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ChapterEleven
~Lexi~
I couldn’t wait.No.Iwouldn’twait.
After the most romantic proposal I could have ever dreamed up and then telling Ben about the baby, I was done waiting.I was ready to get married!
Waking up an engaged woman, I was pretty sure I could take on the world.As soon as the sun started to creep through the cracks of the curtains, I was ready to start planning the start of our new life.Of course, no one else was ready to plan with me as they were all still sleeping, so I spent a half hour walking through the gardens, or what would be the gardens when they were finished.There was so much potential, and not that I knew anything at all about gardening in the desert, but I couldn’t help but get excited about learning.I was ready for a change, too.As much as I loved teaching, it was always good to try new things.
I stopped at the top of the hill and looked down at the pools and lake below.The wind started to pick up and I wrapped my sweater tighter around my body, noting how it wouldn’t be long before it wouldn’t tie up at all.If the early signs were any indication, this baby was definitely going to be a big one.
I scanned the lake, and the dark clouds that were rolling in from the far side of the lake.That type of weather was pretty normal for the mountains, especially in November.In fact, those dark clouds would mean snow for us back in Canada.But in Nevada, I wasn’t used to seeing such clouds.There was probably going to be a storm of some sort.Roxanne had mentioned that occasionally there’d be some pretty wild windstorms, but those clouds looked like rain.
There were a few kayaks along the shoreline of the neighboring resort, and they must have spotted the storm as well because as I watched, they turned around and paddled back, ending their sunrise trip.Farther across the lake, toward the far end where there weren’t any resorts or many houses, I could see the shape of what was probably a boat.But no doubt, they’d seen the clouds, too.
My eyes traveled up the small beach and up to the decks and patios that would soon hold families on holidays or couples on a romantic getaway.I’d seen the potential in Oasis from the beginning.I may not have agreed with it right away, but I knew in my heart, it was the right move for our family.It was time to start fresh and with a baby on the way, there couldn’t be a more perfect time.Oasis was going to be spectacular and it was definitely different than the Lake Lillian Inn.Not better...but different.The inn was special, too.And that’s why I knew Leo couldn’t sell it.It was the one thing that stopped me.
I couldn’t let Leo sell the inn.Even if we weren’t going to be living in Canada, he had to keep it.I knew Leo would never ask me for any of Uncle Ray’s inheritance, but I also knew exactly what Uncle Ray would want me to do with it.
I had a few calls to make but just knowing everything was going to work out made me smile.
It would be perfect.
Everything was going to be just perfect.
It was torture waiting for Leo to wake up, but he finally did and I was ready for him.He walked out of the bedroom, droplets of water still clinging to his hair from his shower, and it was all I could do to keep my hands off him, he looked so sexy.My pregnancy hormones must have kicked into high gear.Or maybe it was just my state of mind.Either way, there’d be time for that later and I forced myself to tamper my desire.
“Good morning.”He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me on the lips.“Both you and Ben slept in today.I know it was a late night, but still.”
“Ben’s still sleeping?”I nodded as I handed him a cup of coffee.“That’s unusual.He’s always up at the crack of dawn, which is unusual in its own way for a boy his age.”
I laughed because it was a running joke with us that Ben was the only morning person out of all of us and we kept waiting for him to outgrow it and start sleeping in, but he never did.
But I wasn’t worried.It was good for Ben to get a little more sleep.“Did you sleep well?”I asked Leo.
“I did until I rolled over and saw you weren’t there.Did you have trouble sleeping?”
I smiled and shook my head.“Not at all.I was just too excited to stay in bed this morning.I’ve been very busy already.”I slid the piece of paper with the figures on it that had been emailed to me earlier from the lawyer who’d handled Uncle Ray’s estate.“I know it’s not much,” I said.“And I know it won’t be enough.But with our savings, it should be enough for our share of Oasis.”
He looked at me, confusion on his face.“No.”He shook his head and slid the paper back toward me.“We don’t need it, Lex.I had the money figured out.”
I could tell by the look on his face that he, in fact, did not have it figured out.Or at least not as completely as he would have liked.
“This will make it happen without selling the inn,” I said.“You can’t sell it.”
He shook his head and smiled sadly.“Lexi...”
“No.I won’t let you.Even if we’re here.Seth can run it.You’ve set it up so well, you don’t need to be there every day anymore anyway.Besides, we’ll still have the cabin and we’ll be able to go back in the summer to spend time at the lake.You can check on it then and make sure everything is running well.”He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.“Leo, the inn is too important to sell.It represents...”Tears sprang to my eyes.“Well...it representsus.”
His smile was so sweet that I knew he felt the same way.“But financially...I’m not sure if it makes sense.”
“Of course it does.”I tapped my fingers on the paper and tried to feel more confident then I felt.Financially it was going to be a stretch, no matter what we did.“Leo, I’ve been sitting on that money for a while now because I wasn’t sure what to do with it.But now I know.”
“It’s your money.”
“It’sourmoney.”I clasped his hands over the eating bar and looked into his eyes.“And I can’t imagine doing anything else with it.We need to do this for our family.”
~Leo~
