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Brian followed Judge up to the porch, where they ducked under the giant ribbon and found seats next to the other members of the renovation team. Judge introduced him to Drake, Grimm, Murdock and Utah They all shook his hand and told him how glad they were that he was doing so much better.
“Judge worried like an old grandma for days,” Drake said. “He kept borrowing my phone to call Chuck in Great Falls for a twice-daily update on your progress.”
“Seriously?” Utah shook his head. “He borrowed mine at least once a day to call Chuck.”
“And mine,” Murdock chimed in.
They all turned to Grimm.
Grimm shrugged. “Yeah, mine, too. I didn’t realize he was bugging all of you as well.”
Heat filled Judge’s cheeks. “Sorry, guys. I should’ve driven out to Great Falls and taken over for Chuck.”
Drake shook his head. “Putting you on the road alone so soon after…not a good idea. Besides, we needed all hands on deck to finish up around here in time for today.”
Brian sat at the edge of his seat, his gaze darting around as if the slightest noise would send him bolting into the woods.
Judge leaned close to the teen. “It’s a little overwhelming…all the people. But they’re happy to see this place come alive. It’s been a landmark to the community for longer than most of them can remember. It’s nice that it wasn’t completely destroyed when the mine behind it exploded.”
Brian’s gaze stopped darting around and met Judge’s. “What happened?”
“Some bad guys thought it was a working mine and wanted it all to themselves. They thought that by destroying the lodge, they could claim it. Only there was a big party here that night. A lot of people could’ve died but didn’t, thanks to the McKinnons. The lodge was damaged. That’s where we came in.” Judge pointed to his teammates who’d worked so hard to make this day happen.
“What Judge left out is that all of these guys are prior military special operations types.” Molly McKinnon stepped up behind Judge. “They spent years defending our country, being shot at by bad guys and were ready to shoot nails not bullets. Lucky for us,” she said as Parker came to stand beside her. He slid his arm around her and kissed the tip of her nose. “Could not have done the renovation without these guys. We had a few challenges along the way that required their military skills, but everything came out all right.”
“Molly, Parker, it’s time,” Sheriff Barron announced.
Molly and Parker hurried over to the big ribbon where the mayor and sheriff were waiting.
The mayor raised his hands to quiet the crowd. “Thank you all for coming to celebrate the grand re-opening of the Lucky Lady Lodge. This would not have happened but for the foresight and blind faith of Molly and Parker Bailey. When others thought the old lodge should be torn down, they stepped up to defend her and do what it took to bring her back to life. Thank you for saving this piece of history for future generations to know and love.”
The crowd clapped and cheered.
Judge clapped with them, watching Brian out of the corner of his eye. The teen took it all in, his gaze looking out at the happy faces in the crowd.
Judge couldn’t begin to guess what was going through his mind. Was he awed at the joy a building brought to these people? Or was he dismayed that a building could generate so much adoration from so many people?
Hopefully, Judge could show him the beautiful architecture they were able to preserve and why that was important. He also wanted to point out the improvements they’d made to bring some modern conveniences to the nineteenth-century structure without destroying the old-world feel.
Molly stepped forward and waited for the applause to die down. “We wanted to celebrate on this day, in particular, with the re-opening of the lodge. It was exactly a year ago when we almost lost my father and many others when the mine exploded. Parker and I like to think the Lucky Lady took the hit, sparing us in the process. I’ll always think of this as our ‘Alive Day’ for both the Lucky Lady Lodge and the McKinnon family. We could’ve lost so much, but we lived and are happy to share the rebirth of this old girl with all of you.” She looked out at the crowd and grinned. “Who’s ready to look inside?”
A cheer went up that echoed off the mountain behind the lodge.
Molly, Parker, the sheriff and the mayor all got behind the giant scissors and cut the ribbon.
As it fell away, the crowd surged forward.
Molly and Parker held the double doors wide as people entered the lodge, laughing and smiling, eager to see the transformation from rubble to the beauty the Lucky Lady was meant to be.
Judge tapped Brian’s arm. “Come with me. I’ll take you in another way and show you around.”
He led Brian around the side of the lodge to where Angus and Duncan McKinnon manned the grill, loading juicy hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken legs onto a platter. Colin burst through the kitchen door, grabbed the tray and rushed back inside, calling over his shoulder, “Keep them coming. There are a lot of hungry people to feed.”
Angus reached into an ice chest, pulled out hamburger patties and slapped them on his portion of the grill. Duncan placed hot dogs and chicken on his side.
“Hungry?” Angus asked Brian.
The teen shrugged.
