“I think it’s best if you move in here and we save ourselves all that hassle.”
“You’re a clever bunny, sugar.”
“I know.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
ONE YEAR LATER
Jasper
“Thanks for booking with us. We’re really looking forward to hosting you,” I said as I hung up the phone.
In the year since The Lavender Porch had opened, we’d had a near-constant stream of visitors. We hosted straight couples, too, but most of our business centered around queer people wanting to get away and not feel like they had to hide any part of themselves. A lot of our guests came from Texas, sure, but we’d also drawn people from out of state and even the occasional international visitor—thanks to my dad and his near-constant chatting up of his innkeeper son back in Texas with the fancy house and the cute goats.
What had started as a semi-retirement had turned into a full one once he caught the traveling bug. Now he spent about half the year outside the country, working through the list he and my mom had made when they first got married. I was a little bummed he didn’t have anyone to travel with, but he said he made friends along the way, and that was how he liked it.
Being in love with Daddy had turned me into a softie. I couldn’t even go to the damn grocery store in Kerrville without wondering if he wanted to tag along. But in all fairness to me, H-E-B was a magical place, and heshouldwant to go there.
“Hey, boss man, here’s the mail. Your dad sent a few postcards too.”
“Oh, what did he say?”
“I looked at the picture, but I didn’t read them. Wouldn’t that be weird?”
Alec, my assistant, probably had a point, but could anyone truly expect privacy on a postcard? It was right there for the looking.
“Maybe you just have more manners than I do,” I suggested with a wink. A quick glance at the back confirmed that it was the standard “wish you were here” greeting, and I tacked the cards from Hungary and Romania on my board to join the others. “Are we ready for breakfast?”
“Yes, all that’s left is the made-to-order waffles, and those start in”—Alec pulled out his phone to check the time—“ten minutes.”
“Thank you for working it in. I know it’s a pain when we have a full house.”
“Meh, it’s fine. When you have an inn full of littles and their Daddies, how is it possiblenotto have waffles with all the fixings? That just seems mean.”
“They’d definitely think so.”
The current batch of littles was a friend play group that had been recommended to visit by another one. We’d arranged an entire weekend like a mini-retreat, complete with s’mores by the river, strawberry picking from the patch Daddy had put in for me, goat yoga, story time, and crafts made with wool from the sheared Babydolls. Even if I was arranging the little events rather than participating, they were my favorites. I loved knowing that my place could be a safe spot for them without requiring them to hide who they were.
“What time is Hank coming back?” Alec asked.
“Hmmm?” I was too busy daydreaming about the care and feeding of littles to remember I was supposed to be operating the drink station while I kept an eye on the phones. We had the usual coffee and tea preferred by the Daddies, and the juices, smoothies, and chocolate milk requested by the littles. Luckily, people rarely called on Saturday mornings to discuss reservations, but there were always some.
“Hank. Time. Back?”
“He’ll be back by about noon to pick me up. I’ll handle the kitchen cleanup if you can do the upstairs refresh?”
Alec had been with me for about six months and was the fastest cleaner I’d ever met. He could be in and out of a room in ten minutes without breaking a sweat, and it still looked amazing every single time. I’d been grateful since the day he wandered onto the property looking for a job.
“No problem. They looked tidy yesterday at crafts, so fingers crossed their rooms are too.”
“Once drink round one is done, I can take over the waffle making and give you a head start up there. Are you sure you don’t mind holding down the fort while I play hooky with Da—gah, sorry, something in my throat—Hank?”
“Boss man, I know you call him Daddy.” Alec scoffed. “Every time you call him Hank, you have to shout it at him because he never realizes you’re talking to him.”
“What? No, that can’t be true.”It was totally true.
“Yeah, okay. I’m going to add this as an entry in my diary underLies My Boss Tells Himself and Other Tall Tales.”
