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Archer and Tea turned toward them.

He chuckled. “Hello, Romeo.”

The two of them watched as Chris stood underneath a window at Cabin G. His arms were raised, poised to catch Ashley as she crawled out of her window and shimmied down the roof. She grabbed the nearest branch of the tree.

“Why do I feel like this is not going to end well?” Tea mumbled.

“Shhh.”

They continued to watch as Ashley attempted to elegantly climb down the tree, until her foot slipped. She dangled from one of the branches as Chris reached up for her waist. She slipped into his arms, the two of them tumbling down to the grass.

“Should have been taller,” Archer teased.

“Arch, stop it.”

He looked at her with that mischievous grin. “Oh come on, this is gold.”

“May I remind you that we used to sneak out? For years?”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t ever like this.” He huffed. “Even though I always wanted it to be like this.”

They continued to watch as Chris helped her up, kissed her delicately on the mouth, then grabbed her hand as they raced across the lawn. Ashley was the one who slowed, realizing who was in the water. She pulled on Chris’s arm, who stopped. He looked at her and Archer with wide eyes.

The four of them remained silent for a long beat.

Archer then smirked and saluted Chris.

Chris grinned and saluted back, then pulled Ashley to the woods.

“Time to go inside?” Tea suggested.

“Only if you’ll slap my butt again.”

She dug her toe into his butt cheek, which made him yelp.

He chuckled as he walked to the shore, still carrying her as he stepped out of the water. “Come on, my Sweet Tea. Let’s get you to bed.”

Tea entered her cabin early the next day. Archer promised his father he would help clean the gutters for Cabin F, which apparently was a job that required Archer’s full attention at eight o’clock in the morning. So Tea shuffled over to Cabin B, wearing his T-shirt and sweatpants, ready to crawl into her bed. That was until she stepped inside and found Nan standing at the counter with a cup of coffee, waiting for her.

She stilled. “Sorry,” she said reflexively.

“Oh honey, I’m not angry that you stay over there. I’m glad you two are together.”

Tea sat on her usual stool, in front of a basket of strawberry rhubarb muffins fresh out of the oven. “You are?”

“Of course. Your father and I were always convinced the two of you were meant for each other.”

She felt like she couldn’t breathe. “He thought that?”

“Yes. He loved that boy like his own. He knew he was a good one from the start.”

Tea glanced at the cabin next door, watching Archer climb up the ladder, his father holding it steady at the bottom. “Yeah, he’s a good one.”

Nan poured Tea a cup of coffee, then slid it across to her. “What I don’t understand is why you still haven’t told your mother. It’s been, what, a month?”

She wanted to crawl into a hole. “She’s been so busy.”

“And yet I’ve had no problems getting her on the phone this week.”