“One of our dental patients advised me to take care of everything now,” Margaret said. “And not leave it for Brit. Great advice. Have I done it? No.”
“Same.” Sara’s mom lifted her glass in Margaret’s direction. “My parents have everything organized and prepaid. Sadly, Harry and I have made zero preparations for our eventual demise.”
“I’m glad we haven’t,” her dad said. “The way things are going, you and I will be planted right here.”
“That’s terrific news, Dad.” Dallas beamed at them.
“Don’t get too excited, son. Your mom and I don’t plan on kicking off anytime soon.”
“That isn’t what I meant. I just?—”
“I know. You’re eager for us to make the move. I guess this is the time to announce that we’re meeting with a real estate agent when we get home. The house will be on the market by next month.”
“Woo-hoo!” Brit lifted her glass. “That deserves a toast. To Grandpa Harry and Grandma Vanessa moving to Montana!”
Sara touched glasses with everyone she could reach and ignored the twinge of sadness. Her childhood home would soon belong to strangers. She’d been in the habit of dropping by for dinner at least once a week.
Sometimes she and Lani had coordinated so they’d both be there. She glanced at her sister, who met her gaze and gave a little shrug, likewhat can you do?
“The market’s hot right now, Dad,” Trent said. “What if the house sells right away? Have you decided where you’ll?—”
“Oh, that. Desiree says we’ll always have our room here. Or we can live with you and Brit, or Dallas and Angie.”
“Oh.” Trent exchanged a look of panic with Dallas.
“I kind of like the idea of floating between the two places, fancy free, no lawn to mow, no roof to repair, no taxes to pay. We’d kick in for groceries, and?—”
“Harry, stop it.” Their mom gave him a swat. “Your boys are freaking out. We’re not living with you guys. Or Desiree. She tried to give us land but we forced her to take money for it. We’ll be building a cabin on Rowdy Ranch.”
Both couples let out a collective sigh of relief.
“And,” their mother continued, “instead of hiring a contractor, Angie, we’d like to hire you and Kendall.”
“Wow!” Her eyes widened. “We accept! I can’t wait to tell Kendall. We’ve talked about whether we could handle an entire house. I think we can.”
“Harry and I have every confidence in you two.”
Desiree let out a happy sigh. “I love how this is working out. Is it wrong of me to want all of you to come live here?”
Andy gave her a smile. “It’s not right or wrong, Dez. It’s just you. You want to gather all your chicks under your wing.”
“So true. But don’t mind me, Lani and Sara. I understand that you have jobs you love and friends you care about.”
“But it’s sweet of you to want us,” Lani said.
Sara nodded. “And we’ll visit a lot more if Mom and Dad are living here.”
“I’ll look forward to that. Now if only Kieran… but that’s much more complicated. Sure would be great, though, especially for Lucky.”
“He’s not the only one,” Angie said. “Kendall and I want to hire him.”
Desiree’s eyes lit up. “Did you ask him?”
“Not yet, but Wagon Train Handywomen needs another person, especially if we’re going to expand into home construction. We’ve been quietly looking around. Then along comes Kieran. He’d be perfect.”
Brit grinned. “You might want to reconsider the name.”
“We’ve already thought of one. We’d become Two Handywomen and a Dude. If we drop Wagon Train from the name we can go after business in nearby towns.”
