Page 39 of Promise & Artem

When they were back at the Welcome Center, they found Ally and her three mates—Richard, Troy, and Blake—in one of the offices.

“What did you think?” Ally asked from where she was perched on a large desk where Richard, the oldest of her mates, sat.

“They’re both great,” Promise said. “But I have to ask about the one with the private patio off the master suite.”

“We built that cabin for us,” Blake said.

“I thought you lived here?” Promise asked.

“We do,” Troy said. “But when we first bought the land for the campground we really didn’t know what we were doing, so we built a home for ourselves first, and then we slowly built the other buildings.”

“At first, we didn’t even have the Welcome Center,” Richard said. “We just let people come up here with tents and RVs and take parking spaces and camp out. It was rustic, but it was enough to get our business off the ground.”

“When did you move in here?” Artem asked.

“After the kids were born and we needed to be able to work and also keep an eye on them,” Ally said. “I loved that cabin. Our boys stayed there before they found their mate, and then she really wanted to be closer to the lake so they moved out. It’s been empty ever since.”

Promise looked at Artem and he gave her an encouraging nod.

“We’d love that one,” she said. “It’s magical there.”

“It sure is,” Ally said. “You’re very welcome to it.”

Richard smiled. “Whatever you need to make it your own—paint, flooring, furniture—let us know and we’ll help in whatever way we can.”

“Thanks so much,” Artem said. He shook the males’ hands while Promise got a hug from Ally.

Ally said, “Isolde told us that you worked at a restaurant in your old home?”

“Yes, Lonestar. I did food prep, waitressed, and helped in the kitchen whenever I was needed. I didn’t go to college, but I did independent study on using herbs for healing through an online program.”

Ally looked at her mates and they were all smiling.

“We actually were looking to hire someone to help out with our meals,” Richard said. He explained that both Angel and Brierley had helped at one time with meal prep for the staff and guests, but over the years they moved on to other things.”

“What would it involve?” Promise asked.

“Helping to plan the meals for the staff and guests, shopping and food prep, and serving when we need it,” Troy said.

Ally nodded. “Right, sometimes we have weddings, and they want a sit-down meal with service, so you’d be helping with that. Do you like to cook?”

“Small things,” she said with a smile. “I make a great crispy sugar cookie, and one of my favorite things to do is try to make new sandwiches, plus I like the bento box style lunches.”

“What’s that?” Blake asked.

“A bento box is a container with sections for ingredients for a meal. It’s something a person might take to work for lunch,” she said. “I used to make them for my parents. It might be something like a fajita bowl with a side of chips and salsa or a wrap sandwich with veggies and cookies. They’re fun to make .”

“What’s your favorite sandwich?” Ally asked.

“For a hot sandwich, I love cheesesteaks. For cold sandwiches, I like chicken salad.”

“That’s my specialty!” Ally gushed. She looked at her mates who all smiled. “We’d love to offer you the job. You can also help out with the four-wheeler tours if you’d like to, we’re very casual here.”

Promise couldn’t stop smiling. “I’d love to. It sounds amazing.”

“Then you can start on Monday,” Richard said. “That gives you both the rest of the week off to enjoy your mating. We’ll have Angel and Brin give the cabin a once-over this afternoon so you can start moving in tomorrow.”

Artem rose to his feet and shook their hands. “Thank you all for everything.”

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