I changed the music into something I liked better and let my emo self out for a bit. I loved the genre, and while I’d gotten to it kind of late—my Aunt Win had actually been an emo-kid back in the early nineties and she’d gotten me hooked—I enjoyed it whenever I could, even though Tony didn’t like it much. I rocked out to my favorites for a long while with Tony fully absorbed by what he was listening to.
I’d gotten help from a neighbor with all the heavier lifting, which meant we got on the road early. It was almost lunchtime when we finally rolled down the long driveway.
Since I hadn’t been able to decipher where exactly this cabin was on my mental map with my limited knowledge, I drove in front of the house to ask for directions.
I got out of the car to go see who was in and closed the door. Maybe she’d been looking out for us, or maybe it was the car door slamming sound, but Jenn was suddenly there, beaming.
“There you are! It’s so good to see you both again,” she said in that warm tone of hers. “Do you want me to show you where the cabin is first or do you want a snack?”
Since we’d not packed snacks for the drive this time, I opened the door and looked at Tony. “Do you want new place or snacks first?”
“Snacks!” Then he made a face. “And bathroom.” It hadn’t been long since our potty break, but he was also four years old and knew himself, so I nodded.
I grabbed my phone from the console and went around to help Tony out of the truck.
“Hi, Mrs. Jenn!” he yelled brightly as soon as I had him propped on my hip.
“Hello, Tony and Mr. Raven.” She smiled back at him fondly.
“We need the bathroom first and snacks second, right?” I asked him.
“Oof, yes,” he replied, stretching the first bit out.
Within ten minutes, we were set up at the kitchen table with snacks while Jenn went back to preparing lunch.
Apparently this was what she did most days and people came in to collect or eat in the kitchen before returning back to their tasks.
I liked that. My mom had done something similar but on a tiny home scale. I had a feeling this operation was anything but tiny, and I couldn’t help but to cautiously look forward to learning more.
Chapter 4
Crew
“Base to CH.”
I had to smirk. Mom had decided long ago that it was easier and more accurate to use initials as callsigns. Since it was her job to keep track of everyone, we didn’t fight her on it. Even though no one’s name was close enough to be confused with anyone else’s, sometimes reception wasn’t that good and communication was garbled. Mom was right about one thing; with her callsigns, no one got confused.
I set down the wrench I was using to tighten the new faucet on the kitchen sink, wiped a bead of sweat off my temple, and grabbed the two-way from my belt. I pressed the button. “What’s up, Mom?”
“I have your brand-new employee and his incredibly intelligent son here. We’re having a snack, and then I’ll bring them up.”
I glanced at my watch, realizing it was later than I thought. It was fine. I was basically done here and I was sure Dad was in a similar position. “See you in a bit then.”
“Base out.”
I clipped the two-way back on my belt, finished tightening the faucet, then crawled out from under the sink. The cabin hadn’t been in bad shape for all that it had been several years since someone had lived here. Some minor repairs, recaulking the windows, and replacing a few fixtures had brought it up to snuff. I stood and stretched, then packed away the tools before heading outside.
Dad was finishing up on the porch, such as it was. Really it was an eight by eight slab of concrete in front of the door. Over the years, the dirt beneath had settled a bit so we’d had to fill it in and repair one crack. Since it wasn’t foundational, I wasn’t worried about that section in the corner. Dad smoothed out the last of it just as I crossed the threshold.
“That should be good in about forty-five minutes,” Dad said, straightening up. There was a reason we used quick-set.
I nodded. “Knowing Mom it’ll be at least that long before they arrive. Her version of snack is more like a meal.”
Dad chuckled, his eyes brimming with affection. Thirty-five years together and he still loved my mom as hard as he did as a teen. And that was saying something. After all they’d been through, it spoke volumes. Everyone said they wouldn’t make it. That getting pregnant at fifteen was a huge mistake and they’d never last. And here they were, more than three decades, ten kids, and a booming business later.
This property had been my parents’ dream. My dad had always imagined a future here, despite his family’s protestation. When he and mom started dating in high school, he shared his hopes with her and she was immediately on board. Jennifer Willis had always been a horse girl so it only made sense that the momentshe found out her boyfriend wanted to breed and train quarter horses, she was quick to jump on the dream wagon. She’d been the one to come up with the name, loving the copious amounts of water that ran through the property and the big blue spruce by the house. The creeks weren’t blue exactly, but she liked the whimsy.
It had taken them a while to get to the point where they could actually buy it. And of course, without Gigi Fern’s support, they would never have been able to do it. But twenty-eight years ago, when the property came up for sale again, Dad quit his job as a trainer at a nearby stable and he and Mom began their adventure.
