He pointed at the kids and said, “I’ll pay for them as well.”
The woman straightened up as she said, “Oh no you don't have to.”
“No please, let me,” Xavion insisted with a smile.
“Well, thank you then,” the woman nodded. She rolled the stroller to the counter and made the orders. Xavion opened his mouth to speak when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He turned his back and answered the call.
“I’m with the guy from the auto shop,” the driver said.
“We will be right there,” Xavion said with a sigh. He had wanted to spend a few more moments with the strangers. He turned to see the kids shoving ice cream cones around their mouth. He chuckled at the sight and looked at the woman. Shewas probably a nanny, a babysitter or a sister, he thought to himself.
“Thanks again.” she turned to the kids and said, “What do you tell the kind man who bought you ice cream?”
“Thank you!” they replied in unison.
“And thank you too,” Xavion replied. He tuned to her and said, “I have to get going.”
“Bye!” she called and so did the children.
Xavion was gritting his teeth as he arrived at his car. He could not understand how he had enjoyed the company of someone he had met for not up to ten minutes, but he had. Pushing the strangers to the back of his mind, he turned to the task at hand- getting the car fixed and heading to the ranch.
It did not take long for the vehicle to be fixed and soon enough, they were driving through tall steel gates, etched at the top were the carved words 'Price Emerald Ranch'. The smooth road snaked around several trees and plains as they made their way through. Xavion stared out, taking in the sights of horses thundering across the earth in the distance.
The car drew up in front of a large building and the driver stopped. He took down their luggage and they approached him.
“We’ve arrived,” the driver said.
Xavion shook his hand and said, “Thank you and once again, I apologize for my friend.”
“Nothing to worry about,” the man said before he drove off.
The five guys turned towards the building as two boys hurried down the front steps.
“Welcome to Price Emerald Ranch.”
They were led into a large, brightly lit and open foyer. Two women were behind a desk. They headed to the second one as the first was occupied with guests.
The dark haired woman flashed a smile and said, “Welcome to Emerald Price Ranch. My name is Ava. How can I help you?”
“We have a reservation,” Xavion told her, his eyes flitting around.
He was not the only one studying their surroundings as the guys were doing so too. The ceiling was high and there was a spiral staircase leading to an upper level. On the other side of the hall were several comfortable and colorful chairs arranged around wicker tables. At the center of the hall, next to a pillar was a large digital board with words flitting across.
Kai and Chan headed towards the board as the woman said, “Under what name, please?”
“The Choi brothers,” Xavion replied.
Lay burst into laughter which earned him a glare from Xavion.
“Choi brothers? Is that really what we are? Why? Of all the names?” Lay said in between laughs.
“Why don’t you join the others?” Zane told him sternly.
Still chuckling, he headed to the other guys.
“Oh here we are,” Ava said, looking up from the screen. She smiled and said, “You booked the sunset cabin, that’s great. It says here that you booked us for two months.”
“Yes, that’s true. Uh... What’s this sunset cabin?” Zane asked her, scratching his chin.
