“I did too. My students really impressed me today,” I replied.
“I love to hear it. What are you guys getting into this evening?” Nana asked.
“I was wondering if you and Reign would like to take a ride with me?” I inquired.
Nana put the dish down she was washing, then dried her hands. “Let’s go,” she said.
I was a little surprised. Nana didn’t ride as often as my mother and me. Usually, when I would ask her to ride, she would ask a bunch of questions. That day, however, she walked toward the barn with Reign and me on her tail. She didn’t ride stallions like me, but PopPop made sure she had a horse. He purchased an American Quarter Horse for her long ago. The horse was one of the best for beginner riders. Nana walked over to her horse’s stall as I walked over to Lucky.
Lucky had gotten used to me, so I was okay with letting Reign ride with us. We weren’t going far, so we shouldn’t have any issues. I grabbed my saddle and Lucky’s brush. With her hand in mine, she helped me brush Lucky. I wanted to make sure she was comfortable before we rode him.
When I felt she was ready, I walked Lucky out of his stall. In front of the barn, I mounted him. Nana helped Reign mount him next. Once we were ready, Nana mounted her horse.
“Where to?” she finally asked.
“Just follow me. This won’t take long,” I replied.
We made small talk along the path. As we got closer to our destination, I was sure Nana figured out where we were headed. I stopped in front of my house. There wasn’t a stall for the horses here, so we tied their rope to the fence. We dismounted them and stood in front of the house.
“Are you ready to move into your home?” Nana asked.
I nodded, then said, “I think it’s time.”
She looked at me and smiled. “I’m so proud of you. Seems like just yesterday, you and Reign showed up here. Now look at how much you have flourished since returning. I know it’s been an emotional ride, but you’ve handled it all very well,” she declared lovingly.
“I appreciate everything you and PopPop have done for me. Even during my darkest days, you guys never gave up on me.Being back here has turned into a fresh start. I’m ready to complete the process by moving into the house,” I replied.
“My babies can’t move into an empty house. Why don’t we go look around the house for inspiration? Then we can head back home and get your PopPop’s credit card,” she teased.
I shook my head. Nana was a mess. Poor PopPop didn’t even know she was about to burn his card up to furnish the place. We walked into the big, empty space. I held Reign’s hand as we went from room to room. The open concept on the main floor made the home feel bigger. Once Nana got her feel for the downstairs area, we moved upstairs to the bedrooms.
The primary bedroom had an en suite and a large walk-in closet. I remembered everything about the floor plan. The finished room was even better than I could have imagined.
“Nana, we don’t need to go overboard with the decorating,” I said
“Nonsense! Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting to decorate? We will spare no expense,” she quipped.
There was no changing her mind, so we made our way to Reign’s room.
“Nugget, what do you think about this room?” I asked.
“I like it. It’s big. Can Violet come over to visit?” she asked.
“Of course, she can. We can get bunk beds for when she comes to visit,” I replied.
Reign walked around the bedroom, touching the walls. It reminded me of the day we left, the only home she ever knew. A new memory would be much better than the previous one; it was the beginning of the two of us in our own home.
After going around the entire inside and outside of the home, I was exhausted. Reign was hungry, so we headed back to the main house. During dinner, we filled PopPop in on our plans for the house.
PopPop didn’t waste any time going into his wallet and handing over a credit card to Nana.“Go easy on the card, woman,” PopPop said.
“Now, why would I go easy on a card with no limit, honey?” Nana teased.
I looked at both of them and shook my head.
“Don’t worry, PopPop. I won’t let her go overboard,” I confirmed.
Nana looked at both of us. “There will be no expense spared for my babies.”
