He levered up on his forearm. His gaze held a solemnness that seemed out of place after what they’d just experienced together. When he spoke, his voice came out with a noticeable rasp. “What if that feeling is no longer there once we leave?”
Leah frowned. “What do you mean?”
He slipped his fingers into her hair, and softly caressed her scalp. “This is a unique situation, being here in this cabin, playing all of Katherine and Geoff’s games, pretending we were really engaged.”
“You said you weren’t pretending.”
“But you were,” he said. “Are you sure you’re going to feel this same way once we get back home? Are you sure you won’t feel pressured from all those outside forces that made you think Derrick was the right guy for you?” He brushed his thumb over her cheek. “What do you think your family will say about you being with a guy who works crazy hours at a dangerous job, doesn’t make the best salary in the world, and drives a seven-year-old pickup truck?”
“I don’t care what anyone else thinks anymore, Caleb. I’ve spent the past thirty-three years making choices based on what others think. I’m ready to start doing whatIthink is best for me.” She captured his hand and brought it to her chest. “And there’s something in here that’s telling me that you’re what’s best for me.”
He looked at her with such love in his eyes. “Listen to that something,” Caleb said.
“I plan to.”
“I’m holding you to that,” Caleb whispered just before he leaned over and captured her mouth with his.
* * *
Caleb wrappedhis arms more securely around Leah’s middle as she snuggled against his chest. They sat on one of a dozen blankets that had been spread out on the ground surrounding the fire pit. This morning’s coffee and doughnuts with Katherine, Geoff and the rest of the couples that had participated in Relationship Excavation 101 was the final session of this weekend’s retreat.
After sitting through a shameless, but understandable plug for an upcoming retreat in the Poconos, couples were invited to share their most surprising insights from their time here at Camp Firefly Falls. Abigail and Joel announced their big news to the rest of the campers, garnering congratulatory hugs and applause. Another couple, Felicia and Dustin, who Caleb remembered from the puzzle activity Saturday morning, shared that they had been on the verge of separating before this weekend, but were now going to seek counseling to save their marriage.
When it came around to their turn, Caleb found himself more nervous than he thought he would be.
“Caleb, why don’t you start,” Geoff Mumford invited.
He released a deep breath. “I guess the most surprising thing about this weekend was learning just how much Leah and I have in common,” he said. He gently caressed her bare arm. “We’re even better suited for each other than I first thought.”
“That goes without saying,” Katherine remarked. “In all our years of doing this, I’ve never seen such an ideal couple. The two of you were made for each other. What about you, Leah? What have you learned here at Camp Firefly Falls?”
Caleb felt her relax against his chest. Apparently, she wasn’t feeling nervous at all.
“I can honestly say that this has been one of the most enlightening times of my adult life,” Leah began. “It would take the rest of the day to recount all that I’ve learned. But the most surprising insight, by far, was discovering that I actuallycantrust my instincts.” She looked up over her shoulder and smiled.
“You see, from the moment I first met Caleb, there was this little voice that told me there was something special about him. I ignored that voice for a long time, but after this weekend I have no doubt in my mind that I’ve chosen the only man for me.” She pressed a kiss to his lips. “He’s my Mr. Right.”
Severalawwwsfloated around the room from the other participants, but Caleb hardly registered them. All of his focus centered on the woman in his arms.
He wasn’t naive enough to think that one weekend together would spell magic for the rest of their lives, but he was willing to put in the work to make Leah his. Truly his. He wanted this woman forever.
Katherine announced that there would be one final goodbye toast in the private dining room in Birch House, but the kitchen had just informed her that it would be another hour or so before everything was ready.
“We should probably start packing up our things,” Leah suggested. “We’ll have to head back home as soon as the Mumfords wrap up everything.”
Caleb knew she was right, but a tremor of unease still rumbled within his chest at the thought of leaving. Despite Leah’s claim as she lay in his arms last night, a small part of him still feared that once they left the magic of these campgrounds, reality would set in and things would go back to the way they were before they came here.
Back in their cabin, they began to pack up their belongings. Caleb folded his pajama pants and stuffed them in his bag. He picked up a T-shirt, but then tossed it on the couch and stalked over to the bed where Leah stood packing her carry-on bag.
“Was that just for show back there?” Caleb asked her. “That stuff about you knowing there was something special about me from the first moment you met me?”
Her eyes brightened with her gentle smile. “No, it wasn’t for show,” she said. “That was the truth.”
She set her toiletry bag on the mattress and turned more fully toward him. Taking both his hands in hers, she brought them to her lips and pressed a quick kiss on the crest of his fingers.
“It started out as pure animal attraction,” she said. “From the moment you walked up to me in your garden, dressed in those torn jeans and that faded Bob Marley T-shirt, I was completely enthralled.”
“You remember what I was wearing that day?” Caleb asked, so damn pleased by that revelation that he couldn’t help but smile.
