Max, Now
In the blinding afternoon sun, The Mirage is exactly like the image burned in my memory. Muted colors on the plain exterior, so it seems to grow out of the earth itself. Shaded patios with dangling hammock chairs. A haven in the desert heat.
Daisy watches with sad eyes as the site contractor’s van bounces down the uneven driveway and out of sight. “He said we’d need to remove everything,” she mutters, studying the paper rattling in her grip.
“That’s a suggestion. We don’t have to go full concrete for the parking area.”
“We’d be removing a lot of plant life, regardless.” Daisy gnaws on a thumbnail. Her nervous habit hasn’t changed, and she’s already chewed three others down to the quick. During thewhole meeting, she dug in her heels on every single thing—where the lot entrance should start, how wide to make it, and how much space we need. At this rate, the pop-up will happen a decade from now.
“Look, we have to remove some plants, otherwise it’ll be a game of cactus minesweeper out there. We don’t want guests getting hurt.” I grasp for a middle ground to move our plan forward, and to salvage Daisy’s poor fingernails. “What did you think about leaving some brush in the center and using the large cacti as a natural curb stop?”
“He said we’d still have to clear from here to here.” She shows the space with wide arms and shakes her head for the billionth time today. “That’s too much disruption.”
“What about replanting?” I ask, holding back a gritty exhale as we walk to the casita. “Businesses do that to keep operations eco-friendly.”
“Maybe.” Daisy examines the paper and holds it up to me. “Did you see this number?”
The funding has me on shaky legs too, though I wouldn’t tell her that. I never had to be the one to make the financial part happen, so I’ve got long nights of research ahead of me.
“Focus on the vision right now,” I say, “not the money.”
“The money is the only thing I’m focusing on. We’re barely forty-eight hours in and we’re dealing with more than I spend on land maintenance in a year.”
I stop Daisy, putting one hand on each of her shoulders to ground her, and the honey-toned flecks in her eyes catch the sunlight. “It’s always like this at the start. With every museum I’ve ever worked on, the beginning is the toughest, the most stressful. All the expenses roll in, and you have this moment where you doubt yourself.”
She inserts the corner of her ring finger between her teeth, and I pull on her wrist to stop her.
“You’re going to run out of fingers.”
“Maybe this isn’t worth the trouble,” she whispers, avoiding eye contact.
My body tenses with worry. This place owns a part of Daisy’s heart, and she has every right to want to protect it. But if she backs out, then we’re left with a nice idea, all of the same problems, and nothing more.
“Remember what we’re working toward.” I can figure out the budget, but the big picture will have more sway. “Reservations booked for weeks, even longer. We’ll be in the news. You’ll have a gorgeous, renovated barn for weddings. The Mirage might look a little different from when you were a kid, and it’ll be different than when you took it over from your mom. But it’ll be something that would make her proud.” I meet her eyes again and lose my train of thought momentarily. “But it…it’s gonna be worth it.”
“You think?”
“Absolutely.”
Daisy bites her lower lip. After a beat, she tucks the quote from the contractor into her back pocket and continues down the gravelly path. “What if we ditch the bathroom add-on?”
“We need bathrooms.”
“When we’ve had weddings in the past, the couples rented porta-potties for the event. My mom found this company that has fancy ones.”
“Fancy?”
“Yeah, they’re nice. Wash stations and everything.”
“The whole point of this is to get the barn in the best condition possible.” Although we can’t rule anything out, the suggestion primarily cuts corners. “And renting those will add up.”
Shehmmsin agreement and pauses. “You can still back out, you know. I’d understand.”
“No.” I shake my head because I need this pop-up as much as she does. “I wouldn’t do that.”
“This isn’t the ideal location you thought it would be.”
“It is exactly what I want. You’re being cautious, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
