Dad
I figured you’d want to be able to show the rooms.
Gage
Dad, if we’re getting there in the afternoon, we won’t go to our rooms until it’s over.
You can handle it without needing to freshen the fuck up.
Dad
Gage!
Gage
We’re staying with Jasper.
Dad
I was just trying to make things easier on him.
Gage
Cool. We’re staying with him.
Dad
Fine.
Jasper, we’ll see you next Saturday.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Jasper
“Jasper, I’m gonna need you to breathe.”
Daddy’s hands came to rest on my shoulders as I put together more trays to take out to the lobby area of The Lavender Porch. Today was my soft opening, where townspeople could come and check out the B&B and try a little sample of the breakfast menu. I had been up since about five a.m., double-checking all the cleaning upstairs and in the lobby and kitchen.
I hadn’t hired anyone to help me with the cooking or the cleaning yet. It would make for long days, but I didn’t wanna give someone the promise of a job and then end up having to let them go when I didn’t make any money. It would be much better to work hard and get it established, and then be able to offer someone a job once I knew it could sustain itself. But that meant I was working nonstop.
Totally worth it.
“I don’t have time to breathe, Daddy. I need to get these trays out onto the buffet table.”
I’d anticipated a lot fewer people showing up. It was the best kind of problem. Luckily, I assumed everyone would eat like a lumberjack after a double shift, so there was plenty of food and no one would leave hungry. Heck, I was grateful that they’d shown up, even if some might be here just to see what the inside of Sissy’s house looked like. But if it meant them potentially telling a friend about the cute bed and breakfast they saw, it would be worth it.
I’d cleared out the living room and dining room to make it more commercial and less like a family space. The dining room had several tables set up so people could eat individually or family-style if they preferred. The living room was divided into several different seating areas with the occasional reading chair, so people only had to socialize if they wanted to. The front of the house now looked more like a hotel. I’d installed an island workspace for myself directly in front of a closet that I turned into an office in the downstairs area. It was all polished live oak and Hill Country limestone. If Sissy could’ve seen it, I hoped she’d be proud of what I’d done.
“A soft launch means people are expecting there to still be kinks.”
“Heh. You said kinks,” I said, with a legit lecherous grin. I danced away with a laugh when Daddy tried to swat my butt. As stressed as I was, I was still beyond happy that this place would be open to the public as of today.
“All right, I’m going back in there.” I pushed my way through the swinging kitchen door into the dining room, carrying a tray piled high with fresh berry tarts.
“Hello, you must be Jasper.” A cowboy with snakeskin boots strode forward with an outstretched hand. “I know right now won’t work for you, but I’m hoping we can chat tomorrow about renting out the rooms for Fourth of July weekend. Myself and a few friends are always here for the parade and barbecue, and this will work better than staying all the way in Kerrville or Boerne and having to drive over in the morning.”
I juggled the tray to shake his outstretched hand. “Sweet! How many rooms are you looking for?”
