Page 54 of There I Find Hope

Sunday laughed. She couldn’t imagine her mom lying around in bed until dinnertime. Not that there was anything wrong with that exactly. Some people just had a later internal clock than others. But not her mom.

“What if someone came to you today with an offer?” She thought of Noah. He mentioned the bed-and-breakfast once more, and she said she hadn’t had a chance to talk to her mom about it. He didn’t seem like he was in a huge hurry or that he would even be that upset if she didn’t want to.

But if she did, she thought he was ready to make an offer almost immediately.

“I suppose it depends on how good the offer is. I don’t even know what the place is worth.”

“Alex said property values are going up because of Blueberry Beach and how commercialized that’s becoming. It’s spreading north, and he thinks we’re next.”

“I hate to see us get commercialized, although I suppose it’s inevitable with a hotel going in. That’s worried me some. I’ve wondered if it would run me out of business. Might be smarter to sell before that happens.”

“Or maybe you’ll get busier.”

“That’s what Alex says will happen. He thinks the horses will be a big draw, especially since Chi and Griff and Rodney have their Percheron team. They could run those poor horses all day long every day. Since they only give rides at sunrise and sunset, Chi just told me that they’re booked clear through the end of September. Every single day.”

“You’re kidding!” Lena said, like she couldn’t believe it. But then, her look became thoughtful. “I guess I have noticed that our reservations stretch into September as well. I think I have almost every room in the bed-and-breakfast booked every weekend through then. I need to check the books to be sure, but... I know July and August are booked solid.”

“So maybe that’s right. Maybe Strawberry Sands is going to grow just like Blueberry Beach did, although maybe not in the same way. It’s a little more...”

“Rural. Because of the pasture and the horses, it’s just not quite as classy, for lack of a better word, as Blueberry Beach.”

“I can see that. And I think that’s true. So Alex really does think it’s going to grow?” It was interesting that Alex and Noah had the same thoughts.

“He does. He thinks Noah is extremely smart for building a hotel. He also thinks that the hotel will actually help business at the bed-and-breakfast.” Clara looked at her mom. “I would make sure that you don’t sell it for too little, and I do think you could get a good bit out of it.” She named the price they’d heard that Chi and Griff had paid for their house on the bluffs. It was quite a lot of money.

“I think you could get that much or even more. This is a turnkey business, and you make a profit every year. Plus, this setting is idyllic, and you have customers who come back year after year, which are all selling points. I think your house is just as many square feet as theirs, although I could be wrong about that.”

“That’s something I’ll have to think about,” Lena said, and she seemed unaffected. It seemed like all of Sunday’s fears that she might feel pushed out were unfounded. “What do you think about it? Would you mind if I sold out?”

“I’m okay with it. I don’t want to see you leave Strawberry Sands though. You could move in with us. There’s plenty of room in the schoolhouse.” Clara actually looked excited about the idea of her mom moving in. “You could help me with the baby!”

Lena smiled. “That’s tempting. I don’t think I would mind that at all. But I might miss the interactions with the guests.” She looked at Sunday. “What do you think?”

“Maybe you want to ask all the other kids, but I’m fine with it. There is the little house that Clara used to stay in. We could add on to it so that there is a washer and dryer and everything you need in it, and you could just make a condition of the sale that you get to stay in that for as long as you want to.”

“That’s a good idea,” Lena said, nodding as she considered it. “But you’re right. I’ll probably have to run it past the rest of the kids. I don’t want to do something that’s going to upset everyone.”

“I think you need to do what’s best for you, Mom. No one is going to get upset if you make decisions that benefit yourself. You’ve spent your whole life thinking about others.”

“And I’ll spend the rest of my life doing the same. Just because you get old doesn’t mean all the sudden you get to start thinking about yourself all the time and not being concerned about others. That’s not the way this works.”

Sunday closed her mouth. Her mom was absolutely right. But how many times had she heard that? That someone had thought about others long enough, and it was time for them to take care of themselves. She couldn’t find that in the Bible. The only thing that came even close was Jesus going out to pray. But that wasn’t Jesus doing self-care, that was Jesus communing with his Father. It was obvious to her that there was a big difference between making decisions that benefited oneself and taking time to have a relationship with God.

The conversation moved on to other topics, and Sunday enjoyed chatting with her mom until she excused herself to go feed her foal. She was excited, not just to see Hope, but because Noah had been meeting her there most feedings. She had to admit, she was looking forward to seeing him again.

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