Honey stared blankly at the calendar on her fridge. The picture of the lighthouse made her long to visit the coast. Not that it was likely to happen. Suddenly she noticed today’s date. “I almost forgot. I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon with”—she squinted at the tiny appointment note—“Dr. Gretchen Bauman. I guess she’ll be my new GP. The ER doctor recommended her.”
“Yes. I saw that,” Jewel said. “It’s at two. Cooper can stay with Dad, and I’ll drive you there.”
“Thank you.” Honey moved toward the door.
“But I want you to stay and listen. I have an idea, and I want you to hear it.” Jewel was relentless about whatever was on her mind.
“An idea?” Honey braced herself for some harebrained plan.
“When I took the baking dish back to Marta yesterday—you know, the one she sent the tamales over in—”
“Oh, yes. Those were so good. I meant to write her a thank-you note.”
“Well, I thanked her for all of us. Anyway, she gave me a tour of their house. You know, it’s a manufactured home.”
Honey took a deep breath. “Yes, I’m aware of that.”
“So, anyway, Marta explained how Miguel originally placed the home there as a hardship dwelling.”
“A what?”
“The manufactured house was meant to be a hardship home for his parents. Because of their age and health issues, he got it permitted as a temporary residence. His real plan was to use his GI loan to build a stick-built house over by the creek. For him and Beth and Anna.”
“Well, their house doesn’t look temporary to me.”
“No, it isn’t now. But what I’m saying is it was okay with the county to have it placed there.”
“Yes? And your point?”
“My point is you can have two homes on farm property if one is considered a temporary hardship dwelling.”
“Temporary? Like a camp trailer?”
“No, a manufactured house, like the Oroscos have, doesn’t feel temporary at all. In fact, it’s really nice.”
“Good. I’m happy for them. Such nice people.”
“So I don’t know why we don’t get something like that placed on your property here. A single-level home with good accessibility for Dad and—”
“I’ll tell you why, Jewel.” Honey pursed her lips. “Your father and I cannot afford it.”
“ButIcan afford it, Mom.”
Honey held up her hands. “I would never let you do that.”
“But with Cooper and me living here, it’s too crowded.” She thrust her arm in the direction of the living room. “And Dad is falling down the stairs.”
“I know it’s not ideal, but we can make do.”
“But don’t you see, if you and Dad had a nice manufactured home to live in, Coop and I could stay right here in the farmhouse. We could fix the place up.” Jewel held up a forefinger. “Which brings me to the rest of my idea. Can you imagine how great this place would be as a B&B? It’d be such a great way to make money.”
Despite her reservations, Honey considered this. “You know, I used to imagine doing something like that. Back when we were younger.”
“It’s such a pretty location, out here in the country. I have artist friends who would love to visit and paint here. And I got to thinking we could even offer artists retreats and all kinds of things.”
“Oh, Jewel, that’s a big dream. It sounds interesting, but it also sounds impossible.”
“But my mom always told me to dream the impossible dream,” Jewel reminded her.
