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Soft music on the radio, driving at daybreak with my woman beside me. Nothing but highway and sunshine ahead.
Eventually, Kristen awoke again, and the early summer Texas sun had us rolling up the windows and cranking the A/C. We pulled off for gas after a few hours, and she offered to switch, saving me a leg of our journey, and I accepted.
I didn’t even see it coming, but as we got closer to Dallas, I felt my eyelids drooping, and as soon as we passed the massive traffic and were safely on 35 passing Alvarado, I shut my eyes and slipped into a dream.
I dreamed of the ranch, and the life we were going to have. I dreamed of the surprise I had in store for her that she knew nothing about and how excited she would be. I dreamed of a future filled with adventure and love and laughter. I dreamed of a return trip to the mountains of Colorado and of the cabin that overlooked the inky black night, pockmarked with stars.
When I came to, we had only two more hours’ drive ahead of us, and Kristen was pulling into a gas station to stop. I got out with her and stretched my legs, taking the keys so I could finish up the drive. She ran inside and grabbed us water and soda, replenishing the nearly empty cooler in the camper that had been a wonderful idea to rent and one I would absolutely do again.
On the road again, Kristen caffeinated herself to stay awake, and I raced the sunset to get back home to Murdock. When we crossed the town line, just a few miles from the entrance to the ranch, it felt like we had run a marathon.
I had texted the guys when we were at the gas station, and they knew our estimated arrival time. I hoped they would be done by then. I knew Kristen was tired and sweaty and wanted a shower before being seen by anyone. The last thing she would want was a bunch of people around, waiting with expectant faces for her reaction.
The long driveway from the main road into the ranch was empty as I pulled in, and the only cars in the distance belonged to the business itself. Old farming trucks and trailers dotted the area outside the barn, and my truck, having been brought back by Victor for me from the airport, was parked by the house. I pulled the trailer in and parked, smiling as I turned to Kristen.
“I have a bit of a surprise for you,” I said.
Her face dropped.
“There aren’t a bunch of people here, are there?” she asked, anxiety in her voice. I saw her hand reach for the makeup bag she kept in the front with her, hands ready to dig for concealer and eyeshadow.
“No,” I said. “Nothing like that. Just something the guys did for us as a wedding present. I designed it myself.”
“Oh?” she asked.
I grinned and slid out of the car. My bones creaked and popped in the way they tended to do after a long car ride, and when I opened the door for Kristen, she went through the same stretching and popping routine.
Holding out my hand for her to take, I led her around the house toward one of the older barns that I had only used to store things in for the last couple of years. Now all that stuff was in a newly built shed, a couple hundred feet from the main horse barn. This place had a higher purpose.
“Why are we going in the storage barn?” she asked.
The outside wasn’t finished yet, which was actually good. It still looked exactly the same approaching it. Eventually, I was going to replace the whole front with a more modern-looking façade, but for now it would remain looking like a barn. As I opened the door, though, it was clear that it was anything but on the inside.
“I wanted to introduce you to your new office,” I said. “Come on in.”
I kept my back to the room as I led her inside, wanting to see her face. Her eyes squinted as she adjusted for the light and then opened wide as she took it all in. Sweeping from left to right, the expression on her face was priceless. A short gasp as she took in air and put her hand in front of her lips and then she took off, running to the center of the room and spinning around.
“Oh my God,” she exclaimed. “Camden, how? How? This is amazing!”
For the first time, I got a good look at what the other guys had done. The pictures they had sent me didn’t do it justice.
The walls had been reinforced, drywall put up all around and painted soft, inviting pastels. A whole section of the massive barn was converted into a mock classroom, a camera stationed in the center that was on a dolly, capable of being moved around to any specification and remote controlled at that. Monitors sat on the desk and one along the wall, so she could see what the camera saw in real time.
Along the wall around it was every fixture and appliance I could think of that she might need. A full bathroom suite with a shower was there, along with a private office that she could go into if she felt like the space was too much and she needed to be confined somewhere to focus. That room also had a really comfortable reclining chair that she had pointed out to me on a trip to Ashland’s mall once.
A full working kitchen was near the front wall, complete with a flattop stove and oven, refrigerator, and microwave. A specialty coffee maker sat on the marble countertop, and a deep-well sink between the oven and the microwave. Between the kitchen and the mock-classroom was a living space and a meeting area. Comfortable chairs and a large television took up one wall, while other chairs sat around in the middle of the space, giving her a place where she could invite students or other teachers to conference and work on things from home if she wished.
“This is incredible,” she said, running her fingertips over the long, leather couch that sat in the living area. “You did this for me?”
“Of course,” I said. “If you were moving here, you needed a place where you could work from home. I figured if you could do anything you needed to here, then you never needed to head to the school just to film. Only if you have an actual class to teach in person.”
“It’s amazing,” she said, wrapping her arms around my waist and burying her head into my chest. Her eyes were wet with happy tears, and I could feel them through my shirt. I kissed the top of her head.
“I just want you to enjoy it,” I said. “I made sure they put a state-of-the-art editing suite in the office, too. No more monkeying around with that terrible computer you have at the school. This is professional grade stuff.”
“How did you manage all this while we were away?” she asked.
“I didn’t,” I admitted. “I gave Ryan and Mark all the specs of what I needed, and between the four guys, they took care of it. Ryan did most of the building. He and Allison basically lived here all week while they built and decorated it all. Mark was in charge of getting all the tech stuff together, along with Graham, and the two of them set up your studio and editing suite. Carmela and Mallory did a lot of the decorating and furniture buying of the office itself and the bathroom. And Vic and Melanie supplied all the stuff that you see. They got it all brought in through their store.”
