“Aww, you two are adorable,” Sierra cooed, clearly amused but also happy for us.
“Thank you for the pastries,” Ben piped up for the first time, and everyone echoed him.
“No problem.” Theo started toward the front door. “If anyone wants to do anything horsey today, there’s plenty of things to do. Come to the stable. If I’m not there, Barry will be somewhere.”
With that, he went to put his boots back on and left the house.
I sank into getting my caffeine and pastry fix, and didn’t even register Rey had gotten up from his seat before he put a plate of scrambled eggs in front of me.
Sierra left to go into the office and Ben went to figure out something about our writing. He’d been talking about us being done soon with the pace I was writing with his generous assistance.
“Lake, can I talk to you?” Hudson asked after making himself more coffee. The machine was getting a workout with this lot for sure.
I smiled a little. “Yeah, I’m almost awake.”
“I need to check on the kittens,” Rey said, then vanished like always.
River looked at the two of us and shrugged. “You get to clean up, I’m going to go and take a walk. Maybe ask Theo if he’ll borrow one of the dogs for company.”
Once it was just Hudson and me, I raised an eyebrow at him.
“So, how are you feeling so far?” he asked as he sat down and leaned back, appearing more relaxed than I’d probably ever seen him.
“About everything?” I finished my eggs and mimicked his pose.
“Yeah.” He grinned. “Maybe not Theo, I can see how that’s going.”
I might’ve blushed a little. I remembered how stuffy I’d thought Hudson seemed when he’d first come to our apartment in New York. It felt weird to think how wrong I’d been. He was professional, he could seem like he had a stick up his ass, but he really wasn’t like that at all.
“The writing is going pretty well, at least I think so. We’ve made good progress with the book and we have a bit more work left, or so Ben says. We’ve been sending stuff to Maria to check over and she says it’s good.” I shrugged, feeling shy for a moment. “I’m gonna take her word for it.”
“You should. She’s the professional, as is Ben. If they’re saying you’re doing a good job, you are.”
“As for the other stuff, the rescue…” I sighed long and hard, thinking for a moment. “I love the place. The guys and I suddenly have people we can call family, you know? River’s got a job, Rey has people to look up to and a purpose, I have this writing thing I’m trying to wrap my brain around…and then of course there’s Theo, too.” I might’ve beamed a little before I got serious again. “But then there’s also the responsibility of the rescue itself. I’m keeping it, of course, but I think we need to figure out a way how to…I don’t know…” I grimaced. “I don’t want to be the face for it. I don’t want that pressure.”
Hudson hummed thoughtfully. “You could always have others buy a percentage?”
“Would Ruth’s will allow for that?”
“It doesn’t go into that much detail,” he mused. “I’ll take a look, but I’m pretty sure you could get away with keeping fifty-one percent. As long as the majority of it is yours…” He shrugged. “I know she wouldn’t mind, by the way. She’d want you to be comfortable keeping it and having the place flourish.”
I thought for a while. “I guess Theo and Sierra would likely want to buy in. Maybe even River one day.” I considered for a moment, then asked, “Would you be interested?”
To his credit, he didn’t shoot me down immediately. He gave it some thought and then shook his head, smiling. “I think I’m better off making larger donations.” Before I could object, he continued, “I already donate monthly. I can easily up that amount. It’s not like I don’t make good money, have real estate and stocks, and no loans to pay off, Lake.”
Ah, the trick was to be successful and older. I told him that, and he rolled his eyes.
“You’re not wrong there.” He smiled slightly. “By the way, they’re starting the casting on the Netflix show soon.”
I perked up. “I’ve been meaning to ask about that. I know Ruth wanted to be more hands on with it, but I don’t care enough, I suppose.”
“It’s going to be great. They’re actually shooting on location in Wyoming somewhere once they get that far.”
He looked awkward for a moment, which was so unlike him I frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“I was thinking…” He clearly tried to decide on something, then asked, “Do you think it would be bad if I contacted the casting agent to mention my—my ex-wife’s son, Jae?”
