Page 88 of Camping with the Boss

“Seriously?” I smack his arm.

The walkie-talkie squawks. That was River’s idea. And honestly, they do come in handy since we never know if we’ll have cell service. “Hey, guys,” River says, “they’re here.”

As we walk back to the main hall, Wade’s eyes stray to the trees. He’s either remembering our oak tree or watching out for killer squirrels.

Wade takes my hand and holds it the rest of the way. Emotion stings my eyes. I’m with the man I love. Doing a job I love. And River no longer needs me to take care of him. Not that he really needed me before. I just needed him to need me. He even returned to his first love by joining a local baseball league.

Mom and Dad would be proud of him. Of us. I clear my throat.

“Are you okay?”

“Perfect.” I stop and pull him into my arms. “I love you.”

“Can, sweetheart— I need to keep it together in front of my old team.” He sniffs, and then he kisses me. “I love you too.”

“Jesus. Can you two stop making out for like five seconds?” River asks, hands on his hips, standing outside the main hall. “The campers are waiting.”

The dining hall is more crowded than I expected. Did Ander bring extra people? That might make things challenging. As soon as they spot us, the campers start cheering.

I knock my shoulder into Wade’s. “See. They love you.”

“I think they’re cheering for you.”

And while that might be a little true, most of his old team is beaming at him. Normally, during the retreats, we stay in the background as much as possible, but I can tell this retreat is going to be different.

Ander takes his spot at the front. “Thank you, everyone, for participating in our second annual Pride retreat. I want to thank Drake Consultants for their hard work in getting everything ready.” He gestures to us, and we wave. “Before we get started, I’d like to invite my brother to come up and say a few words.” He nods at Wade.

What is Ander doing? This is not part of our normal routine. He should have warned us instead of just springing this on us. But when I glance at Wade, he doesn’t look irritated or concerned. He’s smiling at me. “Um, Wade? What’s going on?”

He shrugs. “I guess I'm making a speech.” But something’s not right. Wade makes his way to the front, and I glance around at his former employees. Carol is watching me with a smile on her face. And Vivian…and Lydia. Even Al is smiling at me. I turn in a complete circle. Everyone is watching me. What the heck? And then I notice one face in particular.

“Alex?” Why is she here? I wave my best friend over to explain herself, but she shakes her head.

“Good morning, everyone,” Wade says, sounding more confident than he has all morning. “Thank you so much for letting us be a part of your retreat. This is where it all started?—”

“And ended,” Al shouts, and everyone laughs.

Wade waves his hand at him. “Somethings never change. And I'm not just talking about Al. My brother has his work cut out for him this week because Darian Enterprises still has a problem with secrets.”

The group gets quiet, and I still can’t figure out what’s going on. Did Ander ask him to address something? But no, he wouldn’t?—

“Last year, everyone was keeping secrets. Now, no one can keep a secret.” He turns to Ander. “Does everyone know?”

He shrugs. “Sorry.”

What is he talking about?

“Not everyone,” Jared says and glances at me.

And I hate not knowing. “What’s going on, Wade?”

“This place—this team—is special to us. Why don’t you join me up here, sweetheart?”

I want to say no, but I also want to know what this is about. I refuse to let my imagination run away from me. So I walk to the front and glare at my boyfriend.

He laughs and takes my hand. “You said it yourself. We’ve had all our anniversaries here. So I thought, why not one more?”

Wade tries to release my hand, but I cling to him. My legs don’t want to work, and I really don’t want to fall on my ass. “Can? I need that hand.”

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