Page 47 of Mountain Bean Dream
Jeremy stopped moving and tipped his head, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. “You’re still not okay, are you?”
I dismissed the emotions floating to the surface and jumped on them, pushing them as far down as they could go. “I’ll be fine. Just a lot on my mind.”
“Are you worried about playing in the concert?”
It was one of the things that had momentarily popped up, but not the one taking up the most rent. However, that wasn’t a door I was ready to open for him. “Yeah.”
“Well, don’t push it. I know I don’t have a doctor’s degree, but I do have to agree with your ex. If you test yourself too much, you’ll have massive setbacks and I’m pretty sure that’s not what you want.” He took the lid off the soup, and the air permeated with the strong smell of chicken and spices. “Please sit and eat.”
I slumped into one of the two armchairs. “I want to play again. It makes me happy.”
“Maybe give it a try and see how it goes.” He pushed the container toward me, along with a spoon. He truly came prepared.
I lifted the spoon and noticed that there wasn’t another container for him. “Aren’t you eating?”
“Had some already.”
“Oh.” It felt weird to sit and eat in front of him when he wasn’t eating himself.
“I’ll share the dessert though, if you don’t mind?”
My cheeks pushed up with a smile. “Not at all.”
I lowered my gaze to the steaming bowl of chicken soup; somewhat jealous of how delicious it looked. Mine always came from a can, but this had lots of diced chicken pieces, with various lengths of noodles, and green peppers. And the smell? It warmed me to the core.
“Can I drop you off at practice on Wednesday?” A ribbon of excitement coursed through his words.
It felt foolish to be chauffeured around, especially since I had a license, I was just unable to make use of it currently. Keeping my eyes focused on the bowl, I weakly whispered, “I’d hate to impose.”
“Never. It’ll give me something to do.”
“Seriously? You have nothing better to do than drive me around? I hardly believe that.” Lifting my gaze briefly to him, I spooned some soup, blew on it to cool it, and allowed the flavours to dance on my tongue. This was the best soup I’d ever had by far.
“I can fix the endless things that need to be fixed. Or I can spend my time figuring out how to update this place and make it a more attractive place for guests.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “Or I can choose to not worry about those things for a brief spell and help out a friend in need.”
“Well, thank you. I wish I could pay you back, but I don’t have the foggiest idea of how to help.”
“You don’t have a hundred grand lying around, do you?” He laughed, and stretched out in his chair, kicking his legs out. “I’m just kidding. If you did, you wouldn’t be here renting monthly. You’d be living in town with a mortgage.”
The truth was, I did have that money. And more. It was all tied up in investments and TFSAs though. However, the moment I touched it, my location would be outed and I’d have to move again. So far, I liked it here and I didn’t have a reason to leave. I had no reason to … yet.
“Devil’s advocate—if you did have that money, what would you do first?”
He blew out a strong breath. “Honestly, I don’t know. There’s a multitude of upgrades to do that I wouldn’t even know where to start. Ideally, if money were no object, I’d loveto expand the rooms by adding in more of a living room area, making them a little more soundproof, and make the kitchens more apartment-sized rather than teeny-tiny. However, that kind of room would be more like a weekly rental, like a VRBO or something.”
“I think it’s doable. Ever thought about an investor?” Where was my mouth running off to? There’s no way I could do something like that, but then again, I did have connections to people who would possibly be interested in partnering up. Jasper is the perfect retreat.
“No way. I promised Grandma I’d do it on my own, and until she takes her last breath, that’s what I’m doing.” He raked his hands through his hair.
“That’s very noble of you.”
“There’s nothing noble about it. It is what it is.” There was a small snip to his words like it wasn’t his first choice in his life’s pursuit, but until you were unburdened from the contract life offered, you put up with it.
“Do you not like running the motel?”
He pursed his lips together, twisting them from one side to the other of his mouth. “It’s not that I don’t like it. I love the location. I love meeting new guests. I just wish it was in better shape, so I could have more of an income to attract more guests and hire more staff. Right now, it’s bleeding money but I’d hate to fold it and call it quits.” He huffed. “However, there’s a chunk of change in her will for me, as she tells me, so I’m just biding my time.”
“Oh, I see. Well, that could be a few more years.”