a plate?”
“Yes, please. Extra cinnamon rolls.”
Anderson scoffed. “Come on now, like I don’t know my girl.”
I smiled. “I’ll grab us a table.”
He tilted my chin with his knuckles, kissing me softly before joining up with old man Ron where he was at the back of the food line. I watched them talking and laughing for a moment before finding an empty table near the back of the lot.
It’d been a long and incredible year for both of us. Anderson had spent most of it traveling with Greg, filming for the YouTube series and writing his own blog about it along the way. He’d come home several times though, thankfully. Half the time we’d spent his time off together at my apartment in the city, the other half we’d spent out here. And although I loved introducing him to the team at the boutique and showing him around my favorite spots in Seattle, I much preferred our time spent at the cabins, especially since I’d taken Abdiel up on his offer.
It was perfect, both of us having our own space out here. We spent most of our time together when we had the chance, anyway, but between his cabin and mine, we had plenty of projects. We were a team, both of us working with our hands to make home wherever we were—whether it was his cabin, mine, the apartment in the city, or someplace on the road.
Wherever we were together, that’s where home was.
“Hey Wren,” a soft voice said, pulling my attention from where I’d been watching Anderson. I looked up to find Sarah wearing a shy smile, and she took the open chair next to me. “Can I sit for a second?”
“Sure.”
I hadn’t talked to Sarah since last year’s pig roast, and my heart picked up speed at her proximity. I didn’t want to deal with a fight from her, especially not today.
But as she tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, eyes on her hands, I had a feeling I wouldn’t have to.
“Look, I know you and I aren’t friends, but... well, I’d like to be.” She sighed. “I’m sorry for how I treated you last year. The truth is I was jealous of your relationship with Anderson, and it wasn’t until I saw how genuinely happy he was with you that I realized I was wrong. About you. About your relationship with him.”
I swallowed. “Thank you, Sarah.”
She offered another weak smile and nodded. “So, I know it’s not an overnight thing, but I was hoping we could maybe start over. I promise to be less of a bitch this time,” she added. “Though I can’t make any promises it won’t slip out from time to time. Kind of part of who I am.”
I laughed. “I’d love that.”
“Cool,” she said with a smile. “Well, I don’t want to take up all your time, I know you’ve got a lot of people to see today. But we should hang out soon, just the two of us. Maybe before you and Anderson leave for your trip?”
“Sounds like a plan,” I said, and Sarah gave me one last smile and a squeeze on my wrist before making her way over to the gazebo.
My stomach flittered at the thought of our trip. Greg had asked Anderson to do another survival challenge, this time overseas, and I was going with them. Well, partly, anyway. I would be spending most of the time in the cities—Paris, London, Barcelona—but he would be joining me in-between their filming. I was on the hunt for inspiration for a new line, and Anderson wanted to travel as much as he could while he had the chance with Greg.