Chapter Twenty
Joaquin
We got there! Finally, everything was ready and the theater would be opening to the public. Every time we thought we’d had it all done, something else had come up, and my mate had even begun to look a little nervous, but we took turns calming each other.
What all of that had meant was, I still had not officially moved in with my mate.
I tried to do it informally, stopping by and grabbing armloads of clothes and things when I had a little time, but I’d rapidly learned that it was not going to work that way.
Then I noticed that my lease was up in thirty days, and I had to either sign up for another year or get my act in gear and move.
The timing was terrible with the opening coming, but Eryx took charge.
He’d offered to do that a few times, but I insisted I had this.
Turned out, I did not have anything. My energy levels were so low, I let him help me. He insisted that was how alphas worked, that their job was to be there for their omegas when they needed them. But I’d been on my own for so long, it was hard to accept.
“All right, alpha. I accept your assistance. We can go together and pick up the rest of my stuff and—”
“Omega mine, there’s a moving crew there right now as we speak. They are packing everything and will bring it here so when we get home tonight, it will all be in the garage, ready for us to move it in at our leisure.”
“Eryx, what? How did you…what did you…” I blinked at him. “How will they get in?”
“You gave me a key, remember? And now I have passed it on to this bonded company who is insured and will take good care of all your things.”
I wanted to tell him that he shouldn’t have done it, that he’d overstepped, but with my hand resting on the curve of my belly, I couldn’t do it.
He’d never done anything else like that, and we had planned on my moving but just hadn’t managed it.
I was ready to stop running back and forth and settle in with my mate.
So instead, I hugged him and kissed him and thanked him. “Just never do that again, okay?”
“I don’t see it happening.” He gave me a gentle squeeze. “Since, if we ever move again, it will be both of us moving.”
“I never want to move from here.” Oliver Creek was our home, and I couldn’t imagine a better place.
“Then we don’t need to. So, if you’re ready, we’d better get to the theater, or we will miss the grand opening.”
As we pulled into the parking area behind the theater, I mused about all the time and effort my mate had put into the whole thing.
I hadn’t even realized that lot went with the theater, but it made sense.
Five auditoriums, even on the small side, would hold a lot of people.
And some would walk but many would drive.
He’d had it resurfaced and all the lines redrawn, and we had a few slots for staff as well as one for us.
Our very own parking space. And it was the first day others besides our employees and us would be using the lot.
“Excited, mate?” he asked, opening my door and helping me out.
“Yes, it’s a big day.”
“You’re not still mad about the movers?”
“No, I’ve decided to forgive you.”
“Thank you. I’ve learned my lesson.” He took my arm and we started for the employee entrance. “Looks like the others are already here.”
“Yes.” We went in and headed right for the lobby to make sure the last touches were in place.
It was gorgeous, and my favorite feature was right in the middle.
My popcorn cart stood there, freshly painted and looking gorgeous.
It was a piece of art now, a memory of the step before we became a theater-owning family.
“You don’t think it’s sad, do you?” I patted the side of the old thing.
“It was used when I bought it, but I loved standing outside the theater and selling all the flavors to the passersby. Some of the older ones wanted to talk about this place when it was open before. They really missed having a theater in town, you know.”
Eryx peeked out the ticket booth window. “That probably explains why the first couple of dozen in line out there are over sixty. At least.”
I followed him and peered down the street. “Holy bananas. How many people are in line?”
“A full house?” he called over his shoulder. “Places, everyone! We open in five.”
We didn’t hire a ton of people, but those we had were as excited as we were.
And their uniforms! Since we were going for a classic look, the uniforms were all about that.
Up to and including gold braid on the maroon jacket shoulders.
They wore black T-shirts and slacks underneath, and when they took their spots, I could imagine we had stepped back all the decades to when this theater was in its first glory.
My mate and I linked hands and opened the door, stepping aside so our ticket taker could do his job.
The locals and visitors flooded in, congratulating us on our opening, and we shook hands and smiled and soaked up all the love.
These were the people, at least the locals, our baby would grow up with.
What a great town Oliver Creek was for families. And they were there, all the families filling the two theaters that were kid friendly this week, their arms laden with snacks from the concession stand.
I turned to my mate and hugged him hard. “This is what it’s all about.”
He kissed me. “It’s part of it. A really good part.”