Page 22 of Roam

Sprite giggled. “It’s good. And you’re sure you’re okay with me only setting appointments for half the allotted time next week?”

Rascal nodded. “Yep, it will be a crazy week and the kids are still getting used to moving. I don’t want you to get stressed the first week. Plus, let’s face it. Once that goes live on the website tonight, you’re going to be inundated because they’ll see what you’ve done and there aren’t many tattooists who are women in our area. A huge amount of women are going to feel comfortable coming in for a tattoo for the first time. I don’t want you burning out the first week.”

“Yes, at girls’ night, a lot of the women were wanting tattoos.”

“So if they’re part of our family, you can have them come in a time slot or you have the option to tattoo them whenever - even when we’re technically closed. My suggestion to you is limit them to two a week to start. You know they’ll be your clients. You want some open slots for new clients.”

Sprite was staring at Rascal, biting her lip. Roam wondered what she wasn’t saying.

“I’m a man. I cannot read your mind. If you have an idea, let’s hear it.”

“Well, once I get my feet under me, I wondered about a once-a-month women’s night. We could offer refreshments and do smaller tattoos. The amount we could get done in an hour or they could get part of theirs done. I noticed there isn’t any place in town to get manicures and pedicures. We could invite someone to bring their mobile supplies and they could get that done. Even women not getting a tattoo could come in and socialize.”

Roam hid his smile at the stunned look on Rascal’s face. Sprite was not only a great tattooist, she also had some business knowledge.

“I think that’s a great idea. Why don’t you write it up and cost it out, including if we need to have one to four people providing manicures. I think we’d need a little more space, but we have the upstairs that we haven’t done anything with. Most of the main street buildings are two stories and we’ve never used ours. We could see what condition it’s in and what it would take. The other option would be using the upper level of the diner. Bear has made it an event space for book clubs, but it possibly might work there. Let’s talk about this. I’m so glad you brought it up, Sprite. I think you’re a fantastic addition to the shop.”

Sprite grinned and Roam just basked in seeing his girl get praised. From the small amount she’d said, he didn’t think that was the environment she grew up in. He couldn’t wait to see her dreams explode as she realized that Bluff Creek was a place where dreams do come true.

“I will. Is tomorrow soon enough?”

“I think any time is fine. If you’re excited and want to go ahead and get it done, then great. If the kids need something more or the women want to drag you somewhere, don’t miss out on the fun,” Rascal said.

Rascal walked closer to her. “I don’t know how you feel about hugs, but I want you to know you’re part of my family now. I have two new grandkids as far as I’m concerned.”

Roam swallowed back tears at the look of awe on Sprite’s face before she slid her arm around Rascal and let him hug her. It was a good thing War wasn’t here or he’d never hear the end of it. All his teasing he’d done to his brother was going to come back and bite him on the butt.

Chapter Thirteen

Sprite had decided she, Blake and Oakley would walk over to Roam’s new house. She enjoyed being able to walk and see nature without worrying about someone doing her harm. She hadn’t lived in the best part of town, so getting to take the girls on walks in the evening hadn’t happened.

Roam had been moved into his house for a couple days. She was glad she hadn’t been working at the tattoo studio yet because she was able to help out. Roam had asked her, Beth and Ellie to buy him bedding for two guest rooms along with everything the three bathrooms needed.

Sprite had been ecstatic her house had two bathrooms. She couldn’t imagine a place that had three. Although Roam’s house was a new build, he’d designed it with a huge wraparound porch. There were two porch swings, along with four rockers. His house was across what would be a street in a regular neighborhood. In their neighborhood, there was an unpaved path a car width wide dividing their front yards. There was a detached garage beside the house for all of Roam’s vehicles and the kids’ outdoor toys.

A large fort swing set was also in front of Rascal’s house. Roam’s had a place for a covered sand box that was being installed later and he’d laid out where the track for the kids’ Big Wheels and bikes would cross his yard.

Blake had asked about a bike and Sprite wanted to make sure she had one. She just wasn’t sure where to get one in the small town.

She walked up the front porch and knocked. Roam had invited them for dinner. She was thankful for some time to just relax with him tonight. This week had been a whirlwind. Once she’d turned in her proposal to Rascal, she’d had meetings with Regina and Bear to see if the space above the diner would work. She, Rascal and Roam had evaluated the condition of the upstairs and come up with a plan.

Their first women’s night would be held at the diner because they didn’t want to wait until the improvements were made upstairs. Rascal and she had a conference call with Roam’s brother Gage, who ran a construction company for the Texas Chapter of Bluff Creek along with their distillery. Gage was gradually training someone else to take over the construction because he’d found his calling with brewing beer.

She’d described what she thought would work, and they’d held her phone so he could see the space. Gage had time in two weeks and would be up then to oversee construction.

He’d mentioned he’d just plan on completing the pickleball park while he was there. Sprite couldn’t believe how fast things moved in the MC, but she liked it a lot.

Grant opened the front door for her. She followed him in and heard crying from the back of the house, along with a dog barking.

“Blake, you and Oakley play with Grant while I see who is crying.”

Grant gave a big huff as she walked by. “It’s Georgia and Casper. I helped them try Dad’s chips. Now I’s in trouble.”

Sprite walked faster toward the crying. Casper was sitting on the floor crying while Roam had Georgia over the sink, scooping water into her mouth and then letting it run out into the sink.

“Oh, thank God. Can you help Casper? Grant crushed up my jalapeno flavored chips and rubbed it on their tongues so they could taste it. Cane, go to Grant.” The dog turned and ran to the family room.

Sprite slid her arms under Casper’s arms and picked him up, cuddling him close. “It’s going to be okay, buddy.” She grabbed a tea towel and used it to wipe the snot and drool off his face. Opening the refrigerator door, she pulled out the gallon of milk.

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