Laughing, she climbed on.Nick carried her the rest of the way to Haven.
They were all waiting for them at the other end of the field.David stood with the team of volunteers by the front door.Adele was right there with them.Mia stood off to the side with a tall guy and a little boy—her husband and son, Nick figured.And, of course, the entireHandymenteam stood behind Michael, Eli and Lacey.Louie and Rex manned the cameras, ready to capture Claire’s reaction.
Nick set Claire back on the ground.She took a deep breath and smoothed down herCat ladyT-shirt.
The first person to break formation was Claire’s nephew.The little guy broke away from his parents and raced toward her.“Auntie Claire!”
She scooped him up.“Lucas.Hey, buddy.I want you to meet my friend, Nick.”
Lucas slid out of her arms and tugged on Nick’s jeans.“I saw you give Auntie Claire a piggyback.Can I get one too?Please?”
Nick looked over at Mia, who nodded her permission.“Your mom said it’s okay, so up you go, little dude.”He crouched down and the kid scrambled on.
The others came over to greet them.
Nick elbowed Michael.“You know, as a dad, you’re going to be giving a lot of piggyback rides.You ready for that, bro?”
Michael nodded.“I’m ready.”
“Not if Uncle Eli gets there first,” said Eli.
Lucas giggled as Nick bounced him around.“You can all give me piggyback rides today.”
Mia came over and collected her son.“Piggyback rides later, buddy.The guys are going to be really busy today helping Auntie Claire.”
With that, Lacey approached.“Claire, are you ready to see Haven?”
Claire took Nick’s hand.“Yes, I am.”
Nick glanced at their linked hands.He didn’t think he’d ever held anything so precious before.
Before the day was through, Claire would know exactly how he felt.
Claire wasn’t sure what kind of footage Lacey was getting as they toured the new-and-improved sanctuary, but she was fairly certain most of it consisted of Claire’s mouth hanging open.She just couldn’t get over the changes.Even though she’d been onsite almost the entire time, and had seen many of the renovations happen, it was as if she were walking around a whole new building.
It had everything to do with the details, and clearly Nick and his colleagues had been working overtime to polish the facility to perfection.It shone like a jewel.The windows sparkled.The newly painted walls appeared fresh and untouched.Everything flowed and felt homey and comfortable.
Eli started them off by showing off the new landscaping in the front yard.With the camera crew filming, he shared the details with Claire.“From what you’ve told us, Claire, Haven has always been just that for the community of cat lovers.Unfortunately, over time, it stopped being a haven for the staff.After a few weeks of hard work, I think we’ve been able to change that.”
“It looks beautiful out here, Eli,” said Claire.
“You have a new walkway, a new ramp into the facility for better accessibility and landscaping that will welcome visitors.I know no one on staff here has time to putter in a garden, so I’ve kept things simple and low maintenance.We have some shrubs out front by the entrance, ones that will basically take care of themselves.You’ll just need to do a little bit of pruning here and there.And we’ve planted some perennial flowers that only need a little care as well.Everything is bright and green and clean.”
She couldn’t believe how lovely it all looked.Eli and his team had even tidied up the exterior of the building and had created a cute new sign for the walkway.
Claire gasped when she entered the reception area.Aside from helping with the paintjob and the purchase of some accessories, she hadn’t seen the finished product.
Michael took over the tour.“First impressions are always important in business, and even though we could all feel the love here at Haven, the reception area needed a bit of TLC.”
“You’re being very diplomatic,” said Claire.“It was old and tired, and I’d stopped seeing that.”
He waved his arm around the room.“There’s nothing old and tired about this place.A fresh coat of paint did wonders, and it makes a nice backdrop for the little pops of color in the accessories.Along with a new reception desk and windows, it’s a much more welcoming environment.”
“It’s perfect.”
Michael, continued, leading her into the new laundry room.“As you know, Claire, we were really hoping to give the Haven staff a laundry room that more than one person could stand in at a time.I know the way the room was set up before made that challenging.”
She laughed.“I’m not even sure one person could fit in the previous room.”
