Page 106 of The Cowboy's Unshakeable Love

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have sprung it on you like this. How about I give you some time to think about it, and I’ll call you again next week?”

“Okay.”

“Great. Thanks, Retta. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Okay, bye.”

“Is everything okay?” Shelly asked.

“I think so. I… Never mind. We’re here.” While she was talking to Marty, she hadn’t noticed that they’d arrived in town. Ari was just pulling into a space next to the curb on Main Street.

“We are,” said Candy. “And look, there’s Libby.”

When the other women started helping her out of the vehicle and into her wheelchair, Retta forgot all about Marty. She was excited to go dress shopping with her new friends. She couldn’t remember having done anything like this since she was a teenager. No way was she going to give Marty’s strange request any headspace this afternoon – she intended to have fun.

~ ~ ~

When they got back to the house, Trip laughed as he climbed out of Travis’s truck. “You know I could have just followed you down here.”

“Yeah, but this way we got an extra half hour together on the way down here and we’ll get another half hour when I take you back.”

“I’d be flattered by you wanting to spend so much time with me if I didn’t know the truth – you’re just using me as an excuse so that you can pick Retta up when Ari drops Shelly back at my office.”

Travis grinned. “You can still be flattered, bud. I’m not using you as an excuse – more like killing two birds with one stone.”

“Fair enough.” Trip looked up at the house. “I love this place for you.”

“Thanks. I love it too. Although now that we’re here, I just remembered that I was going to show you the meeting space. What do you think? Do you want to head over there?”

“Yeah, I’d love to see it. I’d love to hear more about how your plans are coming along, too. What do you hear from Eli?”

“I’ve talked to him a couple of times recently; he’s trying to find the time to come and visit. By the sound of it, he’s eager to get his whole operation moved over here.”

“It’ll be good to have him around. I know he set up his office in Salt Lake because he thought that he’d need to be in a big city. I love that he’s already built himself enough of a reputation that people will come to him no matter where he is.”

“And if you think about it, it’ll no doubt work better for his clients as well. Instead of having to stay in the city while they’re working with him, they can hang out here.”

“And that’s a win-win for all concerned.”

“It sure is.” Travis brought the truck to a stop in front of the large building that would house the meeting space.

They walked inside, and Trip let out a low whistle as he looked around. “Remind me again what exactly it is you plan to do with this space. This is the part of your plan that I’m not totally clear on.”

Travis chuckled. “That’s probably because I’m not totally clear on it myself. I mean, it seems like a great idea to have this kind of space where we can accommodate so many people for meetings. What I’m not so sure about is what exactly those meetings will be. The kind of people who come and stay here aren’t looking to socialize – especially not on this large a scale.”

Trip nodded as he wandered around the large, empty space. “Right. Maybe you could use it for something else completely.”

“That thought has occurred to me – I just don’t know what kind of something else.”

“You’ll figure it out. For the time being, you have plenty of other projects to be working on. How are the cabins coming along?”

Travis grinned. “They’re fantastic. Retta’s working wonders. Do you want to come see?”

Trip looked around again. “I do. From what I hear, she’s tapped into how to create exactly the right kind of atmosphere.”

Travis frowned. “What do you hear? And who do you hear it from?”

Trip laughed. “Don’t look like that. Ty and Shayna and Libby are in and out of here all the time. They all sing Retta’s praises to anyone who’ll listen.”

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