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“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.
Chapter Twenty-Four
No Time Like Right Effing Now
GHOST
Back in my quiet room, I struggled to piece together all the feelings crashing around inside me. It had been odd, seeing my parents again like that—happy, young. Alive. We’d lost them in our late teens, and Uncle Marvin had become truly crucial in our lives after that point. Not as a guardian—thankfully, we were old enough to look after ourselves—but as a guiding light of sorts.
It was hard sometimes, thinking of them gone. But the message my great uncle had left us with was equally hard to process. That the real treasure was connection with other people.
How long had I cut myself off as completely as I possibly could? How long had I been avoiding that very thing in a misguided attempt at self-protection after what had happened that day in the Pacific?
Of course it hadn’t worked. I realized this as I stared out the back window at the bottom of the resort’s ski mountain. There were a few guests enjoying the patio and the fire pits, but the resort was quieter than it had been in weeks. And it was in that silence and stillness that I most felt what the place had been like when my uncle was here. I felt the magic he’d talked about.
Because it really was here. I knew that.
I’d watched most of my friends stumble their way into love after coming to stay in Kasper Ridge. Our family of friends had grown and expanded, and now it included a whole new generation. Kasper Ridge babies, I thought to myself, smiling.
Beyond the vague disappointment I felt at having finally concluded the treasure hunt without a physical treasure I could hold in my hands, I felt relief.
The hunt had been the thing tying me to this place after it was up and running. Sure, we still had a wing of rooms to refurbish, but at this point, the resort wasn’t running in the red. It was a well-known destination, had been written up in numerous travel magazines, and thanks to CeeCee and Douggie Masters and his YouTube channel, it had even been on television.
The place didn’t need me anymore.
The question now was what did I need?
