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“You did such a good job,” I said. “Thank you.”
“I'm not done yet,” he said.
“You're not?” I asked. “What else could you possibly be thinking about adding to the backyard?”
“Not for the backyard,” he said. “Not exactly, anyway. I wanted to take advantage of our land.”
“What do you want to do with the land?” I asked.
There was a considerable amount of it surrounding the bed and breakfast, and we hadn’t come up with anything concrete we wanted to do with it all. I was interested to hear what he had been thinking up.
“It's a longer-term dream. Not something that we needed to think about immediately. But someday, I would like to have horses.”
"Horses?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said. “I thought we could build a stable back there and keep a few of them for guests to ride. Or even just to go out and watch. They are so beautiful, and I've always loved spending time with them. Interacting with some of the horses on Caden's ranch saved me when I first got back here after being discharged.”
“I didn't know that,” I said.
“Some people are actually prescribed equine therapy. Just going and spending time with a horse, petting it and brushing it. Taking care of it. And riding sometimes can be very soothing and take away a lot of stress. I think having them here would just enhance the entire experience. Do you think that sounds ridiculous?”
“Absolutely not,” I said. “I think that's an absolutely amazing idea.”
A few minutes later, we went inside to get everything shut down for the evening. Before I was able to close down my computer, I noticed something on the website. That was a notification. We already had our first reservation.
"I can't believe it," I said. "Look. Our first reservation. Somebody made a reservation!"
I was absolutely bouncing with excitement. Ryan let out a yell of happiness and gathered me into his arms for a tight hug. Now it was time to really buckle down and get ready.
Two months later, it was finally almost opening weekend at the bed and breakfast. We had put so much time and energy into fixing up the big old house I couldn't wait to show it off to other people. It was absolutely amazing to see everything we'd put into it finally pay off and the dreams I had come true right in front of my eyes. It was absolutely gorgeous, and I was looking so forward to welcoming our first guests.
And there were plenty of them to welcome. Even opening up reservations weeks in advance, they almost immediately sold out. By the second day, we were booked solid for three months ahead. I couldn't believe it.
29
RYAN
“So you are sure our baby is safe with Caden?” Allison asked for what was probably the third or fourth time of the evening.
“Yes, love,” I said, checking myself in the mirror of my own place while she finished getting dressed in the bedroom.
“It’s just that I haven’t spent an entire night away from him yet,” she said.
“Caden only lives a few miles from here,” I said. “And his sister is hanging out with him tonight too. Leo is fine.”
I didn’t mind that she was asking the questions. I was nervous too. But I trusted Caden and Carmella. Caden, of all of us, was probably the most adult person in our group, and Carmella had always been good around kids, even when she was one herself. She had an instinct for it, whether she knew it or not.
It was going to be our first night in the bed and breakfast, and the first people to spend a night there at all since the family before us moved out. There were still finishing touches to put on the house, but for the most part it was ready. The wing of the house where we would live was almost finished as well, and it would only be a few weeks before we moved in, fully making it our home.
I had been working a lot recently, and Allison had been doing the primary work on the house, spending all her free time there and bringing Leo with her as much as possible. Tamara offered to watch him when she couldn’t, and between Tamara and Carmella, we had a pretty good network of extra eyes for Leo for when we needed time to work on the place without worrying about him.
Of course, in the last few weeks, I hadn’t really been able to go over there much at all, and Allison had shut the doors to our wing and refused to let me inside until she said it was ready. It was supposed to be a surprise in the way she decorated it, and I was excited to see what she had come up with.
“Ready?” I asked, coming out of the bathroom dressed in nice clothes for the first time in what seemed like forever. Slacks and a button-up shirt were not my normal attire these days, but I wanted to look good for her.
