Page 65 of Caught Bear Handed
“Not like you.”
“No, not like me.”She gave me a wobbly smile.“I’ll miss this though.”
“What do you think the writers would script for us?”I asked.
She let out a long sigh.“They’d find a place in Regina’s life for her hunky, adventure-loving bear, but they’d be careful not to stunt his character development.”
Not exactly what I expected her to say.“Are you saying you don’t think we can make this work?”
“I do think it can work.”She put her hand over mine, squeezing it.“But we both have lives that we love, and it wouldn’t be fair to take that from you, or for you to take it from me.So we might need a couple of plot twists to pull things off, but in the end, they’d make sure we got our happily ever after.”
“We will.”I still didn’t know how, but we’d make it happen.
Kayla’s expression brightened.“We’ll visit each other—I can’t wait to see you kick ass in this new training role.You’re so ready for this.And you can come to set.”
“That would be killer.”Like bucket list level.
“And then, when we’re both free, we’ll plan an epic adventure to someplace we’ve never ever been before.”
Her eyes glowed with a fire I’d never seen inside her before, and I liked it.There was so much more to discover with this woman.
“And when the time is right, we’ll find the perfect place to settle down.”
I leaned in and kissed her.“I love this.But more importantly, I love you.”
“I love you too,” she said, kissing my cheek.“And I can’t wait to experience the world with you.”
Two Months Later
Kayla
“That’s a season wrap on Kayla!”It wasn’t the thunderous applause of the cast and crew that made me emotional to be done with this season ofThe Wolf’s Moon.There were times I thought I’d never set foot on set again.Like when we were stuck in the cabin with no answers, or on the run with no solutions.It took longer than I expected to get the call to come back, and I’d convinced myself they’d moved on without me.
Sure, there were other roles.So many other things I could explore.ButThe Wolf’s Moonwas my family, and I didn’t want anyone to take it away from me.
So seeing this season through to completion was a victory.
The hugfest was on—starting with my costars, then the director, and then some of my favorite crew members.Television was a collaborative effort, a beautiful tapestry of so many talented people’s visions.
I appreciated it now more than ever, especially since I knew what it was like to lose it.
“You have a very handsome guest,” Amelia said as she hugged me.“I’m so glad the two of you found a way to make things work.”
I could hardly breathe when I saw Beau standing at video village.He was so beautiful in his black button-down shirt and dark jeans.His beard and hair were a little more polished than they’d been in Sawtooth Forest, and I’d never seen this sophisticated side of him before.
Leaving him at the airport was the hardest thing I’d ever done.If I didn’t love my job so much, I’m not sure anyone could’ve convinced me to leave him.We spent lots of time doing video calls, but those visits we’d promised each other turned out to be trickier than we anticipated.
Long-distance relationships were harder than anyone gave them credit for.There were so many things I wished I could share with him every day.But I had grown to love our ritual of telling each other naughty bedtime stories.
I was so jumping this bear’s bones the second I got him alone.
But he was here now, and that was all that mattered.It was so surreal to see him outside of Sawtooth Forest.Sometimes, I thought our time together had been a dream that I’d only get to revisit before I fell asleep each night.
“Hi.”There were so many things I wanted to say and all of it seemed like too much and at the same time not enough.
He took a step toward me.I only meant to give him a quick peck, but once my lips met his, there was no holding back.
The only thing that made him pull away from me was the hoots and hollers of everyone else on set.