Chapter 20
1707 Words
Part II
THE LODGE
Three days later
They sat in the barn and poured over the pamphlets Crystal picked up in St. Louis plus other books Mike had gotten from random places. They had paint swatches from Sherwin Williams, Home Depot and Menards. Jacob had brought them books of wallpaper samples sent by a cousin in Pennsylvania.
For now, they were deciding how to decorate the two smaller cabins that were now anchored and hooked to utilities. If Mike and Crystal hadn’t needed roofs over their heads, the cabins were almost ready to rent.
“I really like this wallpaper with all the forest animals on it,” Crystal pointed to the page she was looking at. “Imagine putting a faux wainscoting that resembles a picket fence over this. Women would love it and men wouldn’t be so offended by the cuteness factor.
“Just the back wall in the living area, though,” she added. “If we decide we don’t like it, wallpaper is a b***h to remove.”
“That it is. So as a woman, you’d feel at home there?” Mike asked.
“I think so,” she answered. “We’ll find out over the next few weeks, won’t we?” She winked.
“Yes we will,” he winked back. “Step over here to the workshop side. I want to show you something.”
She hadn’t been allowed on the other side of the makeshift barrier Mike had made from sheets of heavy plastic. She knew he had several pieces of furniture because she had watched him and Jacob unload some of it.
“Remember I promised you something to store your clothes in?”
“Yes?” She noticed a large item covered by a tarp.
“Well, I refinished this for you,” he said pulling off the tarp and revealing a gleaming dark mahogany chifferobe with gold trim.”
“Oh. My—that’s f*****g gorgeous!” Tears threatened to spill.
“I got the inspiration from that Irish pub. It’s yours to keep. Wherever you go, it’ll go. And don’t worry about it’s size. It was designed to be dismantled so the Victorians could get these up and down stairs.”
The tears spilled over. She threw her arms around him and kissed him.
“I love it!”
“You haven’t even seen the inside,” Mike laughed. “Check it out.” He got his phone out to take pictures.
Behind the left side door was a three tier hanging section. One for dresses and two for shirts and pants.
“I added a lighted mirror on the inside of the door. This probably had a mirror on the outside at one time, but I didn’t think a modern mirror, or a light for that matter, fit the antique aesthetic. So I moved it to the inside. The cord runs up here and you shouldn’t have to worry about it getting caught in the door, but you should be aware of it.”
“I love it,” she said again.
On the right side, four drawers were topped by a cabinet space.
“Over here, I built a place to store jewelry inside the cabinet door.”
“Oh my God,” she cried. “This is the nicest thing I’ve ever gotten. Thank you!” She took his face in her hands and kissed him again.
“You keep kissing me like that and Jacob will pack up his crew and leave early when he can’t find me,” Mike laughed.
“We’re insatiable, aren’t we?” She laughed. “Ok, she said and took a step back. “I know there’s lots of work to do and plenty of time after Jacob leaves.”
“After you decorate the bedroom of your cabin, you have to pick out one of these other pieces to go in there when we move out.”
“Deal!”
“Just let me know when you’re ready to have it moved.”
“I will. Are you about ready for lunch?” Since they didn’t have someone cooking meals yet, they had been taking turns. Mike had fixed breakfast. Lunch was on her.
**
They carried on like this as summer came in full force. Though they kept up the pretense of having separate living quarters, even Jacob knew one of the beds wasn’t being utilized.
Squeaker had grown in leaps and bounds but even as a puppy still, he was oh so gentle. Mike had taken the pup in for a checkup and decided to spring for DNA testing. They now awaited the results.
With the location of the RV and camping sites decided, work had already begun and would be completed soon.
“We should invite some people up to test the RV sites and maybe we could do a DNA reveal since everyone took bets,” Crystal suggested one night as they lay in bed.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Mike said. “We’ve got more than just a DNA reveal though.”
“You mean about us?”
“Yes. I’ve been meaning to talk to you but, damn, we’ve been so busy and then you kiss me and I forget everything,” he teased.
“Ok, I’ll keep my mouth to myself for a little while,” Crystal teased back. “What do you want to talk about?”
“I mostly just wanted to make sure you were ok with telling them. I’ve been dying to but, I know we’ve been worried about moving too fast and I really want to tell my family face to face. We’re pretty close knit, I think you know. And I guess I’m old school. A text just seems insufficient.”
Crystal chuckled. “How did I get so lucky?”
“I think we both got lucky,” he countered. “I haven’t told you yet, and I don’t want you to think I’m saying this just because you’re snuggled up to me naked, but I think I started to fall in love with you the first time I set eyes on you.”
He looked her straight in the eyes and watched her face soften.
“Oh, Mike. I know I fell for you pretty early on, too. Between the roller coaster of emotions surrounding the circumstances when we met, I’m not sure I could pinpoint when, but Allen noticed, as you overheard that night. I couldn’t help but stare at you.”
Mike kissed her forehead because he knew if he kissed her lips, he wouldn’t finish what he had to say.
“I know I’ve been dragging my feet on the lodge. I still want to develop—something—here, but I’m not sure I still want to use my original plan. We’ve had some great ideas and I’ve been trying to listen to the land to hear what it wants. Other than you, so far, the only other thing that gives me peace is the thought of selling my first two properties—let’s face it, the third one is a phenomenal place! I don’t think I can bear to let it go. To date, that’s the place I put the most sweat into. This land here may surpass that.
Crystal listened attentively, not interrupting.
“I’m kind of leaning toward less lodge and more cabins. I do want to explore the vineyard idea. Or maybe a microbrewery. I want to do wedding and vacation packages, and maybe some Airbnb type stuff. I definitely want to build us a house to live in, not staff quarters. There’s a plot next door that may be for sale soon. I’d like to grab it.
“That’s a much bigger dream than I had before and yes, I can do a lot of the work—especially with you by my side, but I’ll probably need more capital than what RV pad and cabin rentals would bring to get started.”
When she didn’t say anything, Mike chuckled. “Ha! I said ‘build us a house’ out loud, didn’t I?”
“Yes you did.”
“Does that scare you?”
“No, it just took me by surprise.”
“Look, Crystal. I know it’s still early in our relationship. I know there’s not much to being with me except work. Work I created. But I’ve never wanted to build more—and I mean that in every sense—than I have when I’m with you.”
“I was beginning to despair over not being able to—build my life. Or at least continuing to do so at a snail’s pace,” she laughed. “You’ve changed things for me and in the best possible way.
“I have an idea. I’ve noticed that we throw out a lot of ideas when we’re too busy to write them down. I’ve been wanting one of those dry erase boards like teacher’s use or maybe some of those oversized pads of paper some of my teachers used back in school.” She held out her hands to show the size she was thinking. “I don’t know if they even make those anymore, but let’s find an office supply store and get some brainstorming tools.”
“That’s a great idea. I know I need to get these ideas out of my head so I can look at them.
“Great! Now. Can I kiss you?” She asked.
Rolling over on top of her, he growled low, “Please!”
**
AUTHOR NOTE: Uploading is going slower than planned. The story is written (in Word) and I’m losing my formatting (bold, italics etc) when I copy and paste. Sometimes my edits don’t seem to be sticking, but I’m uploading frequently. Again, my connection here in BFE is sketchy—I’m trying my best!
Hope you are enjoying the break from Dreame’s typical werewolf stories (not that I don’t love them! I have one in the works myself!) I wanted my first attempt at publishing to be sweet and simple. Your comments will help me make the next story even better :-)
- Writer
