Page 22 of Deserving Lara
“That’s cool,” Reese said.
And that was all they had to say about that. No one seemed to have any issue with missing the actual ceremony. And they didn’t seem to care that Lara and Owl would get to be there and they wouldn’t.
Conversation turned to Jasna’s rapidly dwindling school year, some of Ryan’s funnier housekeeping stories, and how many months out The Refuge was currently booked.
“When are we expecting the first round of guests with kids, again?” Reese asked.
Lara looked over at Alaska in surprise. She hadn’t heard that The Refuge was going to start allowing kids.
“We’ve got our first trial in just two weeks. And you know what…we filled those spaces intwo days. Not that it’s a surprise in the least; there are plenty of people with kids who could benefit from a place like this. I get why the guys didn’t allow children before now, but I’m also excited to see how it goes,” Alaska said with a smile.
“Is there anything special planned?”
“Well, not really. We’ve got the hikes like usual, and we thought we’d do two bonfires that week instead of just one,” Alaska said.
Lara felt Cora’s eyes on her, and she turned to look at her friend.
“Uh-oh, what’s that look for?” Luna asked.
“What look?” Reese asked, glancing at Luna.
“Cora just gave Lara a look like this…” Luna mimicked Cora by opening her eyes wide and wiggling her eyebrows.
Everyone laughed.
“Seriously, what? You don’t think that’s good?” Alaska asked.
“It’s not that…” Cora hedged.
“Spit it out. You’re one of us now. If The Refuge crashes and burns, you’ll be homeless right along with the rest of us,” Reese teased.
“I just…Lara and I have been around tons of kids. Granted, they’ve all been preschool age, but they’re bundles of energy. We have activities planned for practically every minute of the day that they’re in school. I think you’re going to need more than just hiking and a bonfire to entertain them,” Cora said tentatively.
Lara one hundred percent agreed with her. The first day being on The Refuge property would be a novelty, and the kids would probably be fine getting the lay of the land and visiting the animals in the barn. But after that, they’d need to be entertained. Especially if single parents were involved, and Henley was going to be meeting with them in therapy sessions. Someone would have to watch the kids.
“Shoot. I mean, I suppose we could come up with something,” Alaska said, looking at Reese with a worried expression on her face.
“Don’t look at me,” Reese said immediately, holding up her hands. “I mean, my morning sickness has gotten better, but now I’m super tired all the time. It’s annoying. I’d hate to fall asleep while entertaining the kids and have them run amok as a result.”
“I could ask my dad if maybe we could do a cookie-making and decorating thing,” Luna volunteered.
“I’d help, but I think Carly, Jess, and I are going to be extra busy with all the housekeeping stuff that having more people in each cabin will bring. Brick already warned us, and told us we’d be making more per hour as a result, which none of us complained about,” Ryan said with a shrug.
“Crap. All right, I’ll get with Brick tonight and see what we can come up with,” Alaska said, but her brow was furrowed and she looked worried.
“I can help,” Cora said. “I mean, before I came here, I worked every day with kids. If you send me the ages of who will be here, I’m sure I can come up with some activities. I’ll need a room in the lodge, though. And things could get messy. And depending on the age range, it could get hectic because, you know, I’d want to make things age appropriate. Can’t have ten-year-olds making macaroni necklaces and can’t have three-year-olds trying to do diamond painting.”
“But we could modify the size of the diamonds,” Lara blurted. “We could use small beads for the older kids and buttons for the littles. We could even use the same pictures, just modify them so they’re age appropriate.”
Lara felt all five women’s gazes on her, but she kept her eyes glued to Cora’s.
“If Robert would help, we could do gingerbread decorating. I mean, not with a holiday theme, but just regular houses,” Cora agreed.
“Depending on how many kids there are, maybe we could have a sleepover in the lodge, to give the parents a break. We could make blanket tents and forts,” Lara said.
“Movie night, although that might be more difficult if the kids are too far apart in ages,” Cora mused.
“We could let them choose what movie they wanted; kids love having a say over what they’re doing.”
