“All right, so we are making progress. What else do we want? Mr. Howell? More ranch hands?” Emma asked the elderly man who had been at the ranch since before her birth.
“Oh don’t worry about me, Emma. The twelve ranch hands I have under my command are more than capable of handling whatever traffic comes our way. They genuinely care about the animals and get the job done. And yes, before you ask, they are more than capable of teaching our guests the right ways of working on the ranch.”
They all laughed and Emma turned to the head of the instructors, Jason. “Do you want any help?”
“Well, I think we are good on our end, and you are always available to help out with lessons, right?”
“Sure, I'm more than happy to continue helping with lessons.”
Emma moved on to the head of the groundskeepers and then, the head of the bellboys as well as the ranch driver. By the end of the meeting, she had a long list of everything that needed to be done ahead of the opening of the long-stay accommodations. Her first line of business at the end of the meeting would be contacting the employment agency. They would need to get the recruitment under way immediately because the new staff had to be trained before opening.
At the meeting’s close, Emma stayed behind in the conference room. Ava, the receptionist stopped on her way out. Though she was not a section head, she had joined the meeting to take down the minutes.
“Emma, aren’t you going yet?”
“Oh not yet, I still have to round up a few things here, make a couple of calls as well.”
Ava quirked a brow and looked intently at Emma. Emma chuckled and waved away her concern. “I promise I'll be out of here soon, all right? Go on home, I bet Kyle is wondering what’s keeping you.”
Ava smiled and nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Emma.”
A while later, after several calls and a little more work, Emma closed her laptop and shoved her chair away from the table. She stretched her hands above her head and yawned. It had been a long day, just like every other day. Her grandfather had handed full reins of the business to her a few months ago. He still popped in now and then and she kept him abreast on the happenings as well as bounced ideas off him, but for the most part, he enjoyed his retirement and doted on his great-grand-kids.
Emma stood up and headed to the large window that looked out onto the ranch around her. She ran a hand through her hair, a gesture of hers that she did subconsciously when tired. Her hair had grown longer and curlier in the past months. She chalked it all up to stress. She chuckled at the thought and watched the sun set.
She gathered her things and headed out of the conference room, down the spiral staircase and across the grand foyer. This was the administrative building and it contained the reception and check-in, information box, conference room, offices of each section of the ranch, her office, the awards room (held the awards won by the ranch, its animals, and also awards from activities they had participated in) and several other administrative tasks took place there. At the center of the grandfoyer was a pyramid-shaped digital board that held the map of the ranch. On the bottom half of the screen flashed all the ranch had to offer, from the packages to the activities and even the accommodation types. Beside the pyramid was a trolley that held several paper guide maps of the ranch and the town. The grand foyer was the first stop for every guest before they were directed to their accommodation.
Emma shut the front doors behind her and hurried down the front steps. She hurried past the building that held the event hall and the restaurant and the aromas that greeted her reminded her of how hungry she was. The kitchen and restaurant had also been renovated and expanded but they were already functioning again.
It did not take long to get to their ranch house and Emma let herself in through the front door. She hummed a tune under her breath as she slipped off her ankle booties and her vest. She freed her hair from the ponytail, letting it cascade down her back. Emma headed through the house and stopped in the kitchen to wash her hands.
“Mia! Max!” she called. She stopped at the door to the study and seeing no one, headed up the stairs, straight to her grandfather’s room. Emma stopped at the door and smiled when she saw her babies curled up on either side of the older man. He was reading a book to them and as soon as she stepped into the room, they squealed, “Mommy!” and ran to hug her.
“How are my babies doing? Oh you smell so, so nice,” Emma teased as she held them close and kissed their hair.
“Nana bathed me!” Mia announced.
“And me too! And we brushed our teeth!” Max told her.
“You don’t say,” Emma grinned. ‘Nana’ was what the twins called Maria.
“Great Gramps was telling us a story!” this was Max.
“And Great Gramps said our party will be very, very big! Bigger than the last one!” Mia said.
“Very, very big, huh? Your party? ” Emma turned to her grandfather, eyebrows quirked. The man averted his gaze. She turned to the twins. “So how was school?”
“Fun! We painted and sang and...” Mia’s little finger tapped her chin and she turned to her twin for help. Max was the elder of the two and he was the quieter one.
He shrugged and said, “Stories. Miss Tara told stories but I like Great Gramps’ stories more.”
Maxwell chuckled and ruffled the boy’s hair.
Max yawned just then and Mia followed suit. Emma stood up and took their little hands in hers. “Say goodnight to Great Gramps.”
They hugged Maxwell and he kissed their heads. Emma said pointedly to him, “I’ll be back, Gramps, as soon as the kids are sleeping. Come on.”
Emma helped them into their beds when they got to their room.
