Luke glanced at Meg, then back at Jake. “I’d love to discuss it. Coffee next week?”
“Perfect. I’ll text you my number.”
As they continued to the car, Meg shook her head in amazement. “A multi-year contract. Brad is going to flip.”
Luke opened the passenger door for her. “The good kind of flip, I assume?”
“The best kind. This proves the remote arrangement isn’t just temporary—it’s the future.”
They drove back along the coast with the windows down, the breeze threading through the quiet like a third passenger.
“I think I just accidentally redesigned my entire career,” Meg said as they crested the hill above Crystal Cove.
“Good accidentally or bad accidentally?”
“Good. I think. I still can’t believe they want athree-year commitment.” She shook her head in amazement. “That’s not just keeping my career—that’s expanding it.”
Luke smiled. “That’s amazing,Meg. I’m so proud of you.”
“There’s more.” Meg felt giddy with possibility. “While I was presenting, I realized how much I’ve learned about community-based marketing just from working at the Beach Shack. All that stuff about authentic connection and local partnerships—I never would have understood that from a corporate office.”
“And Jake connecting me with the foundation?”
“Jake Cassidy. Coastal conservation, grant money for sustainable tourism.” Luke’s eyes were bright with possibility. “Coffee next week to discuss it.”
Meg stared at him. “Luke, that’s incredible. That’s exactly the kind of work you’ve been wanting to do.”
“It’s just coffee,” he said, but she could see the excitement he was trying to contain.
“It’s an opportunity. One that wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t come with me today.”
They sat in silence, watching surfers navigate the break below. Meg thought about the presentation, about Margaret’s immediate enthusiasm for Phase Two, about the way her work had felt more connected and meaningful when she’d drawn on her Laguna experiences.
“Can I ask you something?” she said finally.
“Always.”
“When you said you remember everything about those summers—what did you mean?”
Luke was quiet for so long Meg wondered if he’d heard her. Then he said, “I meant that I remember how you used to talk about changing the world. How you wanted to use business to make things better, not just profitable.” He turned to look at her. “I think you forgot that for a while. But today, hearing you describe that presentation—talking about authentic community connections and supporting local businesses—that was the Meg I remembered.”
“You noticed all that while teaching me to surf?” Meg asked, a smile tugging at her lips.
Luke’s cheeks reddened slightly. “You talked a lot between sets,” he said, then cleared his throat. “I mean, you were always thinking out loud about stuff. Big stuff.”
Meg felt something shift in her chest, like a door opening onto a room she’d forgotten existed.
“I did forget,” she admitted. “I got so focused on climbing the ladder, I stopped thinking about why I wanted to climb it in the first place.”
“And now?”
Meg looked around—at the resort that had just committed to a long term partnership, at the ocean that had called her home, at Luke with his environmental notebooks and his gentle challenges.
“Now I think maybe the ladder was pointed in the wrong direction.”
They drove the rest of the way in silence, Meg’scontract commitment safely tucked in her bag and both of their phones buzzing with new possibilities.
“So,” Luke said as they parked outside the Beach Shack, “want to celebrate? I know a place that makes excellent grilled cheese.”
