December 21st #3
“Well, not yet,” she says. “I’ll obsess over it for weeks until I get it right, but you and I need to go in the boardroom.
We have a very important meeting. Also, I can’t remember if I told you, but our offices are usually closed from the twenty-second until the Monday after the new year.
But with the playoff game on New Year’s Eve and hopefully another one the following week, we won’t really get back into the swing of things until the following Monday. ”
She looks at everything laid out on the table.
“Should I put it all back in the meantime?” I ask, knowing she likes the room kept neat.
“No! It’s going to be busy with the holidays, and I know I’ll be sketching out ideas whenever I can, but I’m putting a big sign on the door to tell everyone not to touch anything.
My kids aren’t off school until tomorrow at noon.
Let’s meet here in the morning, early. Say, seven thirty.
I’ll text the designers and let them know.
I want everyone to see our preliminary ideas and let them percolate over the holidays.
In the meantime, our presence is required in the boardroom. ”
“Do we have a meeting?” I ask.
“Sorta,” she says, leading me in there.
“Surprise,” is shouted out as Dani and Haley give me hugs.
My mom, Jennifer, Damon’s mom, and Alexa are also here.
“We’re going to have a lovely brunch together,” Damon’s mom says.
“Then we’re taking you nursery shopping!” Dani adds.
I glance at Jadyn, and I can tell she feels a little torn, like I do. Like lightning just struck in the design process, and now we have to walk away from it.
“It’ll be fun,” Jadyn says.
“Of course it will be,” I tell her.
Brunch is lively and shopping even more so. Everyone has ideas of what the nursery should look like.
But when the woman at the store asks if I have considered a theme, I look down at my charm bracelet and say, “Butterflies. A room that is soft, pretty, and soothing.”
“Style?” she asks.
“How about pink walls? Gold accents.”
She grins and says, “I have the perfect wall mural! Come look.”
And what she shows me is adorable and fitting—a pretty pastel wildflower scene with butterflies flitting around in the sky. A castle in the distance.
“For my little butterfly princess,” I say with a contented sigh.
From there, the choices are easy.
“It’s amazing how one element, one idea, can spark a whole room, a whole building really,” Jadyn says to me with a grin.
Jennifer and Damon’s mom offered to gift us each a nursery, so when it’s time to choose a whole other set for Damon’s condo, I shake my head. “I want them to be the same, for consistency, so both places will feel like home.”
“I love that,” Jennifer says, then turns to the salesperson and says, “We’ll need two of everything.”
When we’re finished shopping, Mom drives me home.
I get a snack and then call Damon. “You knew about today, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did. And my sister has been texting me photos of you all day. It made me feel like I was there. So, butterflies, huh?”
“It was either that or a golf-themed room,” I tease.
“But now I’m in a bit of a quandary.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I told you that you are my butterfly.”
“That was seriously so romantic. No one has ever romanced me the way you have,” I tell him.
“Probably because no one has ever been as crazy about you as I have.”
“Something else crazy happened today,” I admit.
“What?”
“After you left this morning, I ate and then went to work because I was inspired. And I basically blocked out a lot of stuff for the new hotel. I got to work early, started planning my uncle’s penthouse, and ended up with ideas for the lobby.
Then Jadyn saw it and drew a building, and now, instead of doing the condo, we’ll be using the ideas for the hotel by the new stadium and will be doing not only a hotel, but residences too. Two buildings.”
“That’s really cool. But then I knew you were brilliant. How are you feeling today? Tired?”
“My body is tired, and it feels good to sit down, but part of me wants to go back. Now.”
“You can do that tomorrow,” he says.
“I know,” I reply, even though I have every intention of going back tonight. Maybe I’ll see if Sammy wants to go with me. “How was your day?”
“Let’s just say, Coach wants to make sure we are in tip-top form for this game. Lots of aerobic activity today. Thankfully, we’ve done well as a team overall with injuries, and we are going into the playoffs pretty healthy.”
“I know you’re going to win. Of course, I’ve watched bowl games on New Year’s Eve before, but never experienced one live. Will I get to see you at midnight?”
“Ehh. That’s debatable, depending on how long the game takes. Chase and I were talking about that today. That we’d probably be ringing in the new year on the bus or back at the hotel.”
“But I need a kiss.”
“I promise you’ll get one after the game, Champ, but I doubt we will get one at midnight.”
“That’s okay. I’ll settle for a W,” I tell him.
“Yeah, me too.”
I hang up the phone and am ready to go see if Sammy wants to come see my office when Uncle Tripp calls me.
“You busy, like, right now?” he asks me.
“No, just got home.”
“Good. I’m about a mile away from your house. We’re going to go do something fun. But we have to hurry. Meet me out front.”
“Okay,” I say.
Before I know it, I’m in Tripp’s car, heading to the downtown airport and then getting into his helicopter.
“Where are we going?” I finally ask.
“It’s a surprise,” he says, grinning like a little kid.
I’ve never ridden in a helicopter before, so I stop wondering about where we are going and just enjoy the ride.
A few minutes later, Tripp points. “We’re coming in over the Kansas Speedway, and see all the empty land over there? That’s where the stadium will be. And our hotel.”
“Not much to see right now,” I tease.
Once we land, he says, “We’re going to send up a drone. It’s going to take photos in all directions at different heights. That way, when they announce the official plans for the stadium, we can move quickly.”
And I suddenly realize what this is really about. “Meaning we’ll know how high your penthouse will need to be to have the most spectacular views?”
“It’s not just that. I mean, you saw what we’re working with as we were flying over here.
What we have is a very commercial area and a busy highway.
The views of the stadium will be important on game days, but what about the rest of the time?
The interior you are working on feels special.
Quaint. Luxurious. But how do we make this place feel special on the outside too? ”
“So, you’re looking at the other views?”
“Exactly. There needs to be something. Lights from downtown. Open fields.”
“Or the Archibald Plaza.”
He smiles. “Love the name, and yes. We need to position the hotel to have views of the stadium on one side, but pretty, less commercial views from the other.”
“Do you have enough land to make the hotel with fewer floors and more spread out? Like maybe it weaves in and out of the Plaza? Where the beauty and energy comes from there? What, maybe five, six stories, max?”
“That’s what we have to figure out.”
“Just how much land did you buy?” I ask. “Enough to secure the view?”
“Of course I did,” he says. “No idea what I’m going to do with it all.”
“I mean, in New York, they have Central Park. Aren’t views that feature it the most expensive in the city, typically?”
Tripp narrows his eyes, and I can practically see the wheels turning in his brain.
“You are right about that.” He tilts his head to the side, looking out over the empty land in front of him, and goes, “Hmm,” then gets on his phone.
“Jadyn,” he says. He’s quiet and then hangs up with a sigh. “She’s at her kid’s Christmas program. Do you have plans for tonight?”
“Not really.”
“Excellent. We’re going to dinner.”
“Okay,” I say as we get back into the helicopter.
Tripp is furiously texting the entire trip.
I find out what going to dinner means when we land in an empty lot by Uncle Van’s house and walk over to it.
Van gives me a hug. “I hear you just blew up Tripp’s whole plan.”
“I did?” I say, horrified and wondering if I’m going to get fired. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. It’s good for him. Sometimes, he gets something in his mind and gets tunnel vision.”
Tripp comes up behind me and gives his brother a hug.
“Lori is at a dinner meeting tonight,” Van says, “So, I started a fire out on the porch and got out some steaks to grill. Figured I could do that while we chat.”
We chat for a long time. Well, mostly, I just listen to them go back and forth, volleying thoughts at each other. Loving being part of this process.
I realize they’ve agreed when Tripp says, “You know, we need Buck Boone from the Archibald Lodge for this.”
And Van says, “Absolutely.”