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Victoria’s Secret was a fun outing, but adult sex shopping is so much more fun. Hazard and Phoenix secured the front and back entrances, and I even did some personal shopping of my own.
Now the girl is in her room resting; Hazard will check the surveillance footage, ensuring there have been no suspicious lurkers in the neighborhood since we left. Slade is watching TV in the den with Phoenix, and the flower delivery guy should be knocking on the door any moment now, delivering flowers from Edge. He has spent a small fortune keeping his woman in flowers and feeling loved ever since we arrived here.
I’m looking forward to checking my burner phone when I finish up and get dressed because I had more surprises up my sleeve that should by now have revealed themselves.
Alice asked many questions about the Fainting Goat Ranch at my home in Redondo Beach with Ophelia at brunch. I soaked up all her answers, paying particular attention to the fact she wasn’t yet booked for Valentine’s Day and had four tiny houses available.
Before I left for Alaska—as soon as the helicopter touched down in L.A. after saying my goodbyes to Ophelia—I made a group booking for The Fainting Goat Ranch via email to secure the four tiny houses for three days, starting with Valentine’s Day.
I knew the Fainting Goat Ranch would get booked out over Valentine’s Day once images for her opening day went up and reviews from her first guest bookings got posted to her website and social media. I had a small window to act, and I did.
Just call me Hans Worthy.
Get it.
Hands. Worthy.
Too subtle?
Not subtle enough?
I initially booked all the tiny houses to stay vacant, giving the ladies three rest days while still making an income. Well, Hans did. I have access to aliases with credit cards linked to them due to the work I have done in the past.
I got to thinking about what I could do for Ophelia for a gift that would make it a memorablefirstValentine’s Day. What about a surprise romantic pull-out-all-the-stops sisterhood lunch with Santiago as the chef.
I knew Isabella, his wife, would love a romantic getaway mini-vacation with her husband, and I did book four tiny houses. I could offer the couple one of those bookings, and I knew Ophelia would love them to enjoy a romantic break in one of her tiny houses.
Shamus set the wheels in motion and organized that side of things with Santiago, but then I had to include my sisters in the lunch idea so they could get dresses and accessories bought on my dollar, which went well until Shamus included in the conversation about the tiny houses and where Santiago and his wife would be staying.
My sisters put together a case for Shamus to pass on to me, requesting a tiny house each and promising to make sure Ophelia and Gwen got to relax and how fun it would be for Alice to be all grown up with her own accommodation by herself for a few days. Well, yeah, that would be good for Alice and give Teagan a mini-break as they are sharing a room at the MacDougall’s. So that got settled, but then…
… Things got tricky.
Alice, in her excitement, let on to Mom and Dad that she was going to be living in a tiny house all by herself for three days on Ophelia’s property.
This brings me around to the family phone tree, which equals gossip. A full investigation would have gotten underway, led by my mother, and backed up by my father. I can imagine the questions my mother had fired at Teagan and Alice about who Ophelia was.
I had requested my sisters not mention Ophelia when we were in Alaska, but the secret would have become too much for Alice without me around to remind her. The train left the rails and took off on another track because I lost control of the caboose.
My father contacts Shamus on behalf of my mother, of course, requesting a tiny house, under the guise of surprising their daughters, with a three-day stay to make up for the shortened Alaskan vacation. I know it was all Alice mentioning I have a girlfriend that lit the spark because, in Alice’s head, Ophelia is my girlfriend, and I am okay with that relationship status, even if it is unofficial.
I have no clue how long I will be on this job. My mother’s reasons for coming to Temecula while I am away are plausible in her eyes: she’s surprising her daughters and looking at real estate in L.A. before deciding where they will be living when they come back to California.
Bottom line: my parents are dying to meet Ophelia. No matter how much I love them, I did not ask them to come to Temecula before finishing this job, but they know I won’t deny them seeing their daughters, but there have to be ground rules for the Mom-and-Dad-sticky-beak visit.
Shamus expressed the importance of staying anonymous and not letting on they are related to Alice and Teagan. And strictly no hovering around Ophelia any chance they get.
The cover story: Judy and Jeff, aka Tempest Brooks—my parents’ pen name—are on a writing retreat, which is true.
What?
I just don’t want Ophelia to feel pressured to meet my parents when I am not there.
And that’s my story, and I am sticking to it.
Shamus has booked a hot air balloon ride for my parents and sisters and a few other things to keep them all busy for the three days, and the rest of the time, they will be on their laptops writing.
I keep telling myself I have their time accounted for, leaving little room for Mom to seek Ophelia out.
